Chapter 2
"Mr. Lecter, job well done on last night's shadow shift. We are very impressed with your work so far. Keep up the good work." Dr. Emanuel Forsythe gave Hannibal a small, encouraging pat on the back and threw him a proud smile as Hannibal walked to the change rooms in the hospital and took off his light blue scrub and set his hospital cap inside the locker neatly.
"Always a pleasure to work with a prominent surgeon." Hannibal smiled back and threw his white gloves into a disposable bin carefully.
The third week of September brought for Hannibal much hard work. He had already read through most of his books about surgery, doctor and patient ethics, and was starting to prepare early for midterm exams and projects. He had been allowed to work in the hospital mostly as an observer and a lab assistant, handling blood vials of patients and storing them in the lab before handing them off to other labs if they needed further testing. Some days he worked as a receptionist and a secretary, taking phone calls whenever the hospital was busy, and booking patients for appointments here and there. He eagerly tried to pick up as many shifts as he could before the studies piled up like a mountain heap upon his shoulders. Hannibal also figured he could use the extra hours and references to his benefit in the future of surgery and medicine.
Hannibal pulled out his light brown suit jacket and put it on as he pulled out his cell phone from the pocket and turned it on to text Will.
"My shift has ended, Will. Do you care for some company and tea?"
After he hit "send", he departed from the hospital and walked down the dark street. Hannibal looked at the time on his cell phone and raised his eyebrows. It was shortly after midnight already. He was sure Will was probably asleep at this point, but the phone buzzed to life almost immediately.
"Thought you'd never ask! Can I come over?" Hannibal was about to text back a reply, when he suddenly felt as if someone or something was watching him. Hannibal had often been commended on his set of highly sharp skills. It was as if his five senses had been combined and doubled into ten great acute senses. Many of his fellow teachers and classmates had often told him he was far too superior in his senses to be human. And now Hannibal definitely knew someone was observing him in the dark of the night as he slowly inhaled deeply.
It was a strong male scent that reached his nose and alerted every fibre and cell in his brain. He collected himself, pocketed the phone, and walked on forward, trying to act as casual as possible. He whistled a little tune to himself and watched the slightly damp pavement pass him by as he kept a leisure pace. The sound of his own melodic whistling was nearly comforting in an odd sense as he moved forward. The scent still followed, however, and it only seemed to grow stronger.
Not wanting to risk endangering Will's life, Hannibal decided he would deal with the stalker himself; using his own creative methods.
Hannibal made a sharp, abrupt turn left when he saw he was drawing closer to the street that Will's shared house was located on. He kept on whistling as he trained his keen hearing and nose on the intruder that was stalking him.
There was a small playground located close nearby, and Hannibal decided he would enter the playground. It was surrounded by a small black fence that barely reached up to Hannibal's thighs, and the long-legged boy climbed over the fence gracefully. He walked over to a small, old swing set, and sat down as he continued whistling to himself.
Hannibal looked to the seat on his right and he chuckled. "Always room for one more."
He closed his eyes, and set his strong hearing senses on the bushes in front and surrounding the playground. He heard the earth and dirt beneath on the ground shift and crunch as the steps of the male following and watching him shifted back and forth almost uncomfortably.
Hannibal opened his eyes slowly, and gazed at the night around him. The night air was cool and crisp, almost like biting into a fresh head of lettuce. He peered at the stars around, and got up from his seat as he kept his neck tilted up and his head leaning back a little. He smiled to himself and whistled a different tune as he walked in a lazy circle around the sand in the playground.
He soon began humming as he walked in larger circles, moving his black shoes very deftly, each move carefully and rigidly planned in a disguise of carelessness and play. Hannibal raised his hands with purpose, almost resembling the various depictions of the Lord Christ on the crucifix.
He spun faster and faster, arms reaching for the sky more and more as he reached the bushes around the black fence. Then, as quick as lightning striking the earth, Hannibal leapt up from both his long, strong muscular legs as high as he could, over the fence, and right down onto the stalker who had been following him.
"ARGH!" The muffled voice cried in pain as Hannibal grabbed the back of his covered head, shoved it face-down onto the mud and grass, and held the kicking man roughly with the weight of his entire body.
"Let him go!" Hannibal did not do such a thing, but he stopped struggling as soon as he heard and recognized the voice.
He looked up to see Brian Zeller come out from behind a large oak tree in the dark. The boy had grown a few inches taller in the last year, and he was wearing a well-trimmed, thick dark beard with a small black tuque on his head and black gloves. He was wearing small blue jogging shorts, and held a little paper bag in his glove-covered hands.
"Let him go Hannibal! You'll choke him!" Hannibal peered down to see a kicking and writhing Jimmy Price under his own body.
Hannibal groaned softly and rolled off the younger boy and pulled him effortlessly back onto his two feet, holding him by the shirt collar using only one hand. Jimmy was also wearing black from head to toe, but hadn't grown as much as Brian had in the passing year. His hair had grown a little bit, revealing a thick, full look to it.
"What are you two doing following people in the middle of the night?" Hannibal hissed as he brushed himself off.
"Chill! We were looking for Will, actually." Jimmy said as he craned his neck and then cringed and massaged it. "What the hell did you do to me?!"
"We came by to surprise him and give him this!" Brian motioned to the paper bag he held in his hands.
Hannibal narrowed his eyes into dangerous slits at Brian, and in two deft moves, he bounded over to Brian and swiped the paper bag into his own hands.
"What the shit?!" The young boy cried in shock.
"Silence yourself!" Hannibal yelled back as he opened the paper bag and frantically dug out its contents.
A large bottle of chardonnay was all he found. He sighed and looked at Brian with exhausted eyes. "Will doesn't drink much. But it is a kind gesture."
"So it was worth it then to kick my ass over that?!" Jimmy yelled as he snatched back the paper bag and the bottle and stuffed it carefully back in the bag.
"Dude we spent like, all our summer savings for it..." Brian said as he dug his hands into his short pockets.
"I had no idea you were capable of finding a summer job, let alone keeping one." Hannibal glared and muttered as he turned and began walking back towards the street that lead back to Will's house.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Jimmy said as he and Brian followed Hannibal.
"I assure you; it wasn't one." Hannibal said although he faced forward and barely acknowledged the two boys.
"So Hannibal, I gotta ask, man, where did you learn those slick moves from?" Brian asked as he sped up a bit and caught up with Hannibal. He huffed and puffed as he tried to keep up with the older boy, but Hannibal having the advantage of long legs and height was moving faster than he intended to without exertion.
Hannibal looked over at Brian silently, though he wore an un-impressed expression on his face.
"You were all like, ninja and shit!" Brian held up both his hands in a mock Bruce Lee combat position, and began making horrid, loud, exaggerated fighting noises.
"Hiiiiiyaaaaa! Waaaataaaaa! Ooooooowaaahhh!" He chopped at the air back and forth and slammed his fist into Jimmy's face as the other boy brushed up to him.
"OWWW!" He cried as he covered his nose in pain and anger.
"Kindly cease and desist before I am forced to call upon the police." Hannibal warned calmly as he tried to ignore the two buffoons behind him.
The boys jogged up behind him, slapping and trying to flying-kick each other in the face or body as they laughed and roared like a rabid pack of hyenas.
"Hey Hannibal! Don't tell Will we're with you! We wanna still surprise him." Jimmy cried as he playfully shoved Brian forward, resulting in the other boy to turn around and shove him in return.
Hannibal smiled to himself as he saw the front door lights on in the house that Will lived in. "Pity. I was going to tell Will I brought two friends and was planning on having them for dinner."
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Will was just as surprised and confused to see Brian and Jimmy as Hannibal had been earlier once the trio had reached the shared house.
Will was the perfect host, however, and brought out snacks for Brian and Jimmy, and the two boys munched the food down while Will took Hannibal's coat and hung it in the closet. By the time he had returned with Hannibal to the living room, Brian and Jimmy were too busy having a food fight.
"You can't leave them alone for two seconds, can you?" Will asked as he shook his head at the pathetic display before him in the living room. Food was flying through the air in rapid succession, littering all over the couches, tables, lamps, chairs, carpet, DVD player, TV, and PS3 player. The room looked worse than a jungle within seconds.
"I'll be right back. There's only one way to deal with this." He said to Hannibal as he watched the boys chuck Oreos at each other after they had taken them apart and licked off the white icing in the middle.
"I conquer." Hannibal said back as he watched Will go into the kitchen, reach in a cupboard under the sink, and pull out a yellow pail. He filled it to the top with cold tap water, and walked back to the living room.
"Jimmy, Brian!" He called, and dunked the water on the two over-excited boys in a second flat.
"WILLLL!" They both cried in unison as they sat with the Oreos all over the floor, water all over the carpet and their clothing, dripping.
"That'll cool you off." Will said as he sat down on a dry couch.
"So this is the thanks we get for bringing you the goods, huh?" Jimmy growled as he shook his head like one of Will's dogs after a bath.
Will face-palmed and rubbed his eyes and forehead tiredly as he took off his glasses. "I don't drink much, you guys know that."
"Hey don't hate; appreciate." Brian said as he nodded to confirm the odd statement that had flown out of his mouth as he flicked water drops around the place.
Will rolled his eyes. "What are you guys doing anyway? I'm surprised you didn't get expelled from Baltimore State High School by now."
Jimmy laughed. "We're in our final year, but we skip pretty much every other class. Shit's not the same without you, Will."
Brian nodded. "It's true. But Jack is not back this year...I mean we see Tobias every now and then in between classes, but Jack is nowhere to be found."
"I doubt anyone misses him." Hannibal muttered as he walked and sat down on the couch next to Will gracefully and almost silently as his feet made no noise on the carpet.
"Alana might." Will regretted saying that the minute he closed his mouth. It was as if everyone in the room had felt the blade sink in immediately. The room even seemed almost colder as soon as he had mentioned her name.
While Will had gotten completely over Alana, he knew and had to admit that she was still part of the reason why he couldn't fully have a sexual relationship with Hannibal quite so soon. He trusted Hannibal, and that was not fully an issue for the couple; he just didn't know how to give himself to Hannibal entirely. He knew his heart was for Hannibal, but he was not yet ready to give his body to Hannibal. Will was still frightened and feared abandonment. That was the main reason why he has chosen to take their relationship slowly.
"So umm...anyway Will, how are classes here?" Brian interrupted as he took off his hat and squeezed the water from it.
"Hey! That's the floor!" Will growled.
"Didn't think of that before you soaked us." Jimmy growled.
"Classes are fine, really, I like the challenge, and most of my professors are more intellectual than half the entire staff at Baltimore State High School." Will ignored Jimmy's earlier comment. He just didn't trust his own emotions and mouth too much at the moment, and didn't have the energy to deal with the immature boys this late in the night either. Therefore, silence and less chit chat was his best weapon and ticket out of the situation.
"And how are your roommates gettin' along with...you know..." Jimmy motioned with his head over in Hannibal's direction of the room, his chin jutting out in an ugly manner.
Will shook his head. "With what?"
Jimmy cleared his throat and sat back with his hands resting on his knees. "Well...you know!"
"I don't, you have to be more clear, Jimmy." Will said as he sighed exhaustedly. He was in no mood for games tonight.
"Ok, look, are your roommates ok with your...relationship with Hannibal?" Jimmy asked quickly and hid his red face.
Will laughed and threw his hands in the air; a mock gesture of surrender almost. "Why is everyone so touchy around that? We're not really doing anything illegal! Come on!"
"That's not what I meant...I wasn't trying to be offensive, man!" Jimmy argued angrily as his face grew even more red when he looked over at Hannibal's calm and collected face.
"Do you happen to mean sexual relations?" Hannibal cut through the room.
"NO! I mean, I never asked!" Jimmy cried as he scratched his wet head and nervously shook his hands about.
"You implied it, though! That's bad enough, just come out and say it. Have some decency!" Will cried, taking Hannibal's side.
What was wrong with everyone? Were they really afraid to say the word "homosexual"?
"Come on, Will! I'm your friend! You know I'm not the type to pick at certain groups of people." Jimmy argued defensively as he held up his hands high in the air as if being held up by the police.
Hannibal laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. "And pray tell, just what groups of people do you happen to be referring to?"
Jimmy nearly choked. "You know! Guys who-"
"Go on." Will hissed as he mimicked Hannibal's curt body language.
"Don't make me say it." Jimmy said nervously, eyes darting around the room as if he was afraid someone was listening in on the conversation.
"Say it." Hannibal ordered.
"Say it, now!" Will growled along as he kept his dark eyes on Jimmy.
Jimmy was never one to be a homophobic person by nature, but Will had observed the other boy cringe and mime sticking his hand down his throat to make himself vomit once he had witnessed two guys making out in a park during one hang out in the summer. It had never really bothered Will because the situation was never pointed directly at him as it was now.
"You know! H-h-hom-m-m-" Jimmy began.
"This is kind of hot." Brian interrupted.
A silence was all that flew about the room at that statement, when thundering steps descended from the second floor of the house and down the hallway. They continued until they stopped in front of the living room.
Max Flannigan had seemingly come out of the shower on the second floor of the house, his dark brown hair wet and spiky with fresh gel pasted onto it, his dark green eyes piercing the room and the people within it as he flexed his large muscles through his white t-shirt unconsciously.
"H-h-hey." Brian said as he stared at the bigger boy in awe.
"Umm...what the hell are you guys doing?" Max asked as he ignored Brian.
Brian gulped loudly. "Wish I knew." He whispered, the statement barely audible as his eyes seemed to gobble up the sight that was Max Flannigan.
Brian and Freddy Lounds had unfortunately had one too many fights and arguments during the summer, and had resorted to taking a break from their romantic relationship. While Brian claimed he still loved Freddy deep down, Will began to doubt it for he often witnessed Brian flirting with many people as of late; male and female. He wondered if Brian was bisexual, but Will was never one to pry and didn't bother inquiring about Brian's romantic preferences.
But he felt he nearly wanted to, especially the way Brian was checking out Max as the other boy stood in the doorway of the living room and looked around, bored.
"We're just talking." Jimmy said, looking to be relieved that someone had interrupted the awkward conversation in the nick of time.
"Why's the floor all wet?" Max asked as he took a step forward into the room, and then back out when he gaped at the drenched boys.
"You guys are covered in it too!"
"That's what she said." Brian dumbly said out loud.
Everyone slowly turned to look at Brian.
"Sorry. Thought it'd be funny. I'll shut up now." He hung his head low and looked down at his feet.
"They were acting out like the moronic two-year-old giant man-children they are, and I wanted to cool them off." Will said as if it had been no big deal at all.
Max looked at his muscles and nodded. "Whatever. We got any Twinkies left? Can't find any in my room."
Brian suddenly looked up at Max, his body jerking forward awkwardly. He looked at Will in confusion.
"Umm. Sometimes he gets these weird cravings late at night and resorts to eating Twinkies. Relax, champ." Will explained to Brian calmly.
"I'm gonna check the fridge." Max trudged along over to the kitchen.
Jimmy looked up at the black clock resting on the wall before things could get even more weird and awkward. He cleared his throat and stood, yawning and stretching as he pulled Brian up with him to his side.
"Well, we should go, man. It's one in the morning and we know you have classes tomorrow."
He excused himself, practically racing for the front door as he gathered his belongings and stood outside waiting for Brian.
Will had been certain that Jimmy's awkward behaviour was due to the fact that he knew Hannibal and Will were romantically involved. While Will still considered Jimmy a close friend, he knew he would never be able to change or convince the other boy to accept his relationship with Hannibal.
"I don't have a thing against gays, dude, but keep that shit as far away from me as possible is all I am sayin'." Jimmy's cold words echoed in Will's mind as he helped Brian gathering his belongings and walked him towards the front door.
Hannibal followed them silently.
Brian was more accepting of Will's new relationship with Hannibal, and he gave Will a small brotherly hug.
"I appreciate the surprise, and thanks for the little treat." Will said as he smiled at Brian warmly, while keeping an eye on Jimmy at the door, who stood looking nervously at the ground and kicking about at little pieces of dried up grass and mud.
"Hey anytime, man. You two take good care of each other, ok?" He nodded over at Hannibal, and pet Will on the shoulder before he turned and headed for the door and followed Jimmy into the dark.
"Hmm, on a scale of one to ten, how successfully do you think that went over?" Hannibal asked as he whispered next to Will.
"Negative eight." Will sighed as he leaned into Hannibal's side gently.
He heard the shuffling of feet behind him, but kept staring out into the dark night as Max approached them.
"We're out of Twinkies."
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Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope I was able to bring back the amusing comedy of Brian and Jimmy for a few laughs before the story begins turning gruesome and tragic. Read and review!
Avixi
