When she first gleamed upon
my sight;
A lovely apparition...
And yet a spirit still and bright,
with something of an angel light."
Hannibal Lecter sat in his cell in Washington…. the decision
had been made-he was being moved to New York in the morning.
He hadn't been able to shake the melancholy that had descended upon him since his capture. He cared not to look out at the officers he knew were sitting near by. He cared not to remember he was in a cage…he cared to be alone, but that was unlikely.
It wasn't very strong at first…just a faint scent. A whisper of…lavender. A police officer came in, rolling his dinner cart, carefully keeping her face down. He hair was tucked under her cap; she averted her face from view. Dr. Lecter sat up immediately he knew her smell.
"Hey Stevens! You aint suppose ta be bringin' his dinner.
That's Mason's job. What the fuck are you doin' away from the front desk?"
The officer seemed pleased with her reply, and took no more notice of her. There were four officers in the room at the moment, one reading, two playing cards, and one watching her. The one watching her got the needle, the other three would have to be tranquilizers.
She rolled the cart past the man, just barley stopping in front of him. She looked up, to see where in the cell Dr. Lecter was. She found her own eyes meeting his, and in that second, she knew he wasn't fooled. He knew why she was there. She looked away, making the pretence of picking up the tray. Then seconds later she wheeled around and injected the officer with the long needle. He gasped, just barley, and slumped in his chair, alive, but heavily drugged.
She didn't wait to see if the other officers had noticed his slight verbalization, she drew her weapon and shot a tranquilizer into one, then another, and the last one. One managed to draw his gun before he fell back, the other staggered, slumping against the table, clawing it, trying to regain balance…and fell. The third got an eye full of her, and she knew he would be able to pick her out of a line up...but it didn't matter, she wouldn't get caught.
She checked her watch. About ten minutes until the other two officers would be back from the coffee break. She searched the man near her for keys-nothing. She ran over to another fallen officer, all the while feeling Dr. Lecter's eyes on her. Bingo. She ran up to the cell, he met her there near the bars.
"Dr. Lecter, my name is Alissa Brossard, I was a friend of the late Clarise Starling. I've come to get you out of here." She said, trying one key in the lock, no good. "Give me your word you will not hurt me, and you'll be out of here in a second" she continued, her voice rushed, shaky, as she found the right key.
"You have my word" Said Dr. Lecter, a smile playing on his lips, his face infinitely calm. She then turned the key, and he stood before her, no bars between them. She shivered…he could easily kill her, he no longer needed her help.
"How do you intend to get me out of this high security building…Miss Brossard? Hum?"
She pointed to an officer. "Put on his uniform, they have a break in…" she checked he watch "five minutes. I'll have to take out the officers who are coming back. Then we walk to the staff room, and out the back door, to my car."
Lecter moved toward the officer, Alissa began collecting the weapons from the other officers. "Going for a car ride, are we? What makes you think I won't eat you the second we step out of here?" he asked, buttoning the man's shirt over his own.
"Nothing, but it wouldn't matter much anyway." She said, as she disarmed another officer lying motionless on the floor. She thought about her reply "Don't take that as an invitation though" she added.
"Wouldn't dream of it" he stood in front of her, completely dressed, looking all the world like an honorable officer of the law.
She was finished collecting weapons. "OK, we ambush them in the hallway, before they see this mess. And you don't touch either of them, I have tranquilizers, I'll take them out."
"Perfectly understood," he quipped. They moved into the hallway, pressing against the shadowed wall.
"Are you sure you don't want to take one with us? I could make you a lovely dinner…"
"No" she gasped. "Thank you" she squeaked, remembering he preferred to eat the rude.
Just then there were footsteps. She saw the two officers around the corner…pulled the trigger, once, twice. Officers down.
"Well done Miss Brossard," he said, as they stepped over the officers. "You've got a nice shot." He purred.
It absolutely killed her that he was so nonchalant about the whole thing, while blood was pounding so hard in her veins she thought she would die of a heart attack.
They moved silently through the corridor, and entered an empty elevator. She pressed the button for the first floor. "Keep you head down" she whispered to him, as the doors opened. They stepped out, side by side and headed at a comfortable pace to the lounge. The door was slightly open it was empty accept for one officer. She stared at the offending officer, she hadn't prepared for this, and she was out of tranquilizers. She sobbed.
Lecter's breath in her ear, "Shoot him" he hissed.
"I can't, I'm out of-"
"Use bullets"
"But, I can't. I can't kill him"
Dr. Lecter dipped his hand into the holster across her chest and brought out a gun, a silencer already on the muzzle. Without another word, he shot the officer three times in the back of the head. Alissa stood, dazed, Lecter grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the room, out the door.
"Where is you car?" he asked, a certain edge of impatiens to his voice.
"There" she pointer at the black Jaguar. They walked toward it, she told herself it was nothing, just one person, had she really expected to get out without killing someone? She unlocked the car, and swung herself inside, slamming the door. It was then she realized how close they would be on the drive.
Dr. Lecter fastened his seatbelt, and turned to look at her. "Are you able to drive in you state of shock?" he asked, smiling. She knew he was making fun of her.
"Fine" she grumbled.
She but the car in gear, and they swerved backwards.
"Reckless driving is very dangerous," he said, bemused. She made no attempt to reply.
"And where exactly are you taking me? Why did you come in the first place?"
"1.We are going to a cabin I rented in the woods where we will lay low for a few weeks, and then I will drive you to the air port, and accompany you on you flight to Rome, once there, I will be catching a flight back, and you will be a free man."
"Sounds like a charming idea, you know, you do look lovely in black; I did find that dress you wore to Clarise's funeral quite stunning"
She slammed on the breaks; it didn't matter, considering they were already on a back street, and a deserted one at that.
"You were there?" she choked.
"Of course, admiring the scene from a distance"
"And you recognized me?"
"More or less, I recognized your smell" he hissed pleasantly.
They were back on the road again.
"You still haven't told me why you came to my rescue Alissa. May I call you Alissa?"
"Yes." She paused, contemplating, "I came…well, it's a long story"
"We have time," he prompted.
it has to start sometime
what better place than here
what better time than now
all hell can't stop us now"
(PS- grins wickedly- so, do you like so far? If so, I think you out to let me know because…bwahahaha! I am holding my story hostage! That's right, no more updates until I see…FOUR more reviews; even flames are better then nothing! If you're on the run the word 'good' will do…back to my scheming…and putting the finishing touches on CH 5, which hopefully you all will see some day)