The Half-Blood Giant

Chapter 16: Dangerous Predator

While Chester and Jackie were navigating through the unfamiliar world of the giant town, their third uninvited hitchhiker came to, in a deserted alleyway next to a dumpster. He fell a significant distance out of the portal and hit his head on the bricks, so he had been out cold for a while. He sat up with a groan, cursing under his breath as he ran his fingers over the painful lump on the back of his skull. He fixed his blond hair and stood up, dusting off and straightening out his black clothes.

He had no idea where he was. He surveyed his filthy surroundings with his icy blue eyes, massaging his temple absently. The odor of garbage blocked out other scents, but even so he couldn't smell anything familiar: no grass or trees or flowers, only concrete and bricks. He stepped out of the shadow of the alleyway into the bright sun and squinted around him with confusion. He was in an urban area, but the place was a wreck: buildings crumbling into disrepair, cracking pavement, litter and squalor everywhere. No vegetation or greenery anywhere, just stark white and industrial gray and dead brown. He curled his lip with disdain.

He sniffed the air again, and an unmistakable scent hit his nose. Human. Not the same human he was chasing after, but tempting nevertheless. He couldn't pass up such a rare opportunity. He followed the scent down the block, passing a few giants as he went. He noticed the giants here looked mean and feral, but were significantly shorter than him. He was at least a head taller than most of them. He wasn't interested in other giants, though. He had a singular purpose: Find the source of that delicious scent, and fill his belly with wriggling delight.

The aroma was wafting from a window on the second story of an apartment building. The blond giant scaled the rusty fire escape on the side of the building and nimbly clambered over to the window. The window was cracked, so he slid his fingers under it, forced it open, and slithered inside. From the smells within, he could tell the human was alone in the apartment. The living space inside was a mess, with trash and filth permeating the space. Mold grew on the walls, giving the air a damp, mildewy scent. Jacques ignored these details and stalked over to a hamster cage in the corner of the room, on top of a dresser.

The hamster cage was furnished with everything necessary for a small rodent, including wooden shavings as bedding, a wheel, a water bottle, a plastic house, and a food dish. The giant knew there was no rodent in the cage, however. He wrenched open the wire door and lifted the plastic house. A startled cry rang out as he snatched up a human in his fingers and pulled him out of the cage.

He regarded his struggling prey with mild disappointment. The human, a man, was scrawny and malnourished, with scars from abuse all over his body, and his ribcage and pelvis visible beneath his stretched, pasty skin. He was caked with dirt, naked except for a harness with a big metal ring on the back. The giant picked up the man by the ring and dangled him in front of his frosty eyes. With how dirty and underfed he was, he probably wouldn't taste as good as that appetizing human female...

"Who-who are you?" the man stammered. "You're not my master..."

For some reason, the giant felt inclined to answer the insignificant creature's question, if only because he wanted more information. "My name is Jacques," he snarled coldly. "What is this place? We're not in the Land of Giants, nor are we in the human realm. Where are we?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand-"

Jacques shook the human roughly, making him yelp with fear. "Hmph. Guess you're of no use to me. Farewell then." He opened his mouth, preparing to drop the human inside.

"Wait!" the man shrieked, flapping his arms and legs in the air. "Aren't you going to at least give me a pill first?"

"A pill?" Jacques raised an eyebrow.