Silence Them

CHAPTER 5

Clarice quickly got out of her car with her umbrella and saw Jack and Will speaking to an older woman; she was hysterical.
  Clarice smiled when she saw Ardelia trying to comfort the lady. It hadn't even been a week since The Stork kidnapped a woman which only made Clarice get more concerned.
   "Jack," Clarice yelled over the pouring rain as she tried to grab her things out from her car. Jack looked over and excused himself when he saw Clarice, him then jogging towards her and helping her out by grabbing her briefcase.
      "What happened," Clarice asked softly as she looked over at Will and the woman then back at Jack as who was breathing heavily.
"It's bad, Starling. Her name's Lily Smith."   Jack got under the umbrella and took off his glasses and pointed over to the older woman as he began to clean them. "That's her mom, Tina." He looked back at Clarice as he placed his glasses back on. "She requests that we convince her to go seek therapy, or better—a psychiatric hospital. She's in the interrogation room right now with one of the guards."
      Clarice followed the men and Tina into the police station and into the interrogation room.
   When Clarice walked inside the small room, saw Lily bundled up in a blanket. She looked to be around nine months pregnant which made Clarice's heart break for this woman— she couldn't imagine how scary her situation must have been.
   Jack began to set up a video camera in the corner of the room on a tripod so he could send the footage into the hospital for documentation as Will handed Clarice photos of Lily prior of the kidnapping; she was beautiful.
   Clarice looked up and over at Lily who was shaking as she stared into space. She was soaking wet and was covered in dirt, her eyes were heavy from exhaustion. Clarice sat down in between Will and Jack and got out a notepad from her purse and thanked Ardelia when she brought in some hot tea for both Lily and Clarice.
        "Lily... What happened, honey?" Clarice asked in a sympathetic tone. Lily looked at the men, then back at Clarice. Clarice nodded and smiled. "Jack, Will? Could you guys excuse us please?"
   The men smiled, Jack patting Clarice's shoulder before exiting the room. It was now just the two of them, Lily staring at Clarice.
      "He's coming," Lily said quietly and forcefully, she looked down and began to sob quietly.
      "Who's coming?"
   Clarice knitted her brows and lowered her to look at Lily's face a little bit— she had a distressed look on her face.
          "Tommy."
    Clarice was covered in goosebumps. She froze for a moment and breathed heavily as she watched Lily begin to bite her finger nails and shake her leg in silence.
   Lily was in very bad condition; she was tired, her wet hair was in her face, and she had intense body odor. Clarice looked at her large belly and then back at Lily as she sighed softly.
       "Lily, it's important you tell me what happened," Clarice whispered.
   Lily looked up quickly, startling Clarice a bit. Her body was trembling with fear.
    "Four days ago, I went to the park to get some exercise as my doctor suggested... I was with my dog..." She looked at Clarice as tears filled her eyes. "This woman came out of no where, attacking me... my dog ran off..."
   Lily stopped as she as her voice began to crack, Starling giving her a moment and sliding her a box of tissues. Lily continued.
   "This woman tied my hands behind my back and taped my mouth shut... She threw me into the trunk of some car and then we arrived at some warehouse... She opened the trunk and this man was with her—"
    Clarice cut her off.
     "What did this man and woman look like?" Clarice asked softly as she wrote down the information.
     "The man was very tall and skinny, around six foot. Long brown hair. His name was Tommy. The woman had brown hair also, a bit on the heavy side. I think her name was Cate or something." Lily blew her nose and took a sip of her tea.
       "What else happened?"
   Clarice began to doodle on her notepad, biting her lip trying not to cry with Lily. She knew she had to remain strong considering it wasn't her in Lily's shoes, she didn't want to be insensitive. Her heart broke for these women.
     "They took me into this building... There were pregnant women shackled to walls and locked inside dog crates. They were all screaming bloody murder... It smelled so bad... Urine, feces, vomit, everything you could think of. I was shackled for three days. I had no clue what they were going to do to me," Lily swallowed hard. "On the final night, they took me to the back and tied me to a chair, thankfully not good enough. A woman had escaped and Tommy and Cate ran after her and all I heard after that was a chainsaw and her screaming..." Lily stopped again and looked at Clarice, tears streaming down her face. "Then I heard a baby crying and it stopped."
   Lily started breathing heavily.
       "How did you escape?" Clarice's voice cracked for a moment, her quickly clearing her throat and sipping her tea.
      "When they were in the room with the woman, I knew it was now or never. I got my wrists out of the ropes and I ran as fast as I could. I saw women giving birth by themselves, some babies were left alone crying and other babies were dead in jars and boxes, some just lying around. Then there was a room filed with butterflies, they were beautiful... I ran to the back door, opening it quickly... I ran as fast as I possibly could until I reached a nearby restaurant. I was so embarrassed..."
   Lily began to break down. Clarice quickly wiped a tear and licked her lips before talking.
      "Lily, this was a very traumatic time for you... We think for the time being, you go and get help at the Western State Hospital until further notice."
       "W-what do you mean?" Lily asked frantically. Clarice was quiet for a moment trying to think of the right words to say.
    "Your mother and some of us think it's best for you to go and seek help. We don't want you to get PTSD and we need to protect you and your baby until we catch Tommy and Cate," Clarice said.
   Lily got up and screamed, throwing the case files off the table, papers flying everywhere and the camera falling. Clarice flinched as Lily threw her cup of tea, the glass shattering as it hit the floor.
        "You fucking bitch!" Lily shouted, Clarice still flinching at her words as she looked down at the glass in the floor.
   She gasped loudly when Lily then threw Clarice's hot tea into her lap as well, Ardelia and the men quickly coming into the room. Ardelia grabbed Clarice, as they and the two men left the room as authorities came in and detained Lily.

      •        •       •       •       •       •       •       •       •      •

     Jack stood in the hallway with Clarice after the police took Lily away as Ardelia and Will going into the room to clean it up.
   Jack was leaning against the wall in front of Clarice as he watched her dry herself off with napkins from her purse. He walked towards her and stared at her, wiping away her tears.
  She was beautiful. Her blues eyes, her short brown hair that framed her face, and that accent... He thought he didn't have a chance, Clarice thinking the same.
   He was tall, handsome, and well educated. She wanted him badly, just as badly as she wanted Hannibal, but she knew being with Jack would have been more realistic. Jack grabbed Clarice and pulled her into a hug holding her tightly as she cried.