Clarice's Scenario: Conclusion

The conclusion of Clarice's Scenario, the concluding story in The Tattoo, The Shirt, and The Scenario. Rated NC-17.

Disclaimer: As per the custom, the characters of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling, et. al., are the exclusive property of Thomas Harris. Dan Rather, Stone Phillips, and Wolf Blitzer are real people.

Sure enough, Krendler had called a press conference. Only something was different about the entourage that accompanied him. "There's the sonofabitch now," Clarice fumed, but Hannibal shushed her with another tender kiss.

"Temper, temper, my love," he cooed, not yet noticing what was amiss...until he saw Ardelia Mapp standing beside Krendler. "Uh-oh, I see what you mean, babe...isn't that your roommate?"

Clarice raised up a moment for a closer look, getting angrier by the minute. "What the fuck---!"

Hannibal felt his anger rising for his beloved, but kept his cool. He pulled her back to him, calming her down in his lovingly sensual way. "Let's just listen to them...then you can go off."

"But not at you, baby..."

"Mr. Krendler, Ms. Mapp," Wolf Blitzer began, "any additional word on the Clarice Starling investigation?"

As per his custom when things were going his way, Krendler had a smarmy, shit-eating grin on his face...but he let Ardelia talk, since her information had led to the press conference. "I'm glad you asked that, Mr. Blitzer," Ardelia began. "In light of former Agent Starling's disappearance, as well as the disappearance of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, we've asked you all here today to tell you we've closed the investigation. Now, if you'll indulge Mr. Krendler, we'll explain why."

"I got your 'indulge' right here, bitch," Clarice muttered, flipping off the TV screen as her anger increased. Hannibal tenderly held her hand in his.

"Calm down, Clarice, let them talk," he said soothingly, holding her close and stroking her hair. "Let them talk."

Krendler now took the podium. "The evidence we have gathered, and the testimonies we have recorded, indicate that Agent Starling has been in contact, and in collusion, with Dr. Lecter since their first meetings in Baltimore, MD and Memphis, TN," he now said. "In fact, there is substantial evidence that Dr. Lecter and Agent Starling fell in love during that time."

"You're only half-right, Paul," Clarice grumbled under her breath. Hannibal now began kissing her earlobe as he held her.

"Relax, my dear," he whispered, soothing her with his kisses, trying to control his own anger.

As the outcry followed a shocked hush, NBC News Correspondent Stone Phillips then asked, "Mr. Krendler, what do you and Ms. Mapp mean by collusion?"

"We mean that Ms. Starling and Dr. Lecter have had more of a relationship than Ms. Starling would admit to when we questioned her, before her disappearance," Krendler continued. "Ms. Starling claimed that she simply interviewed Dr. Lecter in order to gain the psychological profile on Jame Gumb, aka 'Buffalo Bill,' seven years ago. We have evidence stating that her claims were false. According to the testimonies of Barney Jackson, a former nurse with the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane...Ms. Mapp, here...and others, as well as physical evidence of Ms. Starling's contacts with Dr. Lecter, we can prove, conclusively, that a deeper relationship developed."

Krendler and Ardelia then produced Hannibal's drawings of Clarice...the drawing of her holding the baby lamb, the superimposition of her newspaper photo over Hannibal's drawing of a mythical goddess-creature, and other drawings they had gotten from Italy, as well as from Frederick Chilton's former girlfriend. Some of them were of Hannibal and Clarice together.

Ardelia then produced two sets of bedsheets, Clarice's cotton sheets and the champagne-colored silk sheets Hannibal left behind in Italy. Besides the scents of Vetivera di Amoro, Clarice's sheets were stained with her female juices...while Hannibal's were still stained with come. Finally, Krendler brought out the Honey in the lion letter Hannibal had written, but Clarice never received, followed by the stateside and legitimate bottles of Vetivera di Amoro, followed by the package of soaps, lotions and perfumes. "As I pointed out earlier, ladies and gentlemen...Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling fell in love seven years ago," Krendler now said, "and that they continued their relationship long after their escape. The evidence speaks for itself...if you'll excuse us..."

As Ardelia, Krendler, and the others turned to leave, the press did not let up. "What about Mason Verger?" Dan Rather of CBS News now demanded. "Is it true that you were in collusion with Mason Verger to lure Hannibal Lecter out of hiding for reasons of personal revenge---and that you used Clarice Starling for bait, sensing that Dr. Lecter and Ms. Starling had these feelings for each other? What about Mason Verger?"

Sensing trouble, Krendler cut them off. "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but this is all we're saying on the Starling case," he said. "I'll field all of your questions at a later time. Thank you very much."

As the conference ended, Hannibal released Clarice long enough to turn off the TV. Then, turning back to her, he noticed she was shaken...she had tears in her eyes. "What's the matter?" he asked, his anger matching hers, but his concern for her overriding everything else.

"I feel so fuckin' stupid, Hannibal," she wept. "I should've washed the sheets before I left..."

"Don't worry about it, I made the same mistake," he cooed, holding her close. "But I wasn't expecting dear Ardelia to pull this kind of swerve, either. I thought she had more tact."

"She was my best friend, and I never told her anything about this..."

"I know, Clarice, you kept your word. I'm not at all angry with you...it's Krendler and Ardelia that've pissed me off."

"Me, too...God, I can't believe she did this!"

When Clarice had finished crying, she and Hannibal discussed what to do. "Do you want Ardelia to die for selling you out?" he now asked, his eyes never leaving hers. "Whatever you suggest is all right by me, but it's up to you, Clarice..."

Clarice thought a moment. "No, killing that bitch would be too fuckin' easy," she replied. "It wouldn't give her a chance to regret what she's done...no, let her live with this for the rest of her life. Can't suffer any worse than that, can you?"

Hannibal was pleased by her ingenuity. "You're right, it would be too easy. Okay, we'll let her live...the guilt will be enough torture. Now what about Paul Krendler? Besides Ardelia drawing her own conclusions, besides all the evidence, how would he have known about us?"

"Well, there's the Goddamn bug he put in my car. Then there's fuckin' Mason Verger, may he rest in Hell, and his thugs. We know Krendler's been in tight with them the whole time, right, babe?"

"I'm listening, Clarice..."

"And how about Verger's big bulldyke sister and her little skank of a girlfriend?"

Hannibal smiled. "I smell a quid pro quo coming along, my pet," he now said, remembering the phone number to Muskrat Farm by heart as he reached for the phone, which was on the end table beside him. "This is going to be interesting..."

As he dialed the number, he wrapped one arm back around Clarice, pulling her back to him. "What're you up to?" she asked, rubbing his chest and nuzzling his shoulder as she did.

"Your freedom," he cooed, leaning down to once again press his lips to hers.

Margot was frightened when she received Clarice and Hannibal's call, but she remembered the bargain she had made while he was a prisoner at Muskrat Farm. "Krendler's trying to make a run for Congress," she admitted after Hannibal and Clarice switched to speakerphone. "He's distancing himself from all of this shit, doing favors all over the place and stepping on lots of toes so he can do it. And Clarice, for what it's worth, I'm just as disappointed in Agent Mapp as you and Dr. Lecter must be."

"That's all right," Clarice said. "Exactly how did Krendler meet up with you?"

"He'd use the jogging excuse. Mason would send his helicopter to designated place, five miles up Rock Creek Park, usually, to pick him up. Why?"

Hannibal smiled at his end. "Invite him to your place again," he instructed. "Tell him to do the jogging ploy and that you'll send the helicopter. Clarice and I will take care of the rest."

"Gladly..."

"Margot, I have to ask...you killed Mason, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Good, good. Now remember, Margot, you never heard from Clarice or myself, you have no knowledge of our whereabouts whatsoever. After all, we wouldn't want to deprive Judy and the baby of Mommy Number Two, would we?"

Margot knew Hannibal meant every word.

Everything went according to plan. Krendler started the jog to the Verger helicopter, but the copter would never show. Nor would Krendler get there in time to get suspicious, as Hannibal got the drop on him and put him in the trunk of his car. That night, Krendler would see Clarice again...for the last time.

After dinner, Hannibal and Clarice would make love one last time in the beach house before making their final escape. Nobody had known Krendler had vanished yet, so they had to act quickly.

Wheeling Krendler's corpse---as well as the autopsy saws, a couple of knives, and several large back Hefty garbage bags---to the hall bathroom, they cut away the duct tape and clothing from Krendler, then pulled the crossbow arrow out of his throat before dumping him into the large tub. They then turned on the hot water and washed all the blood, urine, and shit down the drain. Save for the surgical gloves they wore, Hannibal and Clarice worked nude, so as not to soil any clothing or leave fingerprints.

After dismembering him and stuffing him into the garbage bags, they disposed of the gloves in the last bag. Then they took a shower together, washing Krendler's blood and offal from their bodies. They wanted to make love once again, but held off.

They next changed into new clothes---she in a black cashmere sweater, matching slacks, and heels, her makeup and hair prettily done, and he in a nicely cut Armani suit, Gucci loafers, black shirt and blue tie. Then they packed their suitcases, portable CD player and music, and stuffed them in the trunk of his Jaguar before stuffing Krendler's remains in the trunk of her Mustang.

In the darkness, Clarice drove the Mustang to a remote cliff overlooking the Maryland shore, with Hannibal close behind in the Jag. She left the keys in the ignition switch, then walked out, admiring the Mustang one last time. It now represented the life she had tried to accept as her own, but was never really hers...

Her life, her true self, her happiness had never really blossomed until the day she and Hannibal met...and had truly begun when they confessed their love for one another.

Embracing the end of her former life, she motioned for Hannibal to come to her. Then, together, they pushed the Mustang over the cliff, watching it crash and explode onto the rocks below before falling into the sea. Satisfied, they climbed into the Jaguar and raced to the airport.

They had gone unnoticed, unrecognized, their fake IDs and passports---identifying them as Harris and Cynda Larkin---going unnoticed by airport security. Clarice had made the fake IDs on the laptop computer in the beach house, while Hannibal had gone to Rock Creek Park to pick up Krendler. Remembering her FBI training, everything she had learned, she had made the IDs pass for street legal beautifully.

Their final destination was Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hannibal had friends there, who would lend them the use of their Beaux Arts estate for as long as they wished.

Still calling themselves Harris and Cynda in front of the servants, Hannibal and Clarice couldn't wait to get to their quarters on the top floor. As soon as they were alone, Hannibal plugged in the CD player, then popped in Clarice's Melissa Etheridge CD.

I like the way you look...I know you like me...

As Melissa Etheridge sang, Clarice kicked off her shoes, then began dancing in a most suggestive manner. Hannibal smiled.

But one and one and one, baby, makes three...

Hannibal walked to her, then began dancing with her, holding her close and thrusting his hips into hers as they danced...

Stop playing those eyes...

Clarice's hands rested on his shoulders, then slid down as she divested him of his suit coat, then undid his tie.

If you want me to keep...

Hannibal got the clue, nuzzling her neck as he lifted the sweater off of her. Then he robbed her of her bra.

Your little secret, little secret, little secret...

When Clarice undid his shirt, it was all they could stand. Ignoring the music, they collapsed on the bed, their lips and bodies forever locked as they surrendered to the long, loud love they began to make...

THE END.

Lyrics from Your Little Secret by Melissa Etheridge.

More Exchanges, More Fantasies, More Pleasure...