The Cat Man

Mike was grinning from ear to ear. He knew I hated going to the
creek this way. He was just showing off because he was much braver than
me. We could have taken the path behind his house and shaved off two
blocks, but he had to go by the Cat Man's house because he got a kick
out of watching me freak out.

That house is the scariest thing in the world to me. Without fail, it
makes me get goose bumps and cold chills. Some of the reasons I'm so
frightened of the house is due to all the horror stories my older
brothers told me about the house. Then there are all the wild rumors
going around the school about a murderous monster that lives in the
house. Or maybe it's just that Mike is relentless in teasing me about
my fear of that house and the cats that live there.

Speaking of cats. My nose detected their presence. When you have dozens
of cats living in one house the smell is hard to hide. That crazy old
man must have at least seventy-five or possibly a hundred cats living
in his yard and house. As we got closer to the street corner where the
Cat Man lived the sun seemed to darken and the lime green two-story
house seem to glow, as it stood erect despite all my evening prayers.
As we got closer I gripped the handle of my fishing pole tightly
wishing it were a baseball bat instead.

The old house must have been beautiful once, but now ivy covered
everything. Paint was peeling from the house and many of the shutters
were hanging from the windows. Smoke was slowly drifting out of the
chimney letting us know that somebody was home. Nobody had seen the
owner in years. Tommy Pitman is a delivery boy for the local grocery
store and tells the wildest tales of the Cat Man during school lunch.
Even though he delivers groceries to the house he says that he has
never seen the owner. His delivery instructions always say to leave the
bags of groceries on the porch and pick up the payment from the
mailbox. His stories are different from week to week. Suspicious, I
would always quiz Tommy at lunch.

"So what does he order from the grocery store?" I asked.

Tommy and all the guys around the table stopped talking and eating and
looked at me. I don't speak much because I'm afraid that I'll say
something stupid in front of the guys, but this time my question had
sparked some interest.

"Yeah, good question, is it mostly cat food and stuff?" Jerry asked
while still eating his fries.

Tommy's face turned slightly red. "Yeah, I guess. I don't look in the
bags. I just drop the bags off on his porch. You think I'm going to
stick around on that porch checking out what that freak bought?"

All the boys nodded in agreement at the logic of his answer. They even
admired him for his bravery. After all, he was delivering groceries to
a house where 12 murders were rumored to have taken place, and at least
one monster had been reported. The sheriff even certified the house as
haunted on Halloween and warned kids to stay away.

During science I couldn't focus. I couldn't help thinking that Tommy
was hiding something. "Why did his face turn red at lunch?" I
thought.

"Mr. Roberts, is that worm not captivating enough? Old lady Ricker
said.

I knew I was busted. "Uh, yes Mrs. Ricker."

"I suggest you get started with your dissection soon for as you well
know?time waits for no man." She said with a wicked smile.

I picked up the scalpel and checked out the work of the people around
me. No problem, I thought. Just a straight cut down the middle and
split it open. The razor sharp knife poked through the outer skin of
the worm easily, but as I started to cut down the length of the worm's
body there was a loud tearing noise. I stopped.

"Maybe there is some kind of construction going on in the next
classroom." I thought.

I started cutting again. The loud tearing noise continued until I was
half way through the body of the worm. It made my hair tingle and my
skin get goose bumps just like when I walk by the Cat Man's house. I
stopped cutting. I looked around and could tell nobody else was hearing
the noise.

My mother was right. I did turn out bad. I'm hearing strange noises
nobody else hears, and I have an irrational fear of a house full of
cats!

I continued to cut; the tearing sound grew louder. As the blade
slipped through the last bit of the worm's tail the sound stopped. I
put the blade down on the table with a sigh of relief. I looked around
the classroom. Everybody was working on his or her worm busily. No
talking, just up to their elbows in worm goo.

It was then I noticed I did not have any stickpins to hold the worm
open. Looking around the room I noticed that Mrs. Ricker was gone. Her
chair was behind her desk, but faced toward the chalkboard. She kept
the supplies on her desk and I was sure she wouldn't mind me helping
myself.

I walked between the rows of students and noticed everyone was way
ahead of me. They had almost finished their dissection and had begun
cutting the worms into pieces. As I got closer to the front of the
classroom I noticed some of the students had some type of small animal
on their tray vice worms. There was blood everywhere. They were
sticking their whole hands inside the animal's body cavity and pulling
out strange looking organs.

I quickly stepped up to the teacher's desk and saw the boxes of
supplies. I grabbed a box of pins. Mrs. Ricker's chair was moving and
there was a loud smacking sound coming from the chair. Slowly I walked
around the side of the desk. There was a tail protruding from the
chair. It was long and gray and swishing happily. The tail was
connected to a large gray cat that was feasting on something in the
chair. My heart started to pound quickly. My sole desire at that moment
was to run from the class. I looked at the class and everyone now had a
strange looking bloody animal in front of them and they were elbow deep
in blood and entrails. Two of the boys in the front row were eating
something that looked like liver. I could hear their chomping and
slurping.

There was a loud angry moan coming from the chair. The large gray cat
had spotted me now and was looking at me with cold blue eyes. He was
warning me that this was his food, and I had better find something else
to eat.

Blood coated the fur around his mouth as he hissed at me loudly. I
could just make out what he was eating. I took one very careful and
slow step forward and stood on my toes to get a better look inside the
chair.

The air rushed into my lungs as I gasped, "Oh, my gosh!"

Mrs. Ricker's head had obviously been torn from her body and now laid
half eaten in her chair. The cat had made quick work of her nose, lips
and the better portion of one cheek.

This was too much for my mind to take. I decided that I would have to
scream or I would go insane. The yell was building inside me and racing
up my spine to my vocal cords. The cat hissed again. The chomping and
slurping continued. Mrs. Ricker's remaining eye stared up at me.

"Help!" My voice squeaked and my mind broke free from the
vision.

I wasn't in Mrs. Ricker's class. I was in history class. Last period.
The teacher and the rest of the class were roaring with laughter. I
suppose their laughter was loud, but all I could here was my rapid
heart beat and fast breathing. Seconds passed before I caught my
breath. Only the fear of losing my reputation assisted me in settling
back down.

Mr. Jackson, who doubles as the coach asked with a smile, "Nightmare,
Josh?"

"Yes, sir," was all I could manage to say. Everybody died laughing
again.

The daydream was the most vivid dream I had ever experienced. As I
pondered the dream and what it all meant I saw Mike waiting for me at
the bike rack. In the bushes next to the bike rack I noticed a tail. A
long gray tail.

I rushed over to my friend to make sure the gray cat didn't pounce on
him. When I made it to the bike rack the tail was gone, and Mike was
staring at me like I was a lunatic.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Mike asked as I searched the bushes frantically
with my eyes.

I took a moment to answer. "Nothing," I said.

"That's not what I heard. Kyle told me you freaked out in History
class today."

"Yeah, well, you know Kyle. He's a nerd." I said in my defense.

"So what's in the bushes that's got you worried, man?" Mike asked
pointing to the bushes.

I decided to lie. "I thought I saw a rattlesnake."

"Cool, maybe it will bite the principal, and I won't have to go see
him anymore!" Mike said with a laugh.

I laughed too. We mounted our bikes and started riding home.

I knew it was a waste of time but I thought I'd try again. "Mike,
let's not go by the Cat Man's house today, OK?"

"No way, the sun is out today and I bet we can see through the
window." Mike said and sped off down the street.

We turned down C Street. Also known throughout town as "Cat Man
Street." My hair started to tingle and the goose bumps began to form.
As we were approaching the house I could feel it before I could see it.
The house was evil. The occupants were evil. The cats were evil. My
feet started pumping the pedals faster.

Unbelievably, Mike stopped on the sidewalk right in front of the
house!

"Mike, go!" I yelled from behind.

"Slow down," he yelled back.

I stopped just before crashing into him. He was gazing at the house. I
didn't want to look. Every time I looked at the house before, I ended
up having a bad dream that night.

Mike pointed and whispered loudly, "Look!"

My head turned. My eyes processed the picture but my mind, still dazed
over the events of the day wasn't sure if what I was looking at was
real. In the bay window sat a huge gray cat, his cold eyes watching us
intently.

There was a faint redness around his mouth. The fear started to move
from my skin down in my bones like it does in my dreams. If I waited
too much longer I would be frozen.

"Let's get out of here." I said.

"Yeah, let's go. Nothing here today except that old gray cat."

The nightmares that evening were terrible. I tossed and turned all
night. My mother came in my room to wake me and take my temperature
thinking I was feverish. I was sick, but with a disease that no doctor
could see. My illness was a fear of a crazy man who lived in a creepy
house with lots of cats. I woke early that morning.

I hurried through breakfast because I wanted to get to Tommy's house
before he left for school. I wanted to ask him some more questions
about his deliveries to the Cat Man's house.

As I approached Tommy's house I knew he hadn't left yet because his
bike was on the porch. As I was pulling up to his house his door
opened. Tommy was standing in the doorway talking with his
mother.

I waited for him to step out on the porch, "Hey, Tommy."

"Josh, what's up?"

"Nothing. Just was passing by and thought you might want to ride to
school with me today?" I was getting good at lying.

"Sure, let's go." Tommy said, as he carried his bike down the
stairs.

The door to his house opened again. "Tommy, you forgot your lunch!"
Tommy's mother yelled.

"Oh, right. Thanks mom." Tommy said as he raced to the porch to get
his lunch.

The brown bag she handed Tommy was stained darkly. Mrs. Pitman was
wearing an apron that had stains as well. Bright red stains. Blood
looking stains.

"Thanks, mom," Tommy said as he took the lunch and leaped from the
porch.

I watched as he stuffed the stained bag into his backpack. The bag
wiggled a bit like it contained a liver or a very underdone meatloaf. I
couldn't know if what I had seen was real. Tommy didn't seem to notice
anything unusual, so I decided to cut to the chase.

"How's work? Still delivering to the Cat Man's house?"

"Yep, sure am. Twice a week."

"So, what does he order?" I tried to sound casual.

Tommy didn't answer for a few seconds. "Just stuff, you know cat
stuff."

"Oh. He doesn't eat anything. Just the cats."

"No, I'm sure he eats too. Probably regular food and stuff, you
know."

"No, I don't know, why don't you tell me!" I asked impatiently as we
rode over the railroad tracks.

Tommy huffed loudly, "Look man, I don't look into the bags so stop
asking me, OK?" Tommy said. With that he stood up on his bike pedals
and leaned forward as he pumped into a sizable lead.

I believed him. He didn't know. But, who carries groceries to a house
and has no clue what they are taking? Never a peek into the bag to see
what someone else is eating? Come on, it's hard to believe, but somehow
I knew Tommy was telling the truth.

During lunch that day an idea came to me as all the guys were sitting
around the table.

"Tommy, when's your next delivery to the Cat Man's house?" I risked
having him lose all patience with me.

"Today. I deliver to the freaks house on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Four o'clock." Luckily he was too preoccupied with his spaghetti to
remember his earlier frustration.

Four o'clock this afternoon, huh? If Tommy doesn't know what he takes
the Cat Man to eat I soon will.

After school, I didn't go home my normal way. In fact, I went down the
street I hate to even drive on in a car?C Street. As I approached the
house that familiar sense of fear started to creep up my spine. "It's
only a house, they are only cats?" I thought to myself in an attempt to
steady my nerves for what I was about to do. I peddled fast past the
house and only risked a quick glance. Fortunately, the gray cat was not
in the window watching. Just past the intersection and directly across
from the Cat Man house was an old city park. It had not been used in 30
years since a little girl was murdered there on Halloween night. Mike
and I liked going there though because of the trees. There were several
enormous trees, and two of them had old tree houses. There was just
such a tree across the street from the Cat Man's house that would
provide me with an excellent lookout point for the drop off.

I only had to wait about half an hour before I saw Tommy coming down
the street with his bike basket full of groceries. He stopped in front
of the house on the sidewalk. He unlocked the fence gate, picked up the
groceries from his basket and headed toward the Cat Man's front door.
He does this twice per week but still my heart was pounding! How can he
get so close to that house?

Tommy got to the porch and stood in front of the door. He didn't
knock. He just stood there. Suddenly, the door started to open slowly.
It opened fully, but I could not see anyone there. Then Tommy did the
unthinkable. He stepped inside the door! He went in the Cat Man's
house! I almost hyperventilated. My heart was pounding out of my chest,
and I had to go to the bathroom so bad I thought I would wet
myself!

While I was still in "main freak out mode" Tommy came out the door. He
had only a slip of paper in his hand. "A check?" I thought. He walked
out the gate, locked it, mounted his bike and rode off. I was stunned
for a long minute. Tommy was either the bravest kid I have ever known
or somehow he was connected with the Cat Man. Or maybe the Cat Man
wasn't evil after all? My mind raced with thoughts and questions.

"That's it! I'm not going to be troubled with this again." I said to
myself.

I hurried down the tree and jumped on my bike. Peddling as fast as I
could I took a short cut so as to head Tommy off before he got back to
the store. I came out a few blocks over and turned up toward Main
Street. Tommy was a few hundred feet ahead of me.

"Tommy, wait up!"

Tommy didn't respond he just kept peddling.

"Tommy, wait up!" I shouted louder.

Tommy didn't slow a bit.

I peddled faster and came along side Tommy. He was staring straight
ahead.

"Tommy, didn't you hear me?"

Tommy turned his head slowly and looked at me with a far away look in
his eyes. His head turned back to the front and he kept peddling. The
Cat Man has him in some kind of trance! That explains how come Tommy
went inside that house. Who in their right mind would?

I peddled in front of him and caused him to pull off into an empty
parking lot. He stopped before he hit the fence that surrounded the
lot. I pulled up beside him. Tommy was standing there over his bike
just looking at the fence.

He still had the check from the Cat Man in his hand. I decided to sneak
a peak at the check. Maybe the check would have the Cat Man's real name
on it. I took the check from Tommy's hand. He continued to stare ahead.
I opened the folded check and realized it was not a check at all. Only
a piece of paper with a name scrawled out in crude letters?my
name.

As soon as I read the note Tommy spoke, "Dude, what are we doing
here?"

Tommy looked around the parking lot. I was still too stunned to
respond. The reading of the note must have released him from his
trance.

"Tommy, do you remember anything of the last 20 minutes?"

"Nada, bro. How did we get here?"

"Never mind. Where do you usually go after you finish delivering
groceries?"

"Back to the store. Why?"

"Let's go." We left the parking lot and headed to the store.

As we went around back to the delivery entrance I noticed an old man
with a long black cloak and a dark hat standing by the dumpster. He was
hunched over on a cane. When Tommy and I went up the ramp into the
store the man watched us closely. His face was rough and hairy. His
eyes were mean and watched use intently. I got that familiar chill up
my spine. My grandmother called it "the sense." She said it was a God
given gift that keeps you out of harms way. There must be a lot of harm
in that dark man by the dumpster.

Tommy and I put our bikes up and went inside the store. I glanced over
my shoulder one more time and saw that the man was still watching.
Maybe I was getting paranoid at every little thing. Maybe he was just a
bum?

Tommy and I went to the store office. His mom was in the office. The
Pitman's owned the store and everybody in the family had a job
there.

"Tommy, back already? Well, hello Josh. How are you?" Mrs. Pitman
asked.

"Fine, Ma'am. And how are you?" I asked politely.
"Really good. Thanks." Mrs. Pitman said.

"Mom. Any more deliveries?"

"No son. You can help stock shelves, alright?"

"Sure thing, mom."

Tommy went to stock shelves. I just stood there. Not really sure what
to do or what I wanted. Then I thought, "What do I have to loose? I'm
on the Cat Man's hit list so why not just be bold?"

"Mrs. Pitman?"

Mrs. Pitman looked up from her work. "Yes, Josh?"

"I was wondering. Do you know who Tommy just delivered to?"

"Well, let's see now." She said looking through some papers.

"Mrs. Gatlin. Over on A Street. Bread, milk, chicken noodle soup and
some vitamin C. Poor thing must have a cold."

Then it hit me hard. Even Mrs. Pitman doesn't know what's going
on.

"Thanks?Mrs. Pitman."

I hurried out the back to get my bike. I'm not sure what I should do
but I've finally got some proof. I have the note with my name on it in
my pocket. If only I would have had a camera with me when Tommy was
going into that awful house!

"Mike will believe me." I said to myself as I went out the back
door.

The dark man was gone. In his place was the gray cat and four other
large cats. They were all looking directly at me. Their eyes tracking
my every move gave me the creeps.

I got on my bike and took off down the ramp. I saw out of the corner
of my eye that the cats were moving. I rounded the turn beside the
store and started heading home. Looking back I saw that the cats had
broken up into two packs and were following me on both sides of the
street. The Cat Man's spies were hot on my trail.

Riding as fast as I could I arrived home in record time. I saw the
band of cats rounding the corner just down the street as I went through
my gate and rushed to the house. Snatching the door open I bolted into
the house.

"Slow down, Josh. Where's the fire?" My dad roared.

I was barely able to breath, "Sorry, dad."

The whole family was sitting down at the table about to start
eating.

"Your late again, Josh. You know you're supposed to be home at six for
dinner. Where have you been?" My mother asked.

"Out riding my bike," which of course was true but not nearly all the
truth.

"Go wash up and come to dinner."

"Yes, ma'am."

I ate dinner in silence as my brothers and sisters, mom and dad all
talked about their day and what they planned on doing tomorrow. They
laughed and joked as if there wasn't a monster living in the house a
few blocks over.

"Son, you haven't said a word. What's the matter?"

"Nothing, dad. Just don't feel like talking I guess."

Actually I felt a lot like talking but everything I had to say would
make me sound like a lunatic. Who would believe my crazy stories? Even
Mike, my best friend, teased me about the Cat Man. Still he was my best
friend and best friends stick together no matter what.

After dinner I called Mike and asked if he wanted to spend the
night.

"Sure man, got anything good to eat over there?"

"Yeah, cookies and stuff."

Mike loved cookies, "Be right over."

"Hey, Mike, make sure you come before dark, OK?"

"Why? Will the Cat Man get me if I don't?" Mike said with a
laugh.

I tried to fake a joking tone, "He might."

"Alright see you in few minutes." Mike said and hung up the
phone.

I went to my room and cleaned up the mess some. I pulled out my
baseball bat and pocketknife from the closet just in case we needed
them. I heard the doorbell and a moment later Mike was at my bedroom
door.

"So what's up dude?" He jumped on my bed, tossing his nylon gym bag
next to my desk, "Hey what's with the crowd gathering over there on C
Street?" Mike asked.

"What crowd?"

"Over by the creepy Cat Man's house."

I reached for the baseball bat and the pocketknife, "Come on, let's go
check it out." I said, and handed Mike the bat.

"Dude, what's with the bat?"

"Mike you just have to trust me, OK?" I said, as I hurried him out of
the room.

"Mom, Dad?Mike and I are going over to Tommy's to watch a movie, OK?"
Another lie.

No answer.

We walked to the kitchen and looked through to the living room. Nobody
was there. "They must have went out for ice cream and forgot I was
home." I said.

"Yeah, my folks do that to me all the time." Mike replied.

"Let's just go they won't be back for awhile anyway."

Mike swung the bat hard, "Batter up!"

We started walking toward C Street and it dawned on us that there were
a lot of people walking tonight. Way more than usual. They were all
headed toward C Street.

When Mike and I turned the corner at C Street we saw a stream of
people on both sidewalks. They were all headed toward the end of the
street where the Cat Man lived.

As we got half way down the block we could make out the mass of people
gathered outside the house. They were staring at the house in silence.
As the people in front of us reached the crowd they took their place
just behind the rest of the crowd. There must be 300 or so people
here.

"Mike, what's going on?" I whispered.

Mike didn't answer. He just kept walking.

I grabbed Mike's shoulder and pulled. "Mike, stop for a second."

He pulled away and kept walking at a steady pace toward the
crowd.

We were close to the crowd and the evil house now. I knew I couldn't
stop Mike. He was stronger than I was, so I decided to climb in the
same tree I used before to spy on Tommy.

As Mike took his position in the back of the crowd, I raced through
people's yards and looped around to the abandoned park. Climbing a tree
quietly is not easy, but I did my best. Reaching the best spot in the
tree to watch the house from I noticed everyone was still standing
there just staring at the house. More and more people from the town
were coming to join them. There must be four or five hundred people
now.

I saw the crowd part down the middle as if letting something pass.
Then I watched in horror as a huge gray cat bounded onto the porch. It
looked back at the crowd for a moment. His wide cat eyes flashed red
and green in the moonlight. Slowly, the door to the house opened and
the large cat darted inside.

I don't recall ever being so filled with dread as this moment. Almost
five hundred people just staring at this creepy house, one of which was
my best friend. Then the door to the house opened again. Out stepped an
old man. He was wearing dark clothes and a dark hat. He had a cane. It
was the same old man I had seen in the alley behind the store!

He stopped at the edge of the porch and swept his eyes over the crowd.
He raised his cane and pointed at the crowd sharply.

"One of you is a traitor!" His voice cackled.

There was a long pause, "Come forth now and your end will be merciful.
If not, I'll haunt your dreams forever!"

The crowd began to slowly sway from side to side. They were whispering
something. The whisper grew louder and louder until I could make out
the word they were repeating over and over. "Mike?mike?mike?"

The crowd parted again. Someone was making there way to the front of
the crowd. Before he came into full view at the front of the crowd I
knew who it was. My best friend.

Mike reached the lower step of the porch and the old man eyes were
fixed on him.

"Because you have betrayed us, by not bringing us the chosen one, you
will be the next." The dark man tapped his cane twice on the porch. The
door to the house opened and the large gray cat came out with six or
seven other cats. They gathered around Mike's feet and moved him up the
stairs with invisible powers. He moved robotically around the man
toward the door. He was going in the house! At night!

My mind raced. My best friend was going to die a horrible death in my
place! Tears automatically started flowing down my cheeks.

"No! No! No!" I screamed.

Everyone's head turned toward the sound in the tree. The evil cane was
now pointed in my direction.

The dark man made the loud hissing sound that a cat makes as it tries
to intimidate its enemy. The crowd started moving toward me. I heard
their feet stomping in the leaves and brush below. The tree swayed
slightly as the first of them started to climb.

I was familiar with fear, but this was way beyond fear. It was
madness. I tried to move to climb higher, but the fear paralyzed my
muscles and held me fast. One by one they continued to climb up after
me.

There were colorful lights flashing down in the street below and I
faintly heard the screeching noise. My mind didn't register the sight
or sound at first until the police car pulled right up in front of the
house with its lights and siren blaring. The crowd had stopped their
mindless progress and turned to face the police car. The loud siren
ceased it's screeching.

"OK, folks?that's enough. Time to go home now." The officer
barked.

The people in the crowd instantly responded. Eyes widened as each one
looked around, trying to figure out how he had gotten here. The officer
saw them coming from the woods around the abandoned park and shined his
spot light in that direction. He noticed several men coming down from a
large oak tree and continued shining his light up the tree until it
landed on my hiding spot. The bright light hurt my eyes.

"Josh, is that you?"

"Yes, sir," I managed a weak reply.

"Come down from there before you fall."

The presence of an authority figure and the crowd leaving unlocked the
grip fear had upon me. I was able to slowly climb down the tree. The
officer followed me with his light and occasionally cautioned me to "go
slow."

As I reached the ground my fear left me enough that I remembered Mike.
I walked as fast as my legs could move to the officer.

Panting more from fear than weakness I pleaded, "Officer, my friend
Mike Jenkins is in that house."

"Get in the car, son." Was all he said to me.

I continued my plea, "But, officer my best friend is in danger!"

"Josh, get in the car. There is nothing we can do for him now."

Somehow, I knew what he was saying was true. I slowly walked down the
side of the car looking at the house. The dark man was gone. I opened
the door to the passenger side of the patrol car and got in. My eyes
were still glued to the house. The lights of the patrol car flashed all
throughout the neighborhood. Then I noticed the large gray cat jump up
in the big bay window. He was looking right at me. His face had dark
stains all over it.

The bone fear was coming back.

The officer walked around the car and got in. "Josh, you know you
shouldn't be out this late and you certainly shouldn't be climbing
trees in the dark." The officer said as he started to drive off. The
last of the crowd was leaving the area.

He made a U turn and headed back toward Main Street. "You live over by
the Jenkins place right?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm really sorry about Mike. I lost a good friend when I was your age
as well. It's a big price to pay, but it's for the good of the
community. One life every year in trade for good health. That ain't
such a bad trade." The officer said.

My mind couldn't completely understand the truth of what he was
saying. Everybody is in on this? We sacrifice to the Cat Man?

"You know about the Cat Man?" I asked.

"Only a few of us really know the truth." Was his reply as we pulled
up in front of my house.

I reached to open my door. The officer grabbed my arm before I could
open the door. "Mike, every now and then someone like yourself comes
along that is not susceptible to the Cat Man's control. You have a
decision to make. Do you want to live forever in perfect health or do
you want the cats to have you for dinner?" His eyes widened in the
dark, they glistened brightly and the pupils narrowed into slits.

I broke free from his grip, quickly opened the car door and jumped
out. I slammed the door shut and stood on the curb looking at the
officer.

He rolled his window down and said, "Stay away from that house," as he
drove away.

I stood on the curb in the dark for a long minute trying to decide if
all the previous events were real or another vision. Eventually, I
turned and went in the house. My whole family was in the living room
watching TV.

My mother noticed me come in the door. "Honey, come join us. Did you go
for a walk too?"

When I walked inside the living room I noticed my dad's shirt was torn
and his hair was messed up.

"Honey, I can't believe I was climbing a tree." My dad smiled as he
rubbed his shoulder.

"Yep, George, we were all out for a walk and off you went climbing a
tree. I think some of our neighbors saw you as well. I bet they will
tease you about it tomorrow at the diner."

My dad kept rubbing his shoulder. "Still, I feel good. Not good enough
to be out climbing trees, mind you, but I do feel a lot better tonight.
Better than I have felt in years. It's like I'm younger or something.
Maybe I should climb trees more often?"

The fear was creeping down into my bones again. My dreams were going to
be really bad tonight.

I couldn't let this continue. I was sick of the nightmares and fear. My
best friend was dead. A monster was controlling my family and his cats
were eating people!

"I've had enough."

"What's that, dear?" My mother asked not turning away from the
TV.

I decided to tell the truth. "I'm going to kill the Cat Man."

"That's nice dear. Don't stay out too late." She said.

The Cat Man's spell must take a while to completely wear off. He
probably knows this and has relaxed his guard some. The cats under his
command are gorged with food and are probably settling in for a quiet
evening. It was the perfect time to strike.

I went to my dad's room and got the shotgun. I had only fired it once
before, but I was sure I could use it. Grabbing a box of shells as
well, I went to my room to prepare.
Loading the shotgun boosted my confidence, but still I knew the fear
could overtake me at any time. I needed to be sure I could go through
with this and not freeze up.

I had never prayed on my own before, "Please God, help me do this. Not
just for me, but for Mike and my family."

My nerves seemed to settle as I felt the weight of the loaded gun in
my hand and sensed the prayer going up to wherever prayers go. I was
ready.

I walked right out the front door with the gun and not one member of
my family noticed. They were glued to the program blaring out from the
TV.

It was dark outside. The moon had not yet risen, so I decided to walk
slowly to the Cat Man's house to allow my eyes to fully adjust to the
dark.

As I walked, I mentally reviewed all dads' gun safety lessons.

"Never point a gun at anything you don't intend to shoot," stood out
foremost in my memory. My intentions were to blast the Cat Man back to
hell or wherever he came from.

Even in the dark the Cat Man's house seemed to glow with an eerie
phosphorescent shine. I gripped the shotgun tighter as I neared the
house.

I decided another quick prayer was in order, "God, if you help me with
this I promise I will be good forever."

The fence around the house was too high to climb without making lots
of noise so I quietly opened the front gate and slipped inside the
yard. A quick visual inspection of the yard revealed no sign of cats.
There were no lights coming from the first floor of the house, but
there was a dim light coming from upstairs.

I steeled my nerves by taking a few deep breaths before I climbed up
the porch stairs. The door was closed, but I knew it was unlocked.
After all, who or what would the Cat Man be afraid of? I wiped the
sweat from my palms, so I wouldn't loose the grip on the shotgun and
opened the door. There were cats everywhere.

It wasn't long before cats surrounded me completely. They swarmed
around my legs. They rubbed up against me like we were old friends. The
older cats stayed in the dark corners but I could see their eyes
gleaming in the dark. Before long I felt myself being pushed along by
the young cats toward the stairs.

The stairs were steep and made of wood. The stairs were completely
covered with cat scratches. Deep, long scratches that make the claws
sharp. Trying not to lose focus or chicken out I kept my eyes on the
top of the stairs. The young cats swarmed around my feet. I had to be
careful not to step on them as I climbed the stairs.

I was three quarters of the way up the stairs when I heard the hissed
warning.

"I told you to stay downstairs tonight!"

The young cats around my feet bolted to the bottom of the stairs and
went sliding across the wood floor.

My next step up the stairs caused the wood to creak loudly.

I felt, rather than heard the Cat Man move to the landing at the top
of the stairs. He rounded the guardrail and glared down at me.

"You!" He hissed.

I was shocked for two reasons. The Cat Man did not have a cane. He
wore the same clothes. He was the same height, but he looked at least
forty years younger! The big gray cat from the bay window was beside
him with his fur puffed out in anger.

The Cat Man's eyes formed into slits. He crouched down and leapt into
the air toward me with a horrifying scream. His body moved into an
arched position that was not human as it flew toward me. I froze with
my finger on the trigger. My eyes focused on the claw like fingernails
and sharp incisors that flashed in the moonlight as he hissed in the
air. Breath, exhale, shoot. A flash then the bang. The recoil hit me at
the same time as the Cat Man.

He landed on me and we both went tumbling down the stairs. About half
way down the stairs I felt a snap in my neck and then no more pain.
When I stopped moving at the bottom of the stairs I started to loose
vision. I felt faint. Everything was going black. I was dying.

After what seemed forever, my chest heaved with a huge breath of air
all on it's own. I was breathing again and my eyes started to
focus.

Cats were moving all around me. Lights were flashing again, red and
blue all throughout the room. I heard steps on the porch.

Suddenly, the Cat Man was in my face, "You have used one of your nine
lives little brother. Did you think you could kill me? Someone who you
have so much in common with?" His hissed breath seemed to burn my
face.

The Cat Man bounded back up the stairs as the front door opened.

"Awful dumb, son. But I guess I can't blame you. I tried the same
thing when I was your age. Let's get you home." The police officer said
as he picked me up.

The officer slung me over his shoulder and carried me to the patrol
car. He laid me down in the back seat. The feeling in my arms and legs
was starting to come back. The broken bones were already healing.

"Mike, I promise I will kill him. I have eight lives to pay him back
for what he did to you." I whispered to my faraway friend. I was
exhausted and fell immediately into a deep sleep.