Alice feels underdressed sitting in the dim opulence of Dr. Lecter's dining room. Her sleeveless flannel dress flares out on top of her chair. She hopes her combat boots don't seem defensive or dirty. She was comfortable in this hanging around bars in St. Marks, not while chatting with upper crust types. She is facing gorgeous plants cascading across a wall, a motley potpourris of horns and other accoutrement…she toys with her silver bracelet and strokes her hair. "You have a lovely home," she says honestly, with a soft smile.
"Thank you. I hope you've brought your appetite."
Liam yawns and rubs his belly. "I haven't eaten since breakfast. Let's do this." He has his game face on. Alice chuckles and nods her head with a smile.
"Remember that night upstate when we went to see Grindhouse and we thought there would be food, but there wasn't and we…" she bursts out laughing, "…we drove for like two hours in search of pulled pork?"
Liam reaches across the table and takes her small hands in his. "Yes, I do," he says seriously. "It was delicious. And we had chocolate cake for dessert. A man doesn't forget something like that." He kisses her hand.
Hannibal watches the adorable scene with disturbing clarity. This girl presents him with the reflection of what a happy Will might be like…it makes him feel sorry for his old friend.
"Our entrée is called Kenchinjiru, originally consumed by Buddhist monks, consisting of mushrooms, vegetables, and kelp. This should help revive you," he says as they take their first sips.
"Mmm, the broth is so rich. Do I taste an infusion of squash?"
"That you do," Hannibal answers with a smile. He searches her face for the mixture to take effect. Abigail had felt euphoric and blissful. It had been such a pleasure to see her smile back at him and feel love beam off of her in waves.
Alice takes several more savory sips and even swallows quite a bit of mushroom before she sets her spoon down and looks wildly into Liam's eyes. "Have your eyes always been that blue? The color of sky in a Dali painting. How do I ever talk to you?" she asks in confusion.
"I know exactly what you mean," he says before giving her the gentlest of kisses. Then his face changes. "Do you feel sick?"
The room begins to slide, as if everything is melting away. "I feel fine," she lies, not wanting to sound crazy in front of the doctor.
Liam asks where the bathroom is before departing queasily in that general direction.
"Tell me, Alice, how are you feeling?"
Alice takes a sip of wine and then feels blood sliding down her throat. She drops her glass, spilling her wine on the table, leaving a trail of red that leads to Hannibal's left hand. "I'm sorry," she stammers, unable to focus her vision. "Everything feels dead," she tells the caterpillar crawling up the wall.
"Because of what your brother is going through? He is still alive, Alice. A jury won't sentence a man like Will to death. He's too valuable."
"What do you mean?" she asks the caterpillar, sitting on her knees.
"Doctors will want to study him, learn about the way he thinks."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she asks, laughing. Then, in a secretive voice she whispers, "Don't worry, I'm going to save him." The caterpillar disappears into a plant and Alice turns around to see Hannibal watching her closely. He helps her to her feet and offers her a glass of water.
"Liam has barricaded himself inside of my master bath. I think this trip is taking a toll on him," Hannibal says gently, seeming concerned. "You seem rather out of sorts yourself. Come, help me prepare dessert." He takes her by the hand and leads her into the kitchen.
As he removes some kind of bread pudding from the oven, Alice puts her head in her hands. "How can I enjoy anything when I know Will is locked away right now? How am I supposed to…everything looks too beautiful, as if it were mocking me. What right do I have to see beautiful things? When did I earn them?"
"Now that you have experienced suffering first hand, you are in a state of shock, rejecting the goodness in yourself as not worthy if someone you love can be so far away from pleasure." His observation makes a great deal of sense to her, and she nods, letting the pain wash over her, through her. "But you cannot punish yourself for something that is not in your control. Everyone is responsible for their own lives."
Alice looks up into Hannibal's gray eyes and finds a void she never expected. She could drown inside of his gaze if she let herself. "I'm going to check on Liam," she says before tearing her eyes from his.
She finds him curled in the bathtub, staring at his hands. "I'm inside my head, but also my fingers," he explains.
For the first time that evening, she feels as if something is terribly wrong. Why had she spoken to a caterpillar, and why was Liam tripping like he did when they tried peyote in New Mexico? He looked pale, drugged even. Drugged…
Alice turns to find Dr. Lecter blocking the doorway. "I think we'd better go now," she says, pulling Liam up with her as she stands.
"You haven't tried the dessert," he coaxes.
Before she can answer, her phone goes off. "Hello?" she waits a moment and then frowns. "What happened? Is he…oh, you impossible bastard." She hangs up the phone in disgust. Looking up at Hannibal, she asks, "Can you drive me to the hospital? Will tried to…escape. They put him in solitary and I need to punch someone," she is on the verge of tears but feels an emptiness she can't explain.
"If he's in solitary, they won't let you see him, Alice," Liam says bluntly. "Let's just go to the hotel and figure it out in the morning."
"I can't even look at you right now. Did you take something before you came here? I trusted you to keep me safe and I find you curled up in the bathroom, tripping? I know I'm losing it. What's your excuse?" She doesn't want to lash out at him, but feels betrayed by his behavior. Could he really have been so reckless when she needed him to be what kept her grounded?
He feels like she splashed cold water in his face. "How could you even say that? I dropped everything to come see you because I love you."
She takes a moment to consider this. "I'm sorry. Just take me to the hospital, babe. I can't leave him there like that." Her head is beginning to feel clearer.
"Let's go." And as quickly as they had arrived, they departed, leaving the sweet aroma of attraction, fear and a hint of madness behind. He wondered if Alice would consider a bit of therapy to sooth her enflamed nerves…
"I don't care what time it is, I want to see him now," she seethes at the night nurse.
"Mr. Graham has been sedated and taken to solitary confinement. Dr. Chilton is reminding him that there are consequences for attempting to escape, not rewards." The nurse gives her a smug look and then proceeds to ignore her.
"There are consequences for being rude, too. Karma can be a real bitch, and that's just some friendly advice," Alice offers before turning away in search of someone more intelligent and helpful.
Liam had left a few minutes earlier in search of a bathroom. Alice felt like he was spending the entire night in lavatories and she was beginning to be unnerved by this new proclivity. She decides to find him and maybe head back to the hotel after all.
The halls are dark shells in the night, ghostly echoes lingering with each step. She walks until she finds the male restroom and then waits for Liam to emerge. After twenty minutes, she knocks on the door. When she receives no response, she pushes the door open to find Liam lying on the floor, covered in blood. His hands have been hacked off, his tongue, cut out. His wounds are the exact mutilations of Lavinia, the character she has been rehearsing for. The only difference is that unlike Lavinia, who is left alive, Liam's heart has been cut out of his chest.
On the mirror, written in blood, Alice reads, "Die, die Lavinia, and thy shame with thee, and with thy shame thy brother's sorrow die."
The room begins to spin as the smell of blood fills Alice's lungs. She gropes at Liam's chest, his arms, searches the floor vainly for his missing hands...she falls forward, her hands skidding on blood, her heart pounding, tears spilling onto his face in puddles…she hears someone scream and grope at her shoulder. She bites the hand that touches her, cradles Liam's head and begins to rock back and forth, sobbing.
"No, no, shh baby, it's only a bad dream," she cries, eyes closed. "I'm gonna fix it, I have to, I have to I have to I…" someone pulls her up and away from her lover's dead body as she loses consciousness.