We hit the road in our wedding attire, determined to spend our honeymoon road-tripping across the country. We enjoyed our newlywed life travelling the countryside, singing along to radio songs as we drove with a bottle of champagne on the seat beside us, and being affectionate every chance we had. The sunset gradually gave way to the night on that lonely road; we opened the windows for fresh air to clear the tobacco smoke. Suddenly, a large animal emerged from the dark edge of the forest and jumped out in front of the car. “WATCH OUT!” I shouted. All I could see was the glow of its yellow-greenish eyes reflected by the headlights rapidly getting closer to the windshield. Lamb instinctively swerved, trying to avoid the creature, but he lost control of the steering wheel, and crashed into a transmission tower.
At that moment, my world came to a complete halt. I saw images flash through my mind in slow motion, and suddenly everything turned very dark. Fortunately, the airbags deployed, and apart from the shock and adrenaline, we were unharmed. I can’t say the same for the car; its frontend was half-collapsed, causing an eerie noise and emitting white smoke. Shock or fear prevented us from evacuating the car rapidly but after a minute of gathering our senses, we quickly distanced ourselves from the vehicle without taking anything, and minutes later, it started to burn. We watched it burn by the roadside, hoping for another vehicle to pass, but that night seemed to be against us. First, isolated thunder, then lightning, and gradually, heavy rain started pouring in the middle of that desolate place.
For the first hour we walked in silence under the rain, the silence was broken when we started to inquire what animal jumped in front of us, and if it was harmed, as there were no traces of it. Our conversations shifted to our families, plans of our future together, reminiscing on how quickly we fell in love with each other and marrying in just a few months. Hours passed and nobody has drove past us yet. We crossed what seemed like an entrance path and saw a house in the distance. We ventured, hoping to find someone living there or at least a place to shelter from the rain. The only illumination was the occasional lightning. «Look, Lamb,» I said, pointing to a figure about ten meters outside the house. We shouted, but it seemed to not hear us, so we hastened our pace towards the figure. As we approached, there was no one outside. We knocked on the door, «<Hello, is anyone there?>» but no one answered. The door was slightly ajar, so we decided to enter. The interior was pitch dark; the wood creaked under our feet as we walked up the steps, echoing in the silence, the lightning sporadically illuminated the inside of the house revealing the dusty furniture, partially open windows causing the curtains to sway in the wind. At the back back of the room, next to the wall, there was a fireplace ready to be lit, and on an adjacent shelf, we found candles and a box of matches.
We were like two children sitting on the floor watching the fire grow, gradually glowing up our faces. The last few hours had been stressful, and for a moment, we had a break. We remained silent; I leaned in towards Lambs weary face to kiss him, but at that moment I saw a figure outside the window. Its gaze was familiar, and I screamed in fear. «<Someone is outside, dear!>» Lamb stood up, looked around, grabbed the fireplace poker, and stared intensely toward the window. «<Who’s there? Who’s outside??>» but no one answered. Lamb fearfully approached toward the door, peered outside, hesitated, and I joined him, but we saw no one.
Nervous, we returned inside and inspected the house. There were old-framed photographs on the walls, with faces of people who, perhaps, once inhabited the place. We found a dusty album of photos and newspaper clippings telling a series of love stories, but as they progressed, tragedies unfolded too. On the last page, it spoke of a mysterious disappearance and the futile search, accompanied by a photograph of an older man sitting in an armchair with a large black cat in his lap. A chill ran down my spine; the cat’s bright eyes from the camera flash looked at me, reminding me of the eyes illuminated by the car headlights, the eyes of the animal we had run over a few hours ago. We continued to search the house and in a corner of the room we discovered a small makeshift altar with worn-out candles and personal items. The black cat was depicted in various images and figurines. As we approached, I felt a strange sensation, as if the atmosphere was imbued with someone else’s energy.
We continued to explore more rooms. More photographs everywhere, the black cat, ever-present, seemed to be more than a simple pet. Its eyes shone with an unusual intensity, as if emanating a supernatural presence.
We discovered a door leading to a basement, a gust of cold air enveloped us; we hesitated but decided to descend the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs there was a small room; in the center of the room was a table covered with lit candles forming a strange circle, and the walls had strange drawings and symbols. I felt a change in the atmosphere; the temperature suddenly dropped, a soft murmur echoed in the air, distant whispers approaching, and the candles flickered with more and more intensity. At that moment, we sensed someone else in the basement with us. A figure appeared on the table, seated and leaning on two legs, within the circle of candles; it was the silhouette of the cat, looking at me. A few meters behind its back stood the figure of the older man, the same we saw in the photograph. Without saying a word, he reached out to the black cat; but the cat hissed and growled, its maniacal meow reverberating in my head, looking at me with eyes radiating anger and fire.
I was so scared, I tried to utter a word, but fear paralyzed me. Suddenly, the screams disappeared, the candles went out, plunging us into darkness. Distant cries and echoes filled the silence of the room, coming from the floor, the walls, from all sides, unintelligible voices of lament. I screamed in despair. Suddenly, the cries vanished, the candles lit up again, and we were alone again. Overwhelmed, we tried to leave, not understanding what we had just experienced. Terror enveloped us as we hurriedly climbed the stairs to get away. We ran towards the door, but something invisible pushed us back. Lamb struggled with the lock, but the door was sealed, as if the house itself resisted any attempt to leave. Behind us, next to the fireplace, the old man stood; it was at this moment that the old man spoke, «<You can’t leave; he won’t let you go.>»
The old man’s voice trembled, laden with sorrow and melancholy. «<What is happening here? Let us out,>» I begged, but ignoring my words, he began to tell us his story. One day, while walking in the forest that surround his house, he found a black cat, lonely and abandoned. Feeling compassion for the feline, he brought it home. As the cat settled in, the atmosphere began to change. The behavior and health of the man’s wife deteriorated gradually. What was once a home filled with love and laughter turned into a place marked by sadness and strangeness. The woman, once full of life, became distant, as if being consumed. The animal and she spent hours alone. Tormented by worry and suspicion, he decided to get rid of the cat, whom he blamed. He confessed that he took the cat to the forest, beat it to death, and buried it. The next morning, his wife was not with him; he searched for her, went down to the basement, opened the door, and found a gruesome scene: his wife lay lifeless on the floor, surrounded by a circle of candles, while the black cat rested, purring on her belly. «<I tried to catch him but to no avail, and then I tried to leave the house, but he wouldn’t allow it.» He told us how he buried his wife in the basement, desperate, he sat in his wooden chair, waiting for his death. «<The cat seeks my wife and feeds its diabolic power through the bodies of others.>»
The old man’s confession left us in a sepulchral silence. «<We have to get out of here,>» I said, and that’s when the cat appeared. Without hesitation, Lamb lunged at the animal, trying to catch it. The cat didn’t move; it remained still, unmoving, not defending itself, as if waiting for that moment. Lamb grabbed it, «<No, stop!>» I yelled, but he wouldn’t listen. Without hesitation, he took the cat with both hands and threw it forcefully into the fireplace.
We heard screams of pain, the house began to tremble, the fire started to spread, engulfing everything, the old man watched us impassively, the roof was engulfed in flames consuming the house, we tried to force doors, windows, but we were trapped. Exhausted, we gave up, embraced in the middle of the living room, desperate, not knowing what to do, smoke and flames enveloped everything, I could barely breathe, and I felt myself fainting.
I have images and vague flashbacks of memories where I open my eyes; I am inside the car, the horn keeps emitting its dull sound, rain falls gently, and the smell of smoke permeates the air. Lamb lies beside me, unconscious, with a bleeding head; I hit his shoulder repeatedly, trying futilely to wake him up. The smoke is suffocating; I struggle to remove my seatbelt. The car is burning around me; I manage to open the door, crawl on the floor, move away a few meters, and collapse on the ground. Now I find myself in a hospital room; the light is dim, and the sound of monitors resonates in the air. My mind is cloudy, with mixed scenes of the car, the burning house, Lamb. The old man and the black cat appear in my head, like a terrible nightmare between reality and dream.
The doctor and a nurse entered, noticing that I had regained consciousness. «<What happened?>» I asked with difficulty. They explained that I had been in a car accident and was found lying on the road, unconscious a few meters from the car, with internal bruises, but they weren’t concerned about my life. Still disoriented, I asked about Lamb, hoping the answer would be different from what I feared. They informed me that he couldn’t get out of the car, and my heart sank; tears threatened to overflow as I struggled to understand what had happened—everything confusion, the accident, the house, the old man…
The nurse asked me to rest and approached with kindness and a faint smile, saying, «<By the way, it was challenging to separate your cat from your side. He’s surprisingly well, without a scratch. Now that you’re awake, I’ll tell the porter to bring him to keep you company, as you’ve been unconscious for a couple of days. We didn’t know what to do with him, so we took him to the Children’s Pavilion to cheer up the kids and play with them.>»
The End?