Evening. Chapter Nine24th October. Evening. TOO TIRED TO do anything constructive, Ella switched on the television. Reality and lifestyle shows greeted her on every channel. Despairing of chirpy banter about drought-tolerant plants, she pressed the off button and tossed the remote onto the sofa. It landed with a thud on the X-Files video Matt Hayes had insisted she take. More into thrillers than sci-fi, she toyed with the idea of playing it. Practicality overcame her doubts. If she wanted to snoop into that folded paper Matt had been so eager to hide, she had a feeling she’d better watch it. She turned the entertainment unit back on, slipped the video in and settled on the couch, wondering what she was in store for and whether she’d need a drink or two and a bar of chocolate to get her through the film and its haunting soundtrack. Halfway through a plot that involved at least as much intrigue as alien horror, Ella discovered she was enjoying the video in spite of herself, so much so, that, when Tilly scratched on the sliding door, she decided the cat could wait until the scene break to be let in.
