Disclaimer: The
characters of Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling and Ardelia Mapp do not
belong to me,
but to Thomas Harris.
I'll turn them back when I've finished. No copyright infringement
intended, no profit made.
Chapter 5: September 21st, 1994.
Clarice went out of the Washington Post building as breathless as if she had run three miles. She leaned against the building wall and closed her eyes. She had done it. She repeated this little sentence again and again in her head. Just to be able to believe it. She had dreamt so often of doing it that she was not sure now that she had done it for real.
One message. One edition only. The die was cast. Now fate would decide of her life. Fate and Hannibal Lecter. Though the sun was shining, Clarice shivered.
These last months had been the most difficult of her life. For everybody else, Clarice Starling was doing fine. She had had a promotion at work. Her daughter was growing up fine and she was wonderful. But inside, she was a mess. The dreams had come back. Not nightmares: the lambs had stopped screaming long ago. But dreams of him, dreams of her with him. At first they had been not so frequent. But after a while they came more often. And now, they were visiting her almost every night. And they inevitably left her crying in the morning.
Hannibal ... His name echoed in her head. "You were right, Hannibal." she thought once again. "I was strong enough to rebuild my life alone. But what is the point if I can't leave it with the only man I ever loved ? Why all this hard work was for ? To prove myself she could make it ? To make the journey without love had no sense."
She rubbed her nose with her sleeve. Today was Mischa' s third birthday. She had a thousand things to do. And all she could do for now was waiting. The chances he would see the ad were poor, she knew it. But she had decided to play her life on it.
Hannibal raised his cup of tea to his mouth. He closed his eyes. He was just recovering from a serious flu and still had a persistent headache.
He had a look at his desk. Catala had left the newspapers on the tray with his breakfast. He smiled. He could always count on Catala. He took the Washington Post and opened it on the table, going directly to the ad section, as usual. He took another sip of tea.
Suddenly, his deep blue eyes focussed on the top of the second column. He dropped his cup but did not even hear the sound of it crashing on the floor. There it was ...
" Land Runner,
You have a daughter. We miss you.
Lambs Keeper. "
Hannibal had to read the ad three times to be sure he was not dreaming. Then a thousand images invaded his mind in a perfect chaos. Seven words ... just seven words, and his life was ... He read again the message and finally realized fully what it meant. He had a daughter ... They had a daughter ... together !
"We miss you". We miss you. It was not only for the child. She missed him too ... A burst of laugh exploded in his throat.
To be continued. Thanks for reading. Reviews welcome ...
Absolut.
Chapter 5: September 21st, 1994.
Clarice went out of the Washington Post building as breathless as if she had run three miles. She leaned against the building wall and closed her eyes. She had done it. She repeated this little sentence again and again in her head. Just to be able to believe it. She had dreamt so often of doing it that she was not sure now that she had done it for real.
One message. One edition only. The die was cast. Now fate would decide of her life. Fate and Hannibal Lecter. Though the sun was shining, Clarice shivered.
These last months had been the most difficult of her life. For everybody else, Clarice Starling was doing fine. She had had a promotion at work. Her daughter was growing up fine and she was wonderful. But inside, she was a mess. The dreams had come back. Not nightmares: the lambs had stopped screaming long ago. But dreams of him, dreams of her with him. At first they had been not so frequent. But after a while they came more often. And now, they were visiting her almost every night. And they inevitably left her crying in the morning.
Hannibal ... His name echoed in her head. "You were right, Hannibal." she thought once again. "I was strong enough to rebuild my life alone. But what is the point if I can't leave it with the only man I ever loved ? Why all this hard work was for ? To prove myself she could make it ? To make the journey without love had no sense."
She rubbed her nose with her sleeve. Today was Mischa' s third birthday. She had a thousand things to do. And all she could do for now was waiting. The chances he would see the ad were poor, she knew it. But she had decided to play her life on it.
Hannibal raised his cup of tea to his mouth. He closed his eyes. He was just recovering from a serious flu and still had a persistent headache.
He had a look at his desk. Catala had left the newspapers on the tray with his breakfast. He smiled. He could always count on Catala. He took the Washington Post and opened it on the table, going directly to the ad section, as usual. He took another sip of tea.
Suddenly, his deep blue eyes focussed on the top of the second column. He dropped his cup but did not even hear the sound of it crashing on the floor. There it was ...
" Land Runner,
You have a daughter. We miss you.
Lambs Keeper. "
Hannibal had to read the ad three times to be sure he was not dreaming. Then a thousand images invaded his mind in a perfect chaos. Seven words ... just seven words, and his life was ... He read again the message and finally realized fully what it meant. He had a daughter ... They had a daughter ... together !
"We miss you". We miss you. It was not only for the child. She missed him too ... A burst of laugh exploded in his throat.
To be continued. Thanks for reading. Reviews welcome ...
Absolut.