Teso Dos Bichos - Plot

Plot

At an archaeological dig in the Ecuadorian highlands, two archaeologists, Dr. Bilac and Dr. Roosevelt, get into an argument over the removal of a burial urn that contains an Amaru, or a female shaman. Dr. Roosevelt argues that the urn must be taken from the site and preserved in a museum, much to the chagrin of Dr. Bilac and the tribespeople present. Later, a native shaman distributes Yaje, also known as the Vine of the Soul, to the local villagers and Dr. Bilac. Mysteriously, during this ritual, a Jaguar spirit murders Dr. Roosevelt in his tent.

Meanwhile, in the states, Mulder and Scully begin investigating the disappearance of Dr. Decker, an archaeologist from the Boston Museum of History, after a security guard discovers a large amount of blood in Decker's lab. They interview both the Museum Curator, Dr. Lewton, and graduate student Moana Wustner. They also visit a reclusive Dr. Bilac.

After closing, Dr. Lewton is killed by the Jaguar Spirit when his car won't start. During an investigation of the crime scene, Scully come across a party of rat corpses in the engine compartment of Dr. Lewton's car. Mona is then asked by Scully about strange or bizarre happenings in the museum of natural history, in which Mona replies nothing out of the ordinary has occurred. Mulder and a group of police search for Dr. Lewton's remains. Scully sees blood dripping on Mulder's face from above and, upon looking up, they see a portion of Dr. Lewton's small intestine hanging from a tree. Scully, about to perform an autopsy on Dr. Lewton's intestine, is interrupted when Mona suddenly calls, saying that Bilac was under the influence of Yaje. Back at the museum, Mona hears noises from the women's bathroom and, upon opening the toilet lid, she sees rats forcing their way out of the sewer. When the two agents arrive, they discover Dr. Bilac crying beside one of the toilets. Mulder then asks him where Mona is, to which Bilac replies, "She is dead."

Later, Bilac escapes from the room in which he is being held without exiting through the only door. Mulder notices a large drag mark through the dust on the floor, leading to a strange hatch in the wall, under a table. Mulder then asks where the entrance leads, and the museum security guard says that it leads to the old steam tunnels. Mulder and Scully enter into the manhole and walk through the hidden underground room only to find rats, the bodies of those missing and presumed dead, and a multitude of ferocious cats. Scully then gets attacked by a cat with blood on its mouth and others come rushing towards them; in an attempt to escape, they find the hole the rat came through earlier and Bilac's body, mutilated and bloodied like all the others. As the two agents make their way out, the demonic cats scratch down the door and burst through the hole before Mulder closes the lid.

The episode closes with Mulder suspecting that the animal attacks were associated with the Ecuadorian burial urn that had been removed against the wishes of the shaman and his clan. It is shortly returned to the burial grounds where the shaman watches the urn's burial with his jaguar-like eyes.