Story: The Great Huminal War - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Personal Problem (Prologue)

After a long day of work, a short man with glasses named Victor finally left his office. His company, VicMeat, had suffered a great loss during the months prior. Despite this, Victor was still determined to deliver the best meat he possibly could. However, Victor knew that if he kept working as much as he did to get his company back on track, the stress would eventually get to him. Because of this, he planned on taking a few weeks off and going on a vacation with his family.

“Hey, Victor!”

Victor turned around. The person talking to him was Jonathan Campbell, the vice-CEO of VicMeat. Victor gave him permission to lead the company during the time in which he would be gone.

“Hey, Jonathan. What is it?” Victor asked.

“I just came to say goodbye, that’s all,” Jonathan said. “You must be really tired.”

“You bet,” Victor replied. “Managing the company has been driving me nuts lately. I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to keep working without taking a few weeks off, so I did just that. Let’s just hope everything goes well while you’re in charge.”

“Don’t worry, Victor! I can assure you that nothing will go wrong under my leadership! Who knows, I might even be better at this job than you are.”

“That’s a good one.”

Jonathan laughed. “Victor with a great sense of humor, as usual! Well, I’ll see you in a few weeks!”

Victor made his way towards the exit. When he arrived at his car, he entered, and rested for a while. Finally some silence. His rest was cut short thanks to his phone, however. It was his wife, Olivia. He picked up his phone.

“Hi, Victor!”

“Hi, honey. Are you home yet?”

“No, we’re still at Tim’s house.”

Tim was Victor’s best friend, who he had known since college. He was also a good friend of Olivia.

“I’m driving home right now,” Victor said. “I’ll be there in a while.”

“In that case, I’ll be leaving Tim’s place in a few minutes.”

“Can I speak with Jenny for a moment?”

“Of course.”

Victor heard Olivia calling Jenny, Victor’s six year-old daughter. He waited for a moment.

“Hi, daddy!”

“Hey, Jenny! Are you excited for the vacation?”

“I sure am! It’s been such a long time since we last went on a vacation! Will you finally tell me where we will be going?”

Victor hadn’t told Jenny where they would be going, because he thought that keeping it a secret until they arrived would make it more fun for her.

“Sorry, but that would ruin the surprise,” Victor told her.

“Aww, please?”

Victor figured that a hint wouldn’t hurt. “Okay, I’ll give you a hint. It’s a place you always wanted to go to.”

“France? It’s France, isn’t it?!”

“That’s the only hint you’ll get. Can I talk with your mom for a second?”

Victor heard Jenny letting out a sigh. She was clearly disappointed that Victor didn’t tell her everything. “Fine…”

After a short silence, Olivia was on the phone again.

“She figured it out,” Victor said.

“Let’s just hope it makes her happy. I better be going. See you at home! Love you!”

“Love you!”

Victor hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.

Victor pulled up in front of his house after a short drive. Thanks to the fact that he was a millionaire, he was able to afford one of the most fancy mansions in the world. He noticed something strange when he left his car, however; nobody seemed to be at home. Victor unlocked the door to his house and entered.

“Honey, I’m home!”

Nobody responded. He figured that they were probably still at Tim’s place, which was only a few blocks away, so he decided to wait for a while.

Fifteen minutes had passed, but Olivia and Jenny were not home yet. Victor started becoming slightly unnerved. What if something had happened to them? He decided to call Tim. Perhaps they were still at his house. The phone rang three times before Tim answered.

“This is Tim. Who am I speaking with?”

“Tim, it’s me, Victor.”

“Oh, hey Victor. Is something wrong? You sound nervous.”

For a second Victor didn’t know what to say.

“Are Olivia and Jenny still over at your house?” Victor asked.

“No, they left about an hour ago. Why?”

Victor started panicking. If they weren’t at Tim’s house, where could they possibly be?

“Victor, please tell me what’s going on. You don’t sound like your usual self.”

“They’re not home yet, Tim!”

There was a short silence.

“Seriously, Victor? That’s it?”

“What if something has happened to them? Maybe they’re...”

“Relax, Victor. They’re probably shopping downtown, or something. I think the stress has gotten to your head.”

Victor thought about what Tim had just said for a second. Maybe he was right.

“Hey Victor, I have to go. I need to get ready for my nightshift. Have a good one, and don’t worry too much.”

“I won’t, thanks.”

Victor hung up.

Another fifteen minutes of waiting had gone by, but Olivia and Jenny still weren’t home. This is driving me insane, Victor thought. He realized he had to take some form of action. But what could he do? Victor was almost completely helpless in this situation.

“Call them. Of course, just call them! Why didn’t I think of that before?”

Victor rushed towards his phone, almost tripping in the process. He quickly dialed Olivia’s number and pushed the call button. Victor waited for a few seconds.

“Hi, this is Olivia. I’m busy at the moment, so leave a message.”

"Damn it!" Victor almost threw his phone at the wall out of frustration, but he managed to hold himself back from actually doing it. He decided to leave a message.

“Olivia, this is Victor. Where are you two? You were supposed to be home already. I’m worried about you. Please call me back as soon as you can!”

It was then that Victor noticed a sealed letter lying on his desk.

“What the hell?”

Victor walked towards his desk and opened the letter. The person who had written the letter had a strange handwriting, almost reminiscent of one you would see in a horror movie. However, the message that was written scared Victor even more:

Come to the basement.

The clock is ticking, Victor. They’re waiting for you.

Victor wanted to scream. Was this some kind off sick prank? Victor was hoping that it was, but he was starting to fear that some sick individual had actually locked Olivia and Jenny in the basement. Victor ran towards his basement as fast as he could. When he arrived, he violently knocked on the door.

“Olivia?! Jenny?! Are you in there?!”

There was no response. However, Victor heard something coming from behind the door. He heard someone crying... His daughter, Jenny.

“Oh my god… Oh my god!” Victor yelled. He needed to get that door to open, and fast. He tried opening it the regular way, but it seemed to be locked, so Victor tried to open it with force. After a few minutes, Victor managed to break the lock. What Victor saw inside was something he wished he would’ve never seen.

“It’s okay, I’m here!” Victor said.

Victor saw Olivia and Jenny both tied to a chair. They both had wounds all over their body. Blood was everywhere. Their mouths were taped shut. Victor quickly untied them and removed the tape.

“It hurts, Victor...” Olivia said.

“I'm going to get an ambulance. You two have to stay here,” Victor said.

"That monster... He did such horrible things to us, Victor..."

"Who?!"

For some reason, Jenny stopped crying. Then, all of the sudden, she started screaming.

“Jenny, what’s wrong?!” Victor asked.

“He’s behind you, daddy! He came back!”

Victor turned around. Someone was standing in the hallway. Victor knew it was a man, but he couldn't make out what he looked like. Then, he started moving towards Victor. His footsteps echoed through the hallway. It was at that moment that Victor realized the person he was looking at wasn't a man at all, or even a human for that matter. What he was looking at was something else entirely. Somehow, this creature was entirely human, except for his head, which was that of a horse. He was wearing a brown hoodie, with the hood obscuring his eyes. With each step the creature took towards Victor, he started becoming more and more terrified. Victor took a few steps backwards. He was shaking. Then, when the creature was only a small distance away from Victor, he stopped. A large grin appeared on the creature's face. Then, the creature opened his mouth.

“Hello… Victor. I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” the creature said.

Victor could see the creature's eyes. They were completely black. Victor felt cold looking into them. Just from seeing those eyes, Victor knew: this creature was a complete psychopath.

“Let’s get the obvious question of what the hell you’re looking at out of the way first," the creature said. "Actually, you know what? Let’s not do that. You’ll get the answer to that question one day. After all of…" The creature looked at Olivia and Jenny. "Well... This, is over."

Victor's anger starting building up.

“Why are you doing this?”

The creature scoffed. “See, that’s another one of those questions that I can’t be bothered to answer right now. All you need to know is that I have a personal problem with you, and that this is the only way for me to solve said problem.”

“We’ve never even met before, you damn freak!”

“This is indeed the first time we’ve ever met face to face, if that’s what you meant, but you’re mistaken if you think that you and I don’t have any history together. I don’t have all the time in the world to explain everything right now, so I’ll save the details for another day.”

All Victor wanted to do was to wipe the horse's foul grin off his face.

“What did you do to them?!”

“Do you really want to know, Victor?" The horse looked at Victor, waiting for him to confirm his request. He laughed. "Fine, then. I made them live through a whole new world of pain, worse than anything you could imagine, even in your wildest dreams. I beat them to a pulp. Punched them, kicked them, cut their skin like pigs in the slaughterhouse. And of course, no torture session is complete without..."

“You... Rotten…”

“I wasn’t done yet, Victor. What I was trying to say… is that I raped them!”

Victor couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His wife and his little girl were raped by this vile creature. Victor wanted to bring the creature’s life to a painful end.

The horse walked towards Jenny.

"Don't you dare!" Victor said.

The horse touched Jenny's face.

“Get your dirty hands off her!” Victor yelled.

“Tell me, little one…” the horse said. “How did it feel? To have your innocence ripped away from you?”

Jenny started crying.

“How did it feel?”

“Daddy, please! Make him go away!” Jenny said.

“Stop it, you damn monster!” Victor yelled. “I will say this once, and I won't say it again. Get out of my house this instant, or I will make you!”

“Victor, no!” Olivia yelled.

“Daddy, please don’t! He’s too strong! He’ll kill y…”

Jenny was interrupted by the maniacal laughter of the horse, sending chills down Victor’s spine.

“You’re insa…”

“And then what?!" the horse said. "Wait until I return to torture your family a second time?”

Victor squeezed his fists. “I won’t let that happen.”

“I’m sure,” the horse sarcastically replied. “I don't know how you still don't realize this, Victor. I'll spell it out for you, clear as day. Someone’s going to die today, Victor. It's going to be either you..." the horse turned around, looking at Olivia and Jenny. "...or them. Who it's going to be is your choice.”

That was the last straw. Victor wasn't taking this anymore.

"You think you can come into my house, torture my family, ask me to give my life to save them, and actually get away with it?"

Victor took a fighting stance.

"Are you challenging me, Victor?" the horse said.

Olivia and Jenny started freaking out.

"Daddy, don't! Please!" Jenny said.

The horse laughed. “Are you sure, Victor? Really sure?"

Sharp blades covered in blood came out of the horse’s fingers, further proving the fact that this wasn’t just some ordinary creature.

"Victor, don't do it!" Olivia said.

Victor remembered his martial arts training. All of that work had been leading up to this moment. Victor ran towards the creature, and jumped up in the air, attempting to jump-kick him. However, the horse easily dodged Victor's attack. Only a split-second later, Victor felt the creature’s sharp, cold blades cutting in his back.

“You fool!" The horse grabbed Victor by his head. "Did you expect me to actually fall for a pathetic technique like that? Are you really that dense?!" The horse threw Victor face down to the ground. Victor stood up, and tried to punch the horse. Before Victor was able to land his attack, however, the horse grabbed Victor's arm. He then stabbed Victor in his stomach. Victor screamed in agony, and fell on his knees.

"Stop hurting my daddy!" Jenny said.

The horse stopped. He slowly turned around. Angrily, he looked at Jenny.

"Do you want to have your throat slit, little girl?"

The horse slowly walked towards Jenny, who looked like she was more scared than she had ever been. As the horse's grin slowly appeared on his face again, he prepared himself to kill Victor's daughter.

"Stop!"

The horse stopped dead in his tracks.

"You win! Come on. Kill me. Isn't that what you want? I don't care what you do to me. But please... Leave them out of this. I beg of you."

"Are you actually trying to bargain with me?" The horse started maniacally laughing again. "You made the wrong decision, Victor. I'm afraid that this is the end of your beloved wife and daughter."

"What?!"

"No!" Olivia yelled.

“You can't do this!” Victor yelled. "They've never done anything to you!

“Victor, do you realize that by attacking me, you’ve proven to me that you don’t want to die? I told you, it’s either you or them. You chose them.”

"I won't let you..." With his last power, Victor stood up. "Do you hear me? I won't let you kill them!"

Victor ran towards the horse, once again attempting to stop him. The horse dashed towards him, and stabbed Victor multiple times. Then, he kicked him in the stomach. Victor collapsed. When he tried to stand up, he suddenly started coughing up blood. The pain was excruciating.

"No... This can't be happening..." Victor said.

"But it is. You have failed, Victor. You screwed up, and now, they have to pay the consequences."

Victor started crying. "Olivia... Jenny... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

There was a brutal silence.

"...Am I going to die...?" Jenny said.

The horse laughed. "Yes. Yes, little girl. You're going to die. You're going to meet your painful end." The horse held his blades near Jenny's head. "All because your father is a selfish prick. I really shouldn't have expected anything else from him. After all... It's why I hate him so much."

"Don't listen to him, Jenny," Olivia said. "You're going to be fine."

"Yes, Olivia. Keep telling her those lies. If you keep this up, she'll spend her last few moments not only disappointed in her father, but in her mother as well."

Olivia put her arms around Jenny. "You're disgusting."

"Ya think?"

Another painful silence.

“Alright then. Let’s start counting!” the horse said. “Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four…”

One last time, Victor tried to stop the horse, but he was too injured to move.

“Three...”

“No…”

“Two…”

"No!"

"One..."

The creature’s blades cut through the skin of Victor’s wife and daughter. Their screams echoed through the house. Victor looked in terror as his loved ones were being killed. Only a few seconds later, their screams had become silence.

“Finally. I was tired listening to them whine and scream.”

Victor looked into Olivia and Jenny’s eyes. They were dead. The horse grabbed a knife, poured Olivia and Jenny’s blood on it, and put it in Victor’s hands.

“By the way, Victor: the name is Ronnie. It’s a... pleasure to meet you.”

The horse laughed. He walked away from Victor, leaving him and the lifeless bodies of his loved ones behind.

- The end of chapter one -