IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S A DEVIL

When Jakes little sister came running in the house he immediately knew it was going to be trouble. He could see the evil in the kitty. But he also knew there was no sense arguing with his mom and dad because they had already told Courtney that she could have it. From experience he knew that his sister was a spoiled brat and anything she wanted she got. So Jake decided he would keep an eye on this cat and the first sign of anything bad he would take care of the problem himself.
The days went on and even though nothing seemed to be happening Jake still grew more and more suspicious of the cat. He didn’t know what it was but there was no doubt in his mind that someone in the family was going to find out. The weird thing was that the cat looked at Jake as if it knew what he was thinking.
A few more weeks had gone by when Jake had almost let his guard down the first event finally happened. First of all this cat was growing a lot bigger than it should have but that didn’t seem to matter to anyone. Jake was walking past the barn when out of the corner of his eye he spotted something moving on the fence. When Jake looked up it was the weirdest thing. It was as if the cat had been waiting for him because to Jake it looked like it smirked before jumping on the back of one of the laying hens and killing it almost immediately. Jake was terrified and frozen which in turn gave the cat time to get back to the house before Jake could. When Jake got back to the house he tried to tell his mom and dad what he saw but of course Courtney got all cranky and denied everything on behalf of her cat. Jake took his dad out and showed him and he couldn’t believe it when he blamed the dead hen on either Jakes dog or coyotes.
Jake was furious and decided that he was going to take care of this problem him self and he was going to do it tonight. So later on in the evening Courtney was playing with her dolls, mom and dad were watching television and Jake knew the cat was still out side so he decided it was time to make it disappear. Jake knew it would be sleeping on the deck so that’s where he headed and sure enough there was the cat. Jake walked up slowly behind it and just when he was about to grab the little sucker it turned around baring fangs that not even a cat should have. Jake stumbled back. He was terrified. He knew this was no normal cat. He just had to figure a way to get rid of it or get someone to believe him. Either way there was going to be nothing easy about either task.
Through out the next couple of weeks a lot of things were happening that Jake knew was a result of the cat. More chickens were found dead, dogs, calves and even pigs were found dead. However it wasn’t just happening on Jakes farm but on the neighboring farms as well. Jake had tried to use the gun on the cat a few times but it seemed that it was always one step ahead of Jake. Jake was at the point where he didn’t care any more. He knew that the cat slept in Courtney’s room and tonight he and the cat would have a show down. He knew his little sister would be there but right now that was irrelevant.
The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever. Jake just wanted to get this over with. He knew he was going to be the bad person after this was finally over and done with. He couldn’t figure out why everyone else was so blind to this. Hell the cat was as big as a bobcat and why no one found this strange was beyond him. Every time he tried to talk to some one about it they would look at him strange. It was as if he was the only one seeing this. Why was he always around when the cat carried out its evil doings? Why was he the only one to ever see the things that were happening? Oh well it didn’t matter anymore because one way or another it would all be over with tonight.
Finally the time came. It was about 2 in the morning. Jake had been lying on his bed holding the gun he had planned on using on the cat. He checked the clip probably about 20 times just to make sure it was loaded. Each time it was the same thing. All the shells were in the gun. Now that Jake was convinced everyone would be sleeping it was time for him to get done what he new he needed to do weeks ago.
So his plan was to walk in find the cat, aim the gun and let the shot go. There would be no hesitation. He couldn’t allow something or someone to get in his way. He would worry about the consequences after because at the end of the day he knew he was doing the right thing. All his plans would change as soon as he walked in the door of his sister’s bedroom. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. There on the bed, the walls, the floors and everywhere he could see there was blood. So much blood. In front of him the cat was walking on the obviously dead body of his sister. Now he was enraged. Jake picked up the gun and just started shooting. He didn’t even see the cat walk past him. All he could do was shoot the gun. He kept pulling the trigger until there were no bullets left. Right after the last shot was fired he seen a bright light, felt something hit his head very hard and he fell to the floor.
A little while later Jake woke up. He was lying on a gurney and he was handcuffed to the rails. He didn’t know what was going on but whatever it was he knew it couldn’t be good. About a minute after he woke up someone realized that he was up and all of a sudden he was being swarmed by his parents and a number of police officers. They were all asking him the same question. They were asking him why he would kill Courtney. The only two words he could muster was “the cat.” Then Jake noticed something. His mom was holding the cat but now it was small again. There was no doubt that it was the same cat only now it really looked like a kitten. How could this happen? What the hell was going on? The officer asked Jake why he would want to shoot his sister. The question confused Jake for a moment and then he realized something.
Jake went back to all the incidents and reminded himself that he was the only one there. Could he have been the one that did this? The officer told him that his sister died from being shot 3 times. Once in the head and twice in the chest. Then he realized it. He couldn’t believe it but the facts were all pointing at him. He couldn’t believe he had done all these terrible things. What else could it be? As he was being loaded into the ambulance he tried talking to his parents but that seemed to now be a relationship broken forever. How could he blame them after all it looked like he had just killed their daughter?
Just as the doors to the ambulance were being closed the last thing Jake saw was Courtney’s cat in his mothers arm. What he saw last was the answer to his fears even though he new it wouldn’t help his case. There was no doubt in jakes mind that the cat smirked and blinked at him just before the doors closed on his freedom forever.


Dale Mazurek