As would be predicted of a Lecter, Amelia, or Lia as she was often called, was always a bit different. She had always been generally quiet, but was not one to tangle with in a argument. She had few friends since she was home schooled and found odd for learning kendo and aikido from her father. Her gaze could silence a fight, her touch could paralyze, and her senses were as strong as her father's.
Mostly, she kept to herself and sat back to observe rather than get involved as her mother had. But, somehow, she still managed to get in trouble.
"I told you that you shouldn't date until you're sixteen!" Lolita scolded.
"But why? I like him and I he likes me!" Amelia replied just as harshly, but without raising her voice.
"I don't care. Break it off or I'll do it for you." That ended the conversation.
/"If only I could have hidden it a little longer..."/ Amelia thought, turning to face the rain in the window.
When the rain stopped, Amelia just stayed by the window. Her refuges, her room in the attic and the library, were occupied by either parent to read or sew, so it wasn't like she could go any where else.
Something moved in Amelia's peripheral vision. She turned, but only shadows danced along the edge of the forest. There was a quiver in the darkness, but nothing more. Still, it caused Amelia's curiosity to spark - an impulse she couldn't control. She pulled on a cloak and snuck outside.
The ground was soggy and the grass wrapped around Amelia's ankles like long fingers jutting out from the underworld as she approached the edge of the forest. She had never successfully gotten past the first layer of trees - she was usually snatched up by her ever-watchful mother. Of course, the memory only made Amelia more rebellious. With one final glance at the house's windows, she let herself be overtaken by the lure of the forest. It cradled her and sang her a lullaby before the darkness swallowed her.
"Come..." A voiceless whisper called to her. "Come."
The whispers of the forest pulled her into it's heart so gently that Amelia barely noticed until her trance was broken by a scream.
"My god..." The words flew from her lips as she started to run toward the screaming. Unarmed, but willing to help, she ghosted through the dense trees that curved around the path like a horror version of "Snow White." But before Amelia saw what was wrong, she tripped over it. She turned to see a man with a noose around his neck lay on the ground, his bulging eyes staring lifelessly at her. As she sat sprawled out next to the corpse, her horror built up in her throat, restricting all sound.
A moment later, Amelia found herself gagged, bound, and blindfolded. The tension in her throat released and she let out a scream, muffled by the gag. For that, she received a slap across the face.
"Shut her up. We'll be found." She heard a man's voice say harshly.
"She's loud..." Another said regretfully.
"Just bring her along. We can't have her running off to tell her parents." A third, gentler voice said.
"You think she lives in that house?" The first voice asked.
"Who cares?"
"You have any idea who lives there? Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He's loaded."
"You thinking a ransom?" The second asked.
"No, I'm thinking a tuna melt. Of course, I'm thinking a ransom!"
"And the girl?" The third asked.
"Hey, kid. listen up." The first said. "Tell anyone and we'll kill you. Got it?"
He pulled the gag out of Amelia's mouth and she took the chance to scream at the top of her lungs. She was, again, slapped across the face.
"Damn, bitch." She heard as he head came in contact with a tree. Then, nothingness.
"Warm." That was the first thing to come to mind. Then "soft" and "dark." A muffled voice before,
"Lia..."
She opened her eyes and saw her father's face come into focus, looming in the darkness.
"Lia, can you see me? Can you hear me?"
She tried to speak, but her parched throat only made a feeble squeak. The doctor got the message and lifted Amelia's head to help her drink from a glass of a cloudy green liquid. It was bitter, but it quenched her thirst and she was able to speak.
"Are you still in pain?"
"A little. My back and head."
"Well, your mother bathed you, so your wounds should heal soon, but you seem to have a bit of a concussion. I don't suggest you walk around too soon." Amelia immediately felt glad that her father was a doctor. "So why were out in the forest? You know better than that?"
Amelia told him what happened and he replied nonchalantly that he would go broke if she kept it up. She asked what he meant and he explained that he had received a letter of ransom for 300 dollars. Then, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Amelia and Hannibal chorused.
Lolita walked in with a pitcher of what seemed to be more of the odd green liquid Hannibal had his daughter sipping on.
"Oh, thank god you're awake." Lolita said, putting down the pitcher and kneeling by the bed before proceeding to gently lecture Amelia about going into the forest.
"Mother, I watched a man die. I won't be going back soon." Lolita looked confused.
"Hann?" She turned to her husband.
"They hung a man. I think they were vigilantes." Lolita sank back onto her heels, sighing. Amelia yawned into her blanket and her mother jumped at the chance to dismiss her husband and herself. "You should get some rest, Lia. Come, Hann." She took his hand and led him out.
"You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" Lolita asked.
"Why would you think that?"
"Hanging is one of the ways you kill. It's not normal for people to just appear on our property. Especially when our daughter was conveniently there and didn't see the men. Explain that."
"I gladly will when you are able to explain the ways of the world, my love. I don't know why things happen the way they do."
"It just doesn't make any sense and it's too coincidental to have been accidental."
"It doesn't, but it happened. We'll make sense of it later. For now, I think you need as much rest as Lia. Come, dear. To bed with you. It's late.
HAHAHAHA!!! Finally getting on with this! I was able to make it less awkward and easier to read. Hopefully you will find it satisfactory! Review, please!!