Dancing with Danger

Ch 3: Stone Cold

Samantha and her main nurse walked until they came to a white door with a silver plaque on it. It said "Dr. Hannibal Lecter, PhD; MD". 'Interesting, he must have spent a really long time in school' she thought as she read it. The nurse just stood at the door with Samantha and said "Excuse me Dr. Lecter, your next patient is here." "Come in" said a deep male voice from behind the door. His voice had a slight accent to it; however Samantha couldn't decipher where. The nurse opened the door and ushered Samantha inside. Samantha stood in front of a well- dressed man whom she assumed to be Dr. Lecter.

"Hello Ms. Amaranth. It's a pleasure to meet you. Do sit down." He said as he shook her hand and gestured towards a velvety looking wine colored couch. "Pleased to meet you as well, Dr. Lecter." She said sitting down in the middle of the couch. Dr. Lecter sat down in his chair and the two made eye contact with one another. "How are you this evening?" He asked, grabbing a silver clipboard with a black pen hanging from it. "I'm alright, I guess..." She replied, twirling her thumbs. "You don't appear to be alright. The phrase "I guess" is used to express uncertainty. What is troubling you?" He asked, leaning forward as if to listen better. "Just the usual." She says. "Would you like to explain the meaning of that statement? I just met you and I do not know what your usual is." He replied, gesturing her to continue talking. "Okay. I'll comply. Maybe if I'm good with you, they'll let me leave." She said Dr. Lecter wrote some notes down and then looked back up to listen to her. "First of all, I do not belong here. I am not insane. I do not have any problems that would merit admittance here. They threw me in here for my risk-taking! That's all! They have no proof that I have any mental disorder! I've only been here for a week and I'm already sick of this place. If they thought I was crazy when I came in, they'll have a hell of a lot more certainty if I stay any longer!" She cried. "Wow, I'm so sorry! That was very rude of me. I don't mean any of that to you, Dr. Lecter." She apologized while she shook her head. She squirmed in her jacket. "It's alright, Ms. Amaranth. I understand you're upset. Here, I trust you. I'm going to take you out of your straitjacket. I don't think you'll hurt me and I don't have anything here that you could hurt yourself with." Dr. Lecter said as he stood up and walked towards her. Samantha jumped back as he attempted to touch her. She fell back a little. "I won't hurt you. Do you trust me?" He asked as he saw she was frightened. He held out his hand to help her up. Samantha hesitated. 'What harm could he do, Sam? He's offering to set you free from your restraints' one side of Samantha told the other. 'Sure, but he's expecting you to trust him. He's one of them. He'll turn his back on you any chance he gets. Don't grab his hand.' The two sides of Samantha argued with each other. Her eyes continued to give Dr. Lecter a frightened stare. She took his hand at last and he helped her up. "Now please turn around. I'm just going to unbuckle your restraints." He said in a calming voice.

Samantha turned her back towards him and leaned down. Carefully, Dr. Lecter unfastened the buckles on the stark white jacket. Samantha shook a little in anxiety but soon she was free. She pulled her arms out of the jacket to reveal the black graphic t-shirt she forgot she was wearing. She saw her jagged scars again and realized that he had probably seen them too. 'It was all a trap, Sam! Fight, Sam! Tell him you'll kill him if he doesn't let you go' her head blurted out. 'No, Sam! That's unkind! He wouldn't appreciate it' 'Who cares what he thinks? He can go to hell for all you care!' The two sides of her head argued and Samantha replied by grabbing her arms tightly. She had nothing to hurt herself with but her bare hands, so she just held her arms tighter and tighter. She shook with fear as Dr. Lecter got a hold of her again. He held her arms behind her back in an attempt to calm her down. She screamed, yet the staff ignored her. They thought she was just having another one of her fits.

"Calm down, you'll be okay. I told you I wouldn't hurt you. Don't you believe me?" His dull blue eyes showed no emotion that his voice reflected. They were stone cold. His eyes bore into hers and she stopped struggling. "That's it. There there. You're okay." He let her go once she had calmed down. All she could do now is stare at him as he wrote the details down on his notepad. "It's very impolite to stare, but I'll dismiss that behavior." He said looking up at her. Samantha's brown eyes were wide open and her brown hair was a straight yet frazzled mess. Her olive toned skin was now a pale white and her face dripped with sweat. "Do you wish to explain what just occurred?" Dr. Lecter said with a sympathetic look. "I would Doctor, but I do not understand why that happened." Samantha replied, smiling sadly. "You're very pale and you're sweating. I assume those are common results following your episodes." He said as he wrote down more notes.

(A/N: Basket Case by Green Day)