Chapter 6 – The Legend of the Killing Cat – Holly Hayfield

Lilith laid the dusty book into my hands. Afterwards she clapped her hands clean of dust. The book was heavier than it looked. I opened the book’s tattered cover to see a black and white picture of Judith Meredith. She didn’t look much like Lilith. The only thing they seemed to share was a similar scowl.

This picture looked to be taken while she was in her late-thirties to early-forties. Her long hair was tied up in a bun and she wore a traditional cotton dress with expensive silk linings. She was sitting in a chair, staring off to the side at something outside of the picture. The room around her had unadorned blank gray walls with limited lighting. This boringly designed room was similar to the school in that sense. In her lap rested a black cat, its eerily bright eyes staring directly at the camera.

“Is this the Killing Cat?” I asked.

Lilith looked at the picture as well.

“That’s Nyx. She was the first cat my great grandmother Judith ever adopted. It’s true that the cat was violent. I don’t believe in the murder story, however. That’s just an urban legend.”

“You say she was violent? What do you mean?”

“First off there are some things you have to understand. My great grandmother was an incredibly troubled woman. She had an abusive upbringing, long-standing mental health issues, and a dangerous alcoholic husband she was forced to wed. She took comfort in being away from people and spending time with her cats, the first being Nyx.”

“Did she treat Nyx poorly or something?”

“No, it’s actually the contrary. She spoiled that cat rotten and regarded it as if it were human. This was after my grandfather, her son, joined the military. She was lonely and her cold husband only made her feel lonlier. Due to that she ended up smothering Nyx with affection. She showered her with gifts and exclusively hand fed her treats. Not to mention she gave Nyx constant attention. My grandfather used to joke that Nyx had a better upbringing than he did.”

Lilith smiled a little as she recalled her grandfather’s words. This talkative character was much different from the Lilith I had met before. I wanted to keep this going for as long as I could.

“So when did Nyx become violent?”

“Things went downhill when my great grandmother brought home another cat. It was to be expected. My great grandmother… Well… Let’s just say she was going through a rough period of her life. She adopted another cat as a coping mechanism. She made the mistake of leaving this new cat alone with Nyx while she went shopping. In the time it took her to finish shopping and return home the cat had been torn to shreds by Nyx.”

“Nyx killed the new cat out of jealousy? Is that why she’s known as the Killing Cat?”

“There’s more to the story. You see, after the new cat died my great grandmother was consoled by her husband. She was horribly distressed and he actually felt sorry for her. He wanted to turn their relationship around after all he had put her through. His newfound dream wouldn’t come to fruition though. A week later he hanged himself in their home while she was teaching at school. My great grandmother came home from work to find him hanging in their bedroom with Nyx sitting right below the corpse.”

“Nyx couldn’t have possibly… Could she have…?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous. Nyx was just a cat. My great grandfather’s alcoholism had finally caught up with him. The timing of his death being close to Nyx’s first act of violence was just a coincidence.”

“Did you just say Nyx’s first act of violence?”

“There were more, many more. My great grandmother thought the first act of violence was a one-time thing. She adopted several cats and Nyx killed them all. Every single attack was completely one-sided. Nyx never showed any signs of injury herself. A scary thing about Nyx was that all these attacks happened out of sight, as if they were calculated. Cat after cat was found dead with all the evidence pointing to Nyx. Nyx would just sit meekly beside their corpses as if she had done nothing wrong.”

“That’s scary.”

“That isn’t the scariest thing though. Eventually my great grandmother got fed up with her new cats being murdered. She began having nightmares about Nyx killing the other cats. She could hardly stand to be around Nyx any longer. In the end she took Nyx outside with an old rifle. Her plan was to put Nyx down so that she could live in peace.”

“She shot her?”

“She shot her. She didn’t kill her though. Nyx was gravely injured after being shot in the side. Before my great grandmother could finish her off, Nyx hopped into the bushes and ran off into the wilderness. My grandmother went back inside. According to her diary she was extremely exhausted after all that had happened, but she felt she had closure.”

“Nyx was never seen again?”

“Nyx was seen one more time. One of the hired helpers that visited my great grandmother’s estate stumbled into it. She found Nyx sitting beneath my great grandmother’s corpse as she hung from the ceiling. She had killed herself in the same way her husband did. This is why Nyx is called the Killing Cat.”

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“That’s horrifying. The girls in my class were saying that if you see the Killing Cat you end up dying.”

“The urban legend comes from the two suicides and Nyx’s violent nature. In reality though, Nyx is long gone. She was already gravely injured when they released her into the woods behind the school. Also, it’s been almost one hundred years. Cat’s don’t live nearly that long.”

“You’re right. Still, it’s a chilling story. Thank you for talking to me about this, I appreciate it.”

“I finished early today thanks to you helping me out. I suppose this makes us even.”

“Can I check out this book?”

“You can, as long as you promise to bring it back.”

“Yes, of course. Do you mind processing the check-out? Or should I come back tomorrow?”

“I’ll do it right now. Come over to the check-out desk.”

I followed her over to the check-out area as she said. She scanned the book’s barcode and I told her my student ID number. After she put those in she stamped the ‘due-by’ date into the book’s checkout tab. I put the book into my book bag carefully, as to not cause further damage to it. Lilith got up and began gathering her personal belongings. She strapped on her book bag and shutdown the check-out computer.

“Are you going home?”

“Of course, I don’t live here.”

“Where do you live?”

“I live with my aunt. Her house isn’t far so I’ll be walking. What about you?”

“I live with my mom. My parole officer picks me up from school. Today she’ll be coming later than usual. I told her I’d be visiting the library after school.”

Lilith looked as though she wasn’t ready to believe me. She raised an eyebrow and paused as if she were waiting for the punch line of a joke.

“You have a parole officer?”

“I do. She’s quite nice to me.”

“What did you do?”

“That’s a secret.”

“Tell me, what did you do to get into trouble?” She asked.

I put a finger on my chin. I wasn’t comfortable talking about my past but I’d be willing to let slip some information for an equivalent exchange.

“I’ll tell you how I ended up at this school with a parole officer. In return, you tell me how you ended up here as well.”

“Forget it.” She said.

“That’s too bad. I really wanted to know how Judith’s great granddaughter ended up attending the school she founded.”

“That’s not going to happen. Are you coming? Or am I going to lock up the library with you in it?”

“Ah, sure, I’ll be right behind you.”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re free to go ahead and go home.”

“Actually there was more that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Whatever it is, make it quick. I don’t want to stay at school longer than I have to.”

“You really hate it here, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. Is there anyone that likes it here? Who would come to this school of their own accord?”

“Val maybe…? She always seems strangely upbeat whenever she talks.”

“Val… I don’t want to hear her name. She’s a difficult person. You’re a difficult person too, just in a different way.”

“That’s how you feel about me and Val, huh? Then you’re really not going to like the next thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What is it?”

Now I’d need to use a bit of skill when it came to convincing her to join us. My skin was on the line, after all. There was no telling how Val would react if I failed. Val’s demeanor was tamer when she was talking about the student council. I’d like to keep that going instead of reverting to the sadistic Val I was familiar with. It was still only the first month of school but I had become used to being a punching bag. This was the chance for me to turn that around and Lilith was crucial to that plan. I was no longer doing this for Val in that sense. I had a personal stake in this.

We stepped outside of the library and Lilith began locking the door. She was still waiting for me to respond to her question. There must’ve been something I learned about Lilith in that time period that I could use to my advantage. It took some serious critical thinking but I played out a scenario in my head that I could use as an angle. I’d frame this from an entirely different perspective than Val’s. How well my new plan would work out depended on Lilith’s reactions and my ability to predict what she might say next.

“You’re the first friend I’ve made since coming to this school.” I said.

Lilith grimaced. It was a cheesy attack, but it would force her on the defense. Lilith was a loner, or so she wanted to believe. The critical thing about that though was that she was too happy to talk to me. We were talking fairly naturally in the library. She opened herself up just enough that I could put my shoe in the door. I was going to force my way into her heart if I had to.

“We’re not friends.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Why not, we seem to get along okay, right? I was happy to get to know you better.”

She finished locking the door and faced me with a narrowed glare.

“You don’t know anything about me!”

“Nonsense, I know how interested you are in Judith Meredith. You told me so much about her without even using the book. That’s impressive!”

“She’s my great grandmother. That much is to be expected.”

“I don’t think I could recall much about my great grandmother. You’re underestimating yourself. The thing is that I’m interested in Judith Meredith too. There’s still so much I want to learn about this school.”

“Well, you have the book now. That should be enough.”

“That’s not what I mean. I want to look for the Killing Cat that everyone is always talking about.”

Lilith stared at me in disbelief, with a gawking expression on her face. The thing was that I wasn’t as interested as I tried to sound but I couldn’t let Lilith know that. I had to beg her with my eyes so that she’d know what I was getting at.

“You’re not going to find anything. It’s pointless.” She said stoically.

“Maybe, maybe not… Can you help me look for clues tomorrow after school?”

“Holly, I really don’t…”

“Please…? It’ll be fun. I’ll come to the library and help you finish early again. I promise I won’t take too much of your time. How about just ten or twenty minutes of exploring after school tomorrow? I’ll make it worth your time. It’ll be fun to finally have someone to hang out with.”

Lilith was weak against this type of attack. She may have been distant, but she had a good heart. There were multiple factors at play here. Mainly, I didn’t believe she enjoyed being alone that much. She wasn’t avoiding me because she hated me. She avoided me because she avoided everyone.

My strategy was to close the gap between us by being pushy. Her weakening defense was proof that it was working. She couldn’t brush off a request when I was begging her as a would-be-friend. On top of all that, she was interested in Judith Meredith. Maybe some small part of her actually wanted to go exploring the school with me.

“Fine, but you better be quick. We’ll look around for five, or ten minutes tops. There’s one place I want to check out anyways.” She said.

Bull’s-eye!

I smiled.

“That’s great! I’ll see you tomorrow then! Maybe we’ll get a glimpse of something!”

She tried to suppress a return smile. A half-smile appeared as I began to walk off.

“Probably not, but I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She said.

My mission was not yet accomplished. This had only set the stage. The next act would secure things.