Hunting Humans
Sitting in a tent in the Sahara desert was where Zaroff found himself to be when he came to the realization that changed his life for the better. He knew it was time for a change. Hunting animals was no longer as satisfying as it used to be, he no longer felt the thrill, the challenge of it. If animals no longer held the trill that they used to, he would have to hunt something smarter, more dangerous.
“ That’s it ”, he thought, “ I need more dangerous game.”
“But what was more dangerous”, he said out loud. , “than the saber tooth tiger that lay at his feet?”
After weeks of deliberation, he still had no idea of what could be better than animals. That all changed when he saw a young-ish man in his mid-thirties attempt to hunt an Amargosa Vole. He was an amateur at best, yet he still managed to capture and kill the beast. This was when he came to the realization that humans are more dangerous than animals. With the proper training, perhaps they could even satisfy Zaroff’s craving for the hunt. At first, he was horrified, “But they are people “, he thought, “ what kind of monster hunts humans?”. After some further deliberation, Zaroff decided that he should go ahead with his plans, for, after all, “life is made for the strong,... and he is strong, so why should he not use his gift”.
Lying awake in his cabin, for one can only suffer a tent for so long, he began to devise his game plan. His first order of business would be to find the perfect location, something remote, no bigger than five square kilometers, yet not remote enough that no one would ever go near it. Secondly, he would have to find an associate, someone without morals, who was big and strong and looked rather intimidating. Someone who was loyal without a fault, and would die to protect him, should it ever come to that. Thirdly, he would have to establish a training ground,
for not everyone could be as gifted in the art of hunting as him. Lastly, he had to get to go out and get dispensable people to hunt, or rather, he had to get the people to come to him.
At long last, everything was perfect. He had the most amazing island, he had Ivan, an incredibly dumb, yet loyal Russian fellow, who followed his orders to the letter. He even had an easy and straightforward method to lure unsuspecting sailors directly to him.
His first hunt on his new island was unbelievably wonderful. It was an entirely new experience. He felt like he did when he was a young boy and had just gotten his first kill.
It took around a year to work out all of the kinks in this new life of his, but once he did, it was smooth sailing from there.
“I will never tire of this”, Zaroff thought as he slowly stalked his 100th victim.
