As Clarice pulled up into the driveway she looked around trying to find a sign that he was or had been there. A moved curtain, a light on, a light off, something, but like many times before there was nothing there showing any indication that he'd been there. She sighed in frustration as she pulled the keys out of the ignition. She gave him almost 3 hours to go in, plenty of time in her mind for a skilled criminal to break in and leave like he's became accustomed to. "I should just leave a place for him at the dinner table with how many times he's been in there." She muttered to herself as she got out of the Mustang and went to the trunk to get out the groceries.
Like many times before she knew it was going to take more than one trip to get all the stuff she bought out of her car, but seeing how the sky looked as if it was going to start raining anytime, she grabbed all that she could and headed to the door, unlocked it and walked inside. She didn't bother to shut it because of the fact she was about to go back outside again.
She made her way to the kitchen and sat down the bags, turned and walked right back out the door to retrieve the others. Just as she took a step outside, the heavens broke loose and it started pouring rain and instantly she was drenched. "Great," she said to herself. "Just my luck." She didn't try to hurry for the fact that it would do no good. It wouldn't cause her to be any dryer. When she had grabbed the last of her groceries she couldn't help but feel a strange warmth wash over her.
Clarice walked into the living room and turned on her stereo which started playing Stings "Sacred Love" CD. With that going, she walked into her kitchen and proceeded to put up her groceries, singing along to the songs as they came and went, unknowingly having an audience that listed from the stairs. Hannibal watched and listened from a distance, sure this was not his forte in music, but with watching and observing Clarice's reactions to it, he found it more and more tolerable. Then, the song came on, the one that always reminded Clarice of her and Hannibal's last encounter. The title track to Stings CD, Sacred Love.
Clarice laid down on the couch and watched the rain poor down on the roof while she mouthed along to the lyrics. The lightning flashed across the sky as if it danced from cloud to cloud with the music. Then came the chorus where she got more and more into the singing, or so called. She never claimed to be a great singer. Another lighting flashed as the world outside got darker and darker with the clouds blocking out the sun and the rain coming down in sheets. The lightning must've struck the transformer because the next thing she knew, the lights in the house and the stereo went out. Clarice just stayed where she was and continued looking out the window. There was nothing else she would rather do right now than to look outside on a rainy day and marvel at the fact that it is giving "rebirth" to the land. Nursing itself back to health in the form of ordinary untouched water. If only humans could heal with water being poor on them. It would make all the hurts from emotion and physical activity just disappear.
She thought about that last statement for a little while then realized that they did have something like that, beer, but then that would only give it a temporary release. The problems would still be there with the inconvenience of a hang-over. That's why she didn't have more than a 6-pack in her fridge at any given time. There was no use for any more than that.
Clarice's eyes started to get heavy and before she knew it she fell asleep to the sound of rain falling on the roof mixed with the steady breathing routine she had gotten into the habit of using when she was laying down. When she feel asleep she didn't hear Hannibal coming down the stairs, feel him kiss her forehead then pick her up and carry her into her bed, or even feel him tucking her in. He then walked down into her kitchen, even without the use of lights he made it without running into anything.
Clarice walked into the living room and turned on her stereo which started playing Stings "Sacred Love" CD. With that going, she walked into her kitchen and proceeded to put up her groceries, singing along to the songs as they came and went, unknowingly having an audience that listed from the stairs. Hannibal watched and listened from a distance, sure this was not his forte in music, but with watching and observing Clarice's reactions to it, he found it more and more tolerable. Then, the song came on, the one that always reminded Clarice of her and Hannibal's last encounter. The title track to Stings CD, Sacred Love.
Clarice laid down on the couch and watched the rain poor down on the roof while she mouthed along to the lyrics. The lightning flashed across the sky as if it danced from cloud to cloud with the music. Then came the chorus where she got more and more into the singing, or so called. She never claimed to be a great singer. Another lighting flashed as the world outside got darker and darker with the clouds blocking out the sun and the rain coming down in sheets. The lightning must've struck the transformer because the next thing she knew, the lights in the house and the stereo went out. Clarice just stayed where she was and continued looking out the window. There was nothing else she would rather do right now than to look outside on a rainy day and marvel at the fact that it is giving "rebirth" to the land. Nursing itself back to health in the form of ordinary untouched water. If only humans could heal with water being poor on them. It would make all the hurts from emotion and physical activity just disappear.
She thought about that last statement for a little while then realized that they did have something like that, beer, but then that would only give it a temporary release. The problems would still be there with the inconvenience of a hang-over. That's why she didn't have more than a 6-pack in her fridge at any given time. There was no use for any more than that.
Clarice's eyes started to get heavy and before she knew it she fell asleep to the sound of rain falling on the roof mixed with the steady breathing routine she had gotten into the habit of using when she was laying down. When she feel asleep she didn't hear Hannibal coming down the stairs, feel him kiss her forehead then pick her up and carry her into her bed, or even feel him tucking her in. He then walked down into her kitchen, even without the use of lights he made it without running into anything.