Nothing There

She stopped moving and waited, listening to the silence of her home. At her feet Kate, her longhaired grey cat rubbed against her shin. The single lamp in the living room cast her shadow across the carpeted floor and onto the wall. Between the open drapes behind the couch the panes of glass were black, sightless eyes giving away nothing of the world they looked out at.

In the dim light she thought she heard a rustling in the kitchen, a whispery shuffling of feet rubbing against the vinyl floor. She stared at the doorway to the kitchen, concentrating on the rectangular gloom through which she could make out the edge of a counter and a part of the stove. There isn’t anyone in the house she reassured herself. It’s just my imagination. She inhaled, held her breath and let it out in a gradual expulsion of air.

Her family had checked the house multiple times over the last year. The police had stopped to check every time she called 911. Her therapist prescribed a medication for her to take, a medication that would eliminate the imaginings of her mind. She stopped taking the pills, as she didn’t like how they made her feel.

Something moved at edge of her vision and she jumped, swung her head around and stared. Everything appeared normal. Kate was sitting on the back of couch licking her paw, the dark window behind her framing her like an open mouth about to consume a tasty morsel.

A hand clamped against her mouth. An arm pulled her hard against a rigid chest. Harsh breathing sounded in the space above her head. Kate yowled and launched herself, scrabbled up the leg next to hers and sunk her teeth and claws in the head of the man holding her. He let her go, stumbling backwards flailing at the enraged feline clinging to him. Free from his grip she dashed into the kitchen, grabbed the broom and started swinging at his torso and legs. He stumbled over an end table and crashed to the floor. He lay still. Kate let go, sniffed the inert form on the ground, lifted her tail high and sauntered over to her mistress.

She reached down and stroked Kate on her back once before scooping her up and running out of the house to her neighbors to call for help.