Twisted Minds

Shiizakana

In the solitude of the snowbound woods, WILL GRAHAM Standing, his breath coming in frosted clouds. He stands above a rope loosely coiled on the ground. We follow it to – HANNIBAL LECTER Standing in the snow, tied securely to the base of a maple tree. The rope is looped around his throat, pulling his head tight to the tree, and then continues in multiple turns around his torso before leading back to Will.

"Which answer is it you want to hear, Will?"

"What's happening now and about to happen is an answer. I want an admission. Admit what you are."

"Must I denounce myself as a monster while you still refuse to see the one growing inside you?"

Not the answer Will wants. He WHISTLES and the rope begins to uncoil until it SNAPS taut, three feet off the ground. The rope goes taut and, with it, the coils around Hannibal CREAK

as they tighten, slowly rolling round him like a python's coils, until finally the rope tightens on his throat. Will turns and now we see the rope leads several feet to – THE BLACK STAG Facing away from Hannibal, leaning, but not pulling, waiting docilely for direction.

He strains against the squeeze, catching his breath. "Why not appeal to my better nature?"

"I wasn't aware you had one."

"No one can be fully aware of another human being unless we love them. By that love we see potential in our beloved. Through that love we allow our beloved to see their potential. Expressing that love, our beloved's potential comes true. I love you, Will."

Will has heard enough. He WHISTLES again, shrill and loud. The black stag starts trudging forward. VEINS bulge in Hannibal's forehead, but he doesn't cry out or protest. His eyes never waver from Will's.

"I once promised you a reckoning." Will arrives at the tree, face to face, not with Hannibal, but --

THE WENDIGO Its eyes stare... HOOVES Clop ahead... THE WENDIGO is Unblinking. Soulless. WILL GRAHAM Stares back, not frightened. Undeterred. "Here it is."

To which the Hannibal/Wendigo is tied, a final CREAK of rope and PFFT -- an unexpectedly-huge FAN OF BLOOD erupts from the hidden side of the tree.

WILL GRAHAM'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT -

Will awakens, Caroline Beside him, calmly opening his eyes to stare into middle

distance. No solace comes from Hannibal's dream death. Will is sweat-soaked. The dream still real and present.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT-

Will sits in the chair across from Hannibal, mid-session. "Do you have any regrets?" Hannibal observes the man in front of him. "With every choice lies the possibility of regret. However, if I choose not to do something, it's usually for a good reason."

"I'm riddled with regrets."

"A life without regret would be no life at all." Hannibal says insightfully. "I regret what I did in the stables."

"Then you were lucky Caroline and I were there."

"Being lucky isn't the same as making a mistake. Allowing you both to stop me was a mistake." As much as Will loves Caroline the urge to kill itches the back of his skull. Little did he know it scratched hers too. "Then it's not your actions that you regret. It's the lack there of."

"That would be more accurate."

"Did you make that decision on the basis of anticipating the regret you would feel taking another life?"