Quinn was most recently in Waggly Tails Pet Home in 2015, after his previous owner Maud Ashby died.
That was it. That was what Carol didn’t want to reveal. Not one, but two of Quinn’s previous owners had died. Lisa drank the last of her drink, scalding her throat as she did so. She got up and headed over to the computer room. She sat down and logged on, entering her library card number. She opened the internet and searched for Maud Ashby. A newspaper article came up.
Local Woman Found Dead in Shed. Local Woman Maud Ashby, 91, was found dead in her shed last week by a carer. In a tragic accident, she appeared to have died by falling onto a pair of gardening shears, dying from blood loss. She leaves a daughter who lives in Yorkshire, and three grandchildren. Mrs. Ashby grew up in Reading and spent all her life here. She is a retired nurse having worked in a children’s ward for…
Lisa stopped reading. That was two of Quinn’s previous owners dying in horrible circumstances. That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? She sent the article to print and went over to the desk. She grabbed her bag and headed home.
~
“Josh, I need to talk to you,” Lisa said. She put some music on the stereo. Josh was on the sofa playing a computer game on a hand-held console.
“Yeah, what?” He said.
“In the bedroom,” Lisa said. Josh followed her in. He started to take off his top.
“No, I don’t mean for that,” Lisa said. Josh pulled a face and put his top back on. She shut the door behind her, sat on the bed and took the papers out of her bag. “I want to show you this.” He sat down next to her, a look of concern on his face as he took the papers from her.
“What’s this?” he said as he started to read it. “Is this about that cat? I don’t understand?”
“Just read it,” Lisa said. She paced up and down the room as he read.
“I don’t get it,” he said. “You said you wanted a cat even though I said it was too soon as we had just moved in. Now we have one, and you’re looking into its history? Why?”
“Can’t you see? Two of Quinn’s previous owners have died in nasty circumstances. It could be us next.”
Josh laughed and threw the papers on the bed. “What are you on?”
“This isn’t funny. The cat put my trainers in the way to try and trip us up. Plus, he tried to lock me on the balcony, and he ripped my top.”
“Are you joking? The balcony thing was your stupidity, not the cats. The cat could have moved your trainers, but most likely it was one of us. And the top? Cats scratch things. You just need to keep the doors shut.” Josh rationalised the events well. He got up and opened the door. Lisa stayed on the bed. Josh came back in holding Quinn. Lisa stood up.
“I’m Quinn, the killer cat! Beware! Beware! Beware!” Josh said in a deep voice. He was holding Quinn in one arm, with a hand he took Quinn’s paw and waved it around as if he was shaking a fist.
“Stop it, Josh. You’re freaking me out!”
“I am Quinn, the evil cat, and I will kill you!” Josh said. Quinn wriggled out of Josh’s grasp and jumped down. He landed softly on the floor then trotted back to his cat bed where he lied down.
“See? He’s just a silly cat,” Josh said. He put his arm around her. Lisa stared at Quinn and wished that Josh is right.
~
That night Lisa slept a bit better. Josh was right. She was acting like an idiot. She had curled up in his arms and fallen into a deep sleep. They were both woken by the sound of a siren outside. They went out to the balcony and looked out. There was an ambulance below, and it’s lights were flashing. Quinn jumped down from the wall of the balcony and ran between them to go into the living room.
“That’s strange, it was like Quinn was outside, and we just let him in,” Lisa said.
“Nah don’t be silly Lisa. He must have run out as we opened the door,” Josh said. He leaned over the balcony and looked below. The paramedic had gone inside of their building. “I’m going to go see what they are up to. They might need some help,” he said. Lisa thought that the paramedics were professionals and probably didn’t want him getting in the way. But she knew it might be best not to say anything. She got back into bed and fell in and out of sleep until she heard Josh return about ten minutes later.
“What happened?” Lisa said.
“Oh, it’s quite sad,” he said. He sat at the end of the bed in front of her. “That lady Doris who you knew. It looks like she fell asleep in the bath and drowned. The neighbors found her when they noticed water coming through their ceiling. She’d dead Lisa, I’m sorry.”
Lisa’s hand went up to her face as she covered her mouth in shock. “She saw something bad in Quinn…she could tell he wasn’t right,” she whispered, a tear ran down her cheek. “I think it was Quinn.” Josh didn’t say anything. He just got into bed next to her. But she could tell by his silence he was starting to consider what she was saying.
~
“Umm Lisa? Can you come here?” Josh’s voice woke her. Lisa grabbed her phone and looked at the time. It was half six in the morning. Lisa groaned. Her alarm wasn’t due to go off for another ten minutes or so. She rolled back over and pulled the blanket over her face. “Lisa get in here.” She heard him shout. Lisa got up and ran into the lounge. She stopped in her tracks when she saw why he had called her. On the floor in the kitchen was the contents of their cutlery drawer. The knives were all over the carpet. The sink was full of water and running onto the floor.
“Believe me now?” Lisa said. Josh nodded. They looked over to Quinn’s basket where he was lying fast asleep.
Leaving Our Troubles
“So what do we say?” Josh said. They were sat outside of the cat shelter in their car. Quinn was in his basket in the back.
“We say we don’t want to be murdered by our cat, so we are giving him back,” Lisa said. “We suggest that you have him put down.”
“We can’t say that,” Josh said. He ran his hand through his hair. “We could say that our landlord said we couldn’t have a pet.”
“That would be a far better excuse. The problem is I gave them a letter from our landlord, saying that we were allowed a cat. Trust us to have the only landlord in the UK who doesn’t mind his tenants having pets.” Lisa looked in the rear-view mirror to Quinn. He was in the car carrier. He looked content. Lisa got out of the car and went and grabbed the carrier.
“What are you going to say?” Josh said.
“I’ll think of something,” Lisa said. She grabbed the cat carrier and shut the car door behind her. Josh followed. She rang the bell and waited to go inside. They stood there in silence. She tried the bell again.
“I don’t think anyone is in,” Josh said.
“What shall we do?” Lisa said. “Shall we leave the cat here?”
“No, they’ll know it’s us. We would get arrested for animal abandonment or something.” They walked in silence back to the car. Josh started to drive home. Then he went off course and started to head out of town.
“Where are you going?” Lisa said.
“Somewhere secluded. We’ll release him into the wild.” Josh said. Lisa didn’t argue. After an hour of driving, they got to a field which was suitably secluded. They pulled up the car. Josh got out and took the carrier out. He walked into the field. Lisa stayed in the car and looked away. She felt a pang of guilt. Should they just be dumping a cat in the middle of nowhere? Even an evil cat like Quinn was still a cat. As she was thinking, Josh came back to the car.
“There, it’s done now,” Josh said. He started the car and drove off. They stayed in silence on the journey back. The further they got from Quinn, the more relief Lisa felt.
~
The next day Lisa headed to the city for work. She worked for an estate agent showing wealthy businessmen and businesswomen investment properties. She loved being in the city and seeing all of the millionaire’s apartments. That night she even enjoyed the commute home, knowing she would be coming back to her l
ovely new flat.
When she arrived at home that night, Lisa took Quinn’s cat bed, food, litter tray, and toys and put them in the bin. She vacuumed the flat and ordered Chinese food, which was Josh’s favorite. They sat and ate together in front of the TV. Then there was a ring on the intercom. They looked at each other. They weren’t expecting anyone, and none of their friends even knew their new address. Lisa went over and picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” She said down the line.
“Lisa Jeffreys? This is Mr. Howard from the RSPCA, can we come up?”
“Yes of course.” She hung up the phone. “It’s the RSPCA Josh!”
“What? How? The cat wasn’t microchipped was it?”
Lisa shook her head. There was a knock at the door. She opened the door, and there was an RSPCA officer there holding Quinn in a cat carrier.
“You found our cat. How?” Lisa said, her arms folded.
The man frowned, obviously expecting a more eager response. “He was found walking along the side of a motorway last night. A motorist took him in and took him to us, and we traced his chip back to the Cat Rescue. They knew him and identified you as the owner.”
“Thank you very much,” Josh said. He went up to the man and took the cat carrier from him and took Quinn out. Quinn jumped onto the floor and ran over to where his bed used to be. He looked around and realised it was gone. He turned and glared at Lisa and Josh. He jumped up onto the sofa and sat down on one of the cushions.
“You didn’t report him missing then?” The man said. “The cat rescue thought he was still with you.”
“Well, he only ran out yesterday. He jumped off of the balcony.” Lisa lied. “I put signs up on the street. I just thought he would come home when he was hungry.”
“Do you want to come in and see if he is ok?” Josh stood back and motioned for him to come in. The man looked at Quinn who was now asleep on the sofa.
“No, the cat rescue said they had already checked you out before they gave you Quinn. And I know that new cats can keep people busy. Just be careful. Maybe give him a few more days to settle in before letting him outside.”
Josh walked the man out and shook his hand in the corridor. He then joined Lisa back inside. He shut the door behind him and locked it.
“It looks like we are stuck with him,” Josh said. Lisa stood leaning against the wall. She didn’t want to get any closer to the cat.
“I can’t live here with him,” she whispered. “That is not a normal cat.”
“I believe you, Lisa, I do. But we can’t just release him again, can we? What happens if they find out we are trying to dump him? We could get a criminal record. No one will believe us if we say our cat is evil.”
“No, Lisa said. But I have another idea.”
~
It was close to midnight by the time the doorbell rang. Lisa and Josh were sat in the bedroom waiting for it to ring. Both of them had been too frightened to go back into the living room. Josh had bought some cat food which Quinn had eaten out of a cereal bowl. With no cat basket, they had given him a towel which they had placed where his cat bed once was. Lisa went and answered the door.
“Is this where the spirit is?” The woman at the door asked. She was tall and willowy with wild blonde hair with dyed purple streaks. She was wearing a long black dress and was wearing several rings. Lisa nodded and let her in. She walked into the room and held her hands out in front of her, as if she was feeling some invisible energy in the room. She closed her eyes for a minute and made a low humming sound. Then she opened her eyes and turned to Josh who was standing in the hallway. “Light these,” she said to him. She thrust a bag of candles towards him. “Put them in a circle and turn out all of the lights.” He nodded, bemused by the whole situation.
“Can I do anything?” Lisa asked.
“Yes, prepare a circle.” The woman thrust a container of salt at her. Lisa looked at it, bemused. “A circle?” The woman rolled her eyes as if she was spelling out something very obvious. “Yes, make a circle on the floor out of the salt. It needs to be big enough for us all to sit in.” Lisa looked to Josh and raised an eyebrow. They did as she was told. Lisa pushed the sofa back against a wall and took the lid off of the salt.
“There goes our deposit,” she whispered as she poured salt into a large circle. The woman was crouched next to Quinn on the floor. “Sorry I didn’t catch your name?” Lisa said, louder.
“That was because I didn’t give it.” The strange woman replied in a matter of fact manner. “I am Eleanor,” she turned and looked to Quinn. “I can see that you are a very old soul,” She said to him. She picked him up and stepped into the circle. “Bring the candles to me.” She said to Josh. He nodded and brought her over some more candles. She gestured for them all to sit together in the circle. She lit a large candle and placed it in front of her. She pulled out a lump of hair from the back of Quinn. He flinched. But the woman started rubbing him behind his ears so quickly that he soon forgot and started to relax again. “Now Josh. When I tell you to, I want you to burn these hairs using the candle and drop them into this.” She gestured to the silver cup. And then I want you to pour the candle wax on top of the hairs, and then extinguish the candle with your thumb and third finger, have you got that?” He nodded. “I said have you got that?”
“Yes. Burn hairs…pour wax, and put out the candle.” He almost shouted. Lisa looked at him. She couldn’t work out if he was angry or afraid. Possibly both.
The woman started humming what sounded like a lullaby. Quinn was resting in her arms. He looked content. If you didn’t know anything about him, you would think that he was just a normal cat. Eleanor’s humming got louder. She started making noises as if she was speaking in tongues. Josh and Lisa looked at each other but stayed silent.
“I ask you spirit, what do you want from us?” She said. Suddenly Quinn’s eyes opened. He looked scared. He tried to jump away, but the woman was too quick. She held him tight to her. For such a willowy woman she was surprisingly strong. Quinn couldn’t move his limbs to scratch her. He tried to bite her, but she was too quick. She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his head back so he couldn’t get to her. “Spirit? What do you want?” The candles in the room started to flicker. The woman’s head dropped forward, her hair covering her face. She made a noise that sounded something between a purr and a moan. Josh and Lisa looked at each other. Lisa wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or cry. She turned back to look at the woman. Eleanor’s arms fell limp. Quinn was passed out in her arms. Lisa looked at Josh. Had this gone wrong? Did they need to do something?
“Arrgh!” The woman cried out. Her head shot up, her eyes wide. “I am the thing that the monsters are scared of. I am the thing that watches you at night. I am from an old place, a dark place. And I am not frightened of you.” The woman glared at Lisa. “What do you want?” Lisa said to the woman, but knowing that she was speaking to Quinn, or whatever lived inside of him.
“Destruction, sadness, pain, chaos,” The woman said. Lisa felt the room grow cold.
“Why? All we have done is to try and look after you? We just wanted a pet.”
“That is it. You just wanted a pet. You never wanted anything more than to own me, but I cannot be owned. I will not settle until I have caused more misery and pain.”
“Then leave, leave and never come back!” Lisa shouted. She heard banging on the ceiling. She had woken up the neighbors. She didn’t care. “Leave us. We don’t want you anymore! She shouted.”
“I can’t wait,” Mickey said. “I have to end this.” He took the cat fur and lit it and dropped it into the metal bowl. He watched it burn then poured the wax onto it.
“Neeeeeeoooooow,” the woman shouted out. She sounded half human and half cat. Eleanor fell forward. She let go of Quinn who laid on the floor in front of her.
“What happens now?” Lisa whispered. Josh got up and went over to the woman, he gently pulled her so she was sitting upright, then
lowered her to the floor. He rested her head on a cushion. Lisa stood up and looked to Quinn. He was sitting quietly, his back to her. “Do you think it has worked? Do you think that Quinn is…better now?”
“I don’t know. I’m more concerned about this woman. Where did you find her?” Josh said. He put his ear to her mouth to see if she was breathing.
“I found her online on a website for mediums. I didn’t see what her name was and she didn’t say.” Lisa looked to the woman as she started to stir.
“It has worked,” she croaked. “The beast has left your pet. He is free now.” The woman sat up. She stretched her arms out as if she had woken from a deep sleep. “My work here is done.” She stood up and started to gather her things. Lisa stared at her, not sure how to react to the events of the evening. The woman stood in front of Lisa and looked at her. “The payment?”
“Of course,” Lisa said. She walked over to her purse and pulled out the money. She handed it to the woman who left and shut the door behind her.
“This is good…isn’t it?” Josh said. He put an arm around Lisa.
“I guess so,” she said. They looked over at Quinn who was washing a paw. Time would tell.
A Normal Day?
The next day was the weekend. Josh got up early. Lisa stayed in bed drifting in and out of sleep. She could smell bacon sizzling in the next room. She heard the door creak open. Lisa rolled over and looked. It was Quinn.
“Are you coming to see me, Quinn?” Lisa said. Quinn walked in and jumped up onto the bed. He arched his back in a long stretch. He then paced around the bed before settling himself at Lisa’s side. Lisa looked at him. Did he seem different? He certainly didn’t look like he was plotting to kill her. Lisa closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.
Haunted House Tales Page 99