Ah! je ris de me voir
si belle en ce miroir,
Ah! je ris de me voir
si belle en ce miroir,
Est-ce toi, Marguerite, est-ce toi?
Réponds-moi, réponds-moi,
Réponds, réponds, réponds vite!
Sweet bliss. The rich sounds of Faust intoxicated the spotless kitchen. Hannibal continued slicing the meat into paper thin strips. The doctor ingratiated himself in the worldly elevation that was art, even though at times it seemed more divine than of earth. Hannibal took it upon himself to also expose the ignorant world to the sublimities that he lived his life by. This, of course, involved disposing of any unsavory vermin writhing about pointlessly on the surface. He took the coal that blackened his pristine life and offended his taste and pressed it into diamonds. An aria of his own design. Those who were undeserving were punished for their transgressions. Dr. Lecter was a man who chose to see the elegance and beauty in life and disgraced anything that would get in his way. The result: dinner.
"Dr. Lecter? Dr. Lecter?" a weepy middle aged woman sniveled in front of the doctor. An indistinguishable sigh from Hannibal.
"Yes."
"I don't want to die." Sniff.
"You are not going to die," the doctor said, enunciating each syllable.
"But...but they told me I would!" The woman blinked her long, gray hair out of her eyes.
"Who told you that you would die?"
"The cards. They whisper to me at night. They speak in tongues," she hisses
"Johanna, you cannot surrender your reason to a pack of inanimate objects. That a part of your need for therapy."the calm voice of patience and professionalism.
"I didn't want to do this. My children are making me!"...
***
Three frustrating appointments later, none of which would ever be occupied by the doctor's most cherished patient again, and the phone began to ring.
"This is Jack. Are you finished with appointments for the day?" the agent doesn't say hello.
"Jack, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Need you down here. Got another one of the Ripper's."
"Are my services required?" Hannibal took on a tone of appropriate bemusement.
"I want you consulting on this case. Come on," Jack sounded irritable. Hannibal's lip curled. He was frustrated and his best man was locked up; a captive audience. The agent was desperate.
"Certainly," the doctor hung up. Another chance to see his own work of art.