The Golden Cat

Disgrace has finally come after me. After several years of failed opportunities and increasing debts I was left to live in solitude at my old family’s house in a remote village whose name remains in obscurity. Raul, the closest family I had at the moment was driving into the long dirt beaten road until he stopped to ask:

 “Are you sure it’s here?”

I nodded and we continued driving. It was a foggy morning and nothing else could be seen besides the forest that surrounded us, full of trees, bushes and strange creatures. At the end of the trail, a modest house could be seen, with some broken windows and a door that was partly destroyed, most of the paint in the walls was gone, the small front porch was also damaged . A crest of a small Owl could be seen at the front door and it was the only part of the house that withstood the test of time.

“Stop the car! This is it, this is what the letter said” I said then got out of the car and stared at the broken home “It sure does look like it needs some work”

As Raul left the drivers’ seat and picked up my small suitcase from the trunk he commented “I’m wondering why you never let me take a peak on that letter, I always fancied listening to a fairytale”

“This isn’t a bedtime story, these are instructions” I responded angrily as I was reading once more the rest of the letter.

We walked onto the front porch and I tested the door by knocking on it. Nothing happened.

As I stared into the owl crest, I could swear it stared at me back and as I opened the door all was dark. I told Raul to try the light switch on the closest wall, and with surprise everything was lit up almost instantly.

I could see we were standing in a small living room, full of dust and old bookcases, and after looking around I sat in the armchair that was in the middle of the room continuing to read the letter.

“This is unbelievable, how come the electricity in this place seems to be working perfectly, the living room is impeccable while everything outside is destroyed. There’s even a cozy fireplace here, I’ve never seen anything like this, It is like something has been protecting this house”

“Must be the owl at the door” I said sarcastically

“Ah yes, owls are usually associated with wisdom. But this one is terrifying” said Raul. As he noticed the silence he said “Well shall we take a look inside? Before I leave you by yourself? I hope I’m not doing a mistake by leaving you here alone”

“The only mistake was not coming here sooner” I said

As we went from room to room the same thing happened, the light switches lighted each room like they were just installed. The bathroom, kitchen, all again in excellent conditions and after checking almost everything we stumbled across a staircase which led to the second floor of the house.

“Let’s go upstairs” I said

We climbed carefully each step of this seemingly old wooden staircase, but not even a sound could be made until Raul decided to jump in one of the step.

“Fascinating! No sounds or cracks, who was living here before? Must not been some while ago someone was living here”

Walking through a small corridor, the walls were covered with portraits of people bearing sad expressions, a door at the left could be seen, this time with the crest of a golden cat. The most interesting thing about this door is that no doorknob could be seen, only a small slot could be seen under the crest.

“A cat and an owl. Sure your ancestors had some imagination. I’m guessing the next crest around the house will be a lion” – said Raul

“ I do understand the cat part but not the owl.” I looked into the pocket of my jacket and found the pocket watch with its case of a golden cat. I tried to fit in the pocket watch into the door slot and somehow fitted perfectly. In seconds the door opened and a loud meow could be heard from all over the house. We both audibly gasped with the sound while the door was opening by itself.

“Unbelievable, is this supposed to be real? I never saw a door opening with a pocket watch”- Said Raul not believing what he was seeing. “And what was the meow?

“Me neither… Well I can’t reveal much of the letter but it said that I am supposed to use this pocket watch in proper time”

“Sure your ancestors loved awful puns”

We stepped inside the room and it was by far the most interesting part of the house. Chaos was living here: a single bed was against the wall, the walls were covered with old newspapers and magazines, most of which contents could not be understood, and on the other side there was a desk, full of books on top and a golden cat Idol in the center sitting with an emotionless expression.

“What does this all mean? Can’t even understand half of what is written in these walls” – Said Raul

“This is a time chamber. Not a real one tough, but it has been used for generations and generations, here take a look at this” I grabbed one of the books in the desk and showed it to Raul.

“The Book of the Living…” - said Raul

While checking the cover, Raul then opened the book and started to leaf through its pages, each one being filled with different symbols along the borders of the pages: a scythe, hammer, knife, gun and a long list of deadly objects. The number of objects would be different in each page and some of them would be repeated several times. What was most interesting was the middle of the pages, a big illustration could be seen: It was the last moments of someone.

Raul then said:

“Well the title is a bit misleading I have to say, all I see is dead people, and the ones that aren’t dead are having a terrible time, this one is being impaled!”

“Look at the bottom of the each page, do you recognize anything from the names there?” - I mentioned

Raul started to read: “Jose Villa, Ruben Villa, Jose Villa the 2^nd. Hold on, they all have the same last name as you”

“Check the last page”

As he leafed through the last page Raul gasped “It is empty! No illustrations or anything, only a name” -Raul then said- “Filipe Villa…By God, it is your name!”

“As the last breath is drawn, so is the last illustration of our final moments” I said quoting part of the letter “Based on the last page, my guess is that I didn’t die yet” – I said sarcastically.

“What is this suppose to mean? Who is filling up these pages, and why is everyone dying?” – said Raul

“As I share their last name and bloodline, I also share a fate worse than death: desperation” – I then added – “This book might seem like a curse for you, but for me it means much more, it is not death that I am scared of but to be in this state of constant dread as I am now. I was lost for so long but now I am blessed to have finally see this lost heirloom, I will live as a rich man or die trying! Just like everyone else before me”

Raul paused and then stared at me silently for a few seconds before saying: “Rich? What are you going on about? You could just sell all this stuff here laying around and make some good money, you don’t need this “Book of the Living” nonsense”

“No, it is not what the letter demands” – I said while staring at Raul “I don’t want to be so poor that the only thing I have is gold”

The golden cat Idol at the desk started to breathe and suddenly his eyes gain life, it started to gaze at us and stretching slowly and despite its small size it had a threatening presence.

“Oh the cat is moving! What is happening? Was it the one that meowed a few minutes ago?” – Asked Raul without getting any answer while I was checking once again the letter

The cat suddenly jumped out of the desk and a metallic clank could be heard as soon as he touched the wooden floor, he was walking on its four legs noisily and when he reached me, he started to rub into my legs, when it got my attention the cat was staring deep into my eyes.

After few seconds I nodded at the cat as if I understood it, and the cat started to run through the door. I followed it at the same speed without saying a word.

“Hold on! Wait for me Filipe, where are you going?” Said Raul as he started to chase both of us with the book in his hands.

I went down the stair case as fast as I could, almost falling, and when I reached the living room the cat was there sitting on its legs turning its back to me. Noticing my presence, the cat turned around and looked at me, then jumped so high that he reached the ceiling, magically evaporating into thin air while golden glitter in letter shaped forms could be seen falling from the spot where it disappeared.

“What happened? Where is the cat? ” – Said Raul once he saw me still catching his breath

“The cat has disappeared, and so the message of your doings will be spelt out to you” – I said to Raul while reading the letter one last time

“What did the message say?”– Raul asked

“Death”

As soon as I said that I dropped the letter and stared at Raul. The book of the living was finally beginning the finally chapter as the first drawing started to appear.