A half-eaten dirty and gray rat, moving only on its hind legs, ran through Alice’s living room. She shrieked and ran behind the couch with her two friends, trying hard not to make a peep as she crouched down. She peered around the side of the sofa, seeing blood and guts protruding from the front of the creature. The smell reminded her of fishing worms, being an odor that brought forth images of her dad cutting a worm in half and placing it on a hook. She cringed at the sound of its feet scurrying across the carpet, hearing a claw-like aftereffect with each strike of its paw. She firmed the muscles over her ears, but she couldn’t shut it out. Alice put her hand over her belly button, feeling her stomach hurt. She focused in on the large heating grate, being one of two in the room in the old wood framed house, believing that the rodent went down it. Her heart raced as she looked around, bracing herself for the rat to leap out at her in the next moment.
Just then, a black cat walked out into the middle of the room. The sight of the feline terrified her, so she scooted behind the sofa even more. The creature had wickedly green eyes, wearing a collar with a charm that had the eye of Horus engraved in it. She cringed when she saw the cat move in on her so she slid along the back of the couch and hid behind an end table. She felt Beth clinging to her, or perhaps it was she that was clutching her.
She tried to keep that end table between her and the cat, seeing the creature stop behind the couch and just stand there waiting for her. Just then, she heard something banging around in the heating duct. She gazed at the grate while clenching her fists together in preparation for it scuttle out of there.
The living room had a warm and cozy feel about it. A large front window with a decorative stained glass transom shaped pane above it was the center of the room. A fern sat on one side of this casement. A couch, love seat, and two chairs surrounded an oval shaped rug that was knitted by hand.
"Alice. Alice," Beth whispered in a frantic tone. "We have to get out of here." She was nine, had long blond hair, and brown eyes. Dimples and sunken cheeks highlighted her face. She wore a dress.
"Don’t you think I’m trying to. As soon as we run out from behind this couch that cat is going to get us." Alice said. She was nine and had long curly auburn hair. She wore a dress and patent leather shoes with socks. Bretts were in each side of her hair and a press on tattoo of Sponge Bob was on her right forearm.
"Let’s go."
"Okay." Alice started out from behind that end table, jolting after hearing a loud crash in the heating vent. She clung to the surface of the end table, shivering so badly that she heard her teeth chatter.
The cat approached her, and its eyes gleamed with greenness. She squinted while gazing at that brightness, seeing a spot or two. She moved her foot to run for the kitchen, but her fear immobilized her. The feline sashayed right up to Beth, staring directly into
her eyes. Just then, Beth turned into a cat. She appeared rust and white colored, possessing strange yellow eyes.
"Ahhhh." Meg shouted.
"Come on." Alice tugged on Meg’s arm.
Beth purred at her. Alice inhaled hard and held her breath as she run up the steps with Meg. She didn’t dare look back, but rather closed the door and locked it. She sat on the floor next to her bed, clinging to Meg. Her eyes never left the entry.
The room had a little girl’s bed with Barbie bedspread on it. A Barbie dream house, a Barbie Corvette, several dolls and clothes made up one corner of the room. A plastic vanity with play make up sat opposite the bed, and for a moment she thought that she saw something flicker in that mirror.
Just then, she heard the cat scratching on her door. She flinched and gasped out loud, certain that the cat heard her. Panic gushed through every nerve in her body. She heard the sound of her heart beating in her ears. Despite listening for any sound that the cat might make, she heard nothing.
"Maybe it’s Beth," Meg said. She was eight and had short blond hair. Although slim, her face appeared a bit chubby. She too wore a dress.
"Sh. It’s going to hear us," Alice whispered.
"But it might be Beth. She might need our help."
"It’s not Beth. It’s that cat, and its come to turn us into cats." Alice spoke through tight lips.
"What did it do with Beth?"
"Sh."
"But what if it’s…" Meg began.
Just then, the creature began scratching at the door once again. She dove under the bed out of instinct, seeing the front portion of a half-eaten rat staring her in the eye. She slid out and got onto her feet fast. She said, "Ahhhhhh."
Her back came up against the wall, which felt cold and hard to her. She believed that she was two feet away from it, gasping while pressing her butt into it. Following a tense moment, she watched Beth come through the open window and leap down onto the floor. Her breathing broke into a quick and shallow rhythm. She tried to force her shoulder blades further into the wall. She felt anxiety swirl around inside of her, stirring up the contents of her stomach. Just then, Beth began purring and curling around her feet. Part of her wanted to pet Beth, but somewhere deep within she screamed at herself to run away.
She sprang forward, going to the door and putting her ear to it. She didn’t detect anything, but in her mind she saw that cat standing there waiting for her. When she felt Beth brush up against her, she tried her best to inch away from her. She kept one hand on the doorknob, throwing the bolt that unlocked the door.
"Don’t," Meg said.
"Sh," Alice said without turning around.
"You’re going to let that cat in here." Meg whispered.
"We can’t stay here."
"But that cat is out there."
"Sh." Alice opened the door a crack, peering out both directions of the hallway. She inhaled hard while thrusting open the door. She said, "Hurry. Run, run out of this house."
"Where’s that cat?" Meg asked.
Alice ran out of her room, sprinting down the hall for the steps. She traveled only six feet before noticing half-eaten rats trotting around all over the place. The cat slunk out from seemingly nowhere, blocking her path to the staircase. She stopped and then felt Meg run into her from behind. The shuddering tore through her, taking root in her knocking knees. She bit her lip in her panic and cried with tears streaming down her cheeks. Just then, she heard Beth hiss at her from behind. She wiped her eyes, looked back, and saw Beth displaying her teeth while her hair stood up on her back. She led Meg into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it fast.
The washroom, appearing just as it did during the nineteen twenties, had a sink with two faucets. Lights with pull chains sat on either side of the mirror, and the medicine cabinet was constructed of real wood. The tub, which had feet, was made of actual porcelain. The toilet, built in the same manner, had a separate tank that was bolted to the wall. A frosted glass window occupied the far wall at the midpoint of the tub.
"W-We have to c-crawl out t-the window," Meg stammered.
"I don’t think I can reach it. That cat is going to get in here. Oh my God is that it?" Alice huffed, "The door’s still locked." Alice didn’t take her eyes off the door.
"We have to do something. Please let’s crawl out the window."
"I don’t think that door is going to hold it."
"We can…" Meg began.
Just then, Alice heard the cat hiss and paw at the door. She trembled and picked at her dress with her fingernail when she heard those claws strike against that wood. She backed up, stopping only when her posterior came in contact with the tub. Regardless of the bathtub, she didn’t dare take her eyes off the entry. Alice saw that creature digging its talons into her in her mind. She shuddered when she saw herself walking with Beth, as a feline.
Just then, something stirred in the medicine cabinet. She felt her chest become tight, feeling a burning sensation over her heart. She had to breathe through her mouth. A vibration rippled through the mirror, Alice hearing something strike the medicine cabinet door from behind it. She listened as several of the pill bottles inside the case were spewed about. She banged into the tub with the heels of her shoes. What she saw in her mind was a third cat, one with evil jade eyes that was ready to turn her into a kitty.
Alice listened to something strike the inside of that medicine chest even harder, seeing the lights on either side of it flicker. Just then, it happened again, but this time the cabinet door flew open. A half eaten rat, the rear portion, leaped down and began running around the room.
"It’s going to get us," Meg shouted.
"Let’s get in the bathtub," Alice gasped.
"Make it go away."
"Hurry and get in here. It’s going to get us."
"I’m hurrying."
She flinched as the rat ran right by her, seeing it almost make contact with her leg. As she swung one foot into the tub, she watched the bathroom door came open. She braced herself to see that cat standing there, waiting to pounce on her.
"Let’s get out of here," Meg whispered.
"But that cat’s out there," Alice whispered back.
"I don’t see that cat anywhere. We have to leave."
"Okay, but let’s stay together."
"We have to go downstairs."
"Sh." Alice led her to the door. She got to the doorframe, and then stopped. She glanced both ways in a lingering manner while stepping forth on shaky legs. Despite feeling her jaw muscles get tighter, she sauntered even faster in an effort to get away from it. She arrived at the steps, darting down them, ceasing in an abrupt manner as she entered the living room.
What she witnessed shocked her to such a point that she thought that she might faint in the next moment. She tried to scream but shock raped her of her ability to speak. She heard something pelting the hardwood floor, and the sound was continuous. She gasped and turned around to see what it was, noticing that Meg was defecating. The movement of her feet was back toward the stairs, not being consciously aware that she was doing so. She clung to the banister, viewing half eaten rats, some front portions and some the backs, run around all over the first floor of the house.
"L-Let’s go b-back upstairs," Meg said.
"We can’t." Alice didn’t take her eyes off the rats.
"That cat has to be around here."
"We just came from upstairs."
"Well we have to go back."
"We can…" Alice looked Meg in the eye. She sensed panic surging through her chest, tingling on the surface of her skin around her rib cage. She shook so hard that she had to clench her jaw in order to prevent her teeth from chattering. Meg’s eyes turned green, glistening with that same fiendish jade hue that Alice observed in the cat’s eyes. Just then, she flinched and prepared for Meg to attack her. Despite trying to move away from her, the rats began crawling all over the two of them.
"Get them off me." Meg shook her legs.
"We have to get of this floor." Alice scurried about, trying to keep the rats off of
her.
"Let’s go back to your room."
"Try to make it to the closet."
"I’m trying."
Alice darted ahead, cringing as she stepped on a few rats. She leaped up onto the love seat, seeing that Meg was right behind her. The rodents tried to make their way up to her, certain to find a route before long. She moved over to the edge of the sofa, beholding the cat plop down from the ceiling. Alice jumped back when the feline landed on Meg, who fell down onto her back on the cushions, coming to rest on her chest. The creature’s eyes sparkled with a wicked emerald hue, transforming Meg into a gray-stripped cat.
The beast turned on Alice, who fought to keep her eyes from the cat. Petrified by
fear, she could only stand there and watch the cat move in on her. The feline opened its mouth and hissed at her, having much muscular tension around its snout. It gazed at her with unmoving eyes. She shifted her right foot forward to leap off of the love seat, but she felt dizzy by the sight of the rats running around all over the floor. She observed Meg jump onto the back of the divan, coming after her with a sinister look in her eyes.
Alice inhaled hard and held her breath, hurdling off the love seat. The rats were creeping up her legs, doing their best to work their way up her body. She dashed to the front door, turning the lock and then attempting to open it. The entry seemed to be nailed in place, because it didn’t budge. She checked the lock once again, twisting the knob in the other direction, yet the panel remained in place.
Just then, a rat made it past her knee. She shrieked and brushed it off, seeing that the cat was closing in on her. She ran back to the love seat, climbing onto it and heading
straight for the window. The feline jumped up onto the arm of the sofa, walking along the back on the divan. The creature hissed and then swiped its paw at her, pelting her with its breath.
Alice threw the latch on the window, grunting while trying to lift the heavy wood framed structure. The feline moved to within two feet of her, tearing at the fabric of couch with its paw. She sucked in her lips and bit down on them while shoving on the panel with all the strength she had. The casement creaked but didn’t move. She knew that she had to fight that cat, having to do it without looking at it. She listened to it pace right up to her.
"Ouch." Alice shouted, feeling the cat tear into her leg with its claws. She cried as the result of the pain, wiping her eyes several times. That odor of fishing worms inundated her nostrils. She spun around to look at it, witnessing the half-eaten rats pouring over the arms of the sofa. She backed away from them, only to feel the cat curl around her feet. Sweat covered her body, forming pools around her forehead. She felt herself becoming dizzy, and the walls seemed to be moving around.
Just then, the cat tore into her with its claws. She huffed while sobbing beyond control, producing only a low-pitched gurgling sound. While trying to scream out, she pissed all over the couch. The rats began crawling up her legs, working as teams to get as high as possible. They felt gooey yet had piercing feet. She shouted, "Mommy. Mommy. Please help me there’s a cat in here."
Just then, the cat leaped up onto her chest. She flailed back, grabbing the cat out of reflex. When she moved her head to look at the feline, she felt a strange power surging through her. The energy built, reaching a point to where it was prickling on the surface of her skin. Following several seconds, the energy compacted to cat size.
Alice looked at her living room through green cat eyes, viewing everything from a low angle. The half-eaten rats seemed much bigger to her and she harbored no desire to run away from them. Alice snarled her snout, displaying her teeth and watching her whiskers move. Something deep inside of her made her hiss, Alice focusing all of her attention on one of the half-eaten rats running around. She crept up on it, sashaying as close to the ground as possible. Then she stopped. Her hissing erupted into a powerful fit, working its way through her body and making the hair on her back stand straight up. Alice sprang forward, pouncing on the rat, tearing at the guts and eating them.
Bio:Tom Arbino is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and works designing banners and selling advertising on the internet. He plans to direct a no-budget horror movie in the summer of 2005 called Blood and Roses.
E-mail: shadowravenhawk@yahoo.com
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