With the arrival of the new morning came a sleepy postman and a vanilla envelope, addressed to 'Miss Ardelia Mapp'. Unfortunately, Ardelia was also the one who opened the envelope, and read the letter inside.

My dearest Clarice,

First of all, pardon the name on the envelope - I am specifically forbidden to contact you, as I am sure is the same case vice versa. I had not expected that they would be this easy to fool, but apparently they are unaware of the fact that you and Miss Mapp share an apartment.

I have missed you, my dear Clarice. When I first saw you outside my plexiglas cell in Baltimore, I was Dante and you were my Beatrice, walking across a chapel in Florence. You are my Divina, my honey in the lion.

Until we meet again, I will savour the taste of your essence, more exquisite than the finest wine. I do hope you'll savour mine, to calm you late at night when the lambs are screaming.

Yours,

Hannibal Lecter


I woke up to Ardelia's gasps of horror and disbelief. I staggered out of the bedroom, gun drawn, expecting to find her kidnapped by a burglar or serial killer. Instead I found her crying at the kitchen table, clutching a torn letter to her chest. I dropped the gun, and hurried to her side. She looked up at me with sad, teary eyes.

'Please, Clare. Tell me it's not true. It's not true, is it?'

I tried to calm her down by rubbing a hand up and down her back while she started to put the pieces back together.

'I'll make you some tea, Delia. Don't you worry, just stay right here.'

I still had no clue. I made her a cup of chamomile tea, which she gratefully accepted while I read the torn letter. And nearly fainted.

'Ardelia, I can explain...'

Betrayal and disappoinment in her eyes, her lips trembling with emotions.

'Why, Clarice? He's a murderer, a ruthless serial killer... he eats people, damnit!'

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and turned my head in shame. I was immoral. I had betrayed my friends, people who had put their trust in me, who cared for me. What I had done went against everything I stood for as an FBI agent, everything I stood for as a person. When my father died, I had wanted justice. I thought being a law enforcement officer could soothe my aching heart, could give me the justice I so badly craved. I could see now that no matter how hard I tried, the lambs would never stop screaming. Saving Catherine Martin hadn't helped, and I realised now that no matter how many innocent victims I would save, nothing I did would bring my father back.

'He understands me.'

And wasn't that what it all came down to? Wasn't he the only one who had ever seen through my facade, and called the lambs by their names?

'He's a killer Clarice. How could you?'

'I'm sorry, Delia. Really, I am.'

No, I was not sorry. I regretted nothing, from first meeting him in Baltimore to touching his hand in Memphis, to finally kissing him in Newport. Nothing. For the first time in my life, everything seemed to be in place. I knew that I had found my place in this world, the one I had so desperately been seeking ever since I ran away from my uncle's farm in Montana, carrying a crying lamb. I knew what I wanted, and what I wanted was to be with him.

'Does Crawford know this?'

Ardelia's soft but insistent voice jolted me out of my thoughts. Does Crawford know what? Oh, of course.

'Yeah, he does. He promised to save my ass if I never saw Lecter again.'

We sat in silence for a while, both lost in our own thoughts. I didn't want to lose Ardelia, I would do whatever it took to convince her that I was still the same old Clarice, despite my feelings for Lecter.

'You won't will you.'

'I won't what?' I asked, confused.

'Stay away from Lecter. I know you, Clarice. You'll find a way to contact him, God knows how, but you will.'

There was no denying that. In my mind, I had already worked out countless possibilities of seeing him again, scenarios I was all too eager to try out. Ardelia was studying my face, trying to read what was on my mind. And as usual, she hit the nail right on the head.

'You really love him, don't you Clare.'

I nodded. She sighed.

'All I can say, girlfriend... watch your ass. Whatever you have planned, don't let the Guru catch you doing it.'

She grinned as my mouth fell open, and pulled me into a big bear hug. And suddenly all was right in the world. Even more so than it had been before.