(A/N: As always, many thanks for all the great reviews! Every single one of
them are greatly appreciated. Okay, here's the next chapter for your
reading pleasure!)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except for the ones I've invented myself. Please don't sue!
Give Me Darkness, Give Me Light
Chapter 7: Sleep Now in the Fire
Clarice finally became fully aware of her surroundings as an intense heat suddenly came over her body. The feeling was quickly followed by a loud blast.
She looked up at the figure above her, which she quickly identified as Dr. Lecter. All Clarice could remember of the last fifteen minutes or so were just quick flashes and blurred memories, but she remembered enough to know that he had saved her.
"Dr. Lecter?" she managed to speak. He didn't respond right away, he was still looking towards the flaming wreckage before them. She spoke again, "Dr. Lecter, what the hell happened?"
Keeping his eyes on the flames, he quickly addressed Clarice, who was presently seated on the car seat. "Try to get some rest Clarice; you'll need all the strength you can regain."
With that, he went back into the darkness, leaving a very confused Clarice behind to watch.
**********************
Jadis' eyes fluttered painfully open. For a moment she thought that she had died and descended to Hell, but she quickly remembered her current situation and tried to stand up. Her muscles protested greatly to her movements and she could feel small flames lick her body like tiny, ravenous insects. Smoke blurred her vision and made breathing difficult.
Collapsing back onto the ground with an agonizing thud, Jadis found herself coughing up thick sticky blood. She felt paralyzed, weak, and helpless.
She vaguely hoped that her father and Clarice had made it out alive, and likewise hoped that Silversted was now burning to death somewhere in the inferno. As for herself, in her barely conscious mind she didn't really give much hope to surviving and thought of herself as good as dead.
A shadow came over her. She squinted her eyes, trying to see through the stinging smoke. All she could manage was a dark smear.
**************************
Silversted loomed over the bruised and burnt Lecter before him. It may not be the doctor, but it was a Lecter nonetheless, and that was good enough for him.
He had to struggle to keep his balance and to avoid some of the larger flames and burned all around him. From his pocket he fished back out his pocket knife, which was already encrusted with Jadis' blood from earlier when he slashed her on the face for the second time in her life.
Silversted took a few minutes to savor the sight of the suffering Jadis on the ground before him. She made a couple pathetic attempts at standing, only to fall back onto her behind. Silversted allowed himself a sadistic grin at the sight. He wished that he could watch this all night, but knew that all good things had to come to an end. Plus, he was more than a little paranoid with the fact that her father was out there somewhere and may return for her and possibly for Silversted as well.
He bent down to the struggling woman and roughly grabbed a lock of her long dark brown hair and forced her to stay down to the ground. Jadis was now writhing against his grip, trying to get free.
"Alright Special Agent Lecter," Silversted hissed, lining up the blade of his knife to Jadis' chest. "Your daddy isn't here to save you know, but you'll be seeing your mommy again very soon, that I can guarantee. Now hold still you little wench."
*******************************
Jadis' vision cleared almost completely as Silversted spoke to her amidst the crackling and snapping sounds of the burning barn. It made her blood run ice cold.
Silversted tightened his grip on her hair, prodding her closer to the breaking point. She could feel his rancid breath on her face, and in return, she spat in his.
She heard an angry growl escape his throat before he gave her a hard punch in the stomach for it.
"Goodbye Lecter," Silversted taunted, his knife raised. "Be sure to say hi to your mommy for me."
Jadis held his gaze even as the knife began its dive towards her chest. The blade barely even made it down an inch before it was abruptly stopped by a strong hand. Silversted didn't even have time to react before being easily shoved to the ground onto his back.
Jadis now looked up at her father, who still had a firm grip of Silversted's hand. Silversted cried out as Dr. Lecter tightened his grip, twisting his arm in the process. She once again tried to get to her feet, this time successfully.
"Jadis," Dr. Lecter addressed her, his eyes never leaving Silversted. "Get away from the fire and wait for us outside. I'll escort Richard out in a second."
Jadis hesitated for a second, but gave in to her father's request. She knew that she didn't have enough strength back yet to confront Silversted again. She needed a few minutes away from the smoke and flames to recuperate. With one last glance the doctor, Jadis made her way back out into the cold, dark, night air.
******************************
Inside, Dr. Lecter kept a firm grip on Silversted. The knife hadn't fallen from his grip yet. Silversted tried his best to fight against him, but the doctor's superior strength quickly overtook him. Silversted tried to stand, but only managed to get to his knees.
Dr. Lecter allowed the flames to touch the man kneeling before him in pain as he spoke. "Richard," Dr. Lecter spoke calmly him, but a hint of anger or something like it managed to show through in it. "I thought that your problem was with me, not with my daughter or Clarice. But now it seems like you have gained two more enemies in this night, as opposed to just me. Do you really think that Clarice isn't resentful against you for kidnapping and injuring her? Trust me, she won't leave that debt unpaid. As for Jadis, she will never forgive you for what you have done. Know this, she will not rest until you are dead and gone, that I guarantee."
Silversted tried to speak, but was cut off by Dr. Lecter pulling him by his arm out of the fire and into the cold night.
*******************************
Jadis quickly found Clarice in the car, waiting.
"Starling!" Jadis exclaimed while approaching her friend. "Are you okay?"
Clarice nodded. "Don't worry, I think that he just broke a toe and gave a little bump on the head. What the hell are you doing here with Dr. Lecter?!"
Jadis hesitated before answering. "I'll explain it to you later, I promise."
With that, Jadis took the time to take in her surroundings. The still burning barn lit up the area so she could see very well. Beside the barn was a fairly petite house, behind it a small field. On one side was a beach with a tall, wooden boating dock that stretched far out into the sea, on the other side was the lane and driveway. Everything else was forest.
Jadis focused her attention back to the barn just in time to see two figures emerge. One of them dragged the other to the beach, well away from the inferno.
Clarice looked back up at Jadis. She could see the rage burning in her eyes, the maroon color now an intense blood red.
The older agent blinked at her observation. 'Maroon?!' There was only one other person that Clarice knew that had those color eyes. More memories floated back to her. 'Chimera had called Jadis 'Agent Lecter', Dr. Lecter had a relationship with Jadis' mother and Chimera had said something about having Dr. Lecter's daughter there as well... Oh my God!'
Clarice watched as Jadis made her way to the beach, her eyes wide with realization.
'Damn you Jadis,' Clarice thought after her. 'Why didn't you ever tell me?'
*****************************
Jadis practically launched herself at Silversted when she got close enough. Dr. Lecter had backed a few steps away, allowing his daughter to have her share of the murderer.
Both Jadis and Silversted were now on their feet. Lying on the ground in between them was Silversted's knife. They both made a mad dash for it. Jadis had first hold of it, but Silversted managed to wrench it out of her grasp in a mere second. They took a few steps away from each other, looking each other over, waiting for one to make the first move.
**********************************
Clarice's hand was digging underneath the seat, hoping to find something, anything, that would give some relief. What she did manage to find was a cell phone and a gun.
Biting her lip, Clarice considered her options. She could call the police or FBI and apprehend two wanted serial killers, but a part of her didn't want to do that. Her other option was to use the gun. Clarice knew that she should use the phone, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do that.
She checked the gun for bullets. "One," she muttered, a little annoyed. "Better make this one count then."
She stole a look towards the three individuals on the beach. As she aimed, Clarice had to make a quick decision as to who she was going to, hopefully, shoot. Surprising herself, she found her decision very easy to make.
*********************************
A gunshot rang out into the night, quickly followed by a loud scream. Silversted grasped his bleeding thigh where the bullet entered and Jadis took that moment to strike. Silversted somehow managed to keep his footing, even when Jadis bashed out a fury of punches on him. A quick, mad, blind slash and the woman backed off for the moment, grasping her stomach where the blade made contact.
Silversted tried to take this moment to take a breather, but a terrible stinging feeling in his shoulder prompted him to fight on. Dr. Lecter withdrew his Harpy from Silversted's shoulder and took a firm grasp of his arm again as Silversted raised his own blade to fight back.
Ignoring the pain the wracked her body, Jadis got involved again. She tackled her nemesis, but not enough to bring him down.
The three fighting individuals quickly found themselves on a wooden surface with the sound of the crashing waves of the ocean closer than ever before. None of them took much mind of it.
******************************
The cell phone had long disappeared back onto the floor of the car; Clarice had no use for it she finally decided. Ignoring the intense pain that shot up her leg with every step, Clarice got out of the car and tried to make her way closer to the three thrashing people. Unlike them, she saw the danger that they were slowly approaching.
Limping in the worse way, Clarice barely even made it to the beach when she looked up again. The three were on the edge of the dock right at the end. Just one slip up would throw them all into the deep, dark, icy ocean below.
Clarice tried desperately to pick up the pace, but her injured foot protested greatly and eventually caused her to lose her balance and fall flat onto her face. Growling, she forced herself up again.
Looking back at the dock, Clarice discovered that it was now empty. A loud slash quickly confirmed what she had feared would happen.
************************************
Silversted lost his footing. Falling back, he acted on instinct, determined that if he was to drown or freeze in the ocean depths, so were Jadis and Hannibal Lecter. He grabbed a tight hold on the father and daughter and with all the strength he could summon, he pulled them into the icy water with him.
**************************************
A couple seconds of falling, which seemed to last for hours, then a sharp, cold, wet feeling came over the three as gravity pulled them underwater.
As all three were pulled further and further down, their movements became slower and harder, as did their sense of sight. It didn't help any when they suddenly found themselves tangled amongst a forgotten fishing net, as well as each other.
Jadis kept her grip firm on Silversted's arm the whole time. A piece of the thick rope net wrapped itself around her foot, making it harder to swim. Despite this setback, she managed to get her other foot to dig into his thigh where Clarice had shot him a mere five minutes ago. Silversted's attempts at screaming underwater only made her dig in harder.
Amongst the confusion, Silversted somehow managed to keep a hold of his knife. In a desperate attempt to fight at least one of his assailants off, he swiped madly at the woman, managing to stab her in the shoulder.
Ignoring the stinging pain, Jadis found a bare and unprotected spot on his arm. Thinking quick, she went by her father's example and sunk in her teeth into his flesh and refused to let go. She felt the skin tearing into her mouth as Silversted madly shook his arm, trying to shake the cannibal's daughter off of him.
Her teeth lost grip and Jadis found herself detached totally from him. Her head suddenly felt very light and dizziness started to take hold of her. She could no longer tell which way was up or down either. 'Air,' she vaguely thought, 'I need air...'
The last thing that Jadis remembered before passing out was the hazy sight of Silversted thrashing about, with her father having a strong grip on his throat.
***********************************
Even thought the water made it difficult, Dr. Lecter managed to keep a firm hold on Silversted's throat. It wouldn't be enough to cut off his air supply, but it did cause Silversted to panic even more than he already was.
It was hard to see through in the murky water, but despite it Silversted didn't miss the faint gleam of Dr. Lecter's Harpy. Silversted groped around to find his own blade, only to realize that he had lost hold of it while trying to shake Jadis off of his arm. Silversted thrashed about, now trying to break the older Lecter's hold of his skull, but the doctor's grip was too strong and Silversted couldn't move his head.
In a single movement so quick that Silversted couldn't follow it, Dr. Lecter plunged the Harpy deep into his right eye. Silversted tried to scream again, but all he got out was a pathetic gurgle. Dr. Lecter twisted the Harpy, making Silversted's suffering ten times worse. The blade had gone into his eye socket deep, but not deep enough that it would kill him.
Silversted groped around blindly in agony. His lungs began to burn as well. Dr. Lecter finally withdrew the Harpy, Silversted's right eyeball going with it.
As Dr. Lecter swam away from him, Silversted could have sworn that he felt his eyeball bump into his leg a few times before floating away.
***********************************
Clarice limped along the shoreline towards an emerging figure. Only as she approached did she realize that it was actually two figures, the second lying lifelessly in the other's arms.
Dr. Lecter looked up at her as she approached. "You really shouldn't be walking right now Clarice."
She gave him a slight glare. "Did you honestly think that I would just stay put for you? Besides, someone must have seen the fire 'cause I heard sirens coming this way."
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't stay and wait for them to take you back home?"
Clarice sighed, not wanting to think of her reasons for it right now. A slight moan from the third person averted her attention. "How is she?" she asked, indicating the unconscious Jadis.
"She's alive, but her heartbeat is very weak. If she doesn't get treatment of some kind soon, she won't survive the night." Dr. Lecter took a quick look around before speaking again. "You do know how to pick locks, correct?"
Clarice nodded, knowing what he had in mind. "I saw a small cottage a little ways away, but it won't take long to walk to it. I doubt very much that anybody's there and it far enough away from the fire that it won't draw attention."
Dr. Lecter nodded. "That should do for the night. Please lead the way."
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
(A/N: Almost done... there's going to be at least one more chapter and an epilogue coming in the next few days, so watch out for that. Hope you've been enjoying it so far!)
-SP
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except for the ones I've invented myself. Please don't sue!
Give Me Darkness, Give Me Light
Chapter 7: Sleep Now in the Fire
Clarice finally became fully aware of her surroundings as an intense heat suddenly came over her body. The feeling was quickly followed by a loud blast.
She looked up at the figure above her, which she quickly identified as Dr. Lecter. All Clarice could remember of the last fifteen minutes or so were just quick flashes and blurred memories, but she remembered enough to know that he had saved her.
"Dr. Lecter?" she managed to speak. He didn't respond right away, he was still looking towards the flaming wreckage before them. She spoke again, "Dr. Lecter, what the hell happened?"
Keeping his eyes on the flames, he quickly addressed Clarice, who was presently seated on the car seat. "Try to get some rest Clarice; you'll need all the strength you can regain."
With that, he went back into the darkness, leaving a very confused Clarice behind to watch.
**********************
Jadis' eyes fluttered painfully open. For a moment she thought that she had died and descended to Hell, but she quickly remembered her current situation and tried to stand up. Her muscles protested greatly to her movements and she could feel small flames lick her body like tiny, ravenous insects. Smoke blurred her vision and made breathing difficult.
Collapsing back onto the ground with an agonizing thud, Jadis found herself coughing up thick sticky blood. She felt paralyzed, weak, and helpless.
She vaguely hoped that her father and Clarice had made it out alive, and likewise hoped that Silversted was now burning to death somewhere in the inferno. As for herself, in her barely conscious mind she didn't really give much hope to surviving and thought of herself as good as dead.
A shadow came over her. She squinted her eyes, trying to see through the stinging smoke. All she could manage was a dark smear.
**************************
Silversted loomed over the bruised and burnt Lecter before him. It may not be the doctor, but it was a Lecter nonetheless, and that was good enough for him.
He had to struggle to keep his balance and to avoid some of the larger flames and burned all around him. From his pocket he fished back out his pocket knife, which was already encrusted with Jadis' blood from earlier when he slashed her on the face for the second time in her life.
Silversted took a few minutes to savor the sight of the suffering Jadis on the ground before him. She made a couple pathetic attempts at standing, only to fall back onto her behind. Silversted allowed himself a sadistic grin at the sight. He wished that he could watch this all night, but knew that all good things had to come to an end. Plus, he was more than a little paranoid with the fact that her father was out there somewhere and may return for her and possibly for Silversted as well.
He bent down to the struggling woman and roughly grabbed a lock of her long dark brown hair and forced her to stay down to the ground. Jadis was now writhing against his grip, trying to get free.
"Alright Special Agent Lecter," Silversted hissed, lining up the blade of his knife to Jadis' chest. "Your daddy isn't here to save you know, but you'll be seeing your mommy again very soon, that I can guarantee. Now hold still you little wench."
*******************************
Jadis' vision cleared almost completely as Silversted spoke to her amidst the crackling and snapping sounds of the burning barn. It made her blood run ice cold.
Silversted tightened his grip on her hair, prodding her closer to the breaking point. She could feel his rancid breath on her face, and in return, she spat in his.
She heard an angry growl escape his throat before he gave her a hard punch in the stomach for it.
"Goodbye Lecter," Silversted taunted, his knife raised. "Be sure to say hi to your mommy for me."
Jadis held his gaze even as the knife began its dive towards her chest. The blade barely even made it down an inch before it was abruptly stopped by a strong hand. Silversted didn't even have time to react before being easily shoved to the ground onto his back.
Jadis now looked up at her father, who still had a firm grip of Silversted's hand. Silversted cried out as Dr. Lecter tightened his grip, twisting his arm in the process. She once again tried to get to her feet, this time successfully.
"Jadis," Dr. Lecter addressed her, his eyes never leaving Silversted. "Get away from the fire and wait for us outside. I'll escort Richard out in a second."
Jadis hesitated for a second, but gave in to her father's request. She knew that she didn't have enough strength back yet to confront Silversted again. She needed a few minutes away from the smoke and flames to recuperate. With one last glance the doctor, Jadis made her way back out into the cold, dark, night air.
******************************
Inside, Dr. Lecter kept a firm grip on Silversted. The knife hadn't fallen from his grip yet. Silversted tried his best to fight against him, but the doctor's superior strength quickly overtook him. Silversted tried to stand, but only managed to get to his knees.
Dr. Lecter allowed the flames to touch the man kneeling before him in pain as he spoke. "Richard," Dr. Lecter spoke calmly him, but a hint of anger or something like it managed to show through in it. "I thought that your problem was with me, not with my daughter or Clarice. But now it seems like you have gained two more enemies in this night, as opposed to just me. Do you really think that Clarice isn't resentful against you for kidnapping and injuring her? Trust me, she won't leave that debt unpaid. As for Jadis, she will never forgive you for what you have done. Know this, she will not rest until you are dead and gone, that I guarantee."
Silversted tried to speak, but was cut off by Dr. Lecter pulling him by his arm out of the fire and into the cold night.
*******************************
Jadis quickly found Clarice in the car, waiting.
"Starling!" Jadis exclaimed while approaching her friend. "Are you okay?"
Clarice nodded. "Don't worry, I think that he just broke a toe and gave a little bump on the head. What the hell are you doing here with Dr. Lecter?!"
Jadis hesitated before answering. "I'll explain it to you later, I promise."
With that, Jadis took the time to take in her surroundings. The still burning barn lit up the area so she could see very well. Beside the barn was a fairly petite house, behind it a small field. On one side was a beach with a tall, wooden boating dock that stretched far out into the sea, on the other side was the lane and driveway. Everything else was forest.
Jadis focused her attention back to the barn just in time to see two figures emerge. One of them dragged the other to the beach, well away from the inferno.
Clarice looked back up at Jadis. She could see the rage burning in her eyes, the maroon color now an intense blood red.
The older agent blinked at her observation. 'Maroon?!' There was only one other person that Clarice knew that had those color eyes. More memories floated back to her. 'Chimera had called Jadis 'Agent Lecter', Dr. Lecter had a relationship with Jadis' mother and Chimera had said something about having Dr. Lecter's daughter there as well... Oh my God!'
Clarice watched as Jadis made her way to the beach, her eyes wide with realization.
'Damn you Jadis,' Clarice thought after her. 'Why didn't you ever tell me?'
*****************************
Jadis practically launched herself at Silversted when she got close enough. Dr. Lecter had backed a few steps away, allowing his daughter to have her share of the murderer.
Both Jadis and Silversted were now on their feet. Lying on the ground in between them was Silversted's knife. They both made a mad dash for it. Jadis had first hold of it, but Silversted managed to wrench it out of her grasp in a mere second. They took a few steps away from each other, looking each other over, waiting for one to make the first move.
**********************************
Clarice's hand was digging underneath the seat, hoping to find something, anything, that would give some relief. What she did manage to find was a cell phone and a gun.
Biting her lip, Clarice considered her options. She could call the police or FBI and apprehend two wanted serial killers, but a part of her didn't want to do that. Her other option was to use the gun. Clarice knew that she should use the phone, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do that.
She checked the gun for bullets. "One," she muttered, a little annoyed. "Better make this one count then."
She stole a look towards the three individuals on the beach. As she aimed, Clarice had to make a quick decision as to who she was going to, hopefully, shoot. Surprising herself, she found her decision very easy to make.
*********************************
A gunshot rang out into the night, quickly followed by a loud scream. Silversted grasped his bleeding thigh where the bullet entered and Jadis took that moment to strike. Silversted somehow managed to keep his footing, even when Jadis bashed out a fury of punches on him. A quick, mad, blind slash and the woman backed off for the moment, grasping her stomach where the blade made contact.
Silversted tried to take this moment to take a breather, but a terrible stinging feeling in his shoulder prompted him to fight on. Dr. Lecter withdrew his Harpy from Silversted's shoulder and took a firm grasp of his arm again as Silversted raised his own blade to fight back.
Ignoring the pain the wracked her body, Jadis got involved again. She tackled her nemesis, but not enough to bring him down.
The three fighting individuals quickly found themselves on a wooden surface with the sound of the crashing waves of the ocean closer than ever before. None of them took much mind of it.
******************************
The cell phone had long disappeared back onto the floor of the car; Clarice had no use for it she finally decided. Ignoring the intense pain that shot up her leg with every step, Clarice got out of the car and tried to make her way closer to the three thrashing people. Unlike them, she saw the danger that they were slowly approaching.
Limping in the worse way, Clarice barely even made it to the beach when she looked up again. The three were on the edge of the dock right at the end. Just one slip up would throw them all into the deep, dark, icy ocean below.
Clarice tried desperately to pick up the pace, but her injured foot protested greatly and eventually caused her to lose her balance and fall flat onto her face. Growling, she forced herself up again.
Looking back at the dock, Clarice discovered that it was now empty. A loud slash quickly confirmed what she had feared would happen.
************************************
Silversted lost his footing. Falling back, he acted on instinct, determined that if he was to drown or freeze in the ocean depths, so were Jadis and Hannibal Lecter. He grabbed a tight hold on the father and daughter and with all the strength he could summon, he pulled them into the icy water with him.
**************************************
A couple seconds of falling, which seemed to last for hours, then a sharp, cold, wet feeling came over the three as gravity pulled them underwater.
As all three were pulled further and further down, their movements became slower and harder, as did their sense of sight. It didn't help any when they suddenly found themselves tangled amongst a forgotten fishing net, as well as each other.
Jadis kept her grip firm on Silversted's arm the whole time. A piece of the thick rope net wrapped itself around her foot, making it harder to swim. Despite this setback, she managed to get her other foot to dig into his thigh where Clarice had shot him a mere five minutes ago. Silversted's attempts at screaming underwater only made her dig in harder.
Amongst the confusion, Silversted somehow managed to keep a hold of his knife. In a desperate attempt to fight at least one of his assailants off, he swiped madly at the woman, managing to stab her in the shoulder.
Ignoring the stinging pain, Jadis found a bare and unprotected spot on his arm. Thinking quick, she went by her father's example and sunk in her teeth into his flesh and refused to let go. She felt the skin tearing into her mouth as Silversted madly shook his arm, trying to shake the cannibal's daughter off of him.
Her teeth lost grip and Jadis found herself detached totally from him. Her head suddenly felt very light and dizziness started to take hold of her. She could no longer tell which way was up or down either. 'Air,' she vaguely thought, 'I need air...'
The last thing that Jadis remembered before passing out was the hazy sight of Silversted thrashing about, with her father having a strong grip on his throat.
***********************************
Even thought the water made it difficult, Dr. Lecter managed to keep a firm hold on Silversted's throat. It wouldn't be enough to cut off his air supply, but it did cause Silversted to panic even more than he already was.
It was hard to see through in the murky water, but despite it Silversted didn't miss the faint gleam of Dr. Lecter's Harpy. Silversted groped around to find his own blade, only to realize that he had lost hold of it while trying to shake Jadis off of his arm. Silversted thrashed about, now trying to break the older Lecter's hold of his skull, but the doctor's grip was too strong and Silversted couldn't move his head.
In a single movement so quick that Silversted couldn't follow it, Dr. Lecter plunged the Harpy deep into his right eye. Silversted tried to scream again, but all he got out was a pathetic gurgle. Dr. Lecter twisted the Harpy, making Silversted's suffering ten times worse. The blade had gone into his eye socket deep, but not deep enough that it would kill him.
Silversted groped around blindly in agony. His lungs began to burn as well. Dr. Lecter finally withdrew the Harpy, Silversted's right eyeball going with it.
As Dr. Lecter swam away from him, Silversted could have sworn that he felt his eyeball bump into his leg a few times before floating away.
***********************************
Clarice limped along the shoreline towards an emerging figure. Only as she approached did she realize that it was actually two figures, the second lying lifelessly in the other's arms.
Dr. Lecter looked up at her as she approached. "You really shouldn't be walking right now Clarice."
She gave him a slight glare. "Did you honestly think that I would just stay put for you? Besides, someone must have seen the fire 'cause I heard sirens coming this way."
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't stay and wait for them to take you back home?"
Clarice sighed, not wanting to think of her reasons for it right now. A slight moan from the third person averted her attention. "How is she?" she asked, indicating the unconscious Jadis.
"She's alive, but her heartbeat is very weak. If she doesn't get treatment of some kind soon, she won't survive the night." Dr. Lecter took a quick look around before speaking again. "You do know how to pick locks, correct?"
Clarice nodded, knowing what he had in mind. "I saw a small cottage a little ways away, but it won't take long to walk to it. I doubt very much that anybody's there and it far enough away from the fire that it won't draw attention."
Dr. Lecter nodded. "That should do for the night. Please lead the way."
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
(A/N: Almost done... there's going to be at least one more chapter and an epilogue coming in the next few days, so watch out for that. Hope you've been enjoying it so far!)
-SP