Hannibal reveled in the memory of their closeness as she was sharing new found memories to him.
Specifically her father teaching her how to make a doll.
"First you have to choose perfect items to put together, your porcelain slip, your eyes and your hair, plus the clothes.
Mold your doll by pouring the slip into your mold.
You fire it up in a kiln, after which you remove the doll from your mold and you let it cool.
Sandpaper rough edges then paint features on the doll.
Once the paint is dry pop in your glass eyes into the socket, then glue your eyelashes, and your hair, when the glue is dry you can clothe your doll.
He remembered Luna saying it sounded like a twisted bedtime story, still she memorized exactly how her father said it.
Hannibal read through those lines, the number of times "You" and "Your" was used.
Hannibal knew her father wasn't just talking about doll making.
He was talking about how he made her; how he chose a woman with the exact skin, eyes and hair he wanted in a child.
How he wanted to recreate her in his victims.
He knew "The master's" process; he studied it before he went for him that fateful afternoon.
Women needed to have the perfect brown hair, clear reflective hazel eyes and porcelain skin.
Hannibal thought about the master's process.
The Cleansing:
He would collect at least 3 at a time, first they are cleansed, Hannibal didn't understand the point of this at first but after meeting Luna its clear now.
The victims are tied to extended tree roots by the river; if they survive he considers them cleansed, good for the next process.
If they don't survive, then he marks their faces with patterned cuts like a rejected product and they become fertilizers.
The Molding:
He shaves their head, and then gives them a whole day to rest, just for the skin to recover.
He wakes them one by one at night and takes them to the mold room where a customized vise grip awaits.
Their face needs to be shaped exactly like his original doll, stretch their limbs if necessary, crush the pelvis or a few ribs if needed.
Most die at this stage.
The Kiln:
Dying during the molding stage is a blessing, being awake for the firing process is unimaginable.
Once molded, the master would slather their skin with porcelain slip to hold their features together.
Then fire them up in the kiln.
The Presentation:
After the kiln
The master softens the skin surface with blade.
He sews back their hair and paints their features.
He slips glass hazel eyes into their eye sockets and dresses them up.
After that, he strings them and hangs them like a doll collection.
Hannibal is not a fan of torture but he is a fan of Masterpieces.
The master is an evolved killer; he used to be petty, killing beautiful rich women.
Then he stopped. Hannibal never knew the reason why.
But the master started killing again with more art so he didn't really care.
Luna is scheduled to have lunch with her aunt.
It should be a private meet, but considering Luna's circumstances, Corina insisted that Dr. Hannibal Lecter should come with her.
He was to provide support and lessen the impact of the half baked transition.
Luna is set to transfer to the new house effective tonight.
At Lunch:
"Is it true that your nurse was killed while you were at the house with her?" Luna's aunt inquired.
"Yes, I would have been killed too, Doctor Lecter came and scared the intruder away" she answered casually.
"Yes, I think Jack mentioned, Dr. Lecter has been saving you a lot lately?" Corina commented
"Yes he has, and I'm very thankful" luna answered, while smiling at Hannibal.
Hannibal can't seem to break Corina's code, he knows she's a predator but what is she preying on?
Will it be Luna? Well if so, she will fail.
"I'm excited to show you the house my dear!" Hannibal and Luna smiled at Corina's jubilation.
That night:
Luna tossed and turned. Adjusting maybe?
Shouldn't she be used to this by now?
Something is amiss; she can feel eyes watching her.
Although she's pretty sure she's alone.
Her instincts are on overdrive, probably due to the recent attack and the sudden change
too many life events too little time right?
She laughed meekly as if someone else was there.
This is getting weirder.
"Hahahaha!" She laughed out loud just to prove to herself she's alone.
Instead of subsiding, the inkling feeling grew stronger, and now she has goosebumps.
Heavens, she needs to sleep…
She turned, covered herself with a blanket, and forced herself to sleep.
Hannibal came early for the therapy; being late is rude.
Luna kept yawning; it caught his attention because she kept saying sorry after each yawn.
He noticed the dark circles around her eyes, "Not sleeping well, I see" Hannibal slyly commented.
"Still adjusting" Luna defended. "We can extend your Hypnotherapy so you can relax if you want"
"Is it safe to extend" She asked. "Yes, up to 80 minutes today then" "Okay" she confirmed.
Luna remembered more about her younger years
Her grandparents, her dad and his sister.
She and her father lived with them in a huge house;
Though they were surrounded by family, her dad and her still had their own world.
He takes her to a cabin in the forest and lets her play all day.
She enjoyed watching the animals and hearing the stream of river water.
Those were the days she could still see.
"Do you remember why he chose to leave your grandparents" Hannibal asked
"I don't really remember but i think it has something to do with my mother... sorry doctor"
"It's okay Luna, when you are with your father during the weekends, what is he like?"
"Fun and Calm"
"Anything weird?"
"Hmm, he leaves in the middle of the night to get more wood, then comes back without wood"
"I see"
"Let's have lunch?" hannibal asked
"Yes, let's do that"
Somewhere a violent argument ensues:
"What is it with you and changing plans? You almost got her killed the first time with that nurse and that man!
We should save her ourselves now!" a man yells as he held on to a table's edge and flipped it.
"You think i will let you near her like this? you're not good enough to take care of her yet!"
"You didn't even know she survived your flopped attempt at retrieving her!
I found her, so don't you dare tell me i'm not good for her!"
"Changing plans accordingly is what you call being flexible, plans are made to be changed"
"This is not being flexible, you're onto something again!"
"Ssshhhh hush... just to ease your mind, here look at this"
The man was handed a memory card. That should suffice for now.