I promised gore, and here it is. Be warned dear ones, those of you with weak stomachs might want to turn away. Thank you to Kurt, the master of gore, for the idea. Okey dokey, here we go.

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The sun was seeping through the still closed curtains when Graham rolled over in his hotel bed the next morning. He was exhausted, more so than he had been when he had returned the previous afternoon. He was more than positive that encountering one's personal devil didn't help things. he grimaced at the visage that stared back at him in the bathroom mirror. His face was bad enough to look at as it was, and the lack of a good night's sleep and the addition of bloodshot eyes didn't help. He ran some water in the sink and splashed it over his Picasso face. It helped a little, but not much. His mind demanded Jack Daniels but he refused. They didn't bring him up here to be drunk. A knock on the door brought his head out of the bathroom.

"Coming." he grumbled wiping the water from his face. He didn't remember ordering room service, maybe it was another little present from the good doctor. He undid the numerous locks on the door and stood aside as a tall man pushed a stainless steel cart in through the door. The man smiled at him and Graham nodded, unable to manage anything polite this early. The man stopped the cart just past the closet, in the middle of the room, in front of the dresser and TV. The tall man picked a pad up from the tray and squinted at it.

"Eight twenty two, please." he smiled, looking Graham in the face. Graham thought it was odd that this guy didn't flinch at the sight of his face. Well, neither had Starling for that matter. He nodded at the pronounced cost of the meal and began to turn to find his wallet. He didn't see the leather sap slide from the man's sleeve as he turned his back. He did feel it as it came down at the back of his skull, though. Graham fell to the floor with a loud thump as the man secreted the sap away again. Twisted yellow teeth and glowing yellow eyes accompanied the smile on his face.

"Hello, Mr. Graham."

*****

Graham lay tied to the bed, secured tight against the mattress with yellow nylon ropes. His head dangled over the foot of the bed while his feet nudged the head board. A throbbing pain in the back of his head made itself known as he lay there, staring at the ceiling. A tug on the ropes revealed that he wouldn't be going anywhere quickly. Graham closed his eyes again, trying to think. A shadow passed over his lids and he felt a hand patting his cheek.

"Wakey wakey, Mr. Graham." Darryl Conrad leaned over graham, appearing upside down in the other man's vision. "Hello."

A hiss escapes Graham's lips as he realizes who is his current captor. Going from his personal devil to the reincarnation of the man who mutilated him, it was the essence of fears and nightmares. The yellow eyes burned into his as he felt the thick hand clamp over his mouth.

"Shhhh. I have to say, I do admire what my predecessor did to your face. Very daring of him to try, though. To remove you from the order of things." Darryl turned away and reached under the cloth that covered the rolling cart. He withdrew a normal claw hammer and a well sharpened ax from the lower shelf. Graham felt his mouth go dry, causing him to choke on his own fear. Darryl met the sound with a devilish smile.

"Really, Mr. Graham, I can't have you around to interfere with my Becoming." The struggles against the ropes began with an intensity, as Graham tried to call for help. His cries earned him a piece of duct tape being slapped over his mouth. "Silence is preferred, Mr. Graham. I like the silence. It has an order about it, it is without chaos." The hammer was brought up and spun in the air, Darryl watching along with his victim as it flashed in the light. Moving to stand behind Will's head, Darryl raises the hammer. It swings down in a quick arc, the claw end slamming into Graham's forehead with a sickening thunk. Graham's eyes went wide and blood began to trickle from the wound. The hammer held firm as Darryl moved to stand next to him, now taking the ax in hand, and kneeling down next to Graham.

"Goodbye, Mr. Graham." came the whisper as Darryl gripped the hammers handle for leverage. The ax swinging back and then down to his throat was the last image Graham would ever see.

*****

Clarice had just stepped from the shower when she heard the insistent knock at the front door. normally. The towel is wrapped around her head turban-style as she makes her way downstairs. Another knock comes as she reaches the foot of the stairs.

"Coming." Clarice calls out, trying not to sound too agitated as she reached fro the door knob. Sunlight streams in along with the buzz of a lawnmower and the chair of birds as she pulls open the door. A lone square cardboard box sits atop her welcome mat. It is heavy as she lifts it, heavier than she would have thought. Something wet slides against her fingers from the bottom of the box. She assumes it to be water and wipes it against her robe. The package is deposited in the kitchen, atop the well scrubbed counter as she looks through the drawers fro a knife. Two quick slices to the brown packaging tape on either side and she tugs the flaps open. The tape tears neatly along the center of the flaps, and she pushes the flaps down to the side of the box. Foam packing peanuts greet her fingers, and she lifts the other two flaps before she digs through the peanuts. Something tickles at the back of her mind.

The first handful of peanuts is dumped on the counter, and she looks inside, trying to see the contents. A scream begins to form on her lips as the exploring fingers brush against the closed eyelids of Will Graham's severed head.

*****