Story by Thijn Vrieling

Lieve lezers,
Op deze aparte blog van de schoolkrant is het verhaal van Thijn Vrieling, waarvan telkens een stukje in de krant verschijnt, verder te lezen! Het boek is nog niet af, dus het heeft tot nu toe nog een open einde, maar dan hoef je in elk geval minder in spanning af te wachten! Veel leesplezier!

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 - 

Story: The Great Huminal War - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Broken and Confused (Prologue)

Tim was sitting behind the counter of a gas-station. His job, gas-station cashier at night, had to be one of the most boring jobs ever, primarily due to the fact that there was barely anything to do. The only thing he could do was watch TV, which wasn’t exactly something Tim liked to do. However, Tim realized that he could’ve had a better job if he wouldn't have devoted his life to crime in the past, so he figured he just had to put up with it. Tim heard the phone ringing behind him right when he was about to take a toilet break. Just his luck.

“Falcon Oil. This is Tim, how can I help you?”

“Hey, Tim. It’s Gerald.”

Gerald was Tim’s neighbor, friend, and ex-partner in crime. Tim let out a sigh.

“Gerry, I told you, if you want to call me during my nightshift, call me with my personal number, not the number of the business. I won’t be able to get calls from customers that way.”

"It’s important. Something big is happening at your friend’s house. You know, the millionaire.”

Once again, Tim let out a sigh.

“You mean Vic? And what exactly makes you think it’s big enough to call me during my shift?”

“The fact that more than half of the local police department is there.”

That was a decent surprise. "I...I'm sorry, what?"

“Yeah, there's a lot of cops around here.”

"Well, what the hell happened, then?!"

"Nobody knows for sure, but people are saying someone has been murdered."

Tim nearly dropped the phone out of disbelief. "Are you serious?!"

"I already told you, I don't know for sure. Just get over here and see for yourself."

"Gerry, I swear to god, If this is another one of your 'masterful pranks', I will kill you."

Tim hung up the phone. Gerald was the type of person that liked to pull pranks like these, but something inside Tim was telling him that he really was serious this time. Secretly, though, Tim was hoping this would turn out to be a prank after all. Tim quickly hopped on his bike to check it out.

The hope that the news Gerald had just told him would turn out to just be a joke was quickly crushed when Tim arrived at Victor’s house. Many police officers were standing in front of the mansion. Gerald was standing at the fence next to the main path.

“Oh my god. You were actually serious,” Tim said.

“You thought this was another one of my jokes, Tim?”

“Your entire life seems to revolve around jokes, Gerry. At this point I’m starting to wonder why you don’t have a job as a clown at the circus.”

Tim noticed a trail of blood on the main path. He decided to ask an officer to get some answers.

“Officer, what is going on here?”

“Word of mouth has it that a murder has been committed here, but we know just as much as you do,” the officer said.

“Can’t you just break open the door?”

“There’s no point in trying. This guy has tens of locks on his door. We’ve tried going through the windows, but those are nearly unbreakable too.”

Securing his house by placing unbreakable windows and an overly large amount of locks on the door was definitely something Tim could imagine Victor doing.

“Sir, we’ve found a way in!” another officer said. “There’s a small hole next to the back door, we can easily break the wall there. Also, send some backup. It’s not looking good in there.”

“I’m on it,” the first officer said. “Sir, would you please stand back for a moment?”

“Officer, I’ve known Victor since college,” Tim said. “You should at least give me the right to see what’s going on!”

“I’m not allowed to do that, sir,” the officer replied. “Alright, men. Move in!”

“Yes, sir!”

There were ten seconds of silence.

“This is the police, drop your weapon!”

Tim could hear the voices of the officers from outside the house.

“Wait, he’s still in there?!” Tim yelled.

Tim tried to run towards the hole in the back, but Gerald was able to stop him.

“Tim, don’t risk your life for this! The police can handle themselves just fine!” Gerald said.

“Target has been neutralized, we repeat, target has been neutralized!” the police officer yelled.

The hundreds of people who had gathered at Victor’s house slowly moved towards the hole in the back to see what was really going on.

“Victor?!” Tim yelled.

Although Victor was still alive, his eyes looked just as lifeless as those of a dead man. His hands were almost completely covered in blood.

“Victor, what the hell happened in there?!”

“I’m sorry, but you are not permitted to talk to this… murderer here,” one of the officers said.

“What do you mean 'murderer'? Victor is my friend! He's no murderer!”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, sir, but this man has just murdered his wife and his daughter in cold blood.”

Two police officers left the mansion. Both of them were carrying a body bag, one big, and one small. All Tim could do was stare. He had to believe it, but he didn’t want to.

“No... No, no, no... That can't be..."

"Are you okay, sir?" one of the officers asked.

"I...I'm fine... I just... I need a moment..."

They were dead. They were really dead. Victor was right when he called: something did happen to them.

"And I told him to relax... Damn it!"

“Sir, did you know these people?” the same officer asked.

“The entire world knows who they were, you moron!” Tim yelled. He realized he had to calm down. “Yes. Yes, I knew them.”

“When was the last time you saw them?”

“Today, a few hours ago. They were at my house before they… They…”

'Got murdered' is what Tim wanted to say. He still couldn’t believe it.

“If that’s the case, you can provide us with the information we need. We’re expecting you at the police station in thirty minutes. Make sure you arrive there on time.”

The police officer left.

Thanks to the paparazzi gathering at the police station, the place was extremely crowded. Their cameras, or tools of destruction, as Victor liked calling them, had flashes bright enough to nearly make Tim’s eyes bleed. An officer, who was also clearly not amused by the cameras, approached Tim.

“Sir, please come this way,” the officer said, while trying to shield his eyes from the flashes.

The officer led Tim trough a long corridor.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Timothy Hawkins.”

Tim turned around. Standing behind him was Tony Bradbury, a middle-aged police commissioner who didn’t listen to anyone but himself. They had already met a few times after Tim was arrested for joyriding, and burgling some local stores, among other things.

“Bradbury,” Tim said.

“I should've expected you to be back here so soon. What did you get arrested for this time?” Bradbury said.

“As a matter of fact, Tony, I’m…”

“That’s commissioner Bradbury to you, Timothy!”

“Actually sir, this man is a good friend of mister Lynx,” the officer said. “He can provide us with some useful information we don’t know yet.”

“Of course he'd be friends with that delinquent. Criminals usually work together, after all." Bradbury said.

Tim would've gladly punched Bradbury in the face, but that wouldn't exactly have helped the situation at hand, so he decided to hold off on it. For a while, at least.

"I'm keeping my eyes on you, Timothy," Bradbury said.

“I’m sure you will, commissioner,” Tim said. Tim walked away. "Prick."

"What did you just say?!"

"I said..."

"C'mon, move along, sir," the officer said.

At the end of the corridor, Tim saw a big room with a few chairs in it.

“It’s in here, sir,” the officer said.

Tim took a seat. The officer grabbed a notebook, and sat down as well.

“So, mister Timothy Hawkins.”

“You can call me Tim.”

“Right. So, Tim. You told us the victims were over at your house a few hours before they died. Can you elaborate?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Why were the victims at your house?”

“They came to say goodbye. Victor, Olivia, and Jenny were supposed to go on a four-week vacation to France."

“And where was Victor at that time?”

“He was at work. I believe work was the reason he was going on that vacation to begin with.”

"I see." The officer noted a few things in his notebook. “How did you meet Victor and the victims?”

“I met Victor and Olivia during college. I dropped out halfway. They stayed, fell in love, got married and had a child.”

“Do you have any other information you think is important?”

Tim remembered Victor’s phone call.

“Yes I do. Sometime after Jenny and Olivia left, I got a phone call from Victor saying they weren’t home yet.”

“Really?" The officer made another note. "How would you describe Victor in that situation?”

“Panicked.”

“Could it have been a cover-up?”

“No, I don’t think so. Victor has never been very good at acting.”

Now that Tim thought about it, the phone call wasn’t the only thing that didn’t add up.

“Officer,” Tim said. “I don’t think Victor is the one who committed the murder.”

“And why do you think that?"

“Too many things aren’t right. Remember the hole in the back of his house? How did it get there? Besides, I've known Victor for almost 15 years now. He would never do something like this!"

"I see your point, sir. Well, that's all the info I needed. Please come this way."

Tim left the room. When he passed by Bradbury's office, he could overhear a conversation between him and another officer.

"Is Victor Lynx finally starting to talk some sense?"

"He's a total train wreck, sir. Out of all the bullshit excuses he could've come up with, he decides to go with this one: a walking, talking horse wearing a hoodie." The officer laughed. "I mean, does he even believe it himself?"

Hearing that conversation was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tim wasn't standing around while his best friend was being kept in the police department without having done anything. He opened the door to Bradbury's office.

"Commissioner Bradbury, I..."

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Timothy?!" Bradbury said. "Get out of my office right now, or I will arrest you on the spot!"

"Let me finish, commissioner! I can guarantee you that Victor is not a murderer! With the way you and your team go about things, I'm not surprised he's not telling you much!"

"You have some real nerve walking into my office and asking that! I don't care what you do. As long as you get the hell out of my office, I'm fine with anything. Officer, please escort Timothy to the interrogation room."

A broken and confused Victor was visible through the window of the interrogation room. Tim had never seen him like this before.

"Sir, are you sure you want to do this?" the officer said. "This man might be very dangerous."

"You serious?" Tim said. "Look at him. Yeah, definitely Jack the Ripper levels of dangerous right there."

"Alright then."

Tim slowly made his way towards Victor. He didn't seem to care much for Tim's presence. All he did was stare at the ground.

"Victor. It's me, Tim. What happened?"

Victor didn't respond.

"What happened, Victor?"

Still nothing.

"I'm trying to help here. Say something, anything."

"He was in my house... He was there the entire time..."

"Who?"

"The horse..."

That wasn't the answer Tim was expecting.

"...The horse...?"

Tim was expecting to hear 'Just kidding!', or something along those lines, but nothing. That empty look in Victor's eyes was still there.

"Jesus Christ, Victor, think for a second! Who murdered Olivia and Jenny?"

"I just told you..."

What was he thinking? A horse? Whatever happened back there must have been extremely traumatic for him. This wasn't getting Tim anywhere. There was only one place where he could find some answers. Tim left the interrogation room.

"I'm done, officer."

Getting into Victor's house was not as easy as Tim had hoped it would be. The police had blocked off the entire area with ribbons, all reading 'Crime scene - Do not cross'. Tim decided to try the practical way first.

"Officer?"

"Yes?"

"Let me in."

The officer looked surprised. "Excuse me? You do realize that we're in the middle of an investigation here? Get out of here, we don't have time to deal with the likes of you."

Tim had no other option: he had to use stealth to get inside. It took Tim a while before he found an unguarded spot, but when he found one, he quickly snuck past it, only to find more police officers guarding the next area. Tim realized he only had one chance, as some of the officers were armed. After a while, however, the officers turned around, giving Tim a chance to slip through. The last area, which was the hole in the back of the house, was conveniently guarded by only one police officer. Tim used a silent takedown technique, which he had learned during his days in the world of crime, to get past him.

Tim was now inside Victor's house. He needed to keep his guard up just in case there were more officers inside. Nothing in the house struck him as particularly odd. But then, he heard a strange sound coming from behind him.

"What was that?"

Tim was expecting to see an officer standing behind him, but nobody came. Then, only ten seconds later, he heard the same noise. Tim quickly turned around. He could've sworn he saw a silhouette moving across the hallway, but when he checked, there was nobody there. Tim had a bad feeling about it. It was probably nothing. He decided to just ignore it. Tim started searching around the house for clues, but he found nothing. That was, until he arrived at the desk. There was a strange letter lying on the desk. The words on it weren't written with a pencil; Rather, they were cut into the paper, in a rather disturbing fashion. The message written on the paper, however, was even more disturbing:

Come to the basement.

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

"What the hell...?"

Tim realized he might've been onto something. Quickly, he rushed towards the basement, hoping to find the proof he needed to prove Victor's innocence. The door to the basement was closed. Tim silently opened the door. What he saw behind the door was brutal: there were two chairs in the room, chains, and a lot of blood. Tim slowly moved backwards.

"Good god..."

Tim bumped against something.

"Curiosity killed the cat."

Tim felt five blades cutting through his back. The pain was excruciating. He collapsed, and his vision became blurry. The same silhouette appeared in front of him, but he still couldn't make out what it was.

"Did your parents never teach you that you should never stick your nose in someone else's business, Tim?"

The figure delivered a powerful blow to Tim's head. He blacked out.

- End of chapter 2 - 

wordt binnenkort vervolgd...