Silence Them

CHAPTER 1

Little Clarice breathed heavily as she carried her lamb through the dark woods of Montana. Her lungs were burning and her calfs ached. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, a small whimper coming from her as she heard sirens in the distance. Clarice ran as fast as she possibly could, twigs and thorns tearing at her legs and clothes. Clarice tried her best to ignore the pain, but the pouring rain stung her scratches. She looked over her shoulder for a moment and gasped loudly as she tripped over a large rock, falling to the ground, her lamb breaking loose from her grip and running away.
Clarice quickly got up and pushed her wet hair out of her face as she tried to disregard the burning sensation of the cuts on her knees. She began to cry as she watched the lamb take off.
   With no hesitation Clarice gathered up all her courage and immediately started running after him.
    "No! Come back!"
  The sirens kept getting closer.
   Clarice ran as fast as her little legs could handle, mud splashing all over her as she desperately tried her best to find the lamb. She looked around and saw the lamb was running straight into a large barn— the same large barn she first came from.
   She realized she had went in a giant circle, anger boiling inside of her body as time began to run out.
   The barn doors were cracked and a source of light was shining through. She slowed down as she approached the doors, her heart pounding out of her chest as she stood there shivering. She stared at the old building before walking closer to the doors.
Clarice swallowed hard, her hands hovering over both door handles scared to see what awaited her. She gripped the barn handles tightly and struggled to open the heavy doors as she simultaneously looked into the crack. She opened the doors fully and felt an eerie sense when she walked inside the empty and quiet barn.
  Too quiet.
   Little Clarice began looking around and examining the barn to make sure no one was there— she looked on the loft, around corners, any place she could think of. She jumped out of her skin when she heard a strange noise, the same strange noise she heard before. She quickly covered her ears trying to block out the terrifying sound.
   She knew what it was.
   The loud screams of the lamb continued to pierce Clarice's ears as she crouched down hiding her face in her legs.
  "Hello, Clarice."
    She looked up and froze.
   Dr Lecter.
Clarice shot up from her bed when her alarm clock went off, her chest heaving up and down. She laid back down and tried her best to recover from her dream as she stared at the ceiling.
   She didn't give two shits about the lamb, all she could think about was Dr Lecter. Clarice rubbed her eyes and let out a breath. She turned her head and looked over at Ardelia who was still sleeping.
    "Jesus Christ", Clarice whispered as she grabbed her robe and headed for the showers.