Disclaimer: I own neither any of the characters of Gone With the Wind OR Silence of the Lambs. If I did, I'd be a hybrid between a dude and a dead reclusive woman, and I wouldn't be a poor college student living in a dorm with a communal bathroom, but rather a RICH college student who would have bribed my(and my friends) way into the GOOD dorm.
And yes, I KNOW Psychology didn't come about until 1879, so,
what the hell, lets just say Scarlett's
been dealing with this depression for about 8 years, and it'll all come out
right… It's a blatant crossover, so it's not supposed to be cannon OR accurate.
So read. NOW. And Review, or I'll
consider you to be one of the "Free range rude", and make sure a certain
cannibal knows and regards you as so as well.
BAH!
The Silence of the Wind OR Gone With The Lambs, whichever you prefer
Scarlett ascended the steps to the house. After the death of Bonnie and Melanie, and the terrible divorce, Scarlett had gone into a deep depression. Dr. Meade suggested that she talk to another doctor, and told her to come to this address. She knocked, and a man answered the door.
"Mrs. Butler?" He asked. "The Doctor is expecting you."
"Yes," She said as she stepped inside.
A man in his early 50's stepped out of a room. He was dignified, his air told
her that much. His hair was slicked back, looking a bit like the gleaming hide
of an otter. And his eyes were maroon.
"Hello, Scarlett." He said.
"You must be Dr. Lector." Scarlett said.
"Yes..." The Doctor was eyeing her up and down, making her feel a bit
uncomfortable.
"I was about to have dinner, would you like to join me?" He asked.
"That would be delightful." Scarlett said, turning on her charm.
"Lovely. This way." He held
the door for her, and she walked into the dining room. He held a chair out for
her, and she sat down. "I see you've
brought your best bag." He commented.
"Yes, it was sent in from Paris last month." Scarlett said, happy that he'd
noticed.
"It's much better than your shoes." He said.
"I beg your pardon?" Scarlett asked, miffed.
"I'll be right back." He said. He went into the kitchen. There was a bit of
shouting, a scream, and reverberating "Thwack".
He came back in. "Dinner will be served shortly." He said.
"Having trouble with the servants?" Scarlett asked curiously, forgetting the comment on her shoes.
"Hmmm? Oh, yes." Hannibal said. "Care for a glass of Chianti?" He asked, taking a bottle from a cupboard.
"Please." Scarlett smiled. "If I may..."
"Hmmm?" Hannibal asked.
"What will you be serving tonight?" Scarlett asked.
"Oh, liver, with some fava beans." He told her.
They chatted aimlessly for a few minutes. "So tell me, why did
you come here?"
"Well, I've been feeling rather blue lately, and I only hoped that your
knowledge..."
"You're sooo ambitious, aren't you? You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well-scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste... Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor Irish farmers, are you, Mrs. Butler. And that accent you carry, pure Clayton County. What was your father, dear? Was he a farmer? Did he stink of the fields?
"My father was a great plantation owner!" Scarlett cried.
"He ran one of the best plantations of the south! And I pride myself on good
nutrition. I went for so long, during the war, starving, and I told myself I'd never be hungry again!" Scarlett was livid.
"Calm down, Mrs. Butler. I didn't mean to upset you.
It's just my way of seeing how well I know the patient. But your father was
Irish, was he not?"
"Well... Yes." Scarlett said, looking down. "His family farms in Ireland."
Hannibal smiled, his teeth gleaming. A servant brought in the food, and set it
before Scarlett. Hannibal sat down, and they began to eat.
"My, this is delicious!" Scarlett remarked. "What kind of liver is it, may I
ask?"
"Ah, a good cook never reveals his secrets." Hannibal said, waving his finger.
They talked for a little while, and Hannibal paused.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Scarlett asked.
"No, I was just remembering a wonderful piece of gossip I heard the other
day..." He said.
"Oh, do tell!" Scarlett exclaimed.
"It doesn't work like that." He said, wagging his finger. "Quid pro quo. I tell you things, you tell me things...
about yourself. Yes or no?"
"Yes." Scarlett said without hesitation.
"What's the worst memory of your childhood?" Hannibal asked.
"The death of my mother."
"Hmmm?"
"She was a wonderful lady... During the war, she went to nurse some
white trash. She caught typhoid from them. It killed her the day before I got
home."
"Home, now where is that?"
"Tara. A Plantation. We had hundreds of slaves, field
hands."
"And what did you plant? Corn?"
Scarlett squeezed her eyes closed. "Cotton." She
whispered.
"What happened, why did you leave Tara?"
"One morning, I awoke..." Scarlett said.
"What time?"
"4, 5... Early."
"Something woke you."
"Yes... A strange sound."
"What was it?" Hannibal asked.
"I didn't know... I went to look... Singing! Some kind of
singing!"
"What did you do?" He questioned.
"I got dressed, went downstairs, and peeked out the window..." Scarlett said,
reliving the horrible memory.
"And what did you see?"
"The Slaves... The slaves were singing!"
"The picking of the cotton?" Hannibal asked, a tone of
amusement in his voice.
"Yes... I knew I couldn't stay any longer. Everyone was happy except me! Mother
sent me to Atlanta... And I never saw her alive after that." Scarlett had tears
in her eyes.
"And when you came home, found her dead?" Hannibal asked.
"The Yankee's.... The Yankee's had come to Georgia! I was with Melanie, she'd just had her baby..."
"So you ran away?"
"No... I had to save them. I opened the door, but they wouldn't move... Prissy
and Beau and Wade and Melanie... They wouldn't move... Rhett came. He carried
Melanie, and I finally grabbed Beau and Wade and Prissy and put them in the
wagon... We left. Rhett took us to Five Points. He left me... And it was so
cold. We didn't have any food or water... And I thought, even if I could just
get to Tara... But the load was so weary... So weary..."
"You did get to Tara, though?" Hannibal commented.
"Yes... Mother was dead. Pa was insane, and my sisters were sick. I had to run
Tara, and the load was even heavier..." Scarlett told him.
"You still wake up in the dark, hear the slaves singing, the wind screaming beneath
the fog?"
"Yes..."
"And how do you plan on making it stop?"
"Quid pro quo." Scarlett said. "Quid pro quo. What was
that piece of gossip you heard?"
"Well, you know Fanny, Mrs. Eslings' daughter? You
would not believe what she..." And Hannibal told Scarlett the information. When
he was done, Scarlett stood up.
"I really must go... I hope to see you again sometime." Scarlett said.
"Hmmm? Yes... I really wish we could chat longer..."
Hannibal said.
"But I'm having an old friend for dinner." Scarlett told him. "Bye..." And she
walked out.
