Ok, y'all, this part is a bit mundane, and there isn't much action, but trust me,
it's very important to the story line. The next chapter will be more action-packed.
~~~Next day~~~
Hannibal was sitting, reading the newspaper, when he heard someone coming up the
steps. It wasn't Hanna Clara, and after a second, he knew it was Melinda Lyle.
He smiled, put down the newspaper, and was very still. The door opened and
closed, and he didn't even breathe. He heard her sniff the air, and she walked
slowly over to the chair. "Good afternoon, Professor Lencharint." She said.
"Can't fool you, can I?" He asked, standing up and lightly kissing her hand.
"Not when you wear that strong cologne." She said, taking off her sunglasses,
exposing her glazed eyes. Melinda was totally blind. "Is Hanna here yet?"
"No, she'll be home soon, though. Sit down."
"Thank you." Melinda put her cane down and moved over to the couch.
"So what brings you here?" Hannibal asked.
"Hanna asked me to spend the night tonight. Did she not tell you?" Melinda
sounded worried.
"Oh, yes. That's right. I must have forgotten." Hannibal said.
"Hanna told me that you took her Ballroom dancing last night. Was it fun?"
Melinda leaned forward in her seat.
"Oh, yes. Except for little detail..." Hannibal said.
"You mean Mrs. Wizt?" Melinda asked, making a face.
"Yes. But we still had fun. Would you like something to eat?" Hannibal asked.
"Oh, a soda would be nice. Oh, no." She said when she heard his chair creak.
"Don't get up, I can get it. On the door of the fridge, right?" She rose and got
to the kitchen effortlessly. She knew her way around the Lencharint home almost
as well as she did her own. She felt for a can, and holding one up, asked "Is
this it?"
"A diet drink." He told her.
"Thats fine." She came back and sat down again.
"What's tonight's plan?" Hannibal asked.
"Oh, Hanna rented a movie." Melinda said. "She'll talk me through the quiet
parts."
"Ah." They sat in silence for a moment.
"Can I touch your face?" Melinda asked suddenly.
"Pardon?" Hannibal was surprised.
"May I touch your face? See what you look like?" She asked again. "I've known
you ever sense I was a little girl, and I can't remember feeling your face. I
hope it's not an impertinent question." She asked.
"Oh, don't be silly, dear. Of course you may." He moved over to her, and took
her left hand with his. She unconsciously rubbed the place where his old scar
was from the removal of his extra finger. Of course, she didn't know what that
was from, but she knew the scar was his. It was the way she identified the hand.
He brought her hand to his face, and she lightly brushed it over his cheeks, his
eyes, eyelids, lips and chin. She paused at his nose, and pressed a bit harder.
`He had collagen injections.' She thought. Living in high society, many of her
friends had done the same thing, and she could identify the feel very well.
`Rather old, though.'
"Well?" Hannibal asked.
"Hmm?" She replied, surprised, jerking her hand away.
"What do you think?" He sounded amused.
"Oh... Nice structure around the cheekbones, well formed eye structure..." She
told him. He chuckled and sat back.
"What's so funny?" A voice asked.
"Hello, Hanna Clara." Hannibal said.
"Hello Father, Mel." Hanna replied. "What's the joke?"
"Oh, your father just let me feel his face." Melinda said. "I just described
what I felt. You have the same eye shape."
"Same color too." Hanna said, sitting down.
"Your eyes are maroon. What is maroon?" Melinda asked.
"It's the feel of crushed velvet." Hanna started.
"The first glass of sherry poured, from a very good year." Hannibal added.
"And a chilly gust of air on a warm day." Hanna finished.
Melinda nodded. "I think I get it."
"You have a better feeling for colors." Hanna said, dropping her bag. "You get a
detailed description. We take them for granted. Come on, lets go upstairs." She
gave her father a peck on the cheek, and the two ran upstairs to Hanna's room.
"Dinner will be at 7:30!" Hannibal called after them.
Hanna ran into the kitchen, Melinda right behind her. "I won!" Hanna said as she
hit the counter.
"I would have beaten you if that chair in the dining room hadn't been in my
way." Melinda grumped.
"Oh, I forgot to push that in." Hannibal said as he stirred the soup on the
stove.
"Don't make excuses, Father. Mel's just not as fast a runner as I am." Hanna
said.
"What are you cooking, Professor Lencharint?" Melinda asked, sniffing the air.
"You should never ask. Spoil's the surprise." Hannibal said as he moved to a pan
where a slab of meat was sizzling.
"Lets see... I smell tomato, basil, garlic... Bread... Corn bread." She said.
"Asparagus..."
"Bravo, my dear." Hannibal said.
"What sort of meat?" Melinda asked.
"Like I said, it ruins the surprise." Hannibal repeated. "What movie did you
girls rent?"
"A documentary." Hanna said.
"Oh? On what? I'm sure I'd like to watch it with you." Hannibal said.
"Hanna picked it out. It's the 3rd in a series of sociopaths that got away. It's
about Hannibal Lecter." Melinda said.
Hannibal whipped around and glared at Hanna, who winked. "It sounds
interesting." Hannibal said, his voice cool. "I remember hearing about him, a
long time ago."
"I'm doing my psychology term paper on him. I`m glad you got it, Hanna." Melinda
said. "But you wouldn't believe how much information I've already found on him."
Hannibal grabbed a notepad and quickly scribbled a message onto it. It read
"Have you lost your mind?"
Hanna smiled, and wrote back "I thought it'd be nice to find out more about your
early life. It'll be fun, trust me. Plus, it`s got scenes of Mummy."
Hannibal gave her a look of disapproval, but turned back to his food that was
cooking. "We can watch it after dinner. You girls set the table."
"Plates are on the bottom shelf of the 4th cabinet?" Melinda asked, feeling her
way to the doors.
"Right. I'll get the glasses and silver wear." Hanna said.
"That was delicious, Professor." Melinda said as she sat down on the sofa in the
den.
"Thank you, Melinda."
"Won't you please give Mother the recipe for your liver?" She begged.
"Ah, but if I did that, what would keep you coming here?" He asked.
"At least tell me what type of liver it is. Beef liver doesn't taste like that."
"Old family secret." Hanna said, plopping down between her father and her
friend.
"Traitor. Did you put in the movie?" Melinda asked.
"I did, Mel." Hanna said as the music started.
Hanna smiled at her father, who was no longer disgruntled, as the video ended.
"That was cool!" Melinda said. "My favorite part was how he escaped from that
prison. But I'm confused. How did he use the face as a mask?"
"He had it flipped to the bloody side. It made it look as if he was a guard
who's face had been eaten." Hanna told her.
"And Clarice Starling... She sounds so much like your mother!" Melinda told
Hanna. "Did she look like her?"
"No." Hanna lied as she peered to the large portrait of her mother.
Hannibal was playing the video back, on mute, watching Clarice's face on the
screen.
"What did you think, Professor?" Melinda asked.
"It was facinating." Hannibal said, staring at the screen, a sad look on his
face.
"I'm glad you liked it. Next time we can get something on Multiple Miggs." Hanna
said. "Come on, Mel, we can start working on making the rough draft."
Hannibal was working in the basement, curing some meat, when Hanna ran
downstairs. "Ok, Mel's home." She said, opening one of the freezers.
"Good."
"And David is coming over later." She said, speaking of her boyfriend.
"I don't like you spending time with him." Hannibal told her as she took out a
container of fried sweetbreads.
"Why not?" Hanna asked, turning around. "He's sweet, he's polite..."
"I heard that two more people were killed last night." Hannibal said. "I think
he's been killing all of the people."
"Father, where did you think I was getting those fresh entrails?" Hanna asked,
rolling her eyes. "The research work at the morgue is great, but really, it is
SO hard to get good meat. Most of the time I can't get to the body before it's
been embalmed."
"He's a pyscotic murderer." Hannibal said.
"So are you." Hanna said, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Do as I say, not as I do, Hanna Clara." Hannibal said.
"Of course, Father. But can I still keep the deal, that I won't tell on him as
long as he brings me the good parts?" Hanna asked, with bambi eyes.
"Oh, all right." Hannibal laughed.
"Thank you! I'm going to nuke these, ok?" She said, gesturing to the
sweetbreads.
"Save some for me." He said as she went upstairs.
"Hey, baby." David said as he came in.
"Hi love." Hanna kissed him.
"I brought the liver, kidney, and brains." He said, handing her a tupperwear
container.
"Oh, you're so good to me." She said, kissing him again.
"What do you do with that stuff, anyway?" He asked.
"It`s for my biology project." Hanna told him. "I'm glad they're letting me get
some information at the morgue, but it's easier to study the parts when I'm not
changing to a different one each time they have the person buried."
"Hello, David." Hannibal said walking in from the basement. "What's that you've
got there, Hanna?"
"David stopped by the buchers shop for me." Hanna said.
"Hello, Professor Lencharint." David nodded.
Hannibal looked at Hanna, clearing his throat.
"Um, David, lets go for a walk. I want to talk to you about something." She
said, steering him towards the door.
"David," Hanna said, looping her arm through his as they walked down the streets
of London.
"What is it, Love?" He asked.
"Well... I'm going to be leaving soon." She said. "For college."
"Yeah?" David asked.
"And... Well, I don't like the idea of having to try and keep a relationship
going when we'll be away from each other." She said.
"Are you breaking up with me?" He asked, turning to her.
"No! Of course not... I just think we should be friends with privileges, instead
of a couple." Hanna told him.
"Oh." He thought for a second.
"I love you, David. You know that." Hanna said. "But if you started to see
another girl while I was away... Well, then it wouldn't hurt me if we were no
longer a couple. But this way, we can still have fun."
"I see your point."
"You're not mad, are you?" Hanna asked.
"No, Love. It's a good idea. And you're so pretty, you'll have tons of beaux
when you go to college." He said, kissing her forehead softly.
"Friends with privileges?" She asked, holding out her hand.
"Friends with privileges." He replied, shaking hers.
"That's so formal. We should seal this another way." Hanna said, licking her
lips as she looked him up and down.
"Have a nice walk?" Hannibal asked as Hanna entered, a few hours later.
"Yes." Hanna said.
"And you broke it off with him?" Hannibal asked.
"Well... Sort of." Hanna said, sitting on the counter.
"What does "Sort of" mean?" Hannibal asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.
"We're not officially a couple anymore. We're friends." Hanna informed her
father.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't see him at all."
"For Gods sakes, Father! He's a psychopathic murderer!" Hanna cried. "You don't
want to make a psychopath mad! You of all people should know that."
Hannibal chuckled. "You're right, love." He said, kissing her forehead. "I have
been known to do gruesome things to people I dislike."
"Revenge can be sweet, but I don't want him to get revenge on me." Hanna said,
hugging him. "Anyway, David's a good way to get fresh meat. I mean, when you're
gone, what will I do?"
"Ah, my little Lamb. So gentle. You let your men do the killing for you."
"Why get my hands dirty when I've got other people to do it for me?" Hanna
asked.
Hannibal ruffled her hair. "Ah, Lamb. You're so sensible."
