TITLE:  The Tortured Soul
AUTHOR: Erin M. Blair
E-MAIL: eblair@sonic.net
FEEDBACK: Yes, please.
DISTRIBUTION: OK to Gossamer, Ephemeral,
MiJ, Mulder's Refuge, etc. :)
RATING: PG
CATEGORIES: SRA -- Story, Romance, Angst 
KEYWORDS: MSR. MulderTorture.
SPOILERS: Requiem, Within, WIthout, TINH, DeadAlive,
and Three Words. 
DISCLAIMER: Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter.
SUMMARY: Mulder deals with his abduction experience. 
NOTES: This story was written for Mulder's Refuge June
Open Theme Challenge. Thanks to Lisa for beta reading. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

The night frightened him the most. He remembered how it was 
on the ship with the darkness surrounding him. He never 
told her that the dark scared him now. There was no use in 
denying it now - he was tortured. When he was on the ship, 
he went through all kinds of tests that were so painful 
that he screamed on top of his lungs.

Now he knew that he would always remember the faceless 
beings hovering over him. He would always remember the 
sharp blade cutting through layers of skin, almost directly 
to the bone, while another piercing scream echoed through 
his prison. He wished these memories would leave. He wishes 
that it would disappear into the light of the day, but it 
only returns when the night comes to call. 

He realizes why abductees wouldn't talk about their 
experiences in the past to him. He understands the pain 
that they had suffered throughout the years. He now knows 
why Scully would never try to remember her own abduction; 
it's simply an episode that she never wanted to explore.

He wishes that he could rewind time and done things 
differently, He wished that he had told everyone that he 
wouldn't return to Bellefleur with Skinner. He wished that 
he were at Scully's side at the hospital, telling him about 
their unborn baby. He could only imagine the happiness and 
the planning of their life together would be like. 

That was the dream that soothes him, making him forget 
briefly that he was now an abductee. 

~~~
The End