Cat Eyes in the Night

It's true I felt strange when I first ran across their black cat — very, very strange. It was like a shadow from the wrong side of the world had crossed my path. And when you’ve seen this kind of evil once, you become more sensitive — what’s the word I’m looking for… attuned to it. You’re dialed into the radio station of darkness, so to speak. Let me tell you about this one night. I heard him outside my window, and his voice was almost a human voice, repeatedly saying a word I couldn’t quite make out. I thought maybe there was a person there, except I knew there wasn't. I didn’t dare to look outside, but thankfully he eventually went away on his own. And the thing is that his owners gave me the exact same feeling, so you have to understand why I was suspicious. I just knew that they weren't going to be any good for the neighborhood.

No, I did not go temporarily insane! You can stop that kind of talk right now. I won’t stand for it. Oh, you want me to tell you the whole story? Sure, why the heck not? It's not like I have anything else to do right now.

It all started innocently enough. They came from the big city and settled into our tight-knit community. We tried really hard to be welcoming and friendly to them and their demon of a cat. Sure, they went to some town events and a few block parties. They were always trading empty greetings with us, but their family kept to themselves most of the time. Mind you, I'm not aware that they committed any crimes, but who knows? Some people just don’t act right. You know the type I mean?

So, as I was saying, the first thing that made me suspicious was that they didn't really talk to the neighbors much. They just weren't very neighborly people. I felt like they thought they were too good for the rest of us... standoffish is the word I'm looking for. Oh, another thing that was a huge red flag was that they didn't cut their grass , and it was a terrible blight on the neighborhood. Someone told me they were nature freaks who wanted to turn their lawn into a more natural meadow habitat or some such hippy nonsense. To me, it's just laziness. Hey, you say it's a small thing, but sometimes small things can say a lot about people, don’t you agree?

My interactions with the husband?

He was slim, had black hair, and there were always dark rings under his eyes like he never slept. He was a soft-spoken fellow and seemed nice enough, but there was never anything to our conversations. My guess is he probably wanted to talk about vegan eggrolls and the latest artsy movie about a piece of kale doing an interpretative dance during the Carter administration, but he knew I wasn't interested. Ah, but the part that made me mad was at the town Christmas tree lighting party when that little slippery twerp tried to flirt with my wife, probably by slipping her some bad poetry lines. The rest of us guys were talking about football like normal people, and there he was, trying to sweet-talk her. He didn't make it too obvious, but I knew. I knew. Later, I asked her about it, and she said he was nice and didn't do anything strange. But he was just too clever for her, bless her heart. I'm sure he was planning to make a move on her sometime.

Then what really showed me his true colors were his nighttime walks. First of all, who in the heck goes on walks at night? Regular honest people watch TV or go to bed at that time. On some nights, I would look out my window, and wouldn’t you know it? There he was on one of his strange walks. I heard he had a stressful remote job that kept him up working late and that this was his way of relaxing, but I don't buy it one bit. Remote work… that's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one! Kind of like a working vacation or an honest car salesman.

He always seemed like he enjoyed the night. It’s mighty odd if you ask me, don't you agree? Who wants to be by themselves, walking alone at night? There are such strange people in the world! And the eeriest thing was that their black cat… well, it just up and followed him during his walks! I could see its eyes in the night, staring back at me, and I wasn't sure who was the stranger one: the man or his cat. So now you understand why it was so unsettling seeing him outside when I looked out my window at night or when he passed by when I was pulling into my driveway. Why should I have to be inconvenienced by something… unnatural like that? You tell me why.

Listen, what I'm trying to say is that he was a real disruption to our peaceful town. I think others noticed it too.

Who did I talk to about it?

Well, no one... But I just knew that the neighbors were thinking the same thing.

I mean, who can trust a guy like that? He might just snap one day and decide to break into a house during one of his walks and do who knows what to the good folks inside. Maybe he was planning something. He must have been! Basically, I only did what we all knew had to be done. It's just that no one else was brave enough to step up to the plate. And if the police had just done their damn jobs, then I wouldn’t have had to do it for them! So now it should be crystal clear to you that there was nothing insane about what I did. You could say that I did it pre-emptively, but by a few days at most, and you can't deny that it was self-defense. And that's absolutely what we should say in court.

Also, I ask you, would a crazy man have planned everything out this well? I'll have you know that I followed him during his long and boring walks for weeks, and he never saw me. Not even once! I stayed just far enough behind. I was like the shadow of a tree. I was so careful. I moved how he moved, and I stopped when he stopped. And between the two of us was that black cat, but if that strange thing saw me, he didn't say anything.

After a while, I found the perfect spot along his usual walk. It was by a large, wooded area, away from any houses. The one nearby streetlight was broken. I made sure to clear a path into the woods so that there wouldn't be any cracking twigs to step on. Then, you'd be shocked by how patiently I was able to wait in the shadows between trees with such a big smile on my face. It's so great when you love your work, isn't it? So many nights, I waited for him to pass by to see how I would do it. I wanted to really plan it out. It was hours of waiting sometimes, but it was well worth it because I like to do good work. One man's OCD is just another man's conscientiousness is what I like to say.

On the day when I finally decided to do it, I could hear my heart beating so loudly in my ears. After he passed by where I was hiding, I saw the cat's eyes, looking straight at me, and I wondered if he would do anything. But he just stared, giving me the creeps. I emerged from the trees, and gently stepped onto the sidewalk, without making a sound. Then I crept up so carefully behind the man, but I think at the last moment, his devil cat must have somehow warned him that something was off. The man turned around, and I saw that he recognized me despite the darkness. He let out a cry of surprise, seeing me lunging at him, but I quickly covered his mouth with a cloth as I plunged my knife into him. Then I pushed him up against a tree further into the woods, still muzzling him hard with the cloth, and I repeatedly jabbed him in the heart with my knife. After about fifteen stabs, he crumpled like a broken mannequin. I think the cat must have run away while I was doing it. Then I dragged his body deeper into the woods, where I had dug a shallow grave for him. I had hidden it using a small tarp covered with dead leaves. Finally, I buried him, and then I put the tarp and the leaves back on. I changed shirts and cleaned up the scene, and that was that. I felt so much relief at having accomplished my mission.

His wife and kids' expressions after his disappearance were a cost I was willing to pay. They had to sell the house and leave. Maybe they went back to the city or to wherever else they came from. I’m sorry to say it, but good riddance to them.

The funny thing was that I had gotten so used to walking at night that I kept right on doing it. But when I did it, it wasn't with any creepy intentions like he had. You understand that, right? And then, you see, the thing was that afterward, that strange animal… It’s hard to believe, but it started following me at night too!

I chased him away, but he kept coming back. The cruel thing!

He followed me on my walks, the same distance he used to walk behind him. Whenever I turned around, I could see his shiny eyes staring at me accusingly. Except that when we passed by that spot, he would go into the woods to where the grave was. Of course, I was worried he would disturb the grave. So, I went after him, but he always disappeared like a ghost, and I was left hearing his terrible human-like wail hatefully taunting me.

I was getting really annoyed with him. The evil thing just kept right on tormenting me, taking pleasure in it! Finally, my patience had run out, and I was going slay that demon too, and with the same knife that I had used for his owner. But as I ran through the woods after him, I tripped and fell to the ground, hurting my knee on a rock, and I swore loudly. Then imagine how I felt when I got up, and their eyes were shining all around me like a swarm of fireflies. And I mean a swarm! So many black cat eyes; the woods were literally lit up with an eerie orange glow!

They were everywhere, and the sound! There's no way to do it justice. All their strange demi-human voices were blending together into one terrifying wail. And I knew for sure that they were going to dig him up. If that wasn't bad enough, I had been careless, and for my bad luck, the cops on patrol that night had seen me running into the woods and had heard the crash and the swearing. They came looking for me, flashlights shining in my eyes. And wouldn’t you know it, I was right by the grave spot, a piece of tarp showing through the leaves.

"Why are you running through the woods?" one of them asked sternly.

"Well, I think I just lost something," I answered. "What’s the big concern, officers?"

They must have been looking for the body. I had to make these cops go away!

I tried to tell them everything was okay, but they kept pressuring me with questions. I wished there was some sort of stage hook that could pull them away from me, but there wasn't. Then, despite my better judgment, I shot a glance at the tarp to see what the cats were doing, and I think the cops noticed it. But couldn’t they see all these cat eyes? Why were they pretending not to notice them? I couldn't be the only one seeing and hearing this! That’s when I realized that this was all being done just to torture me.

The hypocrisy and the patronizing look on these cops' faces! Pretending to be investigating things. I knew I was acting strangely, and they looked like they were getting more suspicious every moment, but I didn't care since this was all just a big game to them. I realized they had known everything right from the start, and they had just let me dangle and go on these walks. They had just let me keep on thinking everything was going to be okay, like a fool. They were waiting for the day they would find a good excuse to come pick me up. Has any man ever been more persecuted than this? Why me?

“Stop pretending you can't see them! Your acting is pathetic!” I wanted to scream.

The cats’ shining eyes were closing in on me from all around, and I shrunk from them in terror. The cops were coming towards me too. Was there no forgiveness for a good man like me who had only ever tried to do the right thing?

Then with a great scream, I grabbed the corner of the tarp and violently pulled it off, leaves and dirt flying everywhere. Before they could stop me, I dug with my bare hands like a madman until I unearthed part of the body.

“Is this what you wanted to see, huh? You wanted me to show you this, right?” I shouted.

Then I charged at the cops with my knife, and after that, I only remember the gun's muzzle flash.

There's a happy ending, though, because I haven't seen him since.