One Strange Night

Starla rounded the corner and saw the cat. Its fur was a mottle of grays and a little black. Its eyes were very dark and they were fixated on her. It was crouched, poised, as if ready to pounce.

She never had been afraid of cats, but this one reminded her of a tiger in the jungle watching for its prey. It for sure didn’t look like it wanted stroked, so she quickly walked by, wondering at the strange feeling she had.

Reaching her apartment she flashed her key card, but the light flashed red and the door wouldn’t open. Starla tried again and finally after a couple more tries it opened. She was going to have to ask for a new card tomorrow. This card must be wearing out.

Kicking off her shoes at the door she walked down the hall to her bedroom. Changed into more comfortable clothes and heated up the oven.

Pulling a frozen pepperoni pizza out she grabbed some shredded cheese from the fridge and sprinkled it on the pizza. One could not have too much cheese.

After 15 minutes the pizza was ready and her teapot was whistling. She poured herself a cup of Green tea, and sat down at the table with a couple of hot slices of pizza.

The apartment was quiet, usually she had some TV show on like Law and Order or a medical drama, but for now the silence was relaxing. It had been one crazy, hectic day at the office.

Her boss was breathing down her neck wanting her project done a week before it was due! He was a man of little patience, but Starla had learned that his bark was worse than his bite.

She was well aware of his confidence in her, so he didn’t intimidate her as much. He may grunt and growl about her taking too long, but she knew he would wait. This was a big architectural project that she had taken on, she needed all the time she could have.

Heading up the renovation of a mall wasn’t easy. It was sad how malls all over the place were becoming like ghost towns. The Red Canyon Mall had been sitting empty for a year, it was time to do something. Starla did feel excitement stirring in her over the new plans.

Hearing a sound she put down her cup of tea and walked towards the door. It sounded like something was scratching at it. Should she open it?

Keeping the chain across she opened it a little bit. Something brushed against her leg and she jumped back, closing the door!

“We need to talk.” the deep bass voice said.

Starla looked down and was speechless, finding herself looking into the dark eyes of the cat that she had seen earlier.

.. to be continued…