I woke up, not knowing where I was. I looked around the room, noticing I was bound with handcuffs and hanging from the roof. My legs were bound as well, I couldn't move. I called for help but no one was coming. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down as I recalled last night's events. I had been free from work, so I had spent my day with the dogs. Later on the evening I had watched some bad cooking programs and I had gone to bed early. Now I was here, in an unknown room, somewhere.
I heard someone walking outside the metal door and I saw Hannibal Lecter coming inside through the now open door. His eyes were dark as he looked at me.
"Will", he said objectively. His hands were hiding behind his back. I could see his heart beating steadily beneath his gray vest. Each beat emitted a soft but dark glow through the fabric. He looked at me with dark eyes, his heart still beating in the same rhythm as he strode toward me. His hands came out of their hiding, revealing a knife.
"Hannibal… what are you doing?" I asked, swallowing as my throat had turned dry.
Hannibal just smiled at me.
"I'm doing what I'm always doing Will. Killing people and eating their body parts." He chuckled softly at the end. "Now it's your turn", he smiled.
He was the cannibal, he was the one eating people. He had killed all those people. And the food he had cooked for us… It was human. I had eaten human flesh. I had kissed this man and called him mine. Nausea rolled over me and I resisted the urge to throw up.
The iron handcuffs strained around my wrists when I started struggling, but the cuffs dug deeper into my wrists and they drew out small streams of blood. I hissed in pain. My heart jumped from the sudden pain and I could see it glowing faintly red through my white T-shirt. The beating in my chest increased as Hannibal came closer, the black glow from his heart now molding together with my red. He smiled, a dimple showing as he carefully nudged my glowing chest with the edge of the knife. My breath hitched and I stared into his eyes, only seeing two pools of darkness. There was nothing left of the human I used to know, nothing left of the man I had loved. The man standing in front of me now was just a monster, a monster whose highest priority right now was killing me.
"Your heart beats so wonderfully, I can hardly wait having a taste of it..." Hannibal whispered, devouring me with his eyes. His red tongue licked his lips hungrily.
I swallowed, not daring to say anything. I just wanted him to be done with it. I knew from experience of his victims I had seen that I'd not get away. I'd die here in this room.
He ripped my shirt open with the knife, revealing my naked chest and rapidly beating glowing heart. The edge of the knife went around my heart, its sharp edge leaving red marks which left unwanted goose bumps all over my body. Hannibal seemed to like it, as his black heart thumped a bit faster for a second. His breath grew quicker as he saw me noticing his increased heartbeat. He started drawing a caricature of a heart around my heart, blood coming out from each stroke he made with the knife.
I winced in pain, hating myself for it. My heart beat faster, blood flowing through the four chambers and out into my body. I tasted the murky taste of fear on my tongue. Not good. I tried easing my heart by sighing deeply but it had no effect. The fear kept growing and Hannibal reveled in it.
He smiled and closed his eyes, leaning closer to me and started licking the trickling blood from my chest. I gasped, the feeling of his tongue so close to my heart sent waves of weird pleasure to the pit of my stomach. Hannibal noticed it, smiling even more as he drew out more blood with the knife.
"I didn't knew you liked this kind of practice…" he murmured.
I didn't either, I was ashamed with my body's reaction.
Soon, my torso was almost covered in crimson. My heart still beat wildly, and it still glowed, even though the light of life was escaping from me by each minute. My chest was covered with different long and small red streaks, all of them surrounding my heart in one way or another.
Hannibal seemed proud over his art, a bit of light had returned into his eyes as he saw my battered body. It was his work, his piece of art. I was his. He had made me his by doing this to me.
"Now Will, we shall proceed with the cutting", Hannibal whispered yearningly as he opened my handcuffs with a key he got from the back of his jeans. I flopped down on the hard floor, my arms screaming in joy as they were finally free from the strain. I put my arms around me, trying to protect myself from the impending doom. I breathed shallowly as the world around me started spinning. I had lost way too much blood. My end was coming.
I felt Hannibal's strong hands coiling my arms as he dragged me to another room, this room was lighter than the earlier and had a table in the middle. I didn't struggle when he put my limp body on the table and again, I was bound without being able to move. I had no means of escaping and I was too weak to even try.
I heard water dropping into a sink as Hannibal washed his hands, the sound was soothing and I found myself almost falling asleep. Another sign of blood loss.
"No time to sleep Will. You have to stay awake during this procedure", Hannibal's voice made my eyes snap open. I saw him stepping into the room, his body was clad in an entirely white coat but his black heart was still visible. It beat faster now, the glow growing stronger with each beat. He was now standing beside me with a slaughter knife in his hand. He was smiling, a warm smile this time. I had seen it once, and it had been when I had told him I was in love with him. That seemed like a long time ago now.
"Now Will… You and I are going to be fused together. Just like you always wanted. Though I couldn't give it to you back then. It wasn't just right to fuse together in that way." He paused.
"This is the only right way. The true way to get fused. Me eating every piece of you", he continued. The words hurt me. I had always wanted to make love with him, but he had always refused with no explainable reason. Now I knew why.
He leaned down to my face and I felt his lips embrace mine. His tongue went harshly into my mouth, he tasted my fear and a small moan escaped from his throat. I felt the iron like taste of my own blood on his tongue and resisted the urge to throw up. He stopped kissing me, his eyes even darker as he looked down at me.
"You're not up for it now Will? You always were before. I'm disappointed with you", he blamed me before he ripped away the petty remains of my shirt.
My entire torso was now open for his willing. I saw the glow from my beating heart on the roof, faltering away as he cut the knife through a red mark on my chest. Blood gushed out of the wound and the pain made me scream. I howled out my pain, the sound echoing between the walls. I tried catching my breath that had escaped me, but it only turned into rough gasps that didn't give me the oxygen I needed.
Hannibal thrived in my pain, I could see it on his black heart beating crazily through the white that covered it. I tried to lift my arms, to do anything to remove the pain, but the strains around me were too steadfast. I was lost.
Hannibal continued gutting me open, the pain was overwhelming, I screamed until I had no voice left. I was gone for an unknown time when I was suddenly waken by a jolt to my heart.
"No Will. You're not allowed to leave me. Not yet at least", Hannibal's voice murmured. I couldn't see him from the dark that was blinding my sight. I didn't care. Death was the only thing I wanted now. I welcomed it. My vision turned black and I was gone once more.
I was woken again with the same jolt. Hannibal was sitting on a chair next to me, his arms were painted red with crimson. Beside him lay a defibrillator. He gave me a fond smile and I felt his sticky hand stroking my hair. The pain from before was just a memory, my body was numb.
"Look Will. It's so beautiful. Just like you", he murmured fondly and pointed at the roof with a bloody finger where a mirror was hanging.
I saw myself lying on the table in the mirror. My face was white with a tint of yellow, small droplets of blood adorned my face. I had big spots of dried blood on my chest, and in the middle of it, a gaping hole stared back at me. In the bottom of the hole, I saw my heart beating faintly but now it had stopped glowing completely. I was horrified by the sight, I turned my face away, nausea ripped through my stomach and I threw up what little I had left.
Hannibal made a pitying sound.
"My dear Will. Are you not overacting?" he asked and wiped my mouth with a napkin he got from his breast pocket.
I stared at his face, staring into his dark, emotionless eyes.
"Hannibal… Please…" My voice was rough and small. It was unrecognizable. "Kill me", I begged. A single tear trickled down my cheek.
Hannibal caught the tear with his thumb and dried it away on the side of his coat. He moved the chair closer to the table and placed a kiss on my cheek.
"Hush… Don't cry. Everything will be all right", he murmured with the voice he knew I loved. The voice he had used the first time he said we shared a mutual feeling for each other.
I almost believed him that everything would be okay. I wanted to believe him, but I knew he was just faking. Like with everything else. He wanted to eat me, which was the only truth.
My eyes burned as more tears escaped them. I breathed coarsely as the sorrow mixed panic took over me.
"Please…" I begged. "Please…"
Hannibal just placed another kiss on my cheek without listening to my begging. He just sat there, watching my heart beating weakly. I let out a small gasp of relief as I felt my heart finally giving up. My vision turned black and emptiness stretched over me.
Sometime later, I woke up with a jerk. My blurred vision turned sharp and I saw Hannibal's hands inside the hole in my chest. He was giving me cardiac massage. He was literally holding my life in his hands.
Hannibal looked at me, a smile playing over his lips.
"Your heart is so soft Will. It's incredible… I wonder what it taste like", he sighed and stared longingly at the muscle between his hands.
I couldn't believe he was still keeping me alive. I was a shadow of a human. A wraith.
"Hannibal… Please, let me go. Let me die. I beg you. Please. Isn't that what you-" I swallowed, my throat was dry. I was so weak. "-always wanted…" I murmured, my voice just a whisper. I felt my body wanting to give up for the third time.
Hannibal grinned and nodded, continuing to massage my heart warily between his hands.
"Yes, I've always wanted to taste and eat you. To know what your flavors are and what they taste like. But it isn't as fun if you aren't alive. I regret that I went for your heart first." He shook his head, displeased with himself.
"But it's too late for regrets now Will", he said firmly.
His black heart was beating a steady rhythm as one of his hands went out from my chest and reached for the slaughter knife.
"I'm sorry Will, but I can't wait any longer. I need to know what your gorgeous heart taste like", he whispered and slit my throat. Blood spilled out, it splattered over my chest and Hannibal's wicked smiling face as he cut out my heart.