▫Point of Possible Return▫ [Hannibal Lecter FF] ▫AU▫

Ch. 23

"I want to hide the truth,
I want to shelter you,
But with this beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide."
-Demons by Imagine Dragons

[Hannibal's POV]

I didn't want her to know the truth. The truth hurts, you know. It stings and slices through relationships as if they were butter sometimes. That kind of truth is something that I did. I wanted to shield her from it because she was too vulnerable. Knowing that she believes in her aunt makes me worry... but I believe she trusts me more. She must, or she wouldn't have let me stay as long as I have by her side. I could use this to my advantage when she thought something is up.

Amelia was emotionally unstable at this point, needing support from wherever she could find it. I was the closest thing there was. I wasn't going to promise anything, I never had from the beginning, but something kept pulling me back to her. Maybe it was seeing her so useless? Or even perhaps its the thought of someone wanting attention from me?

There was this aura around her, this feeling that she gives off, that she's broken. She's shattered in a million pieces in every direction. Amelia was whole or almost whole when I first laid eyes on her that day in the hall, doodling away in her sketchbook. Mia even suggested that she was broken on one occasion.

Not long after Amelia's aunt called me, her uncle called me later to ask how she was doing. I told him she was feeling better, recovering even, but I told him everything except what I actually knew. He asked me to tell her that he was always there for her if she needed anything and he added for me to tell her a joke -any kind, really, as long as it cheered her up. Rob sounded exhausted, I remember that, his voice weak and tiresome. When I asked him about it, asking him if he was okay, he told me not to worry; "It's kinda Delilah's place to worry about me. I'm just feeling tired, that's all. I could still make George Jones crack a laugh if I wanted too." I even recommended him to check in with the nearest hospital or clinic just to make sure. The usual 'yeah, yeah' response was used, and then the phone clicked.

It scared Amelia when I told her about this separate incident; she wanted to call him and demand that he see someone. I told her what her uncle had told me, that he was fine, and this eased her some.

I was in my room, in the kitchen area, when I imagined what would actually happen if someone found out about Zach; they would put me in jail, no doubt about it. Murder, first degree- why wouldn't they? It was almost a death sentence, if it was still legal.

There were more things to worry about than this; there was no need to linger on the past, that much I've learned over the years. I didn't need to be bothered with this, though the subject kept coming up every now and again and never seemed to go away for a little while until I detoured around it with an excuse.