Hannibal in a Cage

Multicolour Universe

He walked out the front door, closed his eyes, and inhaled the air deeply. It was good to breath clean air in who knows how long. He inhaled deeply again. Something was wrong. He did not know what, but he knew something was wrong. He opened his eyes. The world around him was flickering, colours flashing in and out. The world vibrated violently, structures falling, fire hydrants shooting deadly bursts of water. The road started to break, like a disassembled jigsaw puzzle. It fell into a swirling blackness. It came towards River’s house, and Hannibal ran inside.

He heard screaming coming from upstairs. He ran into River’s room, where tall, slim, dark figures were trying to drag her from her bedpost, which River clung onto for dear life.

“No!” she screamed. Hannibal tried to get her, but the dark figures hissed at him. He felt his pocket become heavy for some reason, and produced a shotgun that had mysteriously appeared there. Hannibal shot the figures, and the vanished, turning into a black smoke that was sucked into the swirling blackness.

Hannibal ran over to River and grasped her in his arms. By now, the walls had broken away, and the only thing that was left was the spinning floor which supported Hannibal and River. River’s eyes were moving rapidly under her eyelids.

“River,” Hannibal said.

“Hannibal,” River murmured, not opening her eyes. Hannibal tried to shake her awake, but his attempts were in vain.

“Hannibal,” she murmured again.

“Hannibal, give me the gun.”

Confused, he pressed the gun into her hands. River opened her eyes and put the barrel against her temple. Hannibal noticed that all the colour was gone from her eyes, that they were now only an empty whiteness.

“Thank you,” River mouthed, before pulling the trigger.