▪︎●I will protect you●▪︎A Hannibal Lecter Story

One

"The day started like any other had, I woke up and went downstairs to find mom and dad cooking breakfast, my sister Abagail setting the table, but after dad got a phone call from a number he had blocked everything changed, he became erattic, paranoid almost. He kept looking at his wristwatch, looking out the window. Like he was expecting something to happen or someone to arrive soon. He must have seen a car appear on the driveway while looking out the windows because that's when he grabbed the knife, Both mom and Abigail started screaming, he grabbed mom, and brought her out of the room. Then he ran back inside and put the knife across Abigails throat, it was covered in blood, i realised he had killed mom, holding the knife to her throat he held her back with his other arm, then some men appeared with guns and began trying to calm dad down, I tried to run towards the men but dad grabbed my arm and slit my wrist before slicing Abigails throat. But before he could completely slice it, one of the men shot him. He shot dad a lot. He slumped dead to the ground against the kitchen cabinets, blood pooling around him. The man that shot dad then ran to abagial and put a hand on her throat to stop the bleeding. Another man ran to me, holding my wrist to stop it bleeding. Abigail was losing a lot of blood, and so was I. I don't remember passing out, but I do remember waking up in the hospital. My wrist was wrapped up, and a tube was stuck in my arm attached to a blood bag. A nurse came in and asked how I was feeling. She took the tube out of my arm and wrote down some things. She did some tests. Shone a torch in my eyes, made me follow her finger with my eyes not moving my head, she got me to squeeze her hand as hard as I could, I guess it was to make sure I didn't get a concussion when my head hit the floor or any brain damage from the blood loss. That's when I asked where Abigail was, and she brought me to her room. The man that shot Dad was asleep in an armchair near the bed. Abagial was hooked up to machines. She had a breathing tube. She looked like she was in pain even while asleep. Then the nurse came back in and told me some people were here to see me, so I followed her back to the bed I woke up on, and now here we are, all caught up." I retel the Events of that day to a man I learnt to be one Agent Crawford. He was an agent of the FBI. I remembered seeing him that morning as one of the men with guns. He was trying to stop my dad and get him to drop the knife. He seems nice.

After he finished writing the rest of the notes from what I had said, he looked up at me.

"Thank you, Peyton, that's all I needed. Now there's someone else who wants to talk with you. You might recognise him as the man who ran over to you. He's a psychiatrist, come, he's in a private room.

I follow Agent Crawford to a private room doctors would use to give private diagnoses to patients' families. I see a man in a blue suit sitting on the couch. I do recognise him as the man who ran to me to stop my wrist bleeding. Agent Crawford leaves the room and closes the door. The man gets up and walks over to me.

"Hello Peyton, I am Dr. Lecter, but you can call me Hannibal if you wish, " he says, extending his hand, I shake it. "Come, have a seat."

I follow him and sit down. He then asks me to tell him everything I remember about today.

"I'm glad to see you have a good memory of what occurred, Peyton, considering this must have been quite the traumatic event for you, loosing your mother, seeing your sisters throat be slit, your own wrist being slit, and seeing your father be shot dead. That's quite the traumatic morning."

I chuckle slightly. "Yeah. I guess I'm de sensitised to blood, I've seen dad and abagial covered in it so many times after going out hunting. I guess I've gotten used to it."

"Did your father not take you out hunting?" Hannibal inquiries.

"No, he said I had to be at least 16 before I could join them, as then he'd be able to teach me to shoot and how to butcher the Carcasses. He would give me animal bones to carve, however, and the hides to turn into various things."

"Animal bones?"

"Yes, he'd give me the animal bones to carve into things, knife handles mainly, but I would also make trinkets for myself. I even made myself a bone blade knife and used Deer hide to make the sheath. Dad would get me to turn the hide into sheaths, pillow cases, even a table cloth."

"It sounds like you enjoy making things out of animal parts."

"Yeah, it might sound crazy but I love that kind of thing, you know, taxidermy and stuff, making things out of dead animals, honouring them. Dad would use every single part of the animals he and Abby would kill. We would eat the meat and organs, and he would get me to turn the bones and hide into various things. He would sell the eyes, although I did steal a few before he could sell them and put them in a jar with fluid to keep them hydrated. God, I probably sound so weird. " I chuckle nervously.

"Trust me, Peyton, you do not sound weird at all to me. You simply have unique tastes in what you like, no shame in that. " He gives me a soft smile.

"What am I going to do now? Me and Abigail, that is, mom and dad are dead. The house is a crime scene." I shake my head with worry.

"I have already discussed that with both Agent Crawford and child services. I plan to adopt you, Peyton. The adoption paperwork is being formulated as we speak. Your sister, however, is classified as an adult. Thus, she can take care of herself and has no legal requirement for a guardian. However, Agent graham and which I'm sure you remember as the one who shot your father, and myself will assume a father-like role for abagial, " Hannibal explains with a smile.

"What about my things? They are all still at the house." I ask, wondering what will happen to my possessions.

"Agent Crawford has given up permission to go collect your belongings from the house once you have been medically discharged. Then I will bring you to your new home. I do have to ask, are you in school, Peyton?" Hannibal inquiries.

"No, I was homeschooled. Mom and Abagail teach me. They thought it would be better if I was home-schooled due to my problem." I look at the floor and begin fidgeting with my hands.

"What problem would that be, Peyton?" Hannibal crooks his head slightly, intrigued.

"I don't know, they never told me, they had tests run on me as a young kid, said they got some result saying I had something wrong with my brain, a mental illness, but never told me what it was." I look back up at him.

"I see. Would you like me to try and find out what that problem is, Peyton?" Hannibal asks.

"Yes, please, Dr. lecter." I smile at him, finally I have a chance at an awnser.

"I'll get agent Crawford on it then, and please, Peyton. I will he your father soon, you can call me dad if you wish." Hannibal smiles back.

"Do you know when abagial is going to wake up?" I ask, looking at the door. I wonder how she is doing.

Hannibal stands up. "There's no way to know for sure. Her injuries were extensive, and she lost a lot of blood. Enough to put her in a coma. The doctors estimate anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Come, shall we go see her, I can introduce you to Agent Graham." Hannibal smiles, opening the door. I stand up, and he motions for me to exit first. I see Agent Crawford standing nearby. He walks up to us.

"So, doctor, how is she?" He asks.

"Considering what she has been through, very well," Hannibal says, smiling and putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm glad to hear it." Agent Crawford seems to smile.

"Oh Jack, could you look into Peytons medical records? She mentioned she was tested for something when she was young. Her parents told her she had mental illness but wouldn't disclose what it was to her. Do you think you could find out for  me?" Hannibal takes his hand off my shoulder.

"Of course, Dr. lecter. I'll see what I can do." Agent Crawford says before walking off.

Hannibal turns to me. "Come, let's go see your sister."