by Yume
* * *
The night was frigid. The breeze was freezing. It was unusual, especially in mid-summer. Ted strolled along the avenue, down to the crossroads.
He could not fathom what he was doing. Neither did he know why. After he left the café and returned home, his wife began to direct her dissatisfaction on him again. He loved her dearly and clearly realized he was not a dedicated and responsible husband. He would give away anything to get a better life for Iris and his children, but crime! He wouldn’t kill, not even a tiny fly.
There it was again. Shaw was out murdering pets that strayed at night. His figure became smaller and smaller as he turned around the corner and into the alley again.
Automatically, Ted followed.
On hearing footsteps, Shaw stopped.
“Ted?”
“Em…” Ted didn’t say a word.
Shaw didn’t turn around and kept on walking.
“I don’t mind you watching.” He murmured. “Just don’t make a noise.”
In a fleeting moment, Shaw gripped the sleeping cat from the dustbin cover and wielded the dagger.
“No!”
The cat screeched and next, its neck was cut open. Blood dribbled down the ghastly lesion.
Ted wanted to cry but he remained speechless and motionless.
There were a few kittens that were too small to leap. Having witnessed their mother murdered, they couched in one corner, shuddering badly.
“Don’t do that, Shaw.”
“Shut up.” Shaw said. He chucked the dead cat into a black bag he brought and approached the kittens.
Violently, he grabbed them by each and sliced open their body. The whining noise filled the place.
Almost unable to endure any more, Ted caught a glimpse of the bag. Something was moving inside.
“Shaw…”
“I told you to shut up!”
Hands covered with blood, Shaw turned and gawked angrily at him.
“You’re going to wake someone!”
“Look at the bag…” Ted stammered.
The bag was surely moving.
Slowly and inexplicably, out of it crawled the wounded cat.
“Jesus,” Shaw said and held up his dagger. “I thought it was dead.”
“No, stop it!”
Before Ted could step in, the cat shrieked. The sound was deafening and terrible. It broke the entire silence of the night. Both men had to cover their ears to protect the hearing at once.
“What a beast!” Shaw roared and hurled the dagger. It missed the cat.
The creature leapt up high in the air and landed on the roof.
“What a savage,” Its voice echoed in the dark.
By then, Ted was trembling awfully. He was certain he didn’t mishear anything. The cat just talked!
“What!?” Shaw looked just as astound as him.
The cat then jumped and turned into a whirl of dark mist. Behind the mist stood a lady dressed in black.
“Hello, Greg Shaw.” The girl said, her voice deep and hoarse.
“Who….are you?” Shaw leaned back to the wall and dropped the dagger. “What do you want?”
“For years you have been killing my companions.” The woman said. “What do you think I want?”
“Com…companions?” Shaw was obviously bewildered. “They…are just animals.”
“Yes, you’re right.” The woman grinned. “They’re just animals but their life is worth thousands of yours.”
“Are you a witch?” Shaw interrogated. “I’m not afraid of you!”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of when you’ve come so far.” The stranger laughed. “We’ll see how brave you are, Shaw.”
Out of sudden, the kittens that had perished regained consciousness and stood up. More and more pets appeared mysteriously on the roof, standing neatly in lines.
“What the…” Shaw looked up, frightened.
“Oh my god.” Ted screamed and tried to flee but a huge dog blocked his way.
“I’m innocent!” Ted whimpered. “I have nothing to do with the killings!”
“Of course you did nothing.” The woman said. “You’re too wimpy to save them when you could.”
In the next few seconds, all the dogs and cats seemed to fly into the air together. They jumped down and sprang at the two.
Shaw was the first to be attacked. The wild animals landed on him and started scratching with their paws. Shaw yelled and swung his body vigorously but those pets held on tight to him.
“No! Please!” He cried. A cat wielded its paw and dug into his flesh. He bounced with acute pain.
“You take their skin.” The creepy voice stated. “It would only make sense they take yours!”
If he had thought all those poor pets he had murdered would come back for him one day, he wouldn’t have done anything he would regret like now. Shaw kept twisting and rolling his body, but the agony of the skin being grazed just seemed to get stronger and more unbearable.
He could see nothing but darkness.
His heart was filled with dread and fear.
He struggled and pled but no one heard his prayer.
Now, he was suffering in the same way his preys once did.
It took him a long moment to die. Before he passed away, all his skin had been torn into pieces. Blood was everything. Out of his mouth only came the weak whines. His throat had long been sliced open. He couldn’t talk. He tried to reach out for his dagger but all the pets that attacked him had disappeared. Not far from him he could see another body. Ted had fainted. No matter how much he whimpered, Ted remained still.
And then, things went blurred. His feelings died away and his limbs went lame. There was no sound coming out from his mouth any more.
His eyes were wide open as he lay staring ahead at the dark starry sky.