Shattering Teacups

Chapter 4

Hannibal stirred slightly as Persephone trailed her fingertips over the brand. The bruising caused it to look angry. She trailed to where the scar from a bullet wound was. He was laying on his side away from her, blankets pooled around his hip. He hadn't moved when she lifted his shirt. A restful sleep after the painkillers, she hoped.

Images of what Will had described to her flickered behind her eyes like a movie. The knives and hot irons being drove into their flesh, forced degradation and torture for the sheer pleasure of a deranged megalomaniac. The bullet wound of a deranged serial killer.

Will had described their relationship in great detail. Several years of trying to kill each other despite their friendship. "We seem unable to live or die without each other." as he said, his eyes glassing over. One can't exist without the other. Both ingrained into the others soul. He seemed happy when she offered help to derail their mutually assured destruction while she stitched Hannibal's wounds.

"Please don't kill each other. For my sake, at least." She whispered before placing a small kiss in the center of the brand.

The room was still dark, the only illumination was a sliver of moonlight shining through the window above her desk. She untangled herself from Wills arm, before delicately removing herself from the bed, careful not to shift weight enough to wake the two men.

She grabbed the clothes she had set out for herself the night before from the top of the dresser. Her cell phone folded into her pants to quiet any calls. She heard one of the men sigh, followed by the sound of weight shifting. She couldn't risk shutting the door behind her as she silently padded her way to the kitchen.

There was work to be done.

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Hannibal woke to the smell of warming butter and sage. The slight humming of a saw. Gentle music playing in an attempt to cover the noise. It was almost a whisper, almost unnoticeable had the house not been silent.

He felt marginally better, the stiffness not as aggressive as the night before. Sluggishness gone. He glanced at the clock on the night stand. Only four-thirty in the morning. He looked over to see his friend on the opposite side of the bed, the space between them empty. Will had an arm slung haphazardly above his head, face turned to where Persephone would be. One foot tucked under the back of the opposite knee while the blankets were kicked off.

Safe to say the nightmares were gone, he assumed.

He covered Will with the blankets, neatly making his side of the bed before dressing with the clothing she had left out for him. Dark blue jeans, a simple grey sweater, warm black socks, a simple pair of black hiking boots. She had left a belt for each man atop their clothes, just in case she had guessed their sizes incorrectly. 

Thoughtful.

Just as he made to leave the room, the smell of something burning hit him. His body moved before the thought registered to find the source. He could hear Persephone cursing whatever it was she had burnt. Hannibal rounded the kitchen entrance met by Perse angrily tossing a large pot into the oversized sink.

"Stupid fucking bullshit!" She had both hands under cold running water

"Are you alright?" He pressed, stepping into a horrible disarray. The taller cabinet door was open, what was presumed to be its inner shelving was in one whole piece on the opposite side of the kitchen, as if she made it to be intentionally pulled out. He could make out a vaguely lit staircase inside the pantry as he rounded the island. He had meant to check her injuries but this development was far more interesting.