Ma Fille Chapter 2: Comparisons

Hannibal was watching over her sleeping form, it had taken him a couple hours to get the wound cleaned out, and then it took another hour for him to administer drugs to her and sew up the wound. It was a lot of pain on her part to get it cleaned out, and a lot of tears that he wished that he didn't have to see. However, given the circumstance that it was going to become worse if he didn't take care of it, he chose to take care of it. He was going to have to keep an eye on it for a couple of weeks, but she was going to be fine.

She was now laying in the bed that he had bought for her when she was sixteen, she laid on her side, away from him. In the red chemise shirt she was wearing he could see the bruises on her back. To Hannibal, she would always be his little girl, that being said, knowing that a man that she had given her heart to had beat her. He didn't show it, but he was furious.

She asked him before she went to sleep if she could have some of her favorite tea, it was a black tea known as the Prince of Wales tea. While he was currently out, he would go out and get it this evening and retrieve some for her before she woke up. He would also make another stop on the way home. Taking one last look at her he leaned down and kissed her head and whispered "I will be back soon, I promise."

She moved slightly but made no real intentions of waking up. Hannibal could only smile. He had the perfect idea for breakfast for her when she woke up. He walked slowly down the stairs into the kitchen where he kept his recipes, and picked out the one he had been looking for. Then he noticed Carretta 's purse on the hook. He didn't like sneaking into her things, especially since it was his daughter. However under the circumstance, he would make an exception. He reached in and grabbed her wallet and removed her driver's license before he climbed in his car and drove out of the lot. He looked at the address on the driver's license. "I think I will go and pay this man a visit."

He stopped at the nearest 24 hour store and grabbed Carretta 's favorite tea and some spices that he needed. He also picked her up a new cobalt blue mug, one that she always loved to drink from.

He set everything in the back seat so that the mug wouldn't get broken then set out on his journey. He double checked the address before leaving the parking lot. It wouldn't take him long to get there as a matter of fact, that was the easy part. It was getting back. After all, he was going to Washington D.C.

He had an hour to plan. Hannibal was one that liked to plan out his meals; every-so-often he would have one that was unplanned, which was not surprising. This time he had about an hour to plan, so he threw a couple of ideas through his head before deciding on an exact.

He finally found the address and parked outside, looking for any signs of movement, or any sign of human activity. If there was he was sleeping, wonderful, the element surprise actually tasted excellent in his meals. He climbed out of his car and walked up the steps to the front door. He took a deep breath before ringing the door bell, he was managing rather well when it came to keeping calm, however the thoughts of this man beating his daughter to a pulp was about to push Hannibal over the edge. He rang the doorbell again to receive no answer. His brows furrowed 'surely he was home; it was almost three in the morning.' He thought. He tried the door knob to find it unlocked, the confusion was moving more into his gut 'something isn't right.' He pushed the door open and closed it to stop any curiosity or worry to any neighbors. Immediately he was hit with a scent that he knew all too well, it was strong and it mixed in with a smell that he hated. He made his way down the hallway and the scent got stronger, he moved slowly and quietly, just in case there was someone else in the house, but judging by the smell, there wasn't anyone else. He rounded the corner into the small kitchen area and he saw the sight that almost shocked him. Hannibal looked over the decaying body of a dead man, the age of twenty five, he was young, when he was alive he was good looking. In death however he was gruesome. His head was sliced so deeply that it was almost cut clean off of his head, his eyes were wide open in fear his curly black hair was matted to his head with the blood that was pooled around his head, he was shirtless, but his chest was destroyed by slices and stab wounds. His groin took the most damage, almost severed beyond the belief.

As Hannibal looked over the scene in front of him, the image seemed to reanimate itself in his head, this crime was recent, and the smell told him so. The person that stabbed this man, so violently, wanted to make sure he never got back up again, and if he did manage it, he would be castrated, he was well hated, not only that but the person who did this managed to stay in the same house for a couple hours before leaving the body to be found by someone else. He turned around for a moment to look around the room for any evidence of who he was. He found the evidence that he was looking for when he saw a picture of the dead man and Carretta , they were smiling. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place. His daughter was more like him than what he could possibly imagine.

He took hold of the picture and looked at his daughter "Carretta , my Dearest Daughter…I have so much that I have to teach you."

He wasn't going to confront her about it. Not yet, instead, he was going to take care of this problem. The meal that he planned was going to be good. Then Carretta would take care of everything else. She was going to wonder what happened to the body, he was going to answer for that later.

Hannibal returned later than expected. Tired, almost to the point of near exhaustion however he couldn't go right to sleep. The thought of his daughter, his own child, flesh and blood, had managed such a brutal murder. The thought caused him to shiver slightly, some with delight, some with a twinge of fear. The last bit of innocence that he thought that she had was now gone, as a psychologist, Hannibal would not have gone so far as to compare her mind to his, the mentality of a psychopath didn't pass down to offspring, that was what he was taught after all. However she was starting to show all of the signs of being a complete psychopath…

She had no control; she had rage, the damage that the late boyfriend she killed showed it. While it was completely justified, she couldn't kill this way and not get caught. He placed the meat in the freezer neatly and unpacked the tea and spices before walking into his sitting room and sitting on one of his couches, staring at the fire place, watching the embers burn. He couldn't tell her yet. Instead, he wanted to get into her brain and see what she was capable of. While this was a good way to break a trust between the two of them…He was curios.

Suddenly the light of the sun began to rise and he sighed, he hadn't gotten any sleep since through the night and he had a full day ahead of him. "Good Morning Carretta." He smelled her perfume the minute that she entered the room, even as quiet as she was, no wonder she got the jump on the man. He turned and looked at her, her hair was freshly wet from a shower, she wore a white t-shirt that was three sizes too big and a pair of shorts. Carretta, not surprised by her father knowing she was there smiled "good morning."

"I was about to make breakfast, your favorite dish, eggs and a fresh steak."

"That sounds wonderful; this must be a special occasion." She said

"It is a special occasion…it is the return of my daughter." He said walking up and stopping right next to her to plant a kiss on her forehead before walking into the kitchen. She followed behind him and took a seat at the island so that she could watch, he also began heating up some tea for her "I hope you don't mind, I didn't sleep very well last night."

"You didn't sleep at all." She stated "I can tell, you are wearing the same clothes you were wearing last night. You also have dark circles under your eyes."

He couldn't help but smirk "Well aren't you the observant one."

She smiled "Again, I had a good teacher."

"I never taught you that, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle taught you that." He said taking out that pans and some knives

"A book that you made me read." She rebuked with a slight smile on her face, He handed her the teapot with a smile of his own. He reached over to the freezer and pulled out the meat for the morning "I want to ask you a couple of questions, and they are serious questions."

"Going to be my psychologist, father?"

He looked up at her "Father first, it is illegal to be a psychologist to family."

Caretta looked down and sighed "Alright, go ahead."

He saw that she was uncomfortable. "How long has he been hurting you?"

Caretta took a long sip of her tea "About three months ago. I still remember the first time he did it, it was a quick slap to the side of my face. Since then…It got worse until…well until I came home." She looked up at him and tried to smile "Is it normal to feel completely lost?"

"To some…but not to you." He reached over and took her hand looking into her eyes, the eyes that were almost identical to his. "I am here for you, we are in this together, and I am not going to let anyone hurt you."

She looked at him and nodded slightly "I am going to need it."

He went back to his project for the morning "What are you going to do today."

"Well I thought I would go back to the house and get my clothes and some of my notebooks, I don't need much."

The thought went through his head that she would find the body gone, she was going to have to deal with that kind of panic. To Hannibal, this was the best way to teach her to not leave her pray out for someone else to find."Are you worried about him returning home?"

Caretta shook her head "No, he works really hard, he wouldnt return home until tonight I am sure."

She was a good liar, too bad he already knew the truth "Maybe I should go with you, I dont have any appointments until ten..."

He looked at her as a wave of panic went through her "No!" She burst out suddenly causing Hannibal to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "I mean...No, thank you father, I don't want to start any more trouble than what there already has been...I just want t get in there and get out, never to look back."

Hannibal smiled trying to settle her nerves "Alright. If you are sure. But remember that if you want me to go with you."

"Possibly later, when I feel more comfortable, and I know for sure that there isnt going to be any trouble."

Hannibal knew exactly what she was thinking, she was going to dispose of the body then bring him to get her things, however she was in for a big surprise. He looked at his finished product and handed it to her. "Father, I must say, you do some of the best work, I dont know why you are a psychologist when you could have easily been a culinary expert."

"Then it wouldn't be a passion it would be work."

"Work that you would love to do." Caretta replied taking a bite of her food and smiling "This is probably the best steak I have ever had. It is a big improvement from eating cereal I must say."

"I am glad that you like it, its funny, I was out retrieving your tea this morning and found it."