Chapter 2
Hannibal watched his new cellmate pace the cell. She seemed to him, like a caged animal, pacing back and forth to the sound of her music. She wasn't bothering him, but she was starting to peak his interests after the amazing feat of beating up seven people on her way in.
The doors at the end of the hall opened, and the nurse who had been assigned to delivering food made his slow progression down the hall. He stopped at each cell and placed a bowl of soup in each of the slots that gave access to the prisoners. When he arrived at their cell, he placed two bowls of soup in the grate on the side of the cell and walked off. Hannibal rose and retrieved the bowls, passing one to the girl. She looked at the bowl, set it down on the table, and laid down on her cot. Hannibal ate in silence, and then decided to get started deciphering her.
"So… You said your name was Artemis, right?" He asked. Artemis looked over at him and nodded. "Well then, Artemis, my name is Dr. Hannibal Lecter." He extended a hand across the small cell. She looked at it for a while, deciding if it was a trick, no doubt, and then shook it.
"Well then Artemis, do you like art?" He asked. She looked at the floor, then back up at him.
"Do they ever call you monster, here?" She asked suddenly, changing the subject. Hannibal thought about her question for a minute or two.
"Yes every once and a while someone who walks in will call me a monster. Does being called a monster hurt you Artemis? Does it hurt inside when someone insults you to your face?" Hannibal watched her ponder the question as she admired his sketches on the walls.
"No. I can handle being called a monster because I know that they just don't understand why I kill. What hurts you the most then?" She asked, standing up and fingering the picture of the Italian sky line. Hannibal stood up next to her, his arm brushing hers as they looked at the art.
"They won't give me a window in here, so I have to draw my own. Would you like to draw a window, Artemis?" She looked at him, getting the feeling that this was supposed to be more about her and not him. She nodded, and they sat down at the table together. She picked up the pen that was lying there, and pulled a sheet of paper towards her. They sat in silence for a while as he watched her sketch on the page. When he began to see the form of a wolf on the page her asked her why she would choose to draw that first. She continued to sketch for a couple of minutes before responding.
"My father and mother were killed by wolves. Everyone who met me after my parent's death claimed that I howl at night in my sleep. Funny, I do that to make them angry that they can't sleep, and they contribute it to my parents. People really don't understand anything about people like us." She looked at Hannibal. "Not that I consider us equals, you avoided the police for over six years, and I got caught two years after my first killing." She stopped sketching, and set the pen down. She looked at the bowl again, but didn't eat anything.
"They aren't going to poison you with soup, Artemis." Hannibal said, his head tilted in that mock smile of his. She glared at the bowl with disgust.
"I only eat blood. I've been drinking blood for over three years now and if I eat anything else I usually end up puking later. There is no real reason to try." She said, heading back to the bed.
Clarice and John walked down the corridor together in silence. Even though it was ten o'clock in the afternoon he had a Starbucks cup in his hand. When they got to the cell he tapped on the glass, and Artemis rolled over and headed to the grate. John passed the Starbucks cup through the grate. Artemis pulled the lid off the cup and looked at the liquid. She looked back at him and he smiled warmly.
"It's not poisoned or anything. They keep telling me that you aren't eating, and I keep telling them you won't, but they don't listen." Artemis took one more look at the liquid, then a gentle sip. When she had determined that it was something she wanted, she downed the whole glass, a small drop of crimson liquid trickling down her cheek. Hannibal wiped it away, placing his finger in his mouth to get a strong taste of blood. He then turned to John.
"Now why would a special agent risk a penalty to bring blood to a convicted criminal?" He speculated. Clarice turned to John with an accusing glare, but John kept a level head.
"Just because she is a criminal, doesn't mean she can starve herself. Besides she needs to receive her rightful punishment before I will let her die." John shot Artemis an evil glare, as if to say that it was her fault the hospital wouldn't cater to her wishes. Artemis, though, wasn't paying an ounce of attention. Instead she was singing along with her I-pod.
"I... Hate.. Everything about you. Why.. Do I love you?" She sang. John looked like he was about to give up right there, but Clarice wasn't going to just walk away now.
"What song is that?" She asked cheerfully. Artemis sat there singing through the chorus, then Answered.
"I hate everything about you, by Three Days Grace." She replied. Clarice nodded and listened to some of the lyrics as Artemis sang.
"Every time we lye awake, after every hit we take. Every feeling that I get, but I haven't missed you yet. Only when I stop to think about it." Artemis sang. Clarice tapped on the glass to signal to Hannibal. The doctor approached the glass, happy to be that close to his love.
"Uh... Dr. Lecter could you please see if you could get a list of some of the important songs on her I-pod?" Hannibal stopped to ponder her request for a moment.
"Of course Clarice. What should I be looking for?" He asked her as she leaned in to the glass to avoid Artemis hearing their conversation.
"Well..." Clarice stuttered for a second. "The songs she listens to the most." She finally answered. Hannibal nodded to show he understood, then suddenly turned against the glass and pushed out the grate.
"You mean these?" He asked. Inside the grate was a list of about seven songs. Clarice and John hovered over the paper Dr. Lecter had provided them with.
Favorite Songs
Animal I Have Become
Getting Away With Murder
Girlfriend
How you remind me
I Hate Everything about You
Paper Cut
When I'm Gone
"Yes." Clarice said as she noticed the titles. This girl was obviously very disturbed if the things she listened to were this weird. She looked at Artemis, worried that spending time with Hannibal would plunge the girl deeper into some sort of psychotic episode. John, on the other hand, was even more motivated to talk to her.
"Hey Artemis, lets cut to the chase, okay? I want you to take a look at your case file and sort it into the people you have and haven't killed. If you can do that for me, it might get you a lighter sentence. I mean, your accused of killing thirteen people, but come on, you couldn't have done that many inn three years. So would you take a look?" John tossed a case file into the grate and passed it through. Artemis didn't move, so Hannibal picked it up, and started to look through it. Finally he got to the end of the file and pulled two pictures out of the folder.
"These all seem to be done by the same person, a young female with great physical fitness. She obviously has a massive amount of respect for the dead by the way she leaves them neatly folded and only cuts the carotid. She feels slight remorse, but not for killing. She feels bad about having no choice but to kill. Now these other two… they are different. The killer here is a novice, they were not expecting to be interrupted, and they obviously were. The killer ripped the skin off the children from the jaw down, which was the most likely cause of death." Artemis flinched at this statement, showing she was at least still listening. "Well, John, I would have to say that these two children were killed by a different person." Artemis threw her hands in the air and cried halleluiah.
"Now convince him of that, because I have been trying for the past two months and nothing I say works." She said to Hannibal, the frustration clear in her voice. She stayed on her bed, and Hannibal began to wonder why she hadn't stood up yet. John became furious, and headed up to the gates at the end of the hall. Clarice got up to follow him, but was stopped by Hannibal.
"Clarice. You ripped me apart last time we had a full conversation. I would love to talk again, Clarice. Maybe this time you will not be so cruel." With that Hannibal smiled. "Ta-ta Clarice, see you soon."
Wow, that took forever. If I have no idea what I'm doing please tell me so. I would hate to destroy my favorite character. Please R&R. See you soon!!
