Hunting Grounds

Patience (Chapter 9)

It was quiet amongst the empty rooms of her home, small chiming songs of the birds outside swirled around the surrounding air like a ballet performance. It was rather pleasing to the ears, soft yet melodic but not too shrill either.

Possibly the first time Judith had actually slept peacefully well in the past many years, so much so that a rest like that was something she couldn't even remember... It had been an awful long time since her body let her sleep without stir. Upon her moment of sitting up amongst the sheets which lay dormant in her lap, her thoughts clouded for a second. Perhaps it was rather startling to her just how much her therapy sessions were helping, Dr. Lecter truly was a wonder and with a slight curve to her lips once more, she took a deepened breath with the utmost calmness. A foreign experience that was a lost art to her system for years.

She knew it'd be a while until she returned to work so right now it was first priority to figure out how to spend her day. She glanced to her phone and huffed slightly in a glad manner, the café down the street would be open which meant she could get a meal with ease to take up the majority of breakfast time. With a swift moment to get dressed she was out the door, braving the cold and brisk air. The snap between the warmth of her house and the frosted environment of outside brought on a slight shock to her system. She smiled and allowed her hands to retreat with her phone into her coat pockets, lest she get cold but the weird thing was... She felt fine... Whatever Dr. Lecter had cooked for her indeed helped her body with the immunity boost it needed. She didn't even care to think about whatever animal that meat was from at all anymore, whatever it was, it was brilliant! With a slight muffle to her meek attempt at a laugh she turned her chin upwards and let a snowflake or two land gently upon her face. She enjoyed this now, the tired demeanor that greeted her every morning was a quiet murmur in the distance and the suffocating hatred towards everything still sunk most of her feelings but at least she knew she wasn't all dark and gloomy... Dr. Lecter made her feel different, she didn't hate him at all, she rather enjoyed his company actually. Guess it pays off to talk to someone after so long of struggling, she never realized just how much of a difference one singular individual would make, even if they were doing nothing but listening and lending an ear when things were bad...