Chapter Text
The trickling of the stream combined with the soft chirps of birds flowed into Will’s ears as he stood beside his father. They waded in the river, standing like statues as the water flowed over their feet and calves. The sun had just barely risen, making the forest glow. Will took his eyes away from the rushing river to peer up at one of the sun beams. Small particles of pollen floated along the beam’s edge, looking like fairies. Will had read about fairies in Peter Pan. He imagined they would look as graceful as these particles, like hummingbirds zipping around the woods.
The water suddenly grew warm over Will’s feet. A stick of fear pierced through his heart as he tore his eyes away from the mystical scene and looked down. The river was a deep red, water now thick like blood. Will gasped, looking to his father now. The man had gone dead still, the rod in his hands now lowered, dragging in the water. Will followed his icy eyes and found the object of his father’s gaze. A figure loomed on the other bank, staring at them with crimson eyes filled with blood. It stood at a crooked angle, clothes tattered and body pale like snow. Several gashes littered its pale skin. They were deep, purple and red. A sound erupted from its mouth, breaking the deep silence Will and his father had created. The sound was a croak, almost like a moan. It meant he was about to strike.
“Run Will,” his dad whispered, not taking his eyes off the creature. “Run, I’ll distract it and meet you later.”
Will was too taken by fear to respond. He wanted to fight, to stand by his father’s side, but his body had a mind of its own. As soon as the creature lunged at them with nonhuman-like speed, Will ran. His father grabbed his shoulder and gave his body a harsh shove. Will’s body followed the shove as he sprinted out of the river and into the forest.
Grunts echoed through the trees as Will stumbled over sticks and leaves. It wasn’t until he heard a blood curdling scream that he froze in his tracks. The scream was like a broken record, echoing over and over in Will’s brain. He turned around and retraced his steps. The screams died down, but still echoed in Will’s brain as he crept back to the river. He wasn’t sure why he went back, but what he saw would remain in his head forever.
His father laid on the bank, head tilted back and eyes staring lifelessly into Will’s. The river of blood lapped over his dad’s legs, staining them a deep red. His mouth hung open as the zombie leaned over his body, chewing into his neck. Crunching and squelching noises arose from where the zombie was having a feast.
“No…,” Will whispered.
It was too quiet for the zombie to hear, so it ignored Will and continued to eat.
“No!” he shouted. The zombie looked up, croaking at Will as if to say “hold on I’m almost done”.
Will reached into his pocket and pulled out the knife he used to gut fish. With no hesitation, he hurdled towards the zombie and tackled it into the pool of blood. It barely had time to react as Will plunged the knife into its chest over and over. His own chest burst with a rush he had never felt before. He felt a smile grow on his face and tears stream down his cheeks. As he tore the body apart, pieces flowed down the river, washing away downstream. Will must’ve kept at it for at least 20 minutes before the muscles in his arms screamed in protest. His strikes became more and more sloppy. The zombie had died a while ago.
When Will finally ceased his attack and leaned back, he looked back at the river. The magical sunbeams were gone, now replaced with a gray glow. In the middle of the bloody river stood a tall and stoic stag. Its entire body was black and covered in wiry feathers. It gazed at him with a blank look in its eyes. Will looked back down at the zombie and saw the damage he had done.
~<>~
Will jerked into a sitting position at a sudden banging. His eyes flew open and his chest heaved with deep pants. His eyes searched the guest room in a wild panic. When he found no stag, blood, dad, or zombies, he sighed in relief. The banging occurred again before Will realized that it was actually knocking coming from the door.
Being locked in a guest room adjacent to the leader of a cannibal cult wasn’t Will’s first choice. The bed was the comfiest thing Will had ever laid on, though, and the sheets felt like what WIll would imagine what clouds felt like. His chest ached at the thought that the person who had slept in them before was probably dead by now, but his exhaustion was too great to allow such a thought to disrupt his deep sleep.
The lock clicked, but instead of it opening, Will was surprised that the person was waiting for a confirmation before barging in.
“Come in,” Will called, voice still stiff from his nightmare. He also realized his current state, and its vulnerable look. He scurried out from under the blankets to stand next to the bed, running his fingers through his bushy, sweaty curls to try and tame them.
Hannibal appeared in the doorway, dressed in a very different manner than the day before. He was dressed in a very expensive looking 3 piece gray suit. A white plaid pattern ran across the pants, jacket, and vest. He had a buttery white shirt underneath and a similar colored tie to match. There was even a pocket square nestled in the breast pocket to finish the outfit off. His hair was now smoothed and combed back, too. The picture of elegance. Will couldn’t hold back the snort he produced at the sight of the man. He tried to cover it up with a cough, but judging by the look he got from Hannibal, it didn’t work. The look soon morphed into a small smile.
“You slept well I hope?” he asked, voice sounding just as smooth as his suit looked. Did they iron it or something? This guy was so spoiled- “William?”
Will snapped back from his trailing thoughts and cleared his throat. “Sorry, ye-yeah. It was great.”
“Excellent, because I would like for you to join me today.” He folded his hands behind his back swiftly. For some reason, the suit seemed to make Hannibal's frame appear larger and sharper. It made Will want to shrink back slightly.
“Join you,” Will repeated, shifting to lean on his left leg. He kept his gaze on his ruffled comforter, no longer wishing to be holding Hannibal's powerful one. Even though Will was an excellent people reader, he couldn’t get a good read on Hannibal. And that left an ugly feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach. Not being able to tell what the man wanted to do with Will was making him very unsettled.
“Yes, I must revisit all of the estates and make sure everything is in order. I would appreciate your company,” Hannibal replied with a small smirk. Will would admit, he was a very attractive man. “I’d like to have your perspective on some things.”
When he finally did meet the other man’s gaze, Will felt a flush fall over his cheeks. The eyes on him were full of pure joy and excitement, like he was asking Will to prom and awaited his answer.
Without many other options, Will shrugged and nodded his head slightly. He would just have to get over his reluctance to be around Hannibal if he were to finally get a read on the man. Maybe while he tried that, a window to escape would open up. He’d have to be smart about it.
“Excellent, I’ll lend you some clothes to wear, and we can begin the day.”
Hannibal rushed down the hall, and Will was almost physically sick from the domesticity of the altercation. The cold murderer was able to put on such an innocent and charming face, and it made Will disgusted. He didn’t want to fall for it, yet the man’s words still managed to make him skittish and turn his face red. Hannibal let Will change privately after handing him a pair of slacks and a white button up shirt. He could tell that Hannibal would much rather him wear something as fancy as the suit he wore himself, but he managed to restrain himself for the sake of Will’s comfort. This was definitely the most Will had ever dressed up, especially with the black dress shoes. Will would kill for a flannel as he tucked the last bit of his shirt into his pants.
When he stepped out of his room, Hannibal had disappeared. The sound of voices echoed down the hallway, and Will followed them downstairs to the kitchen. The kitchen was gorgeous, nothing like the kitchen at Will’s old estate. This one had two island counter tops covered in a white and gray patterned marble. There must’ve been a hundred cabinets covering the 12 foot ceilings. Pots and pans littered the stove as people rushed around, tossing ingredients all over the place. Several others stood aside, mingling and laughing amongst themselves. Will twisted his hands together, feeling very out of place. He jumped when a soft hand cupped his shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Will turned his head to see Hannibal chuckling behind him.
“We are about to have breakfast, if you would like to join.”
The hand stayed on his shoulder as he was guided further into the house, through a wide archway into a large dining room.
“You look much better by the way, those clothes suit you nicely,” Hannibal said softly, mouth hovering just close enough to his ear so only he could hear. Hannibal’s hand squeezed WIll’s shoulder, and Will’s nerves twitched in unease.
“I feel very out of place,” Will murmured as he was guided towards the head of the table. The table sat 8, but Will had only counted 7 in the kitchen (including them). He really was meant to have breakfast with them. His stomach was in knots, especially when Hannibal pulled the chair to the right of the head of the table out for Will. Will practically stumbled into it. He sat in awe, muscles tense as everyone around him brought out the food and acted as if this was total normalcy. They talked amongst themselves and started plating their food from the huge display of breakfast foods.
“I wonder, is this your first meal time in a dining room?” Hannibal asked, tilting his head forward to try and catch Will’s eyes, but failing.
The brunette nodded, sitting with his hands in his lap as the people grabbed for the plates at the center of the table. There were plates of foods that Will barely recognized. With the food shortage, there was never a huge variety in meals for the poorer classes. Will had only seen a few large meals like this one at his old estate. Only the wealthy family and the friends they had over would have meals this big. Will would catch glances as he would head back to his small room to have whatever small meal Jack would be passing out that night. He was more accustomed to small sandwiches and bowls of beans. This breakfast looked incredible. There were berries and fruits that Will had never seen before. The baked goods released a smell that made Will’s knees weak, and the sight of the crisp looking juice made his mouth water.
“I hope it is to your liking then,” Hannibal said cheerfully as he reached for a plate of what Will guessed was croissants. “Try this, I was able to make some chocolate with cocoa beans we found and made chocolate croissants. I try not to brag, but I do love to use my creative talents in the kitchen quite frequently.”
“I’ve never had chocolate,” Will said quietly, watching as Hannibal used a spatula to slide one onto his plate.
“I do hope you enjoy it, in that case.”
Will definitely did. He tried not to show it though. The sweetness of the chocolate was amazing, but he didn’t want to give Hannibal any satisfaction. He swallowed his satisfied moan along with the first bite of the croissant. He couldn’t control himself after that. Will had planned to only eat the bare minimum to work up his strength, being displeased by the fact that he was breaking bread with these murderers. After he tasted that sweet and bitter chocolate, though, that plan went out of the window. Hannibal described every pastry he had to him. The man even poured some orange juice into his cup and watched him chug it with a smile.
“-the solar power does work very well, for the appliances, heat, air condition, and whatnot. It’s the running water that seems to be an issue. We’d have to make a water tower for this area. Quite the project that is, though. It typically takes a couple of months for the other communities to build it.” Hannibal rambled, Will didn’t even look up from his eggs as he nodded.
“That’s smart. Must be a lot of resources, though,” Will said after he swallowed the last bit of his meal. Even though he wanted to try the other half of the foods, he didn’t get to. His stomach refused, feeling like it would burst. “You pump it through the area’s old system?”
Will glanced over to see Hannibal nod, chin resting on his folded hands. “We do. I had my expansion plan based on the path of the water filtration systems. The water connects us all.”
“H-how do you work in the radioactive zones? Every community is surrounded by them,” Will asked.
Hannibal smiled, and leaned forward into Will’s personal space. His hand came over to grab Will’s chin again. He was really getting sick of that. “We’ll have to work on that eye contact. It’s rude to not look at the person you are talking to. And it’s especially rude to hide such pretty eyes.”
Will jerked back hard enough to rip himself out of the gentle grip. Hannibal lowered his hand, and raised his eyebrows.
“But to answer your question, we created immunity.”
Will stared at him to go on. “I-immunity?”
Hannibal’s smile was something that stirred a dark part in Will, while making his skin crawl at the same time. “Consumption of the infected’s flesh gives one immunity to the radioactive waves. And it must be one’s own species to work.”
Will wanted to be sick suddenly, his stomach lurched at the dark thought.
“Intriguing isn’t it?” Hannibal laughed, patting Will on the shoulder. “So you’ll have to let me cook some up for you before you try and attempt any sort of escape.”
Will swore under his breath, rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants as his mind spun.
~<>~
He was stuffed into the musty van once again, only this time he was one of the lucky few to get to sit in the front. He sat pressed between Hannibal and the driver, feeling very uncomfortable, especially with Hannibal's arm dangling over his shoulders. They drove to the next estate over and hoped out. Will was led into the house, Hannibal’s hand having found itself at home resting along the small of Will’s back. Will couldn’t explain why but he thought for a minute that he was starting to get used to the touch. The thought disappeared just as quickly as it came, though.
They met the person in charge of the house and gathered up all the staff to tell them basically what Will already knew. They told them about the immunity, and those who started to outrage were taken outside and probably over to the border: to be thrown into the radioactive zones. Will shivered at the thought. They weren’t killing them, they didn’t want to…yet. They were sending out the objectors, so that they will become food for them later on to gain immunity. The ones who stayed complacent were escorted out of the room and had gone back to their jobs. Will stayed at Hannibal’s side the entire time, despite his unease. He feared the man too much to pull away from his side. At every estate, Hannibal addressed the people and then met with the “generals” afterwards. They would talk about organization and supplies and such.
Hannibal wasn’t lying when he said he wanted Will’s perspective on a few things. He asked for his opinion on each set up in each estate. Will gave it to him honestly. There was no reason for him not to, all he wanted to do was to get out of here. Messing the place up would only cause his escape to prove more difficult. And he knew Hannibal would be able to pick up on any tricks if he had gotten the balls to try something. When he shared his trustworthy and creative ideas, Hannibal became even more impressed by him.
It wasn’t as terrible as Will had thought it would be. That is, until they got to the last house: Will’s old estate. He cringed as they stood facing the front lawn on the porch. Will refused to let his eyes wander over the crowd that was gathering, fearing to meet Alana’s or Jack’s eyes. He tried to shuffle away from Hannibal, maybe stand behind the few men that stood beside them. That way he could hide himself better. Before he could, though, Hannibal grabbed his wrist.
Will hissed, grabbing the other man’s wrist, pulling on it to try and pry himself out of the grip.
“It would be unwise to try and go against me right now.” Hannibal hissed back, quiet enough so only Will would hear.
Will sneered at him. “I don’t want them to see me.”
The man’s face softened slightly. He processed Will’s words for a moment, before looking behind him. “Fine. Matthew.”
A man with short brown hair and a smirk that almost put Hannibal’s to shame in the creepiness factor came up next to them. He smiled down at Will, making the captive man turn his gaze back to the floor.
“Take him to the back please while I make my speech, then come over to me when I’m done.” Will gaped at Hannibal, suddenly regretting making the decision to not want to be next to Hannibal on the porch. His arm was grabbed, and Matthew started to drag him down the side stairs. Without much choice, Will stumbled along with the man until they were behind the large group of “followers”.
Hannibal started his speech, and the grip on Will’s arm tightened as he was jerked into Matthew’s space. The man stuck his mouth into Will’s ear.
“Will Graham, right? I heard about you. The Leader’s personal pet, huh? That must be interesting. I see why he chose you.”
“Don’t be perverted,” Will growled, trying to pull himself away from Matthew’s disgusting breath.
Matthew chuckled. “Relax, darling. I’m simply making conversation. What seat of power you have, too. Getting to be that close to him all the time. Makes an overthrow pretty easy, wouldn’t you say?”
Will froze at Matthew’s words. He hadn’t even considered killing Hannibal. If he killed him then he would be home free. The place would go into disarray at first, giving Will enough time to escape. Or maybe he could grow some sort of resistance. Matthew seemed crazy, and Will could tell with his empathy that the man would much rather see himself in Hannibal’s place. He shivered at the darkness that crept into his mind when he empathized with Matthew. Maybe if Will worked with the lunatic and gathered some other souls, they could pull off an overthrow, and Will could escape in the chaos. They didn’t have to be successful, for all Will cared he just wanted to get away from this place.
“You aren’t loyal to him?” Will whispered.
“I’ll leave that up to you. I can tell you aren’t, though.”
“Of course I’m not. Being taken captive will do that to you,” Will said, keeping his eyes on the grass in an attempt to not catch anyone’s eyes in the crowd. Heaven help him if he managed to miraculously catch Jack or Alana’s gazes.
“Why not join him willingly? You’d be quite comfortable if you did. Protection, comfortable conditions, the leader’s right hand man or even lover.” Will felt the man’s tongue almost tap the edge of his ear as he spoke. With a snarl, Will jerked away, finally able to get his personal space back.
“Because I have morals, ones that definitely don’t align with his.”
Matthew hummed, deciding to respect Will’s space for now and didn’t lean closer. “Would you kill him? To get away?”
Will was startled at the question. His mind instantly went back to the nightmare he had the night before. He shivered and felt bile rise in his throat.
“I-” he started, pausing to swallow thickly. “I just want to leave.”
“You could do it. I can tell,” Will didn’t have to look up to see the smirk on Matthew's lips as he spoke.
“What makes you say that?”
“I see it on you. You and me, we are hawks. If we work together, we could have a chance at taking down all of the smaller birds that surround us.”
“Hawks are solitary creatures,” Will mumbled, fighting down the phantom feeling of the thrill he got that one gruesome day years before.
“Which is their weakness. If we work together, however…” he trailed off, giving Will time to consider his proposition.
Will didn’t offer an answer. Instead, he listened to the end of the speech and watched the crowd start to disperse. He was tired from running around all day, and just wanted to be alone for once. He hadn’t had this much social interaction at once in a long time, and it was starting to get to him.
“Will?!”
Fuck. That was Alana’s voice.
Will glanced up and saw Alana standing with Jack, staring at him with glassy eyes.
“Alana,” he practically whispered as the two of them came rushing over.
She completely ignored Matthew as she grabbed Will’s face between her hands and started to examine his face. “Are you okay? How-how are you alive? Didn’t they-” her voice broke and Will forced his eyes to break away from hers.
“Everyone thought they had killed you,” Jack said, placing a hand on Will’s shoulder.
The smaller man tensed at all the physical contact. He jerked slightly to get them to let go, knowing they wouldn’t take it personally. Matthew’s hand remained on his upper arm, however.
“Evidently, they had other plans for me. The leader, he wants me as his assistant or something. I’m not so sure myself,” Will said quietly, huffing out a dry laugh.
“Oh my gosh, Will, I’m so sorry. I mean, I’m so grateful to see you alive, you don’t even understand. But does he hurt you at all?” Alana said as she leaned closer to Will to compensate for not being able to touch him.
Will shook his head, curls bouncing with the action. “No, he hasn’t. Yet.”
“Just, stay alive Will, okay?” Jack said, the stern man that he was. Will rolled his eyes. As if he had control over that.
Before Alana could fuss over him anymore, Will saw a large shadow approach her from behind. He didn’t need to look up to know it was Hannibal.
“Hello,” he greeted them, arms folded behind him and a pleasant smile on his face. Everyone perked up. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I believe you were supposed to meet me after I finished, Matthew.”
“I apologize, sir,” Matthew purred. “We had a bit of a distraction.”
“I’m Jack Crawford, and this is Alana Bloom. We used to work with Will, and were concerned for his well being,” Jack said, standing tall and proud, totally unafraid in the face of the cannibal.
“Oh, I see. He is quite well, as you can see. Living quite comfortably as my assistant.” Hannibal looked at Will as he spoke, eyes burning into Will’s. Will had to snap his eyes away, hating the way Hannibal’s gaze made his stomach twist.
“We are like family to him, and just want him to be okay,” Alana stated. With every comment, Will shrank more and more into himself.
He was starting to get extremely uncomfortable with the conversation being directly about him. He hated this attention and just wanted some solitude. Shifting on his feet and squirming in Matthew’s hold, he grit his teeth and resisted the urge to lose his temper.
“As I said, he is quite safe and comfortable in my care. I will make sure he is perfectly content, so there is no need to worry.”
“He is perfectly able to talk for himself, too,” Will grunted, feeling everyone’s eyes on him now. “And I wouldn’t say that I’m content with being forced into this job against my will.”
“Ah yes, you would have rather chosen death instead, correct?” Hannibal asked, hand coming forward to snatch Will’s chin again.
Will wrinkled his nose in annoyance and grabbed Hannibal’s wrist with his free hand. He ripped the hand away from his chin, and looked Hannibal straight in the eye. “Yes, you are correct in that. I had chosen death, and yet you had taken my life away in a different way. You forced me into this ridiculous position to use my empathy as a tool to help you with your governing, which I find to be extremely rude and irritating.”
Hannibal’s eyebrows shot up at Will’s outburst. Instead of a slap, punch, or yelling (like Will expected), Hannibal laughed. He laughed a rich and deep laugh, which caused Will to drop Hannibal’s wrist in surprise.
“You are right, I apologize for that. It seems as though I had let my curiosity get the best of me. Your empathy simply amazes me. It is a gift that I would hate to see wasted.” Hannibal paused, but not for long enough for Will or any one else to interject. “We must get going, however, there is still much to do back at the main estate.”
Will bid his friends a rushed goodbye as Hannibal took hold of Will’s other arm. He was taken from Matthew and escorted back to the van. Will’s heart broke at being pulled away from his friends once again, but he didn’t fight it. He gave them one last longing look before he was shoved back into the middle seat.