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Bella sat on the stage floor and stretched as the team waited for Coach Pellagrim to show up from his classroom. She hadn't bothered to change for this practice. "I wish I could sit in the crowd and watch you dance like every other father. The one practice I saw left me anticipating your performance Friday night. Although, it also left me with a rather gnawing feeling towards your coach. Is he good? I don't know him well enough, but he seemed rather taken with you. A big no-no for him unless you enjoy it. Do you enjoy his small gestures and advances? Offering you privileges and private practices? Or does it make your skin crawl as much as the young Krendler seems to do?"

The loud metal clang alerted the team that Pellagrim had arrived through the large back doors. He jogged up the middle isle in slacks and a button down pinstripe. Overall, he wasn't a bad looking guy, but he was closer to Hannibal's age than Clarice's. He had small wrinkles around his eyes and his once brown hair was now a somewhat sophisticated salt and pepper combination. Despite his years of dance keeping him in shape, Bella wanted his advances as much as she wanted to stay in the country.

Pellagrim hopped up onto the stage and winked at Bella. "Are you ready? I bet the nerves are setting in."

"More excited than nervous." Bella forced a small smile before standing up. She refused to flinch when he rested his hand on her shoulder and addressed the rest of the team about how much practice they all needed.

"Growing up without a father until this point, one might assume that you have daddy issues. You could be looking for a father figure in the man you choose to spend your life with. I know of at least one woman."

Bella rolled her eyes with a smirk. Daddy issues? Really? Am I that cliche? I don't think so. I'm not looking for a daddy to fuck me before tucking me in at night.

"I don't hold judgement, my little bird. But know that any man that you allow to be in your life has to get by me, and I don't think anyone will ever be good enough for you."

Now who's the cliche?

Bella slipped her hand into her pocket and paused the tape before Pellagrim sat at the piano and played the opening notes to her first dance.


Hannibal, shorts and black tank, jogged along the known paths of the park with his sunglasses blocking his eyes. The wispy blond hair of his wig was pulled back into a bun, and he ached for the moment he could take the bloody thing off. It was his third loop around the park, passing the second crime scene of the beer can killer case. The place was easy to spot with the number of candles, photos, and memorabilia huddled at the base of the tree next to the place the woman's body was found.

It wasn't a secluded space. A few bushes, but the body would've been found relatively quickly. The killer had to be fast about it. The report figured the woman was killed between seven and seven fifteen that morning. A jogger passed by the spot at seven and took a small break to catch his breath by the tree before continuing. The next jogger put in the 9-1-1 call at seven eighteen to report the woman dead.

It was precise. The killer had to know this woman's schedule since she was targeted for resembling Clarice. They didn't bother to conceal the crime at all. With the injuries leading to death at the woman's torso, the killer had to have a significant amount of blood on him. If there were joggers that close together, the killer would have to ensure the woman's silence. No evidence of drugs or chloroform.

Hannibal briefly reflected on the autopsy findings. His hand moved across his chest horizontally. The beer can pierced through the skin and collapsed one lung before moving across and puncturing the other one. The woman's chance to scream would've been for a brief second if the killer didn't cover her mouth. Either way, the killer knew the weakness of a human body. They knew compromising the lungs would allow for a silent kill. Once the slice across the lungs was complete, another was added down the torso, creating a lopsided 'T'. It nearly disemboweled the victims.

Whoever the killer was, Hannibal was now certain he was the target.

The killer knew Bella was his daughter, explaining the uterine and vagina trauma to the younger victims. The killer probably thought that's how he ruined Clarice in a way. The scalping was Paul Krendler, obviously. The lacerations across the stomach, near disembowelment - that was Will Graham.

Gaining a new spout of energy, Hannibal picked up the pace and headed back towards the park entrance he arrived through, leaving behind the crime scene, memorial, and the Beer Can Killer claiming his next victim.


Bella hopped off the stage, more than happy to see Clarice walk into the auditorium to pick her up. She welcomed the hug from her mother with open arms. "Please tell me you picked up dinner on the way over."

Clarice chuckled. "Greasy cheeseburgers and fries with chocolate milkshakes are in the car." She kissed Bella's head before they turned to walk out. "We probably won't have many of those where we are going."

"He would never approve of that." Bella chuckled before putting a hand over her pocket, assuring herself that the walkman was still there. "Have you heard anything? News broke of the new victim just before practice started."

Clarice shook her head. "We're working on it, honey. It'll take some time. Meanwhile, I just got done talking with your principal. She has agreed to give you your diploma before Christmas break. She's going to talk with the teachers and make sure that they give you all your assignments for the semester."

Bella grinned. "Good. Then, it's official."

"It's official." Clarice nodded before she saw Chet Krendler standing by Bella's locker. When he saw Clarice, he physically deflated and picked up his bag before walking past them to exit the school out one of the other exits. "You weren't kidding about the locker thing."

"I've been grabbing all my things before practice so I can avoid going there and running into him." Bella nodded. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing no one else in the hallway. "Did you really play tapes of his voice when I was younger to get me to go to sleep?"

Clarice smiled as her eyes landed on the bulge in her daughter's pants pocket. Shoving her own hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, she nodded. "I did. I played them when I was pregnant with you too. You knew his voice as well as you knew mine. I made sure of that." She watched Bella smile out of her peripheral. "What else did he tell you on that tape?"

Bella shrugged. "I'm not even halfway through the whole thing. Mostly, he just asked questions that made me do a lot of self reflection, self discovery." She rolled her eyes. "But, I don't have daddy issues."

"Yes, that would be me." Clarice chuckled, fully aware of her own outlooks on life because of her experiences with her parents. Hannibal had brought them to her attention twenty-five years ago, and she dealt with them before Bella came into the picture. She embraced them now and owned them. "And no, you do not." The two laughed as they left through the front door of the school.


Bella sat with Clarice in their dark living room, the TV the only illumination casting shadows over their bodies. The news was reporting the newest victim of the Beer Can Killer, this one a red head lawyer. She and Clarice had caught the story the first time when they arrived home ready for fast food and binge watching a favorite sitcom. After the initial shock of reality ended, Clarice talked on the phone with Ardelia before she returned to the couch with Bella.

Now, Bella stared up at the screen with Clarice asleep on her shoulder. A bowl of half eaten popcorn sat between them and their blanket covered laps. The walkman rested in hers, the gears of the tape moving inside.

"What is your greatest fear, my little bird? Is it dying? Living the way you do for the rest of your life? Being a sham? Or could it be something as simple as a spider hanging down from the shower head? I suppose you are a bright girl. Your fears would run as deep as mine, as deep as Clarice's."

"I'll indulge you with my worst fear. It's not something I tell to just anyone, so I hope you keep it between you and me. What I fear most in this world is losing you and your mother. If you were to choose to stay in America, I would be happy with that. I could watch over you and Clarice. No, what I fear is watching the two of you die before my eyes. I told you of my sister, and, although I didn't watch her die, I felt her fear when her hand was torn from mine by the savages who claimed her."

"I won't allow the same thing to happen to you or your mother. I will never let anyone rip you from my grasp. If that time comes, and I pray it does not, I will turn into the man that has been deemed a monster. Hannibal the Cannibal, though I loathe that name. I wasn't lying when I said I would kill for you, Bella. I know your mother would do the same if the situation dictated."

"I suppose that I have filled your head with enough thoughts for now. Kiss your mother for me. With love my little bird, goodnight."

Bella waited until the static stopped and the tape clicked in the walkman. She smiled and teared up, feeling a calmness she thought she had lost from childhood take over. Feeling like it wasn't just her and Clarice alone in the world anymore. Kissing Clarice's head, she closed her eyes and settled further into the couch cushions. "Goodnight, Hannibal."

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