Elizabeth tossed and turned while in bed, dreaming of blood, death, and cruel people. She shot up in bed with a gasp as sweat coated her body. Silence was heard throughout the dark house. White sheets still covered some of the furniture seeing as how she had only been in the house for a week.
She leaned over the bed glance into the cradle. She smiled in relief at seeing her son's sleeping face all squished up together…it reminded her of Hannibal sadly when he slept.
Elizabeth stood up and went downstairs and felt herself moving toward the wine cellar where Jack almost bled to death. The door creaked open as she pushed it open with her hand. She walked inside the dark room, flipping on the switch. The brightness of the lights made her squint in anger and she walked forward towards another door.
It was a basement.
Elizabeth walked down the steps, feeling a little creeped out by the room.
She didn't know what to think of the empty basement, but that didn't stop her from snooping around a little bit. She ran her fingers through the plastic curtains until she pushed them open, stepping inside a whole new world. She saw they left his instruments, but dusted for other fluids. Elizabeth's heart pounded when she saw more instruments that he used to kill people specifically the one he used to cut Beverly Katz's body into different pieces.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, touching it. "I could've saved you if only I wasn't so blinded by love."
Her eyebrows knitted in confusion when she felt a button on the bottom of the table. She pressed it and jumped when she heard a click. The wall opened just a crack, but wide enough for her to slip through.
Elizabeth stopped from walking further into the dark tunnel and stepped back into the basement. The horrors and bloodshed of Hannibal Lecter seemed to go further than some basement as they awaited for her arrival.
But today would not be that day, she thought grimly.
Elizabeth clicked the button again, the wall closing and camouflaging back into the sight of the unseen eye. Suddenly, she didn't want to know all of Hannibal's secrets. Not today at least.
So she turned around and went back to bed, making a mental note to herself to get the locks to the basement changed so that she was the only one who had access to them.
Ichabod doesn't need to uncover his father's secrets because of his curiosity like I had…yet.
"I do not indulge much in regret, but I am sorry to be leaving Italy. There were things in the Palazzo Capponi I would have liked to read," Hannibal told Will. "I would have read them all to Ichabod."
Hannibal returns and places a small tureen in front of Will as he continued, "I would have liked to play the clavier and perhaps compose. I might have cooked for the Widow Pazzi, when she overcame her grief. My son-your nephew may I remind you, loves Florence as much as I do…he could've been happy here."
There was a sense of sadness in his eyes as Hannibal moves out of sight, Will saw the room blurring around him.
"I would have liked to have shown you Florence too, Will."
Hannibal raises a straw to Will's lips. Will sips willingly then replied, "The soup isn't very good."
"It's a parsley-and-thyme infusion, and more for my sake than yours. Have another sip, let it circulate," he suggested.
Will does so, pliable to Hannibal's wishes. Will notices a third place setting at the other end of the table and raises an eyebrow as sudden worry fills him. He discreetly looks for a high chair and relief replaces his worry once he finds no such thing except a silver rattle lying on a chair.
"Are we expecting company?" Will dared to ask.
Will watched Hannibal grab something off the table, too blurry and doped out to see anything clear, but he did watch as he suddenly hid under the table.
Jack approaches Sogliato's door. He gently touches the door...which swings open. He sneaks inside, careful of his steps and warned himself to be as quite as possible. Jack enters into the hallway, careful, draws his gun. Hearing the soft music coming from the dining room, he heads through the archway... The sight of Will sitting at the table, drugged and bound, his head dropped, stops Jack cold. He creeps into the room, listening for any sound of Hannibal. The sizzle of butter strikes something inside of Jack perhaps fear. Jack cautiously approaches Will, puts a hand on his shoulder. Will stirs, focusing on Jack, blinks.
"He's under the table, Jack," he whispered softly.
Hannibal's arm juts out from under the table, a blade flashes. Jack's foot, his Achilles heel is slashed causing Jack to fall hard to ground.
The music played softly as Jack back to the present to find himself seated way down at the opposite end of the table from Will. While Hannibal is cooking up ingredients, Jack makes a move to get him and his face falls in frustration and then sudden fear crashes into him as he realizes he cannot move.
"I've taken the liberty of giving you something to help you relax. Won't be able to do much more than chew, but that's all you'll need to do. I didn't have an opportunity to ask you during our last encounter, but did you enjoy the exhibition? A different kind of evil minds museum."
"Not so different." Jack corrected.
Hannibal smiled and pours Will a glass of wine. Will raises it and sips. Jack stares, the incongruity of this beyond belief.
"The promoters are failed taxidermists who formerly got along by eating offal from the trophies they mounted. Things that bring people together."
"We were supposed to sit down together back in Baltimore...the three of us."
Hannibal pours himself a glass of wine now and takes a leisurely sip. "You were to be the guest of honor."
"But the menu was all wrong," Will added in.
"Yes, it was," Hannibal agreed.
Hannibal then picked up an electric bone saw, addressing Will, "You know, Will, Jack was the first to suggest getting inside your head."
Hannibal looks down at Will. Then, fondly, and with real regret, Hannibal continued, "We both have the opportunity to chew quite literally what we've only chewed figuratively."
"What do you think Elizabeth will think of this," Jack asked quickly, trying to reason with him.
Hannibal stopped, turning his head to Jack. "I'm curious to see what would happen…aren't you?"
With the flick of a switch, Hannibal revs up the bone saw. Wielding the bone saw, Hannibal approaches Will, the elegant music playing in ironic counterpoint.
Jack warns urgently, "Hannibal..."
Everything becomes black and when Will opens his eyes, he sees that he's suddenly hanging upside down. He could smell something horrible and noticed that there were raw pieces of meat hanging on hooks from above. He looks to his side and sees Hannibal in the same position as he is in.
Will hears a whirring sound and sees Mason roll up in front of them in his electric wheelchair, looking at them both with great satisfaction. Cordell behind him with a beatific smile.
"Gentlemen, welcome to Muskrat Farm," he greeted.
"I promised you a Verger baby," Mason reminded Margot.
She froze and turned around, confusion filling her. "You killed that dream."
"I can give you a Graham-Verger one," he told her. "Bring him in!"
A little boy with brown curls came running in, smiling widely at the siblings. Margot bent down and tears were in her eyes as she ran her hand through his curls. He looked so much like Will…he is so beautiful.
"How did you do it," she asked in an awe tone.
"I had a surrogate you could say," Mason answered vaguely. "She's well-bred if you ask me. Ripe too."
He licked his lips causing the little boy to hide behind her, unsure of the man in front of him. Margot didn't mind and held onto the boy tightly as if protecting him from her brother's cruel torment.
"What's his name?"
Mason couldn't help, but smile when he answered, "Ichabod Verger."
"I like it," Margot replied, looking down at the child who still clung to her in fear of Mason. She felt connected to the child already, knowing what the fear of Mason felt like.
She picked him up and cooed, "How would you like some ice cream, huh?"
He nodded shyly. "Okay."
Margot took the boy in her arms and went to the kitchen, putting him down. She kissed his curly hair and turned around to get the ice cream.
Ichabod quickly, but quietly turned around and walked out of the room, running when he was out of sight. He ran out of the house and towards a farm where all the pigs were.
He liked pigs. They always made him laugh.
Ichabod peeked inside and saw that it was empty. Frowning a little bit as he walked inside, but then a smile broke out onto his face.
"DADDY!"
Ichabod came running towards a naked face-down dog positioned Hannibal. Hannibal looked up in fear and worry at the sight of his son.
"What are you doing here," he asked quickly and in a rushed voice.
Ichabod stopped and frowned, jumped even when Hannibal raised his voice, "Answer me, Ichabod Graham-Lecter."
"I don't know, daddy," he replied quietly.
"Where's your mother?"
"I don't know. I was sleeping and then I woke up here. I met a really nice lady, daddy…she's so pretty. She promised me ice cream, but I wanted to see the pigs instead and so I came here," Ichabod explained, his voice still child-like and innocent as always.
"What did they promise you?"
"The man with a scary face said that I was something with a V and that I would forget you and mommy, daddy," Ichabod responded. There was this sudden sadness and fear of the unknown in his eyes. "You still love me, right? Why are you giving me away? Was I bad?"
He shook his head. "Never. I still love you and I always will. You are my son, you are not a Graham, you are a Lecter. Don't believe a word they say to you, only believe what you see, my son. We will get out of here."
"I think they have mommy…and are doing something bad to her," he confessed in a whisper tone.
"What did you hear?"
Ichabod came closer and held the gate's wooden bars, stuffing his face closer. "Am I going to be a big
brother?"
Hannibal twisted a little at the thought of someone else's baby besides his own growing inside of
Elizabeth. The thought was very unsettling to him and he knew that he had to get out of here in order to
save her.
Who knows what that man wants from Elizabeth now?
"Run back to Margot," he ordered his son. "Don't come back here until I or your uncle tell you to do so,
you understand me?"
"But-"
"Ichabod Graham-Lecter, I will not repeat myself again," Hannibal warned.
He nodded. "I understand, daddy."
"Good now I love you and I promise that I will get us out of here. Run along now, Ichabod," he told
him.
He watches as his son runs back, he felt as if he had now missed some great part of his life. He should've fought harder for her-for them. Hannibal scolded himself for not running after her and choosing never to let her go no matter what she told him.
TBC…
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