Thijn Vrieling met: "The Great Huminal War"

In onze schoolkrant hebben wij natuurlijk ook heel veel schrijftalent. Wij presenteren Thijn Vrieling, een toekomstige grote schrijver. In elke schoolkrant komt een stukje van dit spannende verhaal : The Great Huminal War. 

Have you ever felt like you were alone? Completely isolated from everything, and everyone around you? That is the feeling you had forsaken me with. In your utter selfishness, you locked me up. Trapped me. I was in pain. All I ever wanted was to get out. But you didn't give me freedom. The only thing you ever gave me was suffering.

Words can not describe how much I hate you. I had found everything I wanted. Wealth. Friends. Love. But you... You took it all away. In an instant, it was all gone. And you returned. You came back to make my life even worse. You killed them all. Nobody was safe. I still remember the rotting corpse of my friend looking at me, right in my eyes. And even when I thought it was all over, you still returned.

Only one thing had ever made me happy in life. You know what I'm talking about, "friend". You just couldn't help yourself, could you? You just had to put an end to that happiness. And then, you still expected me to help you. To trust you. For someone who claims to hate selfishness, you sure are the embodiment of it.

Everyone hates me. They are all my enemy. The people I thought I could trust stabbed me in the back. The only one who I can trust is myself. I promise you this: I will find you. I will take revenge on you for what you did. And anyone who stands in my way will be obliterated.

Chapter 1: A Personal Problem (Proloque)

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.

- Thijn Vrieling