QUARTET - Chapter 1

Here's one I've been considering writing for a while. It would seem inevitable, when you think about it. Archive it if you like.
 


THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST

Synopsis: One familiar murder. Two familiar faces.

"QUARTET"

by Eric R. Umali

Rockport High School, Rockport, Maine 11:23 AM

Jessie Bannon had the feeling that morning that it wasn't going to be a normal day. That something interesting was going to happen, sooner or later. She was right.

She entered the girls' locker room to get ready for P.E. class, and spun the dial on her locker. Opening it, she looked into the small mirror on the inside of the door. *I've got to get more sleep. No more late night IRC chats with Jonny.* Something in the background caught her eye. She turned around.

She walked over to the equipment cage where she swear she saw a patch of skin peeking out from under some duffle bags. Testing the door, she found it unlocked.

From behind her, a classmate called. "Hey, Jessie, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure." She opened the door. Inching over, she raised the duffle bag. She gasped. The other girl, now just behind her, screamed.

It was a human body, though barely identifiable as one. Gingerly, Jessie took a field hockey stick and turned the still form. It was grotesquely thin, almost skeletal. It wore a simple baby t-shirt and jean shorts, but they hung loosely off the frame. Its skin was wrinkled and dry-looking, but blond curls still clung to its head. Jessie recognized the body as having once been Mary Petrozzi, a classmate.

Jessie had seen bodies like this before.

The police came, and questioned Jessie and her classmates for an hour or so. School was dismissed immediately. Back at the compound, she sat with Jonny, talking about the incident.

"You're sure it was just like the bodies in New Orleans?"

"Positive."

"Then you know what we're looking for."

"And I know what we have to do. No one's going to believe us. We have to do it ourselves."

And so it was decided. Moving furtively after dinner, they gathered the approriate weapons, and headed for the high school, sure that their adversary would strike again.

Rockport High School, 8:47 PM

When they reached the school, they were surprised to see a dark blue four-door parked right by the entrance. Slowly going in, they began to search the hallways. When they reached the area near the girls' locker room, they saw the glow of moving flashlights from the crack under the door. The police line tape had been cut away.

Without a word, they prepared. Jonny braced himself. Jessie hefted the antique spear they had appropriated from Dr. Quest's collection. Jonny kicked the door open wide with a shout.

"DON'T MOVE!!" four voices shouted.

Jessie and Jonny, in the dim light, found themselves staring down the barrels of a pair of semi-automatic weapons.

"What are you kids doing here?" said one figure, a man.

"We know what killed Mary Petrozzi," said Jonny.

"And we know how to stop it," added Jessie.

The other figure, a woman, spoke. "Put the spear down. We're investigating Mary Petrozzi's death. Maybe you can help us."

Jonny, to say the least, was skeptical. "Who are you, anyway?"

They figures lowered their weapons and stepped more into the light. One was a handsome dark-haired man, tall and slim. The woman was young and attractive, with red hair, though paler than Jessie's. They reached into their coats and produced badges and ID cards that they held up with practiced casualness.

"I'm Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully. We're with the FBI."

TO BE CONTINUED...?

I wasn't sure if I wanted to write this. Anyone want me to keep going?

Disclaimer: More characters, more risk! Characters and situations and associated stuff are owned by Hanna Barbera and Ten Thirteen Productions.