[Mulder's Voice] They said the birds refused to sing...
and the thermometer fell suddenly,
as if God himself had his breath stolen away.
No one there dared speak aloud,
as much in shame as in sorrow.
They uncovered the bodies one by one.
The eyes of the dead were closed,
as if waiting for permission to open them.
Were they still dreaming of ice cream and monkey bars,
of birthday cake and no future but the afternoon?
Or had their innocence been taken along with their lives,
buried in the cold earth so long ago?
These fates seemed too cruel, even for God to allow.
Or are the tragic young born again when the world's not looking?
I wanna believe so badly in a truth beyond our own,
hidden and obscured from all but the most sensitive eyes.
? [Soft, Ethereal]
In the endless procession of souls,
in what cannot and will not be destroyed,
I want to believe we are unaware of God's eternal recompense and sadness...
that we cannot see his truth.
That that which is born still lives and cannot be buried in the cold earth,
? [Continues]
But only waits to be born again at God's behest...
where in ancient starlight we lay...
in repose.
[Door Opens]
Ed Truelove was 19 when he committed his first murder.
He was working as a janitor at an elementary school...
and they needed someone to play Santa Claus.
He never got over the feelings it aroused.
He's admitted to all of it, Mulder...
24 separate murders.
But he refuses to take blame for Amber Lynn LaPierre.
I was just handed the preliminary forensics report.
Her body was not one of those found in the graves.
Mulder, I know you wanted to find her out there.
He's got hours of video of her.
I'm talking about your sister.
- I know that's who you're looking for. - Yeah.
You don't know how badly I wanted her to be in one of those graves.
Hard as it is to admit, I wanted to find her here riding her bike like all these other kids.
I guess I just want it to be over.
- [Door Opens] - [Man] Agent Mulder, Scully.
There's a Mr. Harold Piller here to see you.
- Mr. Piller? - Agent Mulder.
- Agent Scully. - Do we know each other?
Not personally, no. But I'm happy to meet you. Hi. Harold Piller.
Mr. Piller, are you part of this investigation?
Yes, I hope to be.
- How can we help you? - I was hoping to help you.
You're a police psychic.
My references are on the back.
I've gotten some strong hits off this case.
You're looking for a little girl,
but she's not among the dead.
Your suspect is going to say he didn't kill her.
Did he?
No. I think I can help find her.
Mr. Piller, you have some interesting references here.
You've worked with law enforcements in Kashmir, India, Myanmar,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Khyber Pass.
That was a train wreck... a horrible tragedy.
They called me in to locate the bodies of seven children who were unrecovered.
- And did you recover them? - I didn't recover them, no.
- But I explained what happened. - What happened?
The children's bodies were transported from the accident site...
by a spiritual intervention, what are known as walk-ins.
Thank you, Mr. Piller, but we have real work to be done.
I've studied this phenomenon the world over...
at mud slides in Peru, earthquakes in Uzbekistan.
Kids' bodies never found, never accounted for in any other way.
What happened to them?
The bodies were transported from the various sites...
in starlight.
Please excuse us. Mulder?
- Mulder, please. - What is it?
Mulder, you have been through so much in such a short time...
the death of your mother and the feelings it's brought up for your sister.
You're vulnerable right now.
We still have a missing body... Amber Lynn LaPierre. She may be alive. We don't know.
But this man isn't gonna help us find her, by his own admission.
It's not the first time I've heard what he's saying...
about the intervention of these walking spirits.
Kathy Lee Tencate mentioned it to me in the prison.
- She said that's who took her son. - Because it's foolproof, Mulder.
Nobody is gonna disprove it if there's no body.
And that's exactly what this man does.
He gives a comforting explanation at a train wreck...
or an earthquake that everyone can live with.
But the fact is the bodies are still buried.
Or maybe they are somewhere else.
Like your sister?
Mulder,
you told me that all you wanted was for this to be over.
I do.
Well, then I'm going back to Washington.
There's nothing more to be done here.
How long have you been doing this?
A few years.
I have a son who disappeared under strange circumstances.
He's never been found.
And then one day, I just... started to see them.
These walk-ins, you say they...
they come and take the children.
- Why? - In almost every case,
the parents had a precognitive image...
of their child dead.
Horrible visions.
I believe what this is is the work of good spirits...
foretelling their fates.
A fate the child was about to meet,
a particularly violent fate that wasn't meant to be.
Which is why the spirits intervened,
transforming matter into pure energy.
Starlight.
But it's not what happened here.
How do you know that?
Because these children all died suffering,
pleading innocently for their lives.
These beautiful children, so... trusting and pure.
I see them.
My God, why?
Why must some suffer and not others?
You see them? Do you see Amber Lynn LaPierre?
She wasn't here. She never was.
But I'm... I'm sensing a connection with her...
to this place.
No, it's a connection to...
- It's a connection to you. - How's that?
You lost someone close to you.
Ayoung girl.
It happened a... a long time ago.
Your sister.
There's a connection between these girls, isn't there?
Between her and Amber Lynn?
What is the connection?
I don't know.
But we're going to find them. I'm sure of it.
[Man] I'm going to count backwards now, Fox.
And you'll fall into a deep relaxed state...
so that you'll remember all about your sister and what happened.
One hundred, ninety-nine,
ninety-eight,
ninety-seven,
ninety-six...
Where are you now, Fox?
I'm at home... my mom and dad's.
We're in the den playing a game.
Who are you there with?
Samantha.
- Do you feel in any danger? - No.
We're arguing, you know, but not really. Just playing the game. You know, fooling around.
By what I can tell from the tape, he seems to be in a legitimate hypnotic state.
Pieces on the board are fallin' off...
[Man] Here I became suspicious.
- [Mulder] Samantha? - Suspicious of what?
In 30 years with the F.B.I., you think you've seen it all.
I sometimes think I have.
But this is just a garden variety compensatory abduction fantasy.
Compensatory for what?
His guilt. His fear.
Everything that's preventing Agent Mulder...
from remembering the truth about what really happened that night.
You mean his sister wasn't abducted?
No, his sister definitely went missing in 1973. That's not in dispute.
Agent Mulder, however, wasn't regressed until 1989.
See, his delusion is playing into his unconscious hope...
that his sister is still alive.
And if you think about it, his delusion has the effect...
of giving him reason to pursue her.
But why alien abduction?
Close Encounters, E. T., who knows?
But there was probably a lot of imagery collecting in his head...
in those 16 years.
And then he comes down here, and he finds the X-Files.
So what do you think happened to his sister?
Well, in 1973...
we were pretty damned unsophisticated about violent predatory crime.
My guess is she was kidnapped in the house,
her body was disposed of, never found.
You think that his sister's dead?
Have you seen this file?
There was an extraordinary amount of effort put into finding his sister.
Even the treasury department got involved.
His father worked at a high level in the government.
They found nothing.
Why, Agent Scully? Why do you wanna bring all this back up now?
Someone owes it to Mulder.
Word of advice, me to you.
Let it be.
You know, there are some wounds that are just too painful ever to be reopened.
Well, this particular wound has never healed.
And Mulder deserves closure, just like anyone.
[Charlton Heston On TV] Apes evolved from men?
- There's gotta be an answer. - Don't look for it, Taylor.
You may not like what you find.
[Knocking]
Untie me!
[Knocking Continues]
- What? What are you doing? - I'm picking up something.
- It's 3:00 in the morning. - There's someone here.
- Yeah, the TV is on... - No. A visitor.
They... They wanna speak. They wanna tell us something.
What?
Get a piece of paper.
- [Shuts TVOff] - And a pen.
No, you.
Shoot.
It's your mother.
She's here in the room with us.
She's trying to speak to you.
What does she say?
She wants to tell you about your sister...
- where she is. - [No Audible Dialogue]
What is she saying?
Harold?
I don't know. L...
- [Sighs] She's gone. - Come on, Harold.
I lost her.
- That's crap. You're full of crap. - No.
- Get out of here. - I'm telling you...
- I'm telling you, I never should have listened to you. - She was here!
- She had a message. - Please go.
Look!
Who wrote that?
You did.
[Cell Phone Ringing]
- Mulder. - [Scully] Mulder, it's me.
I found something, and I'm standing here not quite believing what it is.
- What is it? - I don't know if you know this,
but there was a special treasury department investigation into Samantha's disappearance.
In 1973. I know all about that.
Well, I'm in your mother's house and I found a piece of a document that she burned.
A document that matches one that I found in the treasury investigation file.
But she had the original, Mulder.
I don't see where you're goin' with this, Scully.
This is the document that effectively calls off the search for your sister, Mulder.
And it's signed with the initials C.G.B.S.
C.G.B. Spender...
the Smoking Man.
He was involved with this back in '73.
That's not exactly a revelation, Scully. He was a friend of my father's.
Mulder, you told me you believed that he's the man that killed your father,
that he's the man who's done nothing but confound your work,
who's come close to killing you.
And here he's ordering people to stop looking for your sister.
I don't see what you think this proves, or how you think it's gonna help me find her now.
- You don't wanna press him? - It's a dead end.
He's never been of any help, and he's not gonna be of any help now.
Look, I'm pursuing this my own way, all right. I gotta go.
It's not exactly the end of the rainbow, is it, Harold?
There's something here. I'm getting a strong sense of it.
I think we should have a look.
I've had a look.
What are you afraid of? That you'll really find her?
- That you'd have to deal with it? - There's nothing here.
- It's a decommissioned base. - You wrote the name down yourself.
Why do you care so much about what I feel? Why is this so important to you?
[Car Approaching]
You gentlemen need to move along.
I have to ask you to turn around and get back in your car.
There's nothing to see here.
There is something here to see, Agent Mulder. I'm sure of it.
[Ringing]
- Hello? - [Dial Tone Humming]
- [Groans] - [Cigarette-Smoking Man] I should have grabbed it for you.
I like to make myself useful.
You can start by putting out that cigarette.
You've got it all figured out, don't you, Agent Scully?
All but why you can't just come to the door and knock.
I did that.
No one answered.
You're sick.
I had an operation.
What do you want?
I want you to stop looking.
You've wanted that since 1973...
when you ordered an end to the search for Agent Mulder's sister.
Your initials are on that document.
Yes, I signed that order,
because I knew then what I know now... no one's gonna find her.
- Why not? - Because I believe she's dead.
No reason to believe otherwise.
You're a liar.
If you knew that she was dead, why didn't you say something earlier? Why now?
There was so much to protect before. It's all gone now.
So you just let Mulder believe that she was alive for all these years?
Out of kindness, Agent Scully.
Allow him his ignorance.
It's what gives him hope.
- My sister was here? - Yes.
One of these houses? Where?
I've lost it, whatever it was.
Which house, Harold? Come on. Which house?
- I don't know. - Harold, we don't have all night. Which house was it?
Let's go, Harold.
You were right. This was the house.
- How do you know? - Look.
I told you! What did I tell you?
You told me she was here.
You didn't say with who.
When did you come up with this story, Mulder?
Because yesterday when I spoke to you, you said that the Smoking Man wasn't involved.
Turns out you were right. He had every reason to call off the hunt for my sister.
After her abduction, she was returned to him...
and he raised her at the military base, along with his son Jeffrey Spender.
- Mulder... - Scully, I saw her name in the cement.
Her handprints right next to his.
Mulder, I spoke to him...
the Smoking Man, C.G.B. Spender, whatever his name is.
You went to him?
He told me that she was dead.
Well, he's a liar.
Mulder, why would he lie now? I mean, think about it.
It hurts me to tell you this.
The handprints prove he's a liar! I saw her handprints in the cement.
Her name Samantha right underneath them. How more obvious can it be?
Harold Piller led me there. He led me right to 'em.
Oh, he led you, Mulder.
He led you from the moment that he met you.
- [Footsteps Approaching] - Something wrong?
Sit down, Harold.
Hi.
You're back.
Scully has informed me that you failed to mention something to me when we first met.
- What? - That you're currently the subject...
of a criminal investigation into the murder of your son.
My son was taken from me. The police need someone to blame.
That's not all, Harold. Your history of mental illness.
- You were institutionalized, diagnosed with schizophrenia. - I've got that under control.
You wouldn't have believed me if I had told you any of that.
- Look what I've shown you. - You only tell me what you see.
I came to you because I wanna help.
You think I'm a fraud? What do I have to gain from this?
How am I any different from you?
All I want is to find my son. L... I just...
I just want my little boy back.
I see these things. I don't know how, but... there has got to be a reason.
And if it's not to help, what is it?
I know your sister is out there.
Maybe I can prove it to you.
Whoever's lived here hasn't lived here in a long time.
- We're gonna need to hold hands. - What do you mean?
I'm going to try and summon their presence into the house.
Oh, yea. A seance. I haven't done that since high school.
Maybe afterwards we can play postman and spin the bottle.
[Sighs] I'm not going to say anything.
I'm just going to be very quiet and still. That's how it seems to work best.
Um, you might experience a sudden chill...
or feel a pressure in your ears.
That means they're here.
And if they need to, they'll let themselves be seen.
Close your eyes...
and let them come to you.
They will come to you if you're ready to see.
- How will we know? - Shh.
Stay quiet. You'll know.
Mulder?
- What are you doing? - It's here.
What is?
There was a boy. He led me into this room.
Mulder?
It's a diary.
It's your sister's.
[Mulder] They did more tests today, but not the horrible kind.
I was awake and they made me lay still...
while they shine lights in my eyes.
They asked me questions, but I always lie now...
and tell them what they wanna hear just to make 'em stop.
I hate them and I hate the way they treat me,
like I'm an old suitcase they can just drag around and open up whenever they want to.
They know I hate them, but they... don't even care.
This is 1979.
She's 14 years old here.
Fourteen years old.
[Turning Pages]
Sometimes I think my memories were taken by the doctors, but not all of them.
I remember faces. I think I had a brother...
with brown hair who used to tease me.
I hope...
someday he reads this and knows I wish I could see his face for real.
And then, uh,
she's, uh, talking about running away.
She wants to run away...
so that they stop doing the tests.
And then it just stops.
[Closes Diary]
Let's get out of here.
You know, I never stop to think...
that the light is billions of years old by the time we see it.
From the beginning of time...
right past us into the future.
Nothing is ancient in the universe.
Maybe they are souls, Scully...
travel through time and starlight...
Iooking for homes.
I wonder what my mother saw.
I wonder what she was trying to tell me.
Get some sleep.
All right.
[No Audible Dialogue]
I got it, Mulder. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.
It was like it was looking for me.
- Sergeant's blotter, 1979. - What are you talking about?
[Scully] The description matches your sister.
- When did you find this? - Mulder, it's almost noon.
[Scully] Maybe she went by another name.
She could have given them a name other than her own.
She didn't give a name at all.
Read this. It's a medical report.
Admittance notes say the E.R. Nurses couldn't get her name out of her.
Neither could the cops.
Her medical examination is normal.
Her mental state...
it says here she was exhibiting signs of paranoia.
Evidence of probable self-inflicted abuse,
including small crescent-shaped scars on her knees, wrists and chest.
Those are from the tests, Scully.
That's her. She was here.
Fourteen years old in this hospital.
Diagnosis of condition incomplete. Tests unavailable.
And he knew.
He lied. He knew she was alive.
And the only reason he's lying now is because she's still alive.
Mulder, wait.
I know. You don't want me to get my hopes up. I understand that.
That was 1979. It was 21 years ago.
I don't know where to begin, and we don't have a record here of a doctor signing her out.
We have an E.R. Nurse who signed her in.
What's wrong?
I have this powerful feeling, and I can't explain it,
but that... this is the end of the road.
That I've been brought here to learn the truth.
Are you ready for it?
Do you want me to go talk to her myself?
Okay.
Oh. I thought that was the door.
- Arbutus Ray? - Yes.
Are you the same Arbutus Ray that worked as a nurse...
at the Dominic Savio Memorial Hospital in 1979?
Yes, I'm she.
I'd like to ask you about a patient you treated...
a 14-year-old girl.
[Arbutus] I remember. Yes.
She was such a pretty young girl.
You couldn't forget someone like her, or how frightened she was.
Scared for her sweet life.
The deputy brought her in. She was shaking like a leaf.
Wouldn't let anyone touch her but me.
Then the strangest thing happened.
You had a vision of her... dead.
Like the parents of Amber Lynn LaPierre.
No one believed me.
Honestly, you're the first person who...
- So you saw her dead? - That night in her bed.
I blinked and it was gone.
She was sleeping as sound as could be.
I don't know why, but...
it made some kind of strange sense.
What do you mean?
There were men.
They came to pick her up late that night.
I assumed the one was her father, but he...
he gave me such a chill when he looked at me...
when I asked him would he please put out his cigarette.
So, they took her?
They meant to.
But when I took them to her room,
she was gone.
Disappeared out of a locked room.
Just vanished.
? [Soft, Ethereal]
? [Continues]
Samantha.
Mulder, where'd you go?
End of the road.
He's okay. It's okay.
My son? You saw my son?
He's dead. They're all dead, Harold...
your son, Amber Lynn, my sister.
- No. - Harold.
You see so much, but you refuse to see him.
You refuse to let him go.
But you have to let him go now, Harold.
He's protected. He's in a better place. They're all in a better place.
We both have to let go, Harold.
You're wrong. I'm going to find him.
[Panting] I don't believe you!
Mulder, what happened?
Are you sure you're all right?
I'm fine.
I'm free.
[Child] I made this!