Hannibal: Dark Symphony Book 1 (Completed)

Hollow Men, Mad Men

Several agents had Alana Bloom's house under surveillance. Every day, every hour. They covered every corner in and out, doing their best in order to preseve that woman's life.
But at the end of the day that proved not to be enough.
  They were wagging a war against a shadow, a ghost whom everyone failed to get captured. It was a lost battle long before it had started but Jack Crawford's ego didn't let him accept that. He considered himself smart enough to triumph over Hannibal and Will and put that crazy duo behind the strongest bars.
Jack had seen evil but nothing like that. He have looked in the eyes of tenths of murders and saw nothing but madness and rage. They were sick and deprived of consciousness, hollow men.
But Lecter's and Graham's case was different, something you cannot find in books. They were  mad, but not hollow.
You could see emotions written on their faces and sparks of anger or... even sadness in their eyes. They had conscious, but the most twised one and that's why it was so hard to trick and capture them.
In the end of the day who's capable of capturing a shadow?
                         *.   *.   *.  *. 

Alana cursed the day she met Hannibal Lecter and fell for his wicked charm. She blamed herself for being naive and believing that a man with a brilliant mind as his saw something special in her.
Years after their first meeting she could finally look back and see all of the red flags. Every strange glimpse in his eyes, every word of flatter deprived of meaning.
Oh, she could see it all now and it tasted like a spoilt meat. Like blood in your mouth. Intense.
Dr.Bloom realized her end was near.
Hannibal and Will had left a bloody trail after them and it all led to her.
It was a matter of time to hear a knock, footsteps or a deadly whisper. She held the gun tightly to her chest as if holding to dear life.
Holding to hope that she might escape from this alive.
You might ask why she didn't leave after what happened with Margot, with those who had crossed Lecter.
Alana had witnessed enough to know the best thing to do is pack and disappear. But she was so tired of running and living her life in fear. That wasn't life but a living nightmare.
Even after all things she had witnessed there was a glinpse of hope that the Murder duo might spare.
She had already paid a hell of a price by loosing Margott,perhaps they'd acknowledge that.
Alana laughed.
They didn't care. For them it was a game, yes, a bloody one but yet again just a game. And she was about to loose it.
There's was no point in holding to dear life, knowing that it might end every moment. Looking behind your shoulder every time you see a man in a suit.
No, Alana would face them standing tall, looking death in the face without shivering.
At least that was her plan, but others had one as well.
                   *.        *.       *. 

It was one of those rare moments when everything seems perfect.
You find yourself in the best of company, enjoying their words, manners and the fact that you are born at the same time.
Hannibal and Will sat in silence in the little villa outside West Virginia.
This was a place that once belonged to a patient of Lecters, a man of wealth but without relative with whom to share it.
So, due to what one call "happy circumstances" Hannibal was in a possession of it's keys.
The house was so deep in the forests that you had to drive almost 10 miles to the nearest road.
A perfect place to find peace.
Or make a wicked plan.

The fire was throwing golden shades in the small making it cozy and warm.
Will was staying by the window with eyes fixed somewhere far from here.

- I bet Mr. Crawford isn't sleeping as well. He must be thinking we're lurking in the bushes near Alana Bloom's house.

Will smirked at Hannibal's attempt to make him feel less melancholic. Less silent.

- Yes, he must be thinking that.
But we are smarter, aren't we?
Enjoying the show from far.
They won't see it coming, Hannibal.

Hannibal who was gently adding shades to his paintings, smiled in a way that could make you forget what he has done, what was he in general.

- When it comes to us, they are never seeing it coming. That's our blessing and their curse.

         *.           *.        *.      *.     *  

Dr.Shaw has always considered himself too plain and ordinary to play an important part in any story.
At school he was pickes last for the games. Later at the med school no one chose him as a lab partner.
He himself was quite surprised when a the lovely nurse Pauline Todd accepted to go out with him.
Year and a half later they married and soon became parents of twins.
Being a husband and a father was the only thing he felt good enough to be.
And when  he fiund that dreadful letter two days ago, Lewis knew he was capable of doing the worst in order to protect his loved ones.
The price was high, but he knew love was the highest law.
So, dr.Lewis Shaw put his best suit and a pair of strings in his bag and drove away without saying goodbye to his wife and kids.
That was part of the instructions.
After less than an hour, at 10 am, he was standing in front of a luxurious building with a police car parked in front of it.
Dr.Shaw walked into the place after showing his credentials to not one but two FBI agents dresses as civilians.
They looked into his suitcase carelessly and didn't manage to see the small holes inside it where the strings were hidden.
3rd floor, hall on the right, apartment 307.
A calm knock on the door pained in black.
"Dr.Bloom, I'm Lewis Shaw, a fellow psychiatrist, may I come in?"
At first there was no response but then Lewis heard footsteps approaching
"May I see your credentials, dr. Shaw?
Jack Crawford haven't told me anything about a colleague paying me a visit."

Lewis put his working badge into the peeking hole and smiled friendly.

"Of course he hasn't. Jack wasn't informed about me coming today.
It was an order coming from the beaurocrats above him."

"Why are they sending you? What makes you special, dr. Shaw?"

You wanna do it in the best way possible? Just stick to the truth as much as possible.

" I was Will Graham's shrink before he fled with doctor Lecter. You were away and probably missed that part.
That's my deal - I'm just well aware of. the case. "

Alana opened the door and fixed her eyes on Lewis as if trying to create a full picture of this unknown man.

" In this case we have a lot to talk about. I might as well find some distraction from the threat hanging above my head. "

Lewis chuckled nervously.

"I'll do my best to help you."

And he did.
A swift hit. Asphyxiation. Not a single blood drop left there.

Perfect symphony of vengeance and violence.