The Following:
Peace, Love, and Happiness
Season 3
Episode 3: Hannibal
The body of Clark Saxson laid on the table looking all cleaned up. He was completely naked, aside from a small sheet covering from waist down. The light bulbs were removed as well as the electrical wiring which was attached to the end of them. Both were placed in the evidence room.
Jack stood beside the body with Will on his left. Hannibal peered at it studying it with ravenous curiosity. Brian and Jimmy were opposite of Hannibal waiting eagerly to tell everyone what they had found out. Mike had his arms crossed over his chest as he eyed the body anxiously.
Ryan stood a few feet away watching the body on the table with uncertain eyes. He never thought that he would see Clark outside of the pictures that Molly once showed him in her apartment. He went to her house after she invited them to watch a movie. They had dinner, began the movie and then decided that the bed was far more interesting.
The next morning, she spoke about her family and her crazy brother. Her brother, the drug addict, she told him. From the early age of sixteen he began to buy and sell. By the age of twenty-one when most people were happy to buy their own alcohol, he was a wealthy dealer with people working for him.
Then he met Joe. The man who told him that he didn't need drugs as an outlet. Drugs were just masking up his feelings and that is the wrong way to deal with them. Instead, he told him that sacrifice was the means of controlling them. Soon he became a prominent member of the cult, keeping himself hidden as to not get caught.
When he found out about Joe's death, he wept, but didn't return to drugs. Instead he turned to his new addiction. Sacrifice. He kidnapped a young freshman and removed as much of her skin as he cold before she died. He then put it in a container and placed it by Joe's grave as a gift.
There was no measure of happiness and relief in him, when he found that Joe didn't die and heading a new cult. Word spread fast like wildfire and he was excited hoping that Joe would contact him, but he never did. It seemed as if Joe wanted nothing to do with the old cult and only had eyes on the new one.
Ryan's thoughts on Clark were interrupted when Max approached him. "Are you okay?" She asked concerned.
"I am fine," He said covering his feelings a smile.
"I can see it in your eyes, Max frowned. She reached out and touched his arm. "What's on your mind?"
Ryan could tell how much she cared for him and really wanted to help out. But now was not the place to have a Dr. Phil session. That would have to wait until later and when things had quieted down a bit. Perhaps on the trip back to New York.
"We'll talk later," Ryan said touching her hand briefly before he approached the table. "So what have we got here?"
"Well, all of us already know who this is," Jimmy said clasping his hands together, "But there is one thing that truly peaks my interest here," He paused and glanced at Ryan briefly, "It truly has signs of the Chesapeake Ripper."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Mike asked looking at him.
"Well the bodies that have been brought here," Jimmy began.
Jack raised a hand halting him. He took a step toward Mike and then began, "The Chesapeake Ripper kills in sounders, which can be referred to as a small group of three pigs, if you want to put it that way. That is how he sees his victims, not as people, not as prey, but as pigs."
He paused and eyed the body before him. "Though crime scene photos show that his exact method varies, his victims are killed and mutilated by cutting, sometimes dismembered, and what remains of them is left on display and posed in various theatrical ways."
"One of the most frequent murders was when the Ripper left a victim near a church pew and used his severed tongue as a page marker in a bible he was reading." Will said watching Max's reaction of disgust. "He also removed and took with him certain organs from the victims, which he, unbeknownst to the FBI, consumed." He looked at Jack, who was not paying attention to him.
"And I thought Joe was a sick man," Mike said shaking his head appalled at what he just heard.
"Joe Carroll is not a sick man," Hannibal said looking at Mike who glared at him. "I have read his book and he is incredibly intelligent. Misguided, perhaps, but he is a visionary."
"He is an animal," Mike said continuing to glare at Hannibal. "And I hope he rots in prison."
Max reached out taking his hand. She squeezed it affectionately, trying to calm him while keeping her eyes on Ryan hoping that he wouldn't see.
"Anyways," Jack said looking at Brian and Jimmy. "Tell me more about this man."
"Well we already know that the brain and eyes were removed and haven't been found yet," Brian began. "Aside from that and the note cut into him, there was nothing out of the ordinary about him. He died from getting his head sliced open." He paused allowing Jimmy to continue.
"With the brain gone, that leaves room in the skull," Jimmy said pointing to the cut on the top of the head that had sew removed. He opened it and reached in the head. "We found this." He held up a long and bloodied hair.
Jimmy made his way to the sink and began to wash the blood if the hair. The hair was red and shined in the rooms light. "Crazy isn't it," He said with a shrug. "Never a dull moment here."
"Wait," Max asked confused, "Are you saying that someone could have possibly eaten this man's brain and eyes?" She felt grossed out and wanted to throw up. "And then left a hair behind as what a prize or something?"
"Perhaps," Hannibal said stepping up to the body. He continued to stare at the body with a hunger that only he could see. "That would definitely coincide with the rest of the Chesapeake Ripper's murders." He paused and glanced at Max. "Except for the note and letter to Ryan."
"I don't think this is the work of the Chesapeake Ripper," Will said shaking his head. He eyed Hannibal briefly. "All of his kills never mentioned Ryan or Joe at all. Why bring them in now?" He took a deep breath and stepped away from Jack. "This isn't the copycat either. This is someone new. Someone with the letter 'M' in their name."
"What if the Chesapeake Ripper was a fan of Joe's?" Jack asked looking at Ryan who seemed lost in thought.
"Could be," Mike shrugged, "We don't know who is and is not part of Joe's cult until it is far too late sometimes."
"It won't take long," Brian said as Jimmy headed to get the DNA tested. "But we will find out whose hair this belonged to."
"Don't bother," Ryan grimly, "I already have an idea." He looked at Jack with his jaw quivering angrily. "The hair belongs to Molly Saxson."
"Are you saying that Molly killed her younger brother?" Jack asked slightly confused.
"I am certain of it," Ryan answered, hoping that he was indeed wrong. He knew he wasn't though.
Jeffery stepped out of the hospital room with a smile of victory planted on his face. The feeling of control was something as of lately that he was not accustomed to. Not when it dealt with Lily Gray and he disturbed family of killers. By now most of her family was either dead or arrested, aside from Mark. She was under heavy guard in the hospital. She was not moving anywhere, anytime soon. It certainly looked as if she had just about lost everything.
Lily saw her family as the close and loving type. Something you would see on the front of a woman's magazine. But he didn't feel that way. He saw her family similar to those is the horror movies who claimed their family was structured on love, but in reality were murderous addicts that simply killed for the enjoyment of it.
She claimed that she only killed when necessary and didn't really enjoy it. She claimed that she was caring, loving, and respectful to everyone, but that was a lie. She liked to kill and enjoyed every moment of it. Just like Joe Carroll did. Both were killers who seemed to get a sexual thrill from murder.
"Did you know that one of the many traits of a psychopath is to mirror another's behavior?"
The wise words of Dr. Strauss came to his mind. Despite for being the sadistic killer who started it all by teaching Joe and pushing him to become the psychopath he was now, he was somewhat of a genius. Those words couldn't have been more truthful. One psychopath always seemed to be influenced by another. It was like some genetic code.
He thought back to his last conversation with him. He was trying to get information about Joe and his current location was extremely difficult. Most of what he got from the guy was nonsense and gibberish. But the line about psychopaths was one of the few things that he mentioned which stuck to him.
When Joe was arrested, he returned and spoke to Dr. Strauss, but other than a twisted smile, he nothing from him. Before he left thought, he told him that both he and Joe would be locked away until they rotted and it would be in their best interest if he'd cooperate. Again, he got nothing more than an 'I don't care smile.'
Jeffery heard his cell ring, which brought him back to his sense. "Hello," He said glancing at Scott who was watching him curiously.
"Agent Clark," He heard Agent Desmond say, "Mark has been located."
Jeffery felt the room grow small and his heart do a complete flip. "For real?" He asked excited. "Where?"
"He was seen minutes ago by a Ranger in the woods off of Interstate 27," Desmond said anxiously. "I can have a team there and ready in about fifteen minutes."
"Get the team there," Jeffery ordered, 'But don't do anything until I get there."
"Are you sure?" Desmond asked confused, "We might not get a chance again."
"Get the team there and create a perimeter," Jeffery ordered, "Make sure he doesn't leave the areas. But do not do anything else until I get there."
"Yes sir."
"What happened?" Scott asked, watching him close his phone.
"Mark has been sighted," He said with a smile. Time to catch a fish."
Jeffery was glad that he was able to get a hold of the hospital's emergency helicopter pilot, to take him just outside of the woods. He quickly made his way to Desmond, where he found him outside of the woods.
"You got here quicker than I thought," He said glancing at Jeffery.
"What is the status?" He asked glancing at the team of ten well-armed standing ready.
"We have the perimeter around the woods by three different teams," Desmond anxiously said, "There is a small cabin just a mile into the woods and that is where we believe Mark is now."
"Awesome," He said please. "Arrest him only. I want him alive." He pulled out his gun and switched off the safety mode. "Let's get this bastard."
Jeffery led the team into the wood, while the other teams did the same. They silently and cautiously made their way to the cabin, not seeing any sign of him. It took fifteen minutes, but they soon had the cabin surrounded.
Jeffery took a deep breath and held up his hand halting the teams. "No one move unless I say so," He ordered. He continued to scan the cabin for anything out of the ordinary.
"Desmond, Cruz," He pointed to the. "You with me." He took a step toward the cabin. "The rest of you wait here. We are going to drive him out."
"Yes sir," One of the guys responded.
"Okay let's move," Jeffery said.
Jeffery saw that the windows were covered in so much dust, noting that since he couldn't see in, he doubted anyone could see out. He approached the front door and tried the handle. Not to his surprise, it was unlocked. As quietly as he could, he opened the door which to his annoyance creaked loudly as it opened.
He entered the cabin scanning the small living room. Everything was covered in dust, dirt, and spider webs. There was a large couch along one of the walls opposite to a fire place. An old TV with a cable box and antenna stood a few feet away from the fireplace. There was a large and nearly empty bookshelf that had two books and a couple of statues on it.
The kitchen was empty as well, only with a fridge that had a moldy food and jars in it. Both closets were completely empty as well. There was nothing in the bathroom except for an awful smell. All that remained was the bedroom at the far end of the hall.
Jeffery held his breath and stepped up to the door. He raised his gun and kicked the door open. He saw a body in the bed, hidden underneath the covers. There was a bad smell in the room of mold, sweat, and urine.
Jeffery motioned for Desmond and Cruz to cover him. He approached the bed and kicked the bed lightly trying to get the attention of whoever was in the bed. There was no movement of any kind. He then tapped the body with his gun, but just like before there was no response.
He glanced at Desmond and Cruz who stood with their weapons ready. Both were ready to kill whoever was hiding on the bed. He turned back to the bed and then threw off the covers. There was a bloody body belonging to a middle aged man. His throat was slit and he had multiple stab wounds in his large gut.
"Damn," Jeffery cursed.
"This blood is fresh," Desmond noted. He stepped up to the bed. "I would say no less than ten hours ago."
Jeffery ran a hand through his hair. "So what next?" He asked annoyed. He hoped he didn't come here for nothing.
"If I may," Cruz said stepping up to Jeffery. "There may be a hidden room here. We should check the closets again."
Jeffery looked at Desmond who nodded in agreement. "It doesn't hurt to try," He said following Cruz to the closest closet.
Cruz stepped in and tapped the walls but they were all solid. This one was empty. He made his way to the next one, just as the door swung open and out ran Mark with a surprised look on his face. Cruz punched him in the face hard knocking him to the ground. He pointed his gun at him.
"Don't shoot him," Jeffery ordered as he approached.
"I wasn't planning to," Cruz said suddenly aiming his gun at Desmond. He shot him in the head, blood squirting out of the wound. He pointed it at Jeffery. "Drop you weapon."
"What the hell?" Jeffery cursed.
"Ouch," Mark said standing up. He wiped blood off his throbbing lip.
Cruz spoke into his walkie-talkie. "We have Mark," He said keeping his gun and eyes on Jeffery. "Execute now."
"Good," He heard.
"You won't get away with this," Jeffery said glaring at him. He began to lower his gun on the floor.
"Actually I might," He said confidently. "Right now my team of guys is going around and killing whatever agents you had brought here." He took a step toward Jeffery. "Most of the guys out there were under me, not you or Desmond." He motioned for Jeffery to kick the gun his way.
Mark took Jeffery's gun and then aimed it at him. His jaw quivered with excitement as the feeling of control began to grow in him. He loved the feeling. Death was at his fingertips.
"I would say that it has been an honor serving with you," Cruz shrugged, "But I was never really on your team."
"You bastard," He cursed.
"Being that I don't know my dad," Cruz began to laugh, "You are correct there." He took another step toward Jeffery. "Goodbye."
Jeffery reached out toward Cruz, just as he shot him twice in the stomach. He felt an enormous amount of pain and then the room began to spin. He saw Cruz and Mark through blurred vision as he fell to his knees. He tried to call out, but instead the room grew dark as he fell to the floor.
Cruz turned to Mark and then placed a hand on his shoulder. Mark pushed it away suddenly and stepped away from him. "Who are you?" He asked pointing the gun at him.
"I am a friend an on your side," He said calmly.
"A friend of my mom's?" He asked confused that he had never seen him before.
"Nope," Cruz shook his head, "Your dad's."
Ryan was back in the warehouse, staring intently at the space where Clark's body used to be. Any item that was considered part of the brutal murder was removed and taken into evidence. Now it stood completely empty aside from what was originally there.
He had many questions on his mind. Why did Moly kill Clark? Why here? Why now after all this time? Where had they been hiding? All to which he had no answers to. Just like with all other Joe's cult, there was a mystery and it bothered him. He wanted it over. All of it to be finished, so he could move on and live free.
But he doubted that would happen. He knew tlhat somewhere in the future, it would all end but would he be free? After everything that he had seen? After everything that had been done so far? That would be doubtful. There would be no amount of therapy that could help that.
He would always be looking over his shoulders, expecting that one of the members would be there following him. He didn't think he could trust anyone outside of the few closest to him. He could almost count the amount on one hand.
Yet with all these uncertainties, he just wanted it to end. He would rather become the scarred person he was now and more, then deal with all this senseless killing. At least with it over he can move on and try to live a life, even one filled with such trauma. The question was when?
Max reached out to him and touched his shoulder gently. He looked at her and smiled. "There is nothing here Ryan," She said softly, "We should go back to the hotel, get some sleep, and wait while the evidence is studied."
"You can go if you want," Ryan said turning to face her. "I doubt I will find anything here, but it doesn't hurt to try and look."
Max looked at Mike who stood a few feet away. She didn't want to leave Ryan here alone. "We are in this together," Mike said taking a step toward him. "We are a team and as the crappy line goes, there is no I in team."
"That is true," Ryan chuckled softly. "No more secrets." He took a step toward Mike. "This seems to be as good time as any Mike."
"A good time for what?" He looked at him confused.
"I wanted to apologize about what happened after Joe's death with you and I,"" He said taking another step toward him. "I was a train wreck and you always looked out for me."
"Don't worry about it man," He said with a smile.
This was a side of Ryan he didn't see too often. Ryan usually kept everything to himself. He took it all personally and because of everything that he went through so far, he refused to share things with the people around him for the fear of losing them.
"And then after that," Ryan continued, "I began my search for Joe and despite your good intentions, I turned you down. You and I are more than just friends." He paused trying to find the right set of words. "I almost feel as if you are part of my family." He reached out and grasped his shoulder gently.
Mike felt himself blush. "Well thank you," He said with a smile. Maybe he could tell Ryan about Max and him. "Ryan, there is something I need to tell you as well," He glanced at Max who nodded in agreement.
Just then a loud gunshot was heard. Ryan heard a scream as he felt blood splatter all over his face and shirt. He saw Mike fall to the floor grasping his throat as blood leaked through his hands. He gurgled loudly choking on his own blood. Max shrieked again and dove at Mike applying pressure on his wound.
Ryan eyed Mike worried for his life as he reached for his gun. He then turned and saw a man he didn't recognize dart behind a large shelf. He took a step forward and fired at the shelf, missing the guy. The guy fired back, missing him as Ryan dove behind another shelf.
Max reached out with a bloody hand and grabbed her cell. She called 911, keeping a fearful eye on Max, who looked at her painfully. His face was pale and he was shaking uncontrollably. "No," She said beginning to cry, "Do not die on me Mike." She tossed her phone aside and then tour off her sweater. She began to apply even more pressure. "Please Mike," She pleaded, "Stay alive."
Ryan cursed when he saw another man dart behind another shelf. Two against one now. Max was busy with Mike. He raised his gun and fired at the first man, missing again. "Damn," He cursed as bullets shot in his direction.
He saw one of the men try to approach Max and in the process, gave himself an opening. Ryan used that and shot him in the shoulder. The man fell to the floor grasping the wound painfully. The second man was now nowhere to be seen. Ryan cursed again not in the mood.
He took a step away from the shelf and was greeted by a swift kick in the gut. It sent him to the floor as he lost his gun. The man swung trying to his him in the face, but he blocked it and hit him in the gut. He ignored the pain and stood on shaky legs. The man began to laugh as he pulled out a large and dangerous looking knife.
Ryan blocked a stab and then another one which not only surprised him, but also Ryan himself. He was just moving on instinct, trying not to get stabbed. The man swung again and the blade cut him across the forearm. He gasped and saw blood immediately drip out of the wound.
The man smiled, ready to stab him again, but Ryan was faster. He dove toward his fallen gun and grasped it. He pointed it at the man and shot him in the head. Blood squirted out of the wound as the man fell to the floor.
Loud clapping was heard while Ryan caught his breath. He turned to see Molly walk toward him seductively with a tantalizing smile on her face. "Hello Ryan," She said as he pointed his gun at her. "Oh I wouldn't do that would you?"
Ryan noticed six well-armed men standing behind her looking angry and dangerous. All had guns pointed at him. "I could still kill you," He said as he stood on shaky legs.
"You would be killed," She said approaching him. "Plus if you couldn't kill Joe, I doubt you will kill me." She stopped about a foot in front of him. "Now toss your gun aside."
Ryan shook his head not wanting to, but knew it was the right thing to do. As much as he hated to do so, which would leave him defenseless, he knew that she would kill him without any hesitation at all.
Molly looked at Max who had her hands on Mike's bloody throat. "Pity," She said without any care.
"What do you want Molly?" Ryan asked. He heard sirens in the distance which meant that help was minutes away.
"Soon you will find out," She said reaching out and caressed his cheek. He pushed her away, which caused her to laugh. "I have a lot planned for you Ryan Hardy and it is all for you." She took a few steps backward and then bowed. "I must leave before your friends come here." She stood up straight and looked him dead in the eye with the most serious and disgusted look she could give him. "I'm back."
With that she motioned for one of her men toward Ryan. With a smile, a large and tattooed man approached him with his lip curled. He swung the butt of his gun, striking him in the head. "No," Max shouted as Ryan fell to the unconscious. She watched in horror as Molly and her group of men left the warehouse.
Hope you like it! Sorry the updates have been slower. I have final exams coming up. Anyhow I will try to update as soon as could.
Shaw18