So, I have been back at my house for a few days now, after being away for about a month taking care of my now deceased mother.
She was always nice to me, though I had been distant since I got my job as a virtual interior designer. I am usually typing away on the couch when I’m not, I’m out on a jog, or out buying groceries.
Then one evening, her doctor calls to let me know what she had fallen ill and wouldn’t have much time left and that I should spend as much time as I could with what she had.
As I took care of her, she told me “Zaila, you shouldn’t stay cooped up in that house all alone.”. I didn’t mind being alone. I simply gave her a small smile and nodded so I wouldn’t worry her. I felt a small warmth run by my leg. It was my mother’s cat. She was a small calico with a stringy collar and hanging from it a big bell. “I won’t be around much longer, you can take Parisa with you.”, she said to me as she gave my hand a tight squeeze. I sigh and tell her alright. Later that night she leaves us peacefully and I go back home after the funeral.
Like I mentioned, all I would do here at home is work on my laptop, go out for a jog, and out for any groceries. But tonight, something peculiar happened.
Usually, I let Parisa out in the evenings to explore the backyard as she pleases. She stays out of the street and typically stays in proximity of the backyard, so I have never been worried of her going off far. Plus, her big obnoxious bell is loud enough for me to peek out the window and guess where she is. I don’t like to let her out at night but today she was eager.
She was scratching at my kitchen door yowling to be let out.
“Alright. Hang on a minute!” I unlocked the door, and she ran out. She turned back at me and meowed. I didn’t have time for this. I went back inside and typed away trying to finish my work.
The sound of scratching at my door again woke me up. I looked over at the clock at it was 2:45am. I rubbed my eyes and realized I had fallen asleep while I was working and left Parisa outside. I got up to let her in when I gasped. At my feet was the biggest rat I have ever seen. The fur was rough and scratchy looking, and its lips were curled back with nasty looking teeth. Its neck looked as though it was snapped, and eyes were rolled back. Parisa stared at me intently and let out a small meow.
“Parisa go inside now!” I scolded her and she would not budge. Does she want me to grab it??, I thought. I looked around my kitchen for something to toss it in the garbage outside and found an old garden shovel I hadn’t used in who knows how long and attempted to pick up the rat with it. Its limp body moved as I hoped to get it onto the shovel and after many attempts, I finally tossed it. Parisa then went inside. I could not believe her.
The next two days Parisa proceeded to scratch at my door trying to go out at night. The sound of scratching would not let me sleep so I would just let her go out. What made me angry was when she had to be let back in because it was around 3 in the morning. I grew more tired, and it was not helping me with work.
One of those nights she came into my bedroom as I was sleeping and that bell of hers woke me. She purred as she hopped onto my bed towards me. I was about to go back to sleep when I noticed a bow clipped onto her bell… I wondered who got a hold of her to put this bow on her. It was one of those bows that you clip to your hair, it was a light blue color. I unclipped it from her stringy little collar and set it on my nightstand eventually going back to sleep.
The fourth day I decided to leave the window open enough for her to come and go as she pleased.
This time she came back with something weirder than a rat.
It was Friday night and I had finished up my work early so I was watching tv in the living room. Parisa’s bell let me know she was back from whatever she goes out to do, but I hear something fall into the kitchen sink as she comes in the window. I get up to check it out and I see a small gold bracelet. I pick it up to see if it has any name or initial on it, but I notice a rusty red color on parts of it. “Must be mud or rust” I mumbled and began to rinse it off. And I swear it almost looked like blood. I dropped it, scared at the thought, and told myself it was just my imagination.
I kept the bracelet on a hook by the sink in case someone in the neighborhood would come by asking for it. Most of my neighbors kept to themselves especially the one right next door to me. He was an older man with no family, he came in and out of his house like any other neighbor, I guess.
I had trouble sleeping. Even with Parisa being able to go out as she pleased now, because I was waiting to hear back from my boss about a promotion. I had anxiety about whether I’d get the job and it was not helpful to the weird things that had been happening. I decided to go out into the backyard and see if I could start gardening again. I got on my gloves and began to pull weeds out the small patch I had for tomatoes. Next thing you know I hear distressed sounds and turned to see Parisa’s bell entangled with what looked to be hair. I went over to her and felt goosebumps on the back of my neck. It looked like human hair was stuck to her bell and her paw as if she tried to get it off. I grabbed my garden clippers and managed to cut the hair off her paw releasing it. But the bell seemed to be too messy to help. I took her stringy collar off and went into the kitchen to see if I could do anything about it.
As I looked at the hair entangled with the bell, I noticed reddish brown stains and felt my heartbeat pulse in my ears. This was just like the bracelet… was it at coincidence? Could I be hallucinating?!
I didn’t want to look at that collar, I began to freak out and tossed it in my trash bin and went to the restroom wash my hands. How could I know if that was really blood? My hands grew shaky, and I scrubbed them roughly trying to get rid of anything I may have picked up. “I should have kept my gloves on after taking her collar off…” I said to myself. I heard a loud meow and jumped. Parisa was staring at me on the toilet with a look I had never seen. “What do you want?!” I said impatiently and she meowed again and hopped off towards the living room. She was probably hungry. I went to refill her bowl and noticed my neighbor with a camping lantern as I was cleaning her bowl in the kitchen. He was going into his basement and had rope with him as well. I got chills and put Parisa’s bowl down and quickly filled it.
I slowly opened the kitchen door leading to the backyard and went to peek through the fence in case I saw anything off. The lantern light died down as he went deeper into the basement.
This was getting too creepy. I wanted to believe that my lack of sleep was the reason behind all of this, but it was all very coincidental… Do I call the cops? What if it wasn’t even from his house? I needed to do something. But what if something bad happens to me? There were many questions on my mind, but I decided on one thing.
If Parisa has been going down there, then she’s the key to finding out if something is really going on.
I look in my closet for a small camera I had when I was younger and attach it to Parisa with a self-made cat harness. If she goes down there, then I can see exactly what she sees. The camera is hooked up with the tv and I wait for nightfall.
Parisa finally decides to go off as usual and I turn on the tv to monitor her. She goes through a hole in the fence and hunts bugs for what seems like forever then heads towards the stairs going down to my neighbor’s basement. It appears to be dark so there was no sign of my neighbor being down there. Parisa explores the basement and then I hear a murmur.
My body feels paralyzed when I realize that a hand stretches toward Parisa calling her over and I see a girl what looks to be a bit younger than me.
The girl is handcuffed by an arm it seems like and her legs looked like they might have bruises on them as Parisa is rubbing along the girl purring. I’m about to call the cops when I hear someone coming towards them. It was very muffled as it was an old camera, but I could also see the lantern light approaching them.
I felt like I couldn’t move. I wanted to do something. Anything. I kept watching the screen as the man got closer to them. Parisa runs to hide but it was too late.
The man sees Parisa and the last thing I see is that he swings at her with a bar and there’s a loud yowl before the screen goes black.
I scream in horror and finally feel able to move, I immediately run out and grab a shovel from his yard. Nearly falling down the stairs by how fast I was going, I see the man desperately trying to move the girl and as he turned by surprise, I hit his head with the shovel over and over again.
I could see the blood spreading on his basement floor, and with each hit I got flashbacks of Parisa bringing me each thing. The things that belonged to this poor girl. Now I knew what she was trying to tell me all along. I dropped the shovel, my hands trembled, and I looked behind me and saw Parisa on her side.
I feel to my knees and cry. I reached my hand to pet her head and somehow, she turns to look at me and gave me a soft meow. I now notice that he hit her front leg and it appears to be broken. “You’re alright! You’re going to be fine!” I happily said and turned to the girl and tell her everything was going to be alright now.
The next few days police question me about what happened, and the girl goes back with her parents who were very grateful. The family and I became good friends, and I ended up getting the promotion for my job and move closer to where my mother was buried. Parisa had to get her leg amputated unfortunately, because her leg was irrecoverable, but it’s been a fast recovery and it doesn’t stop her one bit.
“I’m not alone anymore mom.” I say and set the flowers I have down on my mother’s grave and smile. Parisa meows and hops towards the car where the family and girl are waiting for me, and I walk to them and notice Parisa’s bell hanging from the girl’s bookbag from when I gifted it to her. Ringing with the wind.