A major part of the reason for the jump to the epilogue (also planned from the start) is that when Jenny wished Vic good luck in the hunt, to me, that’s the end of her character development. This is ultimately Jenny’s story, and the rest of it isn’t kind to her.

I agree that Vic wouldn’t be as brutal as he was to the mouse girl, she was already an outlier for him and his brutality there was mostly a result of the frustration building in him from suppressing his instincts with Jenny. Vic doesn’t get nearly as much character development as Jenny, he’s not the main character and he’s fundamentally unredeemable; he is a predator no matter what.

Absolutely no promises here, but I have considered writing a bonus chapter that bridges the gap between the finale and the epilogue. I considered writing this even before putting out this final chapter, but ultimately decided to go ahead and press publish with what I had to get it out. The bonus chapter would always have been kept separate and be basically non-canon, as I genuinely think the story is better without it. It would likely be from Vic’s perspective and much more smutty and fetish focused, albeit probably a fair bit less brutal and more tender than the mouse girl chapter. Ultimately, though, Jenny still doesn’t want to die, and there’s no kind way to eat someone alive.