Short Horror Stories

The Pied Piper

I FOUND THIS ON THE INTERNET
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There was a special rule in Hamelin, and that was to not go out of the house after sun down for that was when the monstrous rats would emerge.

The smallest of them were the size of a carriage and the biggest one ever seen was the size of a small house!

All of the people had at least 1 rifle in their houses, loaded and ready to shoot them at any time.

***

"I shot a couple of them dead. The filthy bastards were after my daughter!" A woman proudly proclaimed, surrounded by awed people.

"How many were there?" Charles, the mayor, asked.

"About 13 altogether. They scurried off when I killed the big one,"

"My God! That thing is even more enormous that the ones 2 nights ago!" Charles gasped as he looked at the huge rats' corpses.

"I know of a man called the Pied Piper. He might be able to help us for the right price," a young man spoke up from the crowd.

"Nonsense! Why should we pay someone for something we can handle on our own?!" Charles snapped at him and left the crowd.

That night, while Charles was reading a bedtime story to his son, they were startled by a blood-curdling scream right behind his house. He immediately took his rifle and told his son to stay inside.

He opened the front door and found his other son, Henry, on the ground and covered in blood. "What happened?!" Charles immediately brought him inside.

"F-father, they're everywhere! They attacked mother and I," he sobbed on the sofa.

"George, look after your brother. I'm going to find your mother." With that, Charles left the 2 frightened boys inside and went out to his backyard. A huge rat ran towards him, its mouth wide and bloody. Charles aimed and shot right in its mouth and through its head. Pink brain matter splattered on the ground, squelching under his heavy boots.

Running past the twitching corpse, Charles found his wife Amelie sprawled on the ground, her left arm mangled and almost unrecognizable. "Amy!" He cried as he hold the crying figure in his arms.

"Hurry, brother!" His younger brother, James, ran towards them with the monstrous vermin behind him. Both of them took aim and tried to shoot as many as they could, but the rats were faster and soon they were overwhelmed. James lit a dynamite and threw it towards the rats, blowing them all up.

Exhausted, they limped to Charles's house. As he bandaged Amelie's arm, she sobbed, "What are we going to do, Charles? These animals must be stopped!"

***

The next day, all the townspeople gathered in the town hall.

"The attacks have become increasingly vicious in the recent days. We must do something about it. Byron had suggested that we call the Pied Piper. He can help us, but for a very steep price," Charles said.

They began to murmur among themselves. "What's his price?" Someone asked.

"Five hundred gold coins,"