Will, the Puppy - Chapter 3
Hannibal Lecter's car was parked in his driveway. He gripped the steering wheel for a moment and looked in the rearview mirror. Will, the puppy, was in the back seat, shrunk and wrapped in a blanket. Needless to say it was a battle to take the little one out of that house because the boy was too weak to walk down the stairs but he did not want Hannibal to touch him and carry him to the car. After half an hour of trial and fail, Hannibal managed to grab the boy by the waist lifting him off the floor with ease and throwing him over his shoulder, since Will was just skin and bone. The boy struggled and screamed as expected, but Hannibal was able to carry him out of the room and out of the house.
Hannibal opened the car door and got out. He stood there, outside the car, as if thinking about something, then suddenly he opened the backseat door and got back in the car, sitting near the boy. Hannibal just stared at him. The psychiatrist realized that Will was actually older than he was thinking he was. Instead of fifteen, maybe the boy was eighteen years old, because now that he was watching close he could see a stubble on his jaw. The obvious malnutrition made him look smaller. Will shrugged and leaned against the opposite door, trying to get away from Hannibal as possible as he could given the confined space. His gaze was extremely frightened, yes, but Will did not struggle, he just leaned tense at the door.
"Look, Will." Hannibal began to say after a while. "You were not in my plans for tonight. I don't know how much you are aware of what had happened ... "
"You've killed him. Thank you." Will interrupted Hannibal with trembling voice, expressing his gratitude once again, and for the second time that night Hannibal couldn't help but feel awkward. Will was the first person who had seen Hannibal being... Hannibal ... being the Ripper, and his reaction was this, gratitude. Hannibal shook his head and said with a heavy voice.
"Answer me Will. Are you aware of what is happening? I just killed your father. "
"He was not my father." Will said, his voice heavy with sadness and he shrank even more, as if the mere memory of that man could hurt him. Hannibal felt a bad thing, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "That was the Bad Man. He stole me from my family. He said I was his... puppy ."
"Well, anyway, what I'm trying to tell you, my little one..." This was the first of many times that Hannibal called Will so. "I'm in a difficult position now. You've probably noticed that I have no problem with killing people, so don't think you're safe so easy. I have thousands of reasons to protect my privacy at any cost, if you know what I mean." He said with intimidating voice, which was a challenge because eye contact with Will was like falling off a very high place. "So tell me just one reason why I shouldn't hit the road now. take you into the woods and finish what I started in that filthy house. Witnesses are something that I can't afford."
"Do you want to kill me too? Okay, i don't care." Will said looking at the floor of the car. "I tried a few times, but I think you can do it better than me." Will said letting a tear fall from his face.
"How long have you been with him?"
"I don't know. I was little."
Hannibal felt that twinge in his stomach again. What was that? Pity? Guilt? What? Will was something totally different from anything he have seen before. Nothing, absolutely nothing compared to this boy with messy hair and frightened blue eyes wrapped in a blanket in his car. This kid had seen through his mask as if it had never been there. He thanked the murder of his tormentor as a hungry man thanks for a piece of bread and now he embraced his probable premature death. Hannibal pondered that Little Will must have been so tortured and brutalized that he had already accepted the idea of his own death long ago.
The psychiatrist could imagine the horrors that Will had to face, to think that killing himself would be the only way out. Hannibal imagined that poor little thing lying in the cold floor, huddled and shivering, listening to Webber's footsteps climbing the stairs. He imagined the boy in all his despair, praying for something sharp to be forgotten near him someday. Not to defend himself from Webber, but to kill himself.
Hannibal diverted his gaze. Look to Will made him lose focus.
"I believe, Will, you have noticed that if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already." Hannibal punctuated with seriousness in his voice.
The boy just nodded.
"Well, I am a person who likes to plan everything. I hate setbacks. They make us act on impulse, loose control and everything always ends up a mess." Hannibal rubbed his eyes for a moment. "I want to get into my home and think about it calmly."
Will nodded again, sniffling.
Hannibal opened the car door and got out, closing it with a bang. He walked around the car and opened the door for Will. Hannibal reached out to the boy to hold his hand, but he just shrunk even more.
"You think you can walk?" Hannibal asked strangely changing his tone to something more soft.
Will lowered his head and broke into silent tears again.
It was there, at that very moment that the heart of the heartless monster first beat. He was feeling it since their eyes had met for the first time, but since he never felt like this he was tempted to ignore it or pretend it was something else. He didn't know the pain that he was feeling was not his own, but another person's pain. It was there, as he looked at that little creature who couldn't even stand on his feet. Hannibal felt the unprecedented urge to comfort, to protect, to care. It was a catharsis.
"My little one." Hannibal said again, without realizing that this was the beginning of his downfall.
Hannibal leaned up and took the boy in his arms. The boy struggled, of course, but Hannibal did not hesitate as he did before and held him, taking him from the car and carrying Will like a bride, walking away from the car and into the house. Will stopped struggling after a while and to Hannibal's surprise, he rested his head on his chest.
"What is your name?" Hannibal heard the boy ask, his voice was muffled.
"Hannibal." He said with a serious expression.
He felt the boy sigh .
"My name is not Will. I can't remember what's my name, but you can call me Will if you want to." Hannibal frowned, and as if the boy could see his expression, he quickly amended "It's better than puppy."
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