ONE HOUR EARLIER
"Hello?" Elizabeth answered in exasperation when the phone rang for the third time since she never answered her home phone.
She heard breathing on the other end and asked, "Who is this? I'm hanging up."
"Here to help you," a whispered voice she could barely understand came onto the phone.
"Why?"
"The ripper...he's closer than you think."
"Who is this?" she demanded. "Are you the ripper?"
The voice laughed in amusement. "I am not the ripper, but you've already seen him."
"Again, who the hell are you?" She asked sternly.
"A friend...for now," they responded. "Your admirer has his sights on Hannibal. Tobias Budge. Run while you still can catch him…you may just save him."
Elizabeth hung up and immediately when to her car.
PRESENT
She drove like a speed demon down the road and when she went too fast, she would try to curve the car around to stall it. Elizabeth stepped on the brakes and the car became wild as she found that she couldn't stop the car. Her heart beat faster and faster as she realized that someone had did something to her car.
What-
A black SUV dashed into the side of her car, crashing it as it swerved and flipped over, the tires screeching against the pavement. The metal scrapping against the road as it slid down the hill, finally stopping.
Elizabeth's eyes were already closed as blood dripped down from her head and onto the ceiling of the car as she hung limply upside down.
Franklyn's body laid lifelessly on the floor of Hannibal's office between him and Tobias Budge. Neither felt any kind of emotions towards his corpse.
"I was looking forward to that," Tobias said blankly.
"I saved you the trouble," Hannibal responded.
Tobias let the sliver violin string fall from his hands, gripping onto it; Hannibal immediately knew what this man had planned to do to him. "I find it humorous if we're being honest that you and I have in common the same kind of woman that we desire," Tobias claimed with a strained smile.
"I have no-"
"Elizabeth Graham," He rudely interrupted with a small smirk. "I'm not an idiot. I can see the way you look at her. I've been watching you two."
"You mean that you've been stalking her, not me because you wonder if she means anything to me."
"And therefore if she does then I can use her against you. A weakness and you don't even know it, Hannibal Lecter," Tobias chuckled in victory.
"Is that why you want her? Because you think that I want her," Hannibal questioned with a calculating gaze.
"What does she see in you?" Tobias asked lowly. "We are the same. I don't understand."
Hannibal looked impassively at him. "Do you send her those flowers?"
Tobias nodded. "I heard she liked red roses."
"Your poem talked about killing her even though you loved her, yes? You have an allusion-a fantasy of this game between us. You think you are planning to take my queen."
"Yes." Tobias said then looked at the clock and smirked. "I already have actually."
Hannibal's eyes gave away his true emotion about Elizabeth Graham. "What did you do?"
"Not only did I cut the brakes on her car and give her a call telling her that you were in danger so that she came rushing over here, but she had an accident. She's dead," Tobias said simply.
This man's mind was setting him up, thinking that everyone around him was a chess piece in a game of chess between each other. Hannibal felt rage boil slowly inside of him after hearing that this man had murdered his "queen" before he had the chance to move her to different spots on the chessboard yet. He had so many moves for her to slide onto in the game. His "queen" had been taken from him and he didn't like someone else trying to take control.
Hannibal readied himself for a fight as Tobias started to swing the violin string in his hand, a wicked gleam in his eyes giving away his satisfaction at thinking that he had beaten the great Chesapeake Ripper. Tobias lunged towards him causing Hannibal to jump away in defense mode.
Tobias suddenly swung his string from left to right, but Hannibal had quickly dodged them quickly until Tobias had brought his foot up quickly and shoving it into his stomach. Hannibal stumbled backwards towards the ladder, pushing it away from him though Tobias had moved away from the action. Thinking that Tobias was going to hit him, Hannibal had put his arm up to block the attack when the violin string had wrapped itself around his forearm.
Tobias pulled the string tighter around his forearm as Hannibal kept on pushing the arm towards himself. Blood appeared on Hannibal's light blue shirt since neither of them was backing down from the other. Hannibal swung his fist at his face, but missed as Tobias now had the upper hand and grabbed the glass coffee table. He tried to hit him on the head with it, but Hannibal had blocked the arm with his own arm from hitting him. The glass immediately shattered and the table was tossed aside carelessly as they kept on fighting each other.
Hannibal quickly heat butted him and threw Tobias into his desk, grunting. Tobias' hands reached for the letter opener and grabbed just as Hannibal charged at him. The both of them tussled on top of the desk until they eventually rolled over it and crashed back onto the floor. Both of the men were groaning in pain at the hard impact it had on them. Tobias kicked Hannibal's nose and swung persistently at Hannibal who practically crawled back in his survival response mode.
Hannibal yelled out in pain as Tobias had struck the blade suddenly between his thigh and knee. Tobias had wrapped his hand around Hannibal's throat, pushing him onto the desk. He held the blade away from him, but Hannibal's hand had forced him from cutting open his throat. As they struggled on top of the desk, Hannibal grabbed the sharp pen and sliced Tobias's arm.
"AH!" Tobias hissed in pain as he grabbed onto the wound.
Hannibal had then thrown the man away from him before punching me repeatedly.
Hannibal fell against the ladder and once Tobias was close enough to hit her again, he lunged towards Hannibal and fell against the ladder, his arm stuck out. Hannibal grabbed the arm and broke it immediately, the bones cracked under pressure. He swung his limp hands before Hannibal shoved the palm of his hand into the chest of Tobias. Tobias gasped for quick air as he had felt like his heart beat causing him pain whenever he breathed. He coughed violently as he held his chest.
Hannibal walked around to the stag stature and lifted it up in the air and swung it on top of his head, causing him to die instantly as he fell face first into the ground.
Hannibal exhaled a deep breath as he tipped over the end table and then limped over to the piano playing a tune or two. He then called in what had happened.
Hannibal felt a sense of relief wash over him as he saw Will follow Jack inside of the office.
"I was worried that you were dead." Hannibal confessed.
Jack glanced around the scene before him, trying to call someone on his phone, but he growled lowly and shoved it in his pocket in frustration. "Tobias Budge killed two Baltimore Police officers, nearly killed an FBI special agent"
"He told me that he killed Elizabeth too. Purposely got her into a car accident," Hannibal told them with worry in his voice.
"I've been trying to call her," Jack realized and dialed a number on his phone. "Hello, this is Agent Jack Crawford, I'm with the Baltimore FBI. I was wondering if you recently in the last hour had any severe car crashes involving a blonde woman in her mid twenties."
"W-Why would he go after Lizzie," Will questioned.
"He sent her flowers last night with a poem saying how much he loved her and then he was going to kill her after. He was obsessed with her."
"Do you think that he was serenading for her?" Will inquired. "How does he even know her?"
"I have doubt that he does know her because he seemed to be stalking her as well. He even told me. He watched us and didn't understand what she saw in me when she could have him. Elizabeth told me something last night that I cannot seem to remember today," Hannibal explained to him.
Jack nodded. "Yes, thank you."
He hung up and sighed as Will asked agitatedly, "Well? What happened?"
"She barely made it. They said that they lost her on the table during surgery, but were able to revive her in time. She hasn't woken up yet since her condition is fragile at the moment," Jack told them.
Hannibal forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain shooting up his body. "I need to see her."
"You can do that when you're healed, Hannibal," Jack scolded him.
He shook his head. "I need to see if she is alright. I am the reason that she is in there. Tobias told me that he called her telling her that I was in danger."
"And so she drove recklessly over here and he planned the car crash," Will grasped. "He had a strange obsession with her. "
Jack sighed in irritation. "Hannibal-"
"I want to see her, Jack," Hannibal told him firmly. "Immediately."
Hannibal's hand held hers as he slept in the chair by her beside. Will observed how protective Hannibal seemed lately over his sister. He noticed how Elizabeth would smile at Hannibal's name. Is there…are they…do they…is it even possible perhaps?
Many questions were soaring through his head as he pondered more and more about the relationship between Elizabeth and Hannibal.
She almost looked dead with her pale skin and the cuts on her face. There was one on her hairline, cheek, lip, and just above the eyebrow. Her arm was sprained and she had a mild concussion according to the doctor. They had almost lost her on the table because she had been internally bleeding another effect from the car crash.
Hannibal never left her side and always seemed to wait for her eyes to flutter and for her to wake up.
Will still watched them; silently hoping that what he was thinking about wasn't really true.
TBC…
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