CHAPTER 3: A drop falling upwards
At 10 p.m., November the 15th, Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter, both fully dressed, were sitting in the living area before the only source of light -- Clarice's modest-looking fireplace, talking about linguistics.
"Each nationality sees the reality through the prism of its language, Clarice" - Doctorpaused to take a sip from his glass-"In Russian there's a word "тоска" that doesn't exist in any other language. They translate it as "yearning" or "anguish", but it isn't anywhere near the true meaning of the word -- hmmm –"
Starling watched Lecter as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet.
"Your scent has changed" - Dr pursed his lips and smiled to himself. Chaos. Chaos. A drop falling upwards.
"Can you smell it on yourself, Clarice?" – Oh, she doesn't know. It's early days, then.
"Smell what?"
"That peculiar milky odor is pre-colostrum. And your sweat's chemical composition is somewhat heaver. Remember it, it's the smell of pregnancy".
Starling's eyes widened. "What did you just say?" – "You're pregnant.I suggest you see a doctor. Can you function alright?"
"What do you mean I'm pregnant?" – She heard her own voice from far away, ringing like an insistent doorbell. – "That is impossible. You always had condoms on…" – "Not always" – "And I was on the pill".
Lecter was silent.
Clarice just sat there quietly and stared at the carpet. She never spooked easily. She looked down at her hands and was surprised to see them trembling violently.
Ouch.
Something stuck into her left arm and, mechanically, she turned to see what it was, only to meet with a pair of pale blue eyes.
In his right hand Doctor held a syringe.
"No man, no problem -- is that how you deal with nuisances, Hannibal Lecter?"
"You know it is" – he whispered in her ear, lifting her in his arms.
Next thing she knew she was lying in her bed under the covers. She tried to focus and saw a dark figure leaning over her.
"Well, Clarice, do you think your DADDY would be shamed and crushed by your disgrace? Having sex with an FBI Most Wanted and as a result getting pregnant -- what a sorry, pity end of promising career. Will people forever say you're evil? Tell me truly, Special Agent Starling".
Dr Lecter leaned closer and she felt him caressing her cheek gently.
"You're not crying. You can be as strong as you wish to be. You are a warrior, Clarice. It's your baby and you have to protect it. You are a warrior".
"Nothing to fall back on, is there, Clarice? Where to go, when there's no place to go? All you need is right inside you" The Monster put his palm on her belly caressing the spot under her womb inside which was already growing a tiny new life: "Your home is here."
The silence was complete.
In the Beginning Harris created 'Silence of the lambs'. And Harris said: 'Let there be a book" and there was the book. And Demme saw that the book was good; and he invited Hopkins over there... Many years passed, and then the Lecterphiles appeared.