God tests our faith
so that we may not take it for granted.
I once gave counsel to a little girl.
She was very distraught because her older brother
had told her that Moses hadn't really parted the Red Sea.
He said that high winds and strong ocean currents
had been responsible.
In hearing this,
the faith of this child had been severely shaken.
In order to restore her credence,
she had but one question for me.
She asked,
"Reverend, is there really such a thing as a miracle,
"or are the stories in the Bible just make believe...
fairy tales?"
I assured her that, yes, miracles really do happen.
Most people today
tend to vest themselves in science and cynicism.
They expect proof for all that they see,
but miracles are wondrous by nature.
They need no rationale,
no justification.
You must witness the miracles of the Lord without question.
My blood flows as a test of your faith.
Open your souls to the divine possibilities.
It is then and only then that you will truly understand
the awesome powers of the Almighty Lord!
Yes?
I was impressed with your sermon, Reverend.
Well, thank you.
I just want to tell you that some of us do believe.
I appreciate that.
It always does my heart good
to know that I've touched at least one person.
Oh, I think you had quite an effect on a lot of people.
Me most of all.
Oh, my God! No!
These ligature marks on his neck
are consistent with rope or fabric burns,
strongly suggesting that he was strangled.
But there seems to be
an awful lot of blood loss here.
His parishioners said that Reverend Finley was bleeding
from his hands like the wounds of the crucifixion.
Stigmata?
A sign bestowed by God upon the righteous.
I don't see any wounds here
on his hands or wrists or otherwise.
No.
I think this is a case
of too much faith.
And too much sugar.
What are you doing?
It's fake.
Just like the others.
Others?
I've been tracking
a series of international religiously-motivated murders.
All of the victims have been so-called stigmatics,
and all of them have been frauds like the reverend here.
According to certain religious lore,
at any given time, there are 12 stigmatics in the world,
representing the 12 apostles.
That's a claim that's wholly unsubstantiated.
Though there have been many pretenders.
11 of whom have been murdered in the past three years.
11? Any clue as to the motivation?
Either we're dealing with
a psychotic religious fanatic
who's hell-bent on exposing these kind of frauds
or a less programmatic psycho
who harbors a murderous resentment towards the church,
or maybe it's just a very disgruntled altar boy.
Well, that narrows down the field.
Anyway, it's safe to say this guy carries a grudge.
If I'm right about one thing, the killer is here,
and he's looking for victim number 12.
All right. Let's sit down.
I trust everyone has studied his or her flash cards
for today's quiz.
All right. Let's settle down.
Geek!
Kevin Kryder.
I assume, Kevin, that in the last 24 hours,
you've become quite the math wizard.
Why don't you come on up to the board
and share with us your gift with numbers.
Let's try some division.
You do know the division sign, don't you, Kevin?
Let's divide 11...
into 170.
Ew, blood!
Oh, my God!
What happened to him?
Thank you for contacting us so quickly.
When I read the FBI's alert,
I thought immediately of Kevin.
You said on the phone that there had been a previous incident?
Last year... Kevin arrived
at school with bleeding wounds on his hands and feet.
Our first concern is always an abusive parent.
Was that the case?
Well, it appeared so.
Kevin's father was arrested,
and we took the boy as a ward of the court.
But the state dropped charges for lack of evidence.
The mother sued and won custody.
Mr. Kryder was institutionalized soon after.
Institutionalized for what?
When he was released from jail,
he locked himself and Kevin in the house.
Made all the papers.
He was waving a gun at the police,
saying he had to protect the boy...
that Kevin was chosen by God.
Can I talk to you for a minute here?
How's he doing?
Fine.
Hi, Kevin.
My name is Dana Scully.
Can I talk to you a minute?
Am I going back to the shelter?
We don't know just yet.
Right now, we have to find out what happened.
Can you tell me how you got those cuts on your hands?
No.
No, you can't tell me, or no, you don't know?
You want me to say my dad did it.
I don't want you to say anything that isn't true.
I don't feel that good.
He feels a bit feverish.
Did you take his temperature?
No, I didn't.
Open.
You're a very brave boy, Kevin.
You have nothing to be afraid of.
Where's Kevin? Is he all right?
He's doing just fine.
The nurse is just changing his bandages.
Oh, my God.
I thought this was all over.
Mrs. Kryder, my name is Fox Mulder.
I'm with the FBI.
The FBI?
- Who called the FBI? - We're here because
we have reason to believe that Kevin may be in some danger.
- In danger from what? - As strange as it might sound,
someone may be targeting people like Kevin.
What do you mean "people like Kevin"?
People exhibiting wounds that might be interpreted
as having religious significance.
What was that?
I don't know.
I didn't do anything.
It just broke!
Kevin's just a normal kid.
He probably just hurt himself out on the playground.
I'm sure there's an explanation, Mrs. Kryder,
but right now, everybody's primary concern
should be for Kevin's safety.
I'd like to put him back into the shelter
until we can sort this out.
You don't think I did this to Kevin?
You think I'm the one who cut his hands?
We don't know how he got the cuts,
but we'd like some time to evaluate his case, Mrs. Kryder.
I would never hurt my own child, do you hear me?
Now, I have fought a battle over my son before
that tore my family apart,
and I'm not going to fight it again.
I love my job.
Let's get out of here, Scully.
That kid's hands were definitely cut, Mulder.
They're taking him into custody.
We've warned them about his safety.
I don't know what else we can do.
Have you determined how his hands were cut?
No, not yet, but my guess is that the kid did it to himself.
Boy has his father taken away,
he hurts himself to relieve his dad of guilt
and to get him back.
Maybe we should talk to his father.
He's in an institution.
His father said that he needed to be protected.
Maybe he knows from whom.
He's bleeding again, isn't he?
Yes. How did you know that?
Because the faithful know.
Mr. Kryder, the claims you've made for your son
may have put him in danger.
Do you know that?
The child was in danger long before I ever made the claims.
Since the day he was born, they've been watching him.
"They"?
The forces of darkness.
They will come in the form
of a powerful and respected man.
These forces... what do they want?
To claim all souls.
You must understand,
this is the great war between good and evil.
Armageddon?
But God will find someone to stop it...
someone who is strong enough
to make the sacrifice.
He's chosen you?
I'm merely a messenger.
Let's go.
You must come full circle to find the truth.
Excuse me?
Full circle to find the truth?
I don't know what that means.
You will.
The two kids are running down this long hallway,
but all the doors are locked.
There's nowhere to go.
Soon, they'll both be toast.
They can hear his bloody leg dragging on the floor.
The mutant is on their trail,
hungry for the taste of young meat.
What's it look like?
Yeah, what?
You really want to know?
It looks like the Devil,
and he's bald
because all his hair is burned off in hell,
and his fingers are like pitchforks
with little barbs on the end.
So all he has to do is point at you
and you can't get away.
With each step, he gets closer.
Step... by step...
by step... by step.
He's so close now that even the furniture starts to shake.
Step...
by step... by step...
by step.
Guys, let's get out of here!
And what color hair did he have?
Was it brown or blond, black...?
He was bald.
He didn't have no hair.
'Cause it all burned off in hell.
And how tall was he?
Was he about my height?
Taller? Shorter?
Taller.
What, 6'2 ", 6'3"?
Yeah, maybe even bigger.
And he was dressed all in black.
All right, all right.
What's going to happen to Kevin?
All right, kids.
What happened to Kevin?
Where is he?
Kevin was abducted from this room.
Several of the children witnessed it.
We're getting a description of the man who took him.
But you were supposed to protect him.
You said he would be safe.
We're sorry, Mrs. Kryder.
We're doing everything we can.
Scully.
Did you get a composite?
Yeah, looks like Kevin was abducted
by Homer Simpson's evil twin.
This isn't the killer, Mulder.
I think that's a safe assumption.
No, I mean, it doesn't match the M.O.
None of the previous victims were ever abducted.
None of the previous victims were ten-year-old boys.
Is this the man that took Kevin?
Yeah, but we're not sure how accurate that is.
It's Owen.
You know this man?
Yeah. It's Owen Jarvis.
When my husband left, we hired him to do yard work.
I carved all the animals myself.
It's the ark.
Do you like it?
So when are you going to take me home, Owen?
There's no reason to be afraid.
I'm not going to hurt you.
I've been watching you, Kevin.
You're a very special boy.
You know that, don't you?
I want to go home.
You can't do that.
I can't let you.
Why not?
'Cause it's not safe!
I'm your friend, Kevin.
You have to trust me.
Just think of me as...
your guardian angel.
Shh!
Don't say a word.
Stay here.
Don't move.
Federal agent!
Put down your weapon!
Put it down right here.
Down, now!
Put it down!
Where's the boy?
Don't hurt him... please.
Kevin?
Where's the boy?
What have you done with Kevin?
He can't go home; it's not safe there.
I told him that.
Is this Kevin Kryder's blood?
Yes.
Did you hurt him?
No. I'm not the one that wants to hurt him.
If it's not you, then who is it?
I was only asked to protect the boy.
By who? Who asked you to protect him?
God.
That's quite a long-distance call, isn't it?
You don't understand. Unless someone protects Kevin...
It's the end of the world as we know it, right?
"He who has ears, let him hear..."
"And he that has a tongue, let him speak."
Now tell me where he is!
You believe me, don't you?
I mean...
you must wear that
as a reminder.
Mr. Jarvis, my religious convictions
are hardly the issue here.
But they are.
How can you help Kevin if you don't believe?
Even the killer... he believes.
And townsfolk wonder why I sleep in on Sunday.
Mass on Christmas,
fish on Friday...
you think that makes you a good Christian?
Just because you don't understand sacrifice,
because you're unwilling,
don't think for a moment that you set the rules for me.
I don't question his word.
Whatever he asks of me...
I'll do.
Sit down, Mr. Jarvis.
I just want to go to heaven.
Hey!
Don't!
Mom?
Are you home?
Kevin?
I know you're here, son.
Run, Kevin! Run!
Kevin, what is it?
Upstairs.
You'll be okay. You'll be okay.
Are you the one that was sent to protect me?
Owen Lee Jarvis, adult Caucasian male,
42 years of age.
Cause of death is strangulation,
consistent with previous victims,
as suggested by burn marks around his neck.
Except...
appears to be some kind of a pattern
just to the right of his windpipe.
Possibly a handprint.
Note to the lab to check further.
It is now 14 hours after the time of death,
but so far, his body hasn't even begun to break down.
Rigor mortis has yet to set in.
His core body temperature remains at 98 degrees.
His skin color, lividity is healthy.
There seems to be some...
Any revelations?
Mulder, would you do me a favor?
Would you smell Mr. Jarvis?
You want me to smell him?
What am I supposed to be smelling?
You don't detect a faint floral odor?
Mulder,
this man's body is in no way
decomposing normally.
In catechism,
we learned of instances like this...
so called "incorruptibles" whose bodies wouldn't decay
and who emitted a smell of flowers.
You're serious?
Saint Cecilia, Saint Francis...
And now you're suggesting that this is Saint Owen?
I don't know.
Scully, those stories you're referring to
are mostly regarded as hagiographic fabrications,
not historical truths, just like the occurrence of the stigmata.
What do you think this is?
This man?
He was rather abnormal in life.
Maybe he's decomposing abnormally.
Well, isn't a saint or a holy person
just another term for someone who's abnormal?
Do you really believe that?
I... believe in the idea
that God's hand can be witnessed.
I believe he can create miracles, yes.
Even if science can explain them?
Maybe that's just what faith is.
Well, I wouldn't let faith
overwhelm your judgment here.
These people are simply fanatics behaving fanatically,
using religion as a justification.
They give bona fide paranoiacs like myself a bad name.
They're no more divine or holy
than that ketchup we saw on the murdered preacher.
I think once you've finished your autopsy,
you'll come to the same conclusion.
Saint Owen.
Got your message. What did you turn up?
- It's what you turned up. - What?
Those burn marks and impressions on Jarvis's neck?
They pulled a pair of prints.
Take a look at this.
A partial index and a full oblique
burned right onto the skin.
Any evidence as to how the killer managed to do that?
No, not yet, but I cross-checked the prints
in the NCIC database.
They belong to a businessman named Simon Gates.
He's the CEO of a company based in Atlanta.
He's one of the wealthiest men in the South.
A powerful and respected man.
He was arrested three years ago on a DUI.
Left a young boy paralyzed.
He received a suspended sentence
and then he left the country, went to Israel.
Israel.
Have you heard of Jerusalem syndrome?
Yeah, it's when people who visit the Holy Land
suffer religious delusions induced by the journey.
Yeah, they return home convinced they're the Messiah,
Moses, the Virgin Mary, even the Devil himself.
Well, if that's what Simon Gates believes,
he's just as delusional as Michael Kryder,
only a lot more dangerous.
Yeah, but it still doesn't explain
how he was able to burn his fingerprints
into Owen Jarvis's flesh.
Mulder.
What?
Well, how is that possible?
It's Kevin, isn't it?
H-Hold on.
Yeah, a social worker took Kevin out to lunch
at 1:00, supposedly, but witnesses claim they saw him
outside the facility with his mother
at the exact same time.
Kevin! Lay off the horn.
Damn.
Looks like you're having a little trouble.
Can I give you a hand?
Oh, no, it's fine. It does this all the time.
I just have to wait for it to cool down.
At least let me take the cap off for you.
That should get things started.
No. I'm fine.
Really?
It's no trouble at all.
In the old days, people used to stop to help.
Now they just drive on by.
People also used to say thank you.
What do you want?
I think you know.
Hey, mister!
Kevin! Run!
No!
Hey, Mom!
Get up! Please, Mom!
Come on! Mom?
Mom, are you okay?
Come on, Mom! Don't fall asleep!
Come on, Mom!
Wake up! Come on!
They said they're almost through.
She died because of me.
It was an accident, Kevin.
Your mother was only trying to protect you.
Why does he want to hurt me?
I don't know.
But I won't let him hurt you.
I promise.
It's because I'm different, isn't it?
Why can't I just be like everybody else?
How are you different, Kevin?
Kevin?
I just am.
Agent Mulder and I are going to take you back to the shelter.
There'll be a doctor to take a look at you there.
Do I have to go back there?
No.
No, you don't.
Why don't you duck
back inside.
Is he ready to go?
I want to keep him with us, Mulder,
until Gates is apprehended.
Look, I know about getting personally involved,
and I'm not.
Did he I.D. Gates?
Yes.
That will help.
A man fitting Gates's description
rented a car under the name Forau.
That's one of the Devil's disciples.
I'll wait right outside.
You never draw my bath.
Kevin has a cut under his ribs.
He was in an accident.
No. I was with the paramedics
when they were looking at him.
It wasn't there.
Maybe you missed it.
No, Mulder.
I was paying close attention.
What do you think it is?
Yesterday, I saw Kevin's hands.
They were bleeding from identical wounds on the top
as on the bottom,
just like in the crucifixion.
Scully...
There have been other signs.
I haven't said anything until now
because I haven't been sure... and I'm still not sure.
Sure of what, exactly?
How Kevin was able to be in two places at once,
just like Saint Ignatius was able to do in the Bible.
That was in the Bible; that's a parable.
It's a metaphor for the truth, not the truth itself.
Why didn't Kevin conveniently bilocate
when Owen Jarvis abducted him from the shelter?
How is it that you're able to go out on a limb
whenever you see a light in the sky,
but you're unwilling to accept the possibility of a miracle,
even when it's right in front of you?
I wait for a miracle every day, but what I've seen here
has only tested my patience, not my faith.
Well, what about what I've seen?
Kevin?
You okay?
I didn't lock it.
I'll call the police.
They put up a cordon in a ten-mile radius.
No sign of him.
Best I could figure
is they must have had an acetylene torch
in the back of the truck.
I don't know how else they could have done it.
I wasn't out of that room for more than two minutes, Mulder.
Come on, there's someone I want to talk to again.
Who?
Kevin's father.
Why?
He knew that Kevin was in danger.
He warned us about a powerful and respected man.
The man's a nutcase, Scully.
- Maybe he is. - But Kevin is in immediate danger.
Even if Kevin's father has anything
to say about Gates, it doesn't help us right now.
Well, it's not doing us a lot of good
standing around here.
So this is the man who took my son.
You've never seen him before.
No.
Why would anyone want to hurt Kevin?
What does he want?
You really don't know.
I-I'm sorry.
I'm just a little foggy right now.
Scully?
Haloperidol.
Ativan. They've been giving him tranquilizers.
They've increased his dosage.
Mr. Kryder, you said something before
about coming full circle to find the truth.
What does it mean?
Full circle to find the truth.
I don't know.
I just can't remember.
Scully. They had a sighting of Gates.
He tried to rent another car at the airport
under the name Forau again.
Did you hear what I said?
Mulder, look.
Arrows that form a circle.
Full circle to find the truth.
Gates's company owns a recycling plant near here.
That's where he's taken Kevin.
Scully, the man is at the airport.
If he hasn't already killed Kevin,
he's trying to get as far away as he can.
I don't think so, Mulder.
You think it's you, don't you?
You think you're the one who's been chosen to protect Kevin.
I don't know.
Look, if I'm wrong,
I'll meet you out at the airport, okay?
The sun will be turned into darkness,
and the moon will turn to blood...
because of you, son.
Is that why you want to hurt me?
It's not a question of wanting.
You have to die, Kevin...
for everyone.
For the new age to come.
You understand that, don't you?
The others were all false prophets.
You are the only true one
among the 12.
Stop! Federal agent!
I'm armed!
Let him go!
Let him go,
and we'll talk about it.
There's nothing to talk about!
I was called upon!
Let me go! Let me go!
No!
Kevin.
Hold on.
I knew you'd come.
You all set?
Thanks.
Maybe I'll see you again sometime.
You will.
- You all ready, Kevin? - Yeah.
You okay?
Yeah, I think so.
We got a couple hours before our flight.
I told the sheriff
we'd go down and make a formal statement
about Gates's death.
I'd appreciate it
if you'd handle that alone, Mulder.
I have an errand I need to run.
Okay.
I'll see you at the airport.
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
It has been... six years since my last confession.
And since then,
I've drifted away from the Church.
I'm not sure why exactly.
Have you come to confess?
No. Um...
There's a man that I work with...
a friend.
And usually I'm able
to discuss these things with him.
But not this.
Father, do you believe in miracles?
Of course. I see them every day.
The rising sun, the birth of a child.
No, I'm talking about events
that defy explanation.
Things that...
I believe helped me to save a young boy's life.
But now I wonder if I saw them at all...
if I didn't just imagine them.
Why do you doubt yourself?
Because my partner didn't see them.
He didn't...
he didn't believe them.
And usually he...
he believes without question.
Maybe they weren't meant for him to see.
Maybe they were only meant for you.
Is that possible?
With the Lord, anything is possible.
Perhaps you saw these things because you needed to.
To find my way back?
Sometimes we must come full circle to find the truth.
Why does that surprise you?
Mostly it just makes me afraid.
Afraid?
Afraid that God is speaking...
but that no one's listening.
I made this!