Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 5 of Messed Up World. Thank you to those who have left reviews for this story. It really does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. I hope that you guys will continue to enjoy this story since I'm working fairly hard on it. I am trying my best to add Margarita into this story, and it is taking some time to get it right. I think I am beginning to like the Hannibal and Margarita dynamic with one another. They seem like a fairly powerful couple. At least in my eyes they are and with their daughter it kind of just makes my heart melt a little bit.

I'm actually excited to show you guys what will happen next in this story, even though it is going to take me a while to make it through this story. Since each episode is about maybe split up into five chapters each. And I've calculated how many chapters this story will have which is a staggering 66 Chapters. Which is quite a bit for a stand alone book in a series. But I have to admit that I'm fairly proud that it will be a longer story which will give me time to write the chapters out and make them fairly good in length without going overboard on each chapter. I hate it when I write a chapter and it goes overboard. It really makes it hard to write such a story when there is so much going on in each chapter. I like longer chapter stories that mean 1000-2000 words per chapter sometimes a little over that but still it helps out a lot. Enough of my ramblings I'm sure that you guys want to start this next chapter. Without further ado Chapter 5. ENJOY!

Chapter 5

Margarita, Jack, and Will stepped over the police tape that was around a field.

"I feel like I'm dreaming." Will said looking at the crime scene that was before them.

"The head was reported stolen last night about a mile from here." Jack explained it to the two of them as they walked.

"Just the head?" Margarita questioned turning her attention to Jack. Her brow raised slightly in concern wondering why someone would take the head.

Brian, Beverly, and Jimmy were combing the immediate area for forensic evidence.

Jack, Will, and Margarita watch Beverly and Brian attempting to shoo the crows away.

"Minneapolis homicide has already made a statement. They're calling him the "Minnesota Shrike."" Jack explained to them.

Margarita crossed her arms slowly pursuing her pale pink lips in thought.

"Like the bird?" Will questioned Jack, his brow quirking.

"Shrike's a perching bird. Impales mice and lizards on thorny branches and barbed wire. Rips their organs right out of their bodies. Puts them in a little birdie pantry and eats them later." Jimmy explained to Will and Margarita.

"Can't tell if it's sloppy or shrewd." Jack said letting out a breath knowing that this case was going to take a lot out on everyone.

"He wanted her to be found this way. It's the homicidal equivalent of fecal smearing. It's petulant. I almost feel like he's mocking her. Or he's mocking us." Will said thinking as he looked around.

"Where'd all his love go?"

"Whoever tucked Elise Nichols into bed didn't paint this picture."

Brian looked up from Cassie's mounted corpse. "He took her lungs. I think she was still alive when he cut them out."

Will turned away to give his soul some relief of what was going on around him.

Margarita looked over at Will. "We can walk away if you need to take a break, Will." She said softly knowing that the young man wasn't having an easy time with this case.

Will waved his hand letting Margarita know that he was alright. "Our cannibal loves women. He doesn't want to destroy them. He wants to consume them. Keep some part of them inside. This girl's killer thought she was a pig."

"You think this is a copy cat?" Jack questioned looking over at Will.

Will took in the open field considering it as a stage. "I don't know. Cannibal who killed Elise Nichols had a place to do it and no interest in field Kabuki. He has a house or two, or a cabin. Something with an antler room."

The three of them looked at the horrible tableau.

"He has a daughter. Same age as the other girls. Same hair color, same eye color, same height, same weight. She's an only child. She's leaving home. He can't stand the thought of losing her. She's his Golden Ticket."

"What about the Copy Cat?" Margarita questioned crossing her arms slightly. She knew that her husband didn't like the idea that she was out in Minnesota again working on the case trying to find out who was killing these poor girls.

"An intelligent psychopath, particularly a sadist, is hard to catch. There's no traceable motive. There'll be no patterns. He may never kill like this again." Will turned and crossed under the police tape. "Have Dr. Lecter work up a psychological profile. You seem to be impressed with his opinion."

"I will talk to him when we arrive at the hotel." Margarita said, looking over Jack.

Jack nodded his head knowing that Margarita would have an easier time trying to get the job done with talking to her husband. He could only hope that he was doing the right thing by having his wife here working the case when she should've been at home with Hannibal and their young daughter.

HANNIBAL

Margarita took a soft breath as she sat down on the fluffy bed. She rubbed her face softly leaning back on the bed. She picked up her cell phone and dialed her husband's cell phone number.

"Hello." Hannibal's voice came over the line soothing her soul as he answered the phone.

"Hey." She said softly gripping her phone as she took a soft breath over the phone.

"How is everything going?" He asked, knowing that she sounded tired, which meant that she really needed to get some sleep soon or she wouldn't be worth anything to anyone.

"Jack wants you to come in." She admitted softly as she laid back on the bed taking a soft breath closing her eyes. She hated the fact that Jack was thinking that she would easily get him to come when there was a high chance that it wouldn't happen.

"And you told him that you would speak with me on this matter?"

"Yes, Hannibal… I suppose Will doesn't want to make the profile of our killer. He believes that you can make the profile better than him since Jack seems to trust you and is impressed with what you can do."

Hannibal let out a soft breath. "And what of Mischa? I can't just leave her."

Margarita let out a breath. "Bring her with you. I'll watch her while you are here. I don't think Jack would care if I was watching our little one while you helped with the profile."

"I don't know, Rita." He said using her nickname that he had given to her a long time ago when they had first started dating one another years ago when he didn't want to say her full name.

"She'll be safe. I promise Hannibal." She admitted softly taking a soft breath knowing that her husband was worried about their daughter coming along for the trip.

"She won't see any of the photos."

"I promise you she won't."

"I will be there in the morning."

"Alright. I will send you all of the information about the hotel and I am sure that Jack will want you on the next red eye out which will be in the next two hours…"

"Of course. I will make sure Mischa and I have enough clothing for the trip. I will see you soon."

"I love you, Hannibal."

"I love you too, Rita."

HANNIBAL

Hannibal arrived the next morning at the hotel room that Margarita was in. He knocked on the door lightly as he held their sleeping daughter close to his chest. Their bags are next to him on the floor.

Margarita slipped on a robe over her nightgown and padded over to the door, being very careful to not make too much noise since it was still fairly early in the morning. She opened the door slowly revealing her sleepy form to Hannibal.

Hannibal took in the sight of his wife dressed in one of his favorite silk nightgowns that he had gotten her that was hidden under the robe that she had forgotten to tie before answering the door.

Margarita's cheeks flushed as she felt his eyes on her. "Good morning Hannibal." She said softly reaching to get the bags for him so he didn't have to try and lean over to pick them up since he was holding onto their daughter.

Hannibal slowly came into the room. "Good morning, Rita. You look like you haven't gotten much sleep."

Margarita slowly sat on the bags in the room before closing the door slowly. She turned her attention to her husband. "I didn't. Nightmares of the case." She said softly, slipping the robe off of her body sleepily. "You can put her on the bed."

Hannibal carefully went to take their daughter to the extra bed that was in the room and carefully put her into the bed. He carefully took her shoes off of her feet putting them carefully onto the floor being very careful to not wake their two and a half year old. He then carefully tucked her in under the covers. He looked over at his wife slowly taking in her tired appearance. "You really should try to rest, Rita." He said as he came over to her.

"I can sleep once this case is over."

"Then you won't be getting all that much rest at all." He told his wife cupping her cheek softly in his hand stroking her cheek softly with his thumb. "You need your rest. You have hardly rested since you have started this case."

"Hann…"

Hannibal put his finger upon her lips shushing her. He watched her with a concerned gaze. "You need your rest. You won't be helpful to anyone if you don't get sleep. Some decent amount of sleep." He said softly kissing her lips softly.

Margarita hummed softly against his lips returning the kiss back softly. She let out a soft breath looking up into his eyes. "Alright." She said softly knowing that he was right about what he was saying.

Hannibal's lips quirked a little bit, smiling a small smile. He looked at her with a soft look. "You should rest." He said as he went to his bag and opened it up pulling out two containers.

"Hannibal what is that?" Margarita questioned her brow quirking a little bit.

"Something I made to take to Will to try to get his mind going for this morning."

Margarita bit her lower lip softly. "Scrambled eggs and…"

"Sausage." He pointed out to his wife knowing that she didn't need to know what he had fully put in there. He just wanted her to think it was pork so he could help with the case as quickly as he could.

Margarita let out a tired breath and nodded her head softly. "Alright. Will was pretty shaken up yesterday when we tried to start doing the profile, but we quit when it got to be too much for him. I don't blame him. I have to admit that this is probably the worst case I've seen in a while." She said, rubbing her arms softly.

Hannibal looked at his wife with a concerned gaze. "I still think you should take some time off of this. I know cases like this you won't sleep until you find out what is happening. And it's not healthy for your mind."

"I know Hannibal." She said softly letting out a soft breath looking up at him.

"Rest, I'll be back later."

Margarita nodded her head slowly and walked towards the bed. She stretched her arms out over her head, yawning softly.

Hannibal put the two containers onto the table and followed his wife to make sure that she had gotten into bed alright.

Margarita rolled the blankets down before slowly laying down in the bed.

Hannibal gripped the top sheet and covered her body with it. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. "I'll be back soon. Good night." He told her softly.

Her eyes fluttered a little bit. "Night." She said softly.

Hannibal went over to the table and grabbed the containers that had the breakfast that he had made. He saw that there was a thermos and cups sitting out from Margarita who probably would've had coffee. He poured some coffee into the thermos and closed it before picking it up as well along with the two cups. He slowly headed out of the room grabbing the room key that he had gotten from the front desk. He would see Margarita soon enough once he was done with Will for the day.

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This is the end of Chapter 5. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know I enjoyed writing it even though I did have a bit of a hard time trying to write it since I am not known to write too many horror things. But that's just me, I'm slowly beginning to learn to write that side of things to make this story turn out fairly well. I know that it will take me some time to get the story perfect which I know won't be easy since there are 66 total chapters for this story meaning I'll be posting clear into 2023 for this story with updates. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Reviews help me keep going when it comes to writing and of course keeping my muse since it tends to wander after a while. I hope to update on next Friday and keep on the updating schedule for every Friday from here on out for this story at least. I will be updating other stories besides this one since I have so many of them to finish up and I want to make sure that I keep true to my word when it comes to writing. No sequels until I have most of the stories that I have up here finished. Until next time.