Night Cat | Night Cat #1 (CURRENTLY EDITING)

Night Cat - Chapter 2 (Edited)

Watch-Cat

I stared up at the sky, trying to count the stars as the moon danced in and out of sight, hiding behind clouds before appearing again and bathing me in its soft light. I inhaled deeply, taking it all in. It was such a beautiful night. A cold breeze played with a strand of my hair, making it tickle my nose. I sighed. It was a really, really beautiful night.

“What the hell?” I bolted upright as realization hit me. “Where the hell is my roof?”

Upon closer inspection, of course, I realized that my roof wasn’t the only thing that was missing. My walls were gone too. I couldn’t find my closet and the door at the far end of my room that led to my adjoining bathroom either. Heck, my entire room had just completely disappeared. 

Wide eyed and alert, I stood up.

A wave of nausea and dizziness hit me, and I squeezed my eyes shut, struggling to keep my dinner down. After a few blinks, the nausea slowly went away and the world righted itself again. Looking down, I examined myself carefully, silently hoping that I was dreaming.

I wasn’t.

I was still wearing the PJs I’d gone to bed in. But now, instead of being clean and smelling like the fabric softener my mom used, they were now covered in dirt and grass. Just where my grey shorts stopped mid-thigh, I noticed multiple, bloodied scratch marks on my skin. Eyes, wide, I looked up and saw the same marks on my arms. Yup, those would probably hurt like hell tomorrow.

What the hell had I been doing out here?

Running a hand through my tangled hair, I tried to remember how I’d gotten here. Of course, the last thing I could remember was changing into my PJs and crawling under my duvet before dozing off. Everything that happened after that was a blank. So how did I get here; Lost in the middle of the woods behind my house, further in than I’d ever dared to venture before? It didn’t make any sense. And no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t seem to remember anything that would answer my questions.

Pulling a twig out of my hair, I looked around. I’d never been much of a girl scout, so I wasn’t really surprised when I realized that I had absolutely no clue which way was home. Maybe if I’d woken up in a more familiar part of the woods, I might have stood a chance. But no, I had to wake up in a section of the woods that I’d never been in before. Lucky me.

I decided to leave any further questions for morning, and focused more on getting home. I was just in the middle of brainstorming a brilliant plan to get back home when something made me freeze in place. It was a purr – and not the kind you’d expect to come out of a regular domestic cat, either. It was a low, dangerous sound and even though I couldn’t see it, I was certain that whatever was making the sound was bigger than Mrs. Bridge’s Siamese cat from next door. Much, much bigger.

Heart pounding, I turned around slowly and cautiously, hoping to God that I wouldn’t find anything and that I had just imagined the purr.

Turned out, except for the long stretch of trees as the woods continued on to who knows where, there was nothing to see. I was alone. All alone in the middle of the woods at some ungodly hour at night and I’d imagined the purr.

Or so I thought.

I was just about to turn back around when I hear the purr again. And this time, I was able to pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from. Above me.

As slowly as I’d turned around, I looked up – and nearly died of a heart attack. Lounging on a thick branch above my head and an extremely large, extremely dangerous-looking panther. A giant. Black. Panther. I kid you not. I probably don’t need to explain how freaked out of my mind I was.