CAT CLAWS

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PAGE SIX

At six forty-five, Elaine came up the hall. "Sorry, Richard! But mother had to make four stops!" She looked down at the bat. "What's that for?"


"I thought, since you don't like guns you could keep this around!" Richard smiled to himself for being a quick thinker. " Let's go inside, Elaine!"


Just then Miss Felters came out of her apartment. Richard looked at his watch and rolled his eyes.


"Elaine, honey, I'm sorry to hear what happened the other night in your apartment!"

"Oh, it's okay now, Donna. Besides, if everything goes right, I won't be alone much longer!" They both smiled at each other and Richard felt like a school boy caught with his zipper down.


"Well, don't let me keep you two." She pranced back into her apartment, giving a wink toward Elaine. "If you need anything, just shout!"


Elaine and Richard walked into her apartment. Elaine flopped down into a chair and Richard walked over to the showcase. He looked at the crystal cat and hatred flooded his body, making his jaw twitch and his hand turned red from squeezing the bat. He turned toward the far window and saw the sun disappear behind the tall buildings. Then he looked out the picture window next to the showcase and watched the blackness surround the streets. He slowly raised the bat, took a batter's stance and swung, first at the crystal cat, which burst into several pieces. He then smashed all the cats surrounding it. Elaine let out a scream and rushed towards him. He turned around and slammed the bat across the side of her head. She crumbled to the floor. Richard continued to smash the cats until each one was just a pile of shards or beaten hunks of metal. He finished his task and fell back against the easy chair. Sweat pouring down his face. It was done, he thought. He looked over at Elaine. "Die bitch. I don't give a damn." He whispered.


She stirred, then with great effort she sat up. Blood ran down the side of her face. She stared at Richard, trying to crawl as far away from him as possible. She found herself in the middle of her once beautiful collection, now a pile of glass, china, brass and pewter. "Why Richard? Why did you do this?"


"Just shut the hell up or I'll beat the crap out of you too, just like I did to your stupid cats!" She stared at him not believing that this was the same man. "You just stay right there until the moon comes up, just to be sure that I was right!"


At eight fifteen the first beam from the moon struck the showcase. Richard watched it grow larger, looking for its partner from hell. Richard held his breath as it struck the broken head of the crystal cat. Like the night before, the head began to glow, sending smaller tentacles quickly over the pile of broken junk. The pieces flipped and shook, but no cats were formed. No demons from hell came dancing forth. It worked, he thought. He jumped up and began to dance like a crazy man. Laughing out loud and crying at the same time. Then he heard Elaine gasp and his attention fell on her.

The blue tentacles slid around her body, weaving in and out of her clothes until she sat naked in front of him. Her body jerked and trembled, small weak muscles grew slowly larger. She jumped up on all fours, her hands twisted into a new shape and her legs grew shorter. Skin screamed from being stretched and reformed. She turned her head toward him. She was becoming what he feared! She looked like a hairless panther, but glowing, giving off energy. The eyes were burning blue pits from hell.


His last thought was, How beautiful she was as a cat!


                                                             The End


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