Darkness. Pure, pitch-black darkness surrounded Amelia on all sides. Her eyes tried to adjust, but to no avail. Not a sound was to be heard as her mind began racing. Suddenly, a faint light appeared, a figure walking towards her. She squinted to see if she could make out a face. As the person neared her, she began to recognize their features. A dark smirk, a receding hairline, the thin face of her step-father coming closer and closer, wielding a very sinister-looking knife. He reeked of death, his skin blue and eyes circled in black.
No, no, no…
Garrett raised the knife with a malicious expression, ready to attack. Amelia was about to prepare for death when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. She craned her neck to see a humanoid-type being standing behind her; it was tall, leathery, and had massive antlers. Her eyes concentrated on its face until it reached its hands toward Garrett and snapped his neck like a toothpick. His body hit the floor with a thud.
The creature then turned its attention back to her. It regarded her with curiosity before slowly extending its hand toward her face. Her eyes widened in fear, until it gave her the lightest of touches on her cheek; it's hand frigid and calloused.
She looked into its eyes. The color changed from a maroon red when it first appeared to a warm golden brown, their expression softening.
Just as it took her chin between its index finger and thumb, she was startled awake by the flight attendant lightly shaking her.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but we've landed and we need to clean the cabin."
Amelia looked around during and noticed she was the last person left on the plane.
"O-of course; so sorry to inconvenience you."
The woman smiled at her, easing her anxiety slightly. She grabbed her purse and rushed into the airport, heading to baggage claim. As soon as she saw her suitcase come into view, she bolted to the arrivals area. She looked around, seeing a young man holding a sign with her name on it. She walked up to him.
"Are you my transport to Port Haven?"
"Yes, miss. Please follow me. Allow me to take your bag," he offered, grasping her luggage.
She smiled at him, following his trail to an SUV outside. She slid into the passenger seat, the air in the car warming her chilled flesh.
"We're not too far away from the hospital, about twenty minutes or so."
"Good, I'm anxious to see the person I'm going to visit."
He nodded and began the drive to where Abigail was being kept. The journey was silent as Amelia kept remembering the odd dream she had.
What could that creature have been? Why did it kill Garrett? Why was it so keenly interested in me?
As she pondered those thoughts and replayed the dream in her head, she didn't realize that they were quickly approaching the intimidating building that was temporarily Abigail's home. She felt a sense of dread wash over her, the car looming in the hospital's shadow as they parked.
"Take as long as you want, I'm at your disposal for the day."
"Thank you, sir," she said with a timid look.
She hopped out of the car and jogged up to the reception desk.
"Hi, I'm Amelia Pruitt. I'm here to see my sister, Abigail Hobbs."
The man gave her a leer as he handed her a visitor's pass.
"Down the hall to the right. Room nine eighty-seven."
She nodded a quick thank you and power walked to the room. She knocked, but heard no noise.
"Abby? Abby, It's me. It's Amy. Please let me in."
She heard frantic shuffling and heavy footsteps. The door was thrown open, and Abigail threw herself into Amelia's arms. They held each other as they both began to cry.
"I know, Abby, I know. Everything is fine now. You're safe."
Abigail hanged onto her sister like her life depended on it. Amelia pulled slightly away.
"Why don't we go sit in your room where we can have a little more privacy?"
Abigail nodded and they shuffled through the door.
"How have you be-"
"Please don't ask me that. The only question I get asked is how I'm doing. And the answer is always not well."
"I'm sorry, honey. Are they treating you well here?"
"It's boring, but yes. I have two psychiatrists that check on me everyday and an FBI agent as well."
"That's good. Are you enjoying being away from Bloomington?"
"You can't imagine how much I'm enjoying that part."
"I'm so sorry about what happened, Abby. I should have listened when you told me he was acting weird; I can't help but feel guilty."
"It's not your fault at all, Amy. No one could have guessed what was going through his mind; certainly not this anyway," Abigail explained, moving her scarf down and showing Amy the scar she received from the attack.
"Dear God," Amelia whispered as she took in the deep cut across Abigail's throat, "I can't believe he would do such a thing… You're his own flesh and blood."
"Apparently that didn't make much of a difference."
"I won't let any danger come to you again. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you. You can come live with Mark and I."
"No! I'm sorry, Amy, but I'm not interested. I've seen the way he treats you. I would just be angry all the time. I think this is an opportunity to get out on my own. Besides, I don't want to stay in Bloomington anyway; there's way too much baggage there for me now. And probably you too."
"You're probably not wrong. Then where will you go?"
"I'm not sure yet, Dr. Bloom is helping me workout a plan on what my next step should be."
"Dr. Bloom is your psychiatrist?"
"One of them. She's great. She brought me clothes and books since it looks like I'll be stuck here for the foreseeable future."
"I'm highly debating on moving out here for a while with you. Mark needs time alone and I don't want to leave you here by yourself."
"I won't turn you down. I would like someone from the family close by."
"Are you allowed to leave here with people if they bring you back?"
"Yes, why?"
"We can have an arrangement that when I come visit we can have a day out. Go shopping, go to restaurants, all the good stuff."
"That sounds great!," Abigail exclaimed excitedly.
There was a knock on the door. It creaked open, a mass of red hair peeking through.
"Come in, Freddie!," Abigail called.
The woman came all the way into the room, giving Amelia a glare.
"And who's this?"
"This is my half-sister, Amy. Amy, this is Freddie Lounds, she's generously offered to help me tell my side of what happened with dad ."
"Oh… how do you do, Ms. Lounds?"
"Fine, thank you. Abigail and I have a lot of work to do if you wouldn't mind giving us some time alone."
Amelia looked taken aback.
This lady has some nerve…
She looked back to Abigail, who nodded in confirmation that their visit was over. Amelia gave her a betrayed look.
"Alright. Abby, let me know when you want me to visit again," she said with a sigh.
She then turned to Freddie.
"Ms. Lounds," she said in a derisive tone, to which Freddie gave a disparaging smile.
As Amelia stepped out of the room, the door shut firmly behind her. She stalked down the hallway back to the entrance of the building.
I can't believe that… that-
Her thoughts were interrupted when she bumped into someone.
"Oh! I'm so so sorry! I should have watched where I was go-," she trailed off as her eyes set on the stranger's face.
He was tall with ashy brown hair and dressed sharply in a well-tailored suit; his face was very chiseled, his cheekbones and jawline likely able to cut through steel. And his eyes… they looked familiar. And haunting.
He stared at her with an unreadable expression, while his companion, a slightly shorter but equally handsome man with curly dark hair and glasses, was gawking at her.
She felt her face redden as the two men continued to look fixedly at her.
"Um… Pardon me, gentlemen," she squeaked out in a nervous tone.
She rushed past them, while they turned to watch her leave.
Will felt his heart race at the beautiful blonde who was rushing down the hallway.
She's… wow…., he thought.
She came out of Abigail's room; the same blue eyes and cherub-like features… She must be related, Hannibal observed.
Both men abruptly turned their attention away from the lovely stranger they just encountered and knocked on Abigail's door. They heard two voices.
"You better start caring, Abigail. What you remember, what you tell everyone, is going to define the rest of your life. Let me help you."
"Help me what?"
"Carve a path in this world so you can survive what your father did. And not be held accountable."
Abigail absorbed the brunt of that truth.
"How did they catch him?"
"A man named Will Graham. Works for the FBI but isn't FBI. He catches insane men because he can think like them. Because he is insane."
Will walked right in, seeing Freddie sitting on Abigail's bed, anger rising in him.
Hannibal remained stoic.
"Speak of the devil," Freddie sneered.
"Would you excuse us please?," he sneered back.
"I'm not leaving you alone with her."
Will nodded to the orderlies, who then flanked Freddie.
"I'm Special Agent Will Graham," he addressed Abigail.
"By Special Agent, he means not really an Agent. He didn't get past the screening process," she turned from Abigail to face Will, "too unstable."
"I must insist you leave the room," Hannibal interjected.
Before leaving, Freddie offered Abigail a business card.
"If you want to talk-"
Will snatched the card without saying a word. Freddie didn't offer any more resistance as the orderlies escorted her out.
"Abigail, this is Doctor Lecter... Do you remember us?"
Her eyes looked devoid of emotion as the scene played back in her mind.
"... Yes. You shot my dad."
A long tense silence settles between them until Hannibal jumps in.
"You've been in bed for three weeks, Abigail. Why don't we take a walk?"
She agreed to a small walk in the hospital garden. She walked weak-legged down the corridors, supported by Will and Hannibal, until they reached their destination.
"I'm sorry we couldn't save your mother. We did everything we could, but she was already gone."
Tears stinged Abigail's eyes, threatening to flow.
"I know. I saw him kill her."
"You saw it?," Hannibal asked.
"It was sort of like seeing it."
"There was no vocabulary for your mind to articulate the violence."
"Didn't seem real. He was loving right up until the second he wasn't. He kept telling me he wassorry and to just hold still. He was going to make it all go away."
"I see. Was he close to other women in your family? Did he have an infatuation with them as well?"
"He was odd around my half-sister when we were growing up, but he wasn't creepy about it. You actually may have seen her on your way in. She was leaving just as you were probably arriving. Now that I think of it, why would he be so obsessed with me but not with her?"
"There was plenty wrong with your father, Abigail, but there's nothing wrong with you.Your sister wasn't really his, so he obviously wasn't as possessive over her as he was you. You saidhe was loving. I believe it. That's what you brought out in him."
"It's not all I brought out in him," she said, her head hanging in shame.
"Did he tell you about the youngwomen he murdered?"
Outside, Amelia was calling Mark to see how he was doing. No answer. She tried a video call. No answer.
I wonder…
She tapped on the app that was connected to the security cameras in the house. As soon as the video came into view, she saw he had a woman in the house with him, no one she knew. Suddenly, they kissed on the couch.
Amelia felt her nerves fray and her blood come to a boil. The driver seemed to notice something was off.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah… fine," she said in a small voice, still staring intently at the small screen. Their kiss was beginning to get heated.
The man said nothing else, and they drove in the direction of the hotel she was staying at. Her rental car was parked outside.
She closed the app and said a quick goodbye to her driver, grabbing a tight hold on the handle of her luggage. She entered through the revolving door and checked in. Running to her room, she slung the door open and plopped angrily onto the bed. She took her phone out and checked the cameras again; they were getting dressed. She dialed the house phone after waiting a while to calm down. Mark finally answered.
Star-sixty-seven, you never let me down.
"Hello?"
"So I finally got a hold of you, you two-timing, no-good piece of garbage."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I saw you on the security cams. You had some slut over and you were making out on the couch! Don't insult me by acting like I'm stupid!," she practically screamed.
She heard Mark let out a long sigh.
"I'm sorry, Amy. We've both been unhappy for a while, and I took the opportunity to end it. You can take whatever you want and I won't contest it."
"You're a real low-life, you know that? Picking now of all times to want a divorce; what an asshole thing to do!"
She hung up on him, not allowing him to say another word.
A: Don't be there when I come back. Get your shit out of the apartment that I pay for and don't bother me again. I'm moving out here to be with Abby anyway, so I'm selling the apartment.
M: Fine. Good luck.
And with that, their conversation was over.
What. Just. Happened??
She felt her eyes becoming heavy as she scooted up the bed and laid her head on a pillow.
Someone… Please save me from all this… Please…
A vision of the creature from her dream appeared in front of her before she passed out, holding its hand out to her.