Scaredy Cat

A man's hand, large and knuckly, reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it. A blade of light from within sliced across his face, and he inclined toward the latch as if to muffle the sound of its opening with his ear. Inside, a beautiful young woman undressed, unaware. Stepping out of a black skirt and high heels, she lifted her slip to reveal long shapely legs, and undid the garters from her stockings. Then she sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled one stocking down along her thigh, over her knee, and past a provocatively arched foot. Some tiny noise, a catch in his breath perhaps, reached her ear, and she stopped for a moment, motionless.

Dear God, thought Everly. Get out of there before it's too late! He's practically in the room with you and he's got a knife and hey, do women actually wear slips and garter belts anymore or is that just wishful thinking by the movie director? Or maybe they do, all the glamorous ones, and I'm just one of the ones they forgot to tell, walking around in nylon knee highs. She pulled her blanket tighter. It was Friday night, about an hour into her video, and as usual, she was cursing her choice of movies. Stiff with tension, cold with fear, her rational brain knew that she was alone, and safe, in her apartment. Her irrational brain, however, was less certain. 

Cautiously, she fingered the remote underneath the blanket, taking the volume down another notch. There would be screaming on the TV soon, and the quieter the better. Her ears were wide open, protruding from her head, she imagined, scanning like radar dishes for the smallest disturbance from inside the apartment. So far, so good. No unfamiliar noises, no creaks, no thumps, no shuffles. She ventured a hand up to rub her neck.

In the next room, unbeknownst to Everly, another pair of eyes watched the movie, and glanced occasionally at the tall redhead cowering on the couch. It was Sergeant, a surly grey tomcat which had been foisted on Everly a few weeks earlier by her brother Devon, en route to Europe for an undetermined length of time. From his observation point on the shelving unit that separated the dining room from the living room, Sergeant noted that Everly was wrapped in a blanket -- his favourite blanket, in fact -- and occupying the choicest spot on the couch. He narrowed his eyes and tapped his tail, not enough to be seen, but just enough to further annoy him. He flattened his ears, and moved forward.

On the television screen, flickering in distorted and disturbing close-ups, the doomed beauty was finishing her shower to an ominous soundtrack. Eyes closed, she reached blindly around the shower curtain, groping for a towel. The music swelled. Everly's heart pounded in an irregular rhythm. She coughed, to keep it from stopping altogether, and to give her ears something normal to listen to. Then she hummed a little until her throat convulsed. This was unbearable. The music was louder now, sucking energy from her, so that her limbs felt empty and inert. Her body was sinking into the couch like it was quicksand and her breathing was ragged. She couldn't have moved to save her life.

And then she heard the noise. Not in the movie, but in the apartment. A whispery soft nearby noise that sent a streak of ice up her back, like biting on tinfoil. And as the intruder attacked and the music blared and the towel fell and the cat pounced, Everly flailed her arms and screamed, the louder the better. And then, missing entirely the heroic entrance of the handsome leading man, but glimpsing (too late) the identity of her own furred attacker, she fainted.

***

The faraway roar in a bottle grew nearer and louder, and settled into distinguishable sounds: her heartbeat, the television, and a dull pounding in her temples. The cold familiar clamminess of her skin told Everly she had fainted -- her frequent reaction to crisis or low blood sugar -- and was now returning to the real world. She collected the moments that had preceded her faint. The movie... the noise... and of course the wretched cat. Even in her semi-conscious state, Everly was able to feel a flush of embarrassment. Ah well, at least she had been alone when it happened.