Passion and the Skull (Hannibal Lecter)

Prologue

(16 months after Arabella meets Hannibal)

Arabella sat in an interrogation room.

On the wall in front of her was a two-way mirror, darkened on her side so she could see her own unnaturally dishevelled reflection - The FBI had knocked on her door at 5am and she'd only had enough time to pull on some clothes that were more respectable than her oversized pajamas.
Using the reflection as a guide, she smoothed down her hair. There was no doubt that someone else stood on the other side. She hoped she was meeting their gaze. The hope of such an effect was the only form of power she had in the silent sterile room.

On her left, the door opened, and a man walked in, stern faced. He moved to sit across from her and lifted a device onto the table. It looked to be an old-style recording device.

"I'm Agent Jack Crawford. I'll be conducting your interview today."

Another man walked in and took the second seat beside the first man. Arabella found herself drawn to his beauty and his expression, which reminded her of people with chronic pain she had worked with.

"Okay." Arabella nodded to the man who had addressed her. "Am I under arrest?"

"No. we just needed to ask you questions in a private safe space."

"I see."

The space didn't feel safe, but Arabella could understand it as a somewhat impenetrable room. Before the men had entered, it had been significantly silent. If anyone was talking on the other side of the glass, Arabella couldn't tell.

A heavy click sound indicated that the conversation was now being recorded.

"Now Dr Bradbury, you know why you're here."

"Yes." She brought her eyes back to Agent Crawford.

"How did you know Hannibal Lecter?"

There was his name. She had only said it in breaths and whispers for the past few weeks, yet Agent Crawford spoke it with ease. She wondered if they noticed her wincing at the name.

"He attended a talk I gave at the University of Baltimore. When the talk finished, he asked me a question and then later intercepted me on the way out and asked me where he could get a good coffee." Arabella laughed lightly, reflecting: "As time went on, and even now, I see that his interest in my work was somewhat disingenuous as it was fighting against people like him."

"It was genuine. He wanted to understand you and then he wanted to... see if he could deconstruct your position to be like his own." The man beside Jack Crawford spoke. His voice was filled with a crude mixture of amusement and distaste. He was the man who had been accused of the murders. The man who was able to assume the point of view of serial killers. Will Graham.

Arabella nodded in agreement with Will but did not speak.

"Where did you both go from there." Jack pressed. He spoke clearly and slowly. Arabella figured it was one of his personal traits which helped him maintain command of the room.

"We had the coffee. He invited me to try a session with him and come for dinner. I did. He later bumped into me at an event and then came to have a session with me. Then he turned up at my house and -"

"Did you and Hannibal Lecter have an intimate relationship?" He interrupted.

"Yes." Arabella's lips trembled.

"When you were having dinner at Hannibal Lecter's house. Did he ever serve you meat?" Will asked.

"N-no. I'm a vegetarian. He would prepare me a separate meal." She found the question odd. "Why?"

"He eats his victims, and we expect he has been feeding his victims to people."

Jack Crawford seemed to glance at Will, disapproving of him disclosing the information. Arabella saw Will as a necessary uncensored presence in the room. Despite the awful circumstances, she was thankful.

The room began to feel very cold.

"Dr Bradbury. Would you like a minute?" Agent Crawford hovered his finger over the recording button, "You are looking quite pale. I could get you a glass of water."

"Yes. That would be nice."

Jack paused the recording and left the room. The sudden silence left Arabella to fall into her thoughts. She began to play back her time with Hannibal.

"He got to me too." The other man said. "He got inside my head and recreated it in his image."

"Fuck."
She took slow deep breaths as the tears spilled down her cheeks.

When Jack Crawford returned to the room, she wiped her eyes. He had brought a glass of water and a box of tissues.
"Thank you."

The recording began again.

"During your session with Dr Lecter, was there anything that you found unusual?"

"I didn't need the session to find him unusual." Arabella pointed. The crying had done her some good and she felt able to speak slowly yet slightly clearer.
"I interpreted his difference as fascinating. He is an incredibly calculative person. He is a perfectionist and a cultivator of the arts. I could see how easily something would make him uncomfortable. He would show it as a brief expression of disgust or discomfort, but he would seem find a moment later. I read that as him being very emotionally in touch. Now I see it was also calculated."

"Hannibal Lecter is the most intelligent psychopath I've ever experienced." Jack Crawford confided.

"Can I see him?" Arabella almost regretted it after saying it. She wanted to ask him if he had been lying about everything. She knew the answer was most likely 'yes'. She wanted to hear it from him.

"I'm sorry, Dr Bradbury, we are still in the process of catching him." Jack frowned as he spoke. "The FBI would be happy to give you security in the meantime until then."

"So, he is still in Baltimore."

"Yes." Jack said it before Will could. "It is important you do not engage with Dr Lecter or let him know what we are doing. We have two people in protective custody and are prepared to take you in too if needed." He explained.

"How did you learn about me?" Arabella questioned.

"Hannibal's psychiatrist expressed worry for you." Agent Crawford explained. "You're one of the only people we have that has experienced intimacy with Hannibal Lecter. There is a chance he will try to contact you."

Good. I want to talk to him. Is what Arabella wanted to say, but she knew that Jack Crawford was expecting Hannibal to communicate in a more violent means than just a spoken conversation.

"When is the last time you heard from Hannibal?" Will asked.

"Just before I left." Before I ran away. "He will know I'm back. I should pretend that everything is normal. Pretend I've never seen you both."

"Please, let me escort you to my office while I have preparations made. If you will not enter protective custody, then might I offer my surveillance team install a camera or two on your residence?"

"Yes. If they don't look like FBI whilst they do it. That could look suspicious to my neighbors or Hannibal himself." His name had become easier to say again.

Arabella waited in Jack's office for 10 minutes before the other man showed up.

"What was your name again?" she asked, playing dumb so that he would not feel tied to the slanderous news stories.

"Oh, sorry. Will Graham."

"I would usually say nice to meet you, but I don't think that's the right thing to say right now." She mused.

"Yes. I suppose so." Will sat next to her. Jack's office had a few chairs which encircled a coffee table. His office desk and chair were at the back of the room.

"I saw how you hesitated. You want Hannibal to find you. I understand you want answers. He was probably lying to you about everything. Don't risk your life just for that. You are more than that."

"You don't understand-"

"Yes, I do understand." Arabella looked into his grey-green eyes. They held their gaze until Will broke away, uncomfortable.

"You're in love with him too." She whispered.