As the title suggests, I have no clue where I am. I don’t know if I’m in America anymore, or if I’m even on earth, though I believe I am. It’s darker than the darkest night, and I can’t tell one direction from the next. I believe I am inside, but the building must be vastly extensive, because there is a noticeable breeze, and the smell of something artificial, some sort of chemical, is carried upon it. My computer seems to be connected to the internet, since I’m able to make it to this site, and before you mock me for posting on Reddit instead of trying to get help, I have already exhausted all avenues I can think of. None of my text messages are sending, and no one will answer the phone, not even emergency services. I’ve even tried email and even those just bounce back. All I have left is to write this open letter and pray someone is able to read it. God only knows if it will even be uploaded to the site. I’m going to explain how this unfortunate fate befell me, and I hope you heed my subsequent warnings. I made several mistakes which led me to this position, and with what little time I have left I will try to elaborate on my situation.
This morning, at half past 7, I left my home as usual to begin my commute to work. I hopped in my car, let it warm up for a few minutes while I chose my soundtrack for the morning, and drove off after an arbitrary amount of time that I felt to be satisfactory. Everything was routinely above board, and I made it to work 3 minutes early, thanks to a few well-timed traffic signals along the way. As I approached the warehouse in which my job is located, a chilly wind swept my hair to the side and cut through my thin hoodie, freezing my skin and quickening my step. I opened the repurposed fire exit that had become our employee entrance and stepped into the dark, cold building. As usual, all the lights in the building were off, and I had to use my pocket flashlight to find the switch to turn them on. When I clicked the button to illuminate the small patch of concrete floor in front of me, I was immediately quite startled by the sight in front of me.
A very large black cat was sat about ten feet from the door, just at the edge of my flashlight’s reach. It wasn’t a scary cat at all. In fact, it was just a normal housecat, albeit a very fat and fluffy one, but it was certainly unexpected. When illuminated, it cast a long, billowy shadow across the open warehouse floor, nearly giving me a heart attack at first. That frightening surprise quickly turned into frustration, as the cat would prove to be quite troublesome to remove from the building. I don’t know how it had found its way into the warehouse, but when I attempted to politely show it the door, it vehemently refused to leave its post. It acted as if it were a loyal guard, stationed at the employee entrance to ensure no ne’er-do-wells could enter the building, except when I relieved it of its duty, it stared at me deeply with its large, piercing yellow eyes. Once our eyes met, I felt locked onto its gaze, completely entranced by the creature. In my imagination, it was speaking to me, trying to coyly persuade me to leave it be. Its stillness, save a slight twitch in the end of its tail, gave an air of intense concentration, adamantly demanding I allow it to hold its position. I never should have met that cat’s gaze.
I stood there staring at the creature for about ten whole minutes before I realized what I was doing. At the time, I explained it away as an ADHD-fueled lapse in concentration, as so often happens to me (I happen to be quite scatterbrained at times, so it’s a miracle I’m ever able to get anything done at all). I now realize that those ten minutes were integral in setting into motion the orchestration of my eventual demise. When I finally broke my gaze, I noticed that my flashlight was no longer lit and had fallen out of my hand, yet I could still very clearly see the form of the cat in front of me. Most notably, its eyes seemed to be casting a light of their own, prying into mine, desperately begging me to resume my gaze. I declined rather expeditiously and looked down to find my flashlight again. Once I had relit it and looked back up, the cat had scampered off and was gone within the expansive darkness of the warehouse.
This episode should have immediately struck me as bizarre, but I downplayed it in my mind, telling myself I had drank too much red bull this morning and it was messing with my mind. Thus, I clocked in as usual and put myself to work.
As the metal halide lights were warming up all over the warehouse, the space was cast in a five minute artificial twilight. At that time, I was doing a few opening tasks, like checking the bins for any leftover waste and turning on all the electronic equipment in the building, which required me to walk around the whole warehouse. It felt like everywhere I went, I would catch a glimpse of that same cat out of the corner of my eye, but when I would turn to face it directly, it would vanish. I’m not usually the paranoid type, but by this point I was very worried. No cat I’ve been around has exhibited this kind of behavior before, and in my mind, I’m starting to wonder if there was ever any cat at all. Maybe my sleep-deprived mind’s eye invented it entirely and did a very good job of convincing me it was real. Even now I’m not entirely sure, though I think I may see it here from time to time. I’ve been here a few hours now, so it’s possible I could have seen it at least once… Anyway, it seemed to be lurking just outside of my field of view at any given moment, following me around the warehouse as I did my tasks. Once I had finished, though, and the lights were at full capacity, the cat was gone. At this time, I determined that it was either a product of a hallucination, or a strange and elusive stray that had decided to finally take its leave.
I opened the office on time, even despite my earlier delay, and nothing was out of the ordinary for the rest of my workday. When we closed the warehouse, however, once I turned the lights off, the cat was back. As I made my way toward the employee exit to take my leave for the day, I heard a toppling sound from about fifty yards away within the warehouse. When I turned to investigate, all I saw from where I stood were the two glowing yellow orbs of the feline’s eyes penetrating the dark space between us. Its gaze shone like a laser into my soul, yet again menacingly calling to me. This time, all doubts in my mind about the cat’s existence had vanished. I was staring at it, and it was staring at me. Now, I could almost hear its voice calling out to me, begging me to take a step closer. It beckoned me, pleading with my mind directly, as if it were trying to coax me into a warm, loving embrace, but all I could taste underneath its honey-coated words was the cold, bleak bottom note of malice. This cat had nothing for me but evil intentions, and everything within my very essence told me to run, to open that door just inches away from my fingertips and flee. I had a feeling this would be my last chance to do so. In my folly, and perhaps against my own will, I ignored these whims.
As I turned to face the cat, its voice became audible. “Come closer,” it beckoned, sweetly. It’s voice was akin to that of a young girl, soft and bright, but lacking in nuance and understanding. In hindsight, it was clearly engineered by that revolting, wretched creature to try and deceive me, and it worked. I was completely entranced by the thing. I began to step closer.
“Yes, that’s it,” the cat continued. “Come touch me. I want you to hold me.”
I kept walking, never once separating my gaze from the cat’s. As I approached closer and closer, a deep, spectral humming began to vibrate through the floor, up my body and into my mind. I felt soothed, comforted by the soft, warm sound. I could sense that the sound was coming from the cat as well, and I knew that even though I had never heard another cat make this same sound, it was the creature purring. My nerves were gone, and I walked right up next to the cat, staring deeply into its perfectly round, golden eyes. They seemed to grow and widen as I came closer, its pupils expanding to fill up the space previously occupied by that luminescent yellow glow, leaving just two golden rings around each pitch black sphere.
“Touch me,” beckoned the cat.
“Where?” I lazily inquired.
“My chest,” the cat responded, sitting up proudly to present its fluffy torso to me.
As I gingerly stretched out my left hand, slowly reaching to pet the creature, it opened its mouth to display two extremely long, glistening fangs, as if it were a venomous serpent preparing to strike. Enthralled by the creature already, I barely even took notice, as my gaze was still locked on those eyes. Even so, I must have faltered briefly, because the creature froze for a moment as if to ask “well? What are you waiting for?” I resumed the outstretching of my arm, and when my hand finally grazed against the creature’s soft fur for just an instant, it snapped its head downward, plunging its fangs into my hand, perfectly piercing it between the bones, penetrating all the way through the tissue and exiting through my palm. All at once, and only for a tiny, brief instant, my entire existence was racked with excruciating pain. Millions of sounds, sights, and smells flooded my senses, every nerve was simultaneously engulfed in white hot flame, and it felt like my body had entered a free fall. I don’t know if I had screamed, or if I just fell catatonically silent, but in that one second, I experienced a hundred years’ worth of sensations. It ended just as suddenly as it began, and I fell into a deep, deep slumber.
When I awoke, I initially thought I was still in the warehouse. Everything was dark and cold, just like before, but the cat was nowhere to be seen. I sat up and tried to look around, but as I mentioned before, it was too dark to discern much of anything. I reached for my flashlight and turned it on, but when I did, I was met with the sight of a thick, heavy fog. It was so thick, in fact, that even when shining the light directly at the floor, I couldn’t make out what color it was. At this point, I realized two things. First of all, the flashlight would not be useful at that time, so I decided to turn it off to conserve battery. Second of all, I was certainly no longer in the warehouse.
It’s been a few hours since I awoke now, and as I’m writing this, I can assure you that I am not safe here. There are stories of things that go bump in the night, and then there is this. That cat is still here somewhere. Please heed this warning: if you see a large, black cat in a place that is darker than usual, avoid eye contact at all costs. When I looked into its eyes, it removed all of my agency and I was a passenger in my own skin. If this message manages to reach any of you, please find some kind of way to help me. I don’t want to die here. I’m very frightened. That creature is a threat to me right now. I fear that at any moment, it may yet again subject me to those unspeakable horrors of the senses. For hours now, I’ve been getting brief glimpses and hearing subtle noises. It isn’t through with me yet. Pray that it doesn’t grow bored with me and choose one of you.