CHAPTER 2
With the lack of windows, the decent down the 3 flights of stairs gave the lower ward a dark, intimidating look. The smell of stale urine and mold made the air dank and hard to breathe.
As Sam approached the red security gate, she noticed a tall, black man standing from within, looking over a clip board. the man looked to be be 6'5-6'7 and had very broad shoulders. Sam thought he may have missed a chance to be a football star. Upon further observation, she spotted his name tag and learned that this man was indeed, Barney.
Once she closed the remaining distance between herself and the gate, Barney looked up and smiled. He reached to his left and pushed a button on the wall. With a shrill buzz, the gate was unlocked, allowing Barney to push it open.
"You must be Samantha. I'm Barney Matthews. It's a pleasure to meet you." He extended a hand, and Sam took it without hesitation. Barney's huge hands swallowed Sam's smaller ones.
"It's nice to meet you as well. Please, if you don't mind, just call me Sam... Samantha is a little too formal."
"Of course. So, Dr. Chilton tells me you were in the military. I did 3 years in the Marine Corps myself. It wasn't really my thing, so to speak."
"Yes, 7 years in the Army. I'd still be in if it wasn't for the medical discharge..."
Sam stopped herself abruptly as she realized she was speaking of the military so freely with someone she just met. It must have been the fact that Barney served in th military as well. No matter what branch, or how long they served, soldiers all shared a specific bond with one another.
Luckily, Barney seemed to notice Sam's reluctance to continue conversation on the topic and quickly changed it.
"So, do you have any questions or concerns about our program here?" Barney had stepped away from the doorway in order to allow Sam to pass into the guard station.
The room was small. Just large enough to give 2, maybe 3 people enough space to comfortably move around among one another. To the right, on a grey counter running the entire length of the wall, were TV screens. Patients in their cells, laying down or staring blankley off into space filled the montiors. Sam noticed, out of the 15 screens, 5 of them showed the same man. The man was sitting in his cell, at a desk, reading a book.
As Sam continued to observe her new work space, she noticed a small, seperate room to the left. Various non-lethal weapons covered most of the wall, along with several pistols and other firearms. Sam continued to look at the wall when something caught her attention. A horrific, brown hockey mask sat on the wall by itself. It reminded her of something she once saw in a horror movie.
Barney caught her gazing at the horrific mask and sighed. "Yea, it's pretty wicked looking, isnt it?"
Hearing Barney's voice snapped Sam back into reality as she looked to him with questions burning in her pale, grey eyes.
Barney slightly nodded his head, acknowleging that he saw the unspoken question in Sam's eyes. "That is for Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He is our most dangerous patient..." Barney trailed off and looked over to the mask and then back to Sam. "Did Dr. Chilton tell you about him?" As he spoke, he gestured towards the montiors that showed the man reading a book.
Remembering how Dr. Chilton flaunted the picture of the previous nurse, made Sam grit her teeth.
"He didn't tell me much, but he made damn sure to show me his trophy picture he keeps in his desk."
Barney shook his head and scoffed. "He shows everone that damn picture. I'm pretty sure he carries one around in his wallet as well, that way he can show off his pet to anyone, even if he isnt in the office. He likes the think he was the one who caught Dr. Lecter, likes to brag about keeping such a monster off the streets.
Listening to Barney speak, Sam could tell she wasn't the only one with a low opinion of Chilton. The thought made her smile slightly. She would get along great with her new supervisor.
"So, what did the guy do? What makes him so dangerous?"
After Barney finished telling Sam of Dr. Lecter's previous exploits, she looked wide-eyed over to the monitor screens. Knowing the man sitting in his cell, reading a book, looking quite normal was indeed, a cannibalistic serial killer, truly baffled Sam.
"He just seems so... Harmless. I would have pictured someone that looked like Mr. Hyde or something. I mean look at him! He is reading a book!"
This caused Barney to laugh out loud. "Well, I'll take you to meet him and we will see if you still hold the opinion of Dr. Lecter being normal. One piece of advice: Dr. Lecter has been known to break people down within mintues of meeting him. If things get ugly, don't take it to heart- he is very bored in here. Just mind your manners, he hates the rude."
Sam nodded her understanding as she looked back at the monitors one last time. Barney opened the security gate that lead out into the ward and she followed him out.
As the two made their way down the dim hallway, Barney casually explained the patients and various procedures used to correctly handle them.
Sam managed to keep her eyes forward, ignoring various demeaning and sexual insults thrown her way from some of the inmates. She was careful to stay in the middle of the hall, keeping out of reach from the hands clawing at her as she passed the barred cells.
As the pair neared the end of the hallway, Sam noticed the last cell on the left, was not barred like the rest. Instead, she noticed it was covered by a wall of glass. She looked at Barney, who gave her an affirming nod, stating that that was indeed their destination.
To her own suprise, felt her heart rate increase as she came closer to the cell.
Dr. Lecter had been reading his book for a while. Footsteps in the distance drew his attention from his reading. One pair of the footsteps, he was familiar with. The accompaning pair, however, were new. The speed at which the footsteps traveled, in order to keep up with the longer strides of Barney's, were slightly faster. Shorter legs, no doubt. He also noticed the sound was slightly softer as well. The companion was female.
Before stepping in front of the glass, Sam took a deep breath. Slightly calming herself, she looked at Barney and nodded.
The first thing she noticed, when viewing the cell, was the artwork that decorated the pale, off white walls. Photographs of older buildings and breathtaking landscapes donned the walls of the cell. Sam thought they looked like photos one would see in some fancy art gallery.
The furniture in the cell was the same that the other inmates had in theirs. The only thing extra was the small, metal desk and chair.
It hadn't even dawned on Sam that she hadn't even noticed the man sitting behind the desk, right in front of her, with his face buried behind a book.
Dr. Lecter smiled to himself from behind the book. No longer reading, all of his attention was now on Barney and the unknown woman standing in front of him.
Sam looked over to Barney with confusion in her eyes. She had no idea on how to correctly get the man's attention, and not come across rude by doing it, as Barney had earlier suggested. Barney noticed the trouble she was having and took control.
"Good morning, Dr. Lecter. I trust you are having a pleasant day so far?"
As Dr. Lecter closed the book in front of his face, Sam felt the calmess she had aquired earlier, quickly leave her as Dr. Lecter's eyes immediatly found hers. She understood right away, just how wrong she was earlier about Dr. Lecter seeming harmless. There was a very prominent danger lurking in his eyes. In all of her life, with all of her travels, she had never seen eyes like these. Dark maroon pools with pupils as black as sin stared into her own. Dark hair, slicked back over his head reflected slightly under the florecent lights.
"Well, Barney, my day is as fine as it can be, considering the quality of my stay in this fine institue." His voice was very different. Raspy with a coldness to it.
As he answered Barney's question, his eyes never left Sam. Before Barney could reply, Dr. Lecter interjected quickly.
"I see we have a guest, Barney. Would you be so kind as to make proper introductions, since it seems she is unable to do so herself?"
Sam felt as if her heart dropped down to her stomach. She had never had a problem speaking to strangers in the past. It dawned on her that she had never met a cannibal, serial killer in the past, either.
Dr. Lecter watched Sam carefully, studying her body language. He noticed when he made the comment about introductions, her heart rate increased. To his suprise, it wasnt from fear. Fear was usually the only emotion he was use to recieving from people. Even Barney, who he regarded as his friend, held a small amount of fear in his body launguage. The woman standing in front of him, however, showed something, but it wasnt fear. Dr. Lecter found himself shocked when he couldn't place the emotion.
Taking a deep breath and never losing eye contact, Sam introduced herself. "Hello, Dr. Lecter, I'm sorry about the hesitation eariler. My name is Sam. Sam Brodie and I'm the new nurse."
Dr. Lecter smirked slightly at Sam before turning his attention towards Barney. With a slight nod of the head, Barney turned to Sam, "I'm going to leave you two to talk for a bit. If you need anything, just wave at one of the cameras." With an encouraging pat on the shoulder, he made his way back towards the nursing station.
Sam was careful to keep her nerves in check as Barney left her alone with Dr. Lecter. Feeling this was somekind of test, a judge of character, she turned back to Dr. Lecter, who had stood from his desk, and was now standing in the middle of his cell. She watched as his eyes slowly travelled among her body. Instead of feeling repulsed, as she did earlier with Dr. Chilton, Sam found herself curious as to what the man was thinking. The way in which he searched her body with his eyes was not sexual. It seemed if he was studying her, looking for clues to tell him things about herself that Sam would not.
Suddenly, Dr. Lecter's eyes returned back to hers with a snap. "So, Sam, is it? I feel Sam is short for Samantha, is that correct?" His head tilted slightly to the left as she spoke, reminding Sam of an over curious dog.
"Yes, that is correct."
Dr. Lecter hummed softly. "Tell me, Ms. Brodie, how long have you been out of the military?" Satisfaction surged through his system watching Sam squirm uncomfortably , realising he was indeed, correct with his oberservation.
"How did you know-"
"I'm very good at reading people, Ms. Brodie. Your body lauguage , the way you carry yourself practically reeks of years worth of military training."
Sam looked down towards the floor and sighed, "I've been out of the Army for close to a year now."
"I see. Since you are now the new nurse, I assume it's safe to say you were trained in the medical field as well?"
"Correct again, Dr. Lecter. Operating room nurse."
Dr. Lecter smiled as he stepped towards the glass. Sam noticed his teeth were bright and almost perfectly straight. As he moved closer, she had to resist the urge to move forwards and backwards all at the same time.
"I would like to know your opinion of Dr. Frederick Chilton. I'm sure he gave a most amusing interview."
Sam felt her stomach turn hearing the name. Her brows furrowed as she looked to the left, up the hallway towards the guard station before returning her gaze back to Dr. Lecter. Not wanting to get herself in trouble by gossiping over her new boss, before her first day, with an inmate, Sam settled for a small smirk and a small shake of her head. This spoke loud and clear to Dr. Lecter. Understanding Sam's gesture, he hummed his approval.
Wanting to change the subject, she gestured towards the pictures on the walls.
"Those are really beautiful. I'm suprized that you were allowed to bring them here."
Dr. Lecter regarded her before turning his own attention to the pictures himself. "Well, they are certaintly not my best, but considering the lack of proper drawing materials, they turned out rather good." When he turned back to her, he smiled.
"You mean, you drew all of these?" Sam's eyes grew wide as she stepped forwards towards the glass, in order to see the drawings better. This did not go unnoticed by Dr. Lecter.
"I did indeed. Since I will never see any of these places again, and since I have no view, I created my own."
Sam's attention was brought back to Dr. Lecter as he spoke. "So these were all drawn without reference?"
"Mmhmm"
"But how-"
"Memory, Ms. Brodie. Instead of having a view, I have resorted to using memories of my favorite places, in order to create my own."
Sam felt a twinge of pitty for the man standing in front of her. His words hit her like a hammer, stopping all of her other thoughts. Hannibal Lecter, the notorious serial killer, would never again breathe fresh air, feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, or gaze at the night sky, for the rest of his life.
With a quick glance to her wrist watch, she realized she had been speaking with Dr. Lecter now for over 10 mintues. Once she looked back over to him, she noticed his eyes never left her. Did this man ever blink?
"I really hate to be rude, Dr. Lecter, but I've been down here for a while now. I really should get back."
Dr. Lecter slowly closed his eyes and tilted his head forward. "Very understandable, Ms. Brodie. 10 minutes alone with the monster, by yourself, before your first day? Tounges will wag."
With a slight chuckle, Sam smiled as she spoke, "Yes. Can't have anyone thinking you are getting special treatment." Sam looked down to the floor for a few seconds before returning her attention back to him. "It was very..." Sam paused, trying to figure out the word to use. It wasn't exactly nice or pleasurable meeting him. She felt rather uncomfortable while they spoke, but at the same time, she found herself hanging on to every word he spoke with rapt attention.
Dr. Lecter noticed her pause and raised a questioning eyebrow as she awaited Sam's responce. With any other person, he would have used this moment of uncertainty to rip them apart. This wasn't the case with the woman standing before him now. With the small converstaion the two held, he observed that she didn't give the answers everyone expected to hear; that he expected to hear. She wasn't afraid to give her true opinion, but remained polite and courtious while doing so.
Sam saw Dr. Lecter begin to smirk at her, knowing the trouble she was having coming up with the correct and polite way to describe meeting him.
"Interesting. It's been very interesting speaking with you, Dr. Lecter."
Relief washed over her as she watched his smirk grow into a smile.
"It was interesting meeting you as well, Ms. Brodie. I think dear old Dr. Chilton actually used the right head, so to speak, when he picked you." With a smile and a wink, "See you around, Nurse Brodie."
