Undercover Bait

Chapter 3

Rows of thick trees smothered in darkness whipped past me as I sped along the highway towards Middleburg, my stomach aching and screaming at me from hunger. The pale moonlight glistened upon the almost-frozen lake to my right, the trees dancing in the breeze to my left, and a light dusting of snow floated off of the branches.

Finally, my house was within sight, a dim lamp lighting up my living area and the grass outside of the window.

I pulled up onto the gravel driveway, before stepping out into the freezing cold air to open my garage and move my car inside. I knew for certain that temperatures would be below freezing over night and I did NOT want to spend 10 minutes scraping my car in the morning.

I entered the house, met with a delightfully warm air wrapping around my body like a long-needed hug. The nearly-silent taps of my cats feet thudded along the floor from my bedroom, soon followed by the loud meowing of hunger radiating through the house.

"Yeah yeah, I'm hungry too Willow." I stated sarcastically to my grey and black tabby cat. Nala, my ginger tabby, followed quickly behind her, bouncing up onto the countertop in attempt to make me work faster at serving their food.

I rolled my eyes as I looked at her, pulling out my own food from the fridge to heat up in the microwave whilst I scooped their biscuits into their dishes.
"There you go," I exclaimed as I placed both silver dishes on the floor, "two spoilt cats getting their food before me. Naturally."

Finally, the microwave sung a small ping, causing my stomach to rumble in response. I reached over and popped the door open, burning my hands slightly as I pulled the container out.

As I sat down at the island, I pulled my phone out and looked over my notes once again, seeing if there was anything that I had missed. Or possibly anything that drew suspicion.

The one thing that really stuck out to me was his push towards physical activities surrounding a more violent behaviour. Why would he want me to do that? Why suggest it in the first place? It just didn't make sense.

I automatically went into my contacts, finding Beverly's name in no time. However, something made me stop in my tracks, contemplating if I should tell her about my appointment with Lecter. I haven't told her my plan, I haven't even told her that I've changed psychiatrist. But honestly, I don't want to burden her with keeping my plan a secret from other people.

Although, she is one of the smartest women I think I've ever met. If anybody could figure it out, it would be her.

But you know what they say, "curiosity killed the cat" and all that.

Maybe it was best not to tell her. If anything happened to her, all because of my plan to figure out and then expose whatever it is that Hannibal has been doing, I don't think I could live with myself.

I made the decision to leave it for now, scoffing down my lasagne before making my way into the bedroom to take a shower.

~•~

As I stood there, the hot water beating down on me, I couldn't help but make my mind race through the events of the evening. The way he could analyse me so easily scared me beyond belief. How can someone who I have barely ever spoken to know more about me and my problems than I do myself?

I faced the water and let it run over my face and a little into my mouth, wanting to wash myself from any hint of Hannibal's office that had been left, tainting my skin.

~•~

Crawling into bed, my eyes felt ridiculously heavy, the only thing I wanted was for my duvet to swallow me whole and take me into a magical dreamworld, away from this mess.