Aziz the Cat Sitter
Aziz is eighteen years old. His not-so-mainstream hobby is looking after other people's cats. His house looks neat and clean, packed with furniture, but there are always four cats inside: Ruby, a dark-red female Angora; Snow, a white female Angora; Charcoal, a black male Angora; and Ace, a white male cat.
People call him "Aziz the Cat Sitter." They pay him whatever they feel is fair. Aziz was busy putting away several Angora cat toys scattered all over the place. Ever since he closed his shop two years ago, the house that used to be quiet had become lively again because of these four cats.
Everything was normal... until last month.
The Fifth Cat
It was raining on Tuesday. A woman brought a cardboard box to Aziz's porch. "Mr. Aziz, could you watch my cat? Her name's Kanti. Just for three days."
Inside the box was a gray Angora cat. Skinny. Her eyes looked dull. Aziz agreed. He put Kanti in the empty back room.
That night was strange. At two in the morning, Aziz woke up to the sound of claws scraping against wood. _Scratch... scratch... scratch..._ He thought it was Charcoal. When he checked, Charcoal was asleep on the sofa. Ruby, Snow, and Ace were asleep too. The sound was coming from the back room, from where Kanti was.
Aziz opened the door, but no one was there. Nothing was making a commotion, yet the cardboard box was still closed. "It was just a dream," he muttered.
The next morning, feeling uneasy about Mrs. Titi, Aziz checked the box. Kanti was back inside it, and Aziz felt relieved because he had nearly panicked when he thought Mrs. Titi's cat had disappeared.
The New Rule
On the second night, the scratching started again. This time, it was louder. Aziz turned on his flashlight. The back-room door was slightly open. There were tiny footprints on the floor. They weren't cat prints. They were a child's footprints. Wet. The tracks stopped in front of Aziz's bedroom door.
Aziz immediately shut and locked the door. His four cats huddled together on the bed, trembling. Ruby hissed toward the door.
At three in the morning, there was a knock. _Knock... knock... knock..._ Softly. From outside the bedroom. "Mr. Aziz..." a little girl's voice called. "Come play..."
Aziz didn't answer because he felt that the girl was an astral being messing with him. He hugged Ace tightly. The knocking stopped at the dawn call to prayer.
The next morning, Kanti had disappeared from the box again. On the back-room floor was one of Aziz's childhood toys: a wooden yo-yo. It had been missing for ten years.
Mrs. Titi's Story
Aziz asked Mrs. Titi, the woman who had brought Kanti over. "Mrs. Titi, who did Kanti used to belong to?" Aziz asked her. Mrs. Titi's face went pale. "She... she's my daughter Tina's cat. Five years ago." "Where's Tina, Mrs. Titi?" Aziz asked. "An accident. She fell down the stairs while playing with her cat." Mrs. Titi began to cry. "Ever since then, Kanti often disappears. Then she suddenly shows up at home again. She brings Tina's toys with her," Mrs. Titi said sadly.
Aziz went home with a heavy head. That night, he installed a used security camera in the back room.
The Recording
At 1:17 a.m., the recording showed the cardboard box opening by itself. Kanti climbed out and walked to the corner. Then a little girl appeared from behind the wardrobe. Long hair, a white nightgown, bare feet. She squatted down, stroked Kanti, and giggled softly. Then she turned toward the camera. Smiling. Her eyes... were empty. Completely black.
The screen immediately turned to static.
Aziz vomited in the bathroom. None of his four cats wanted to enter the back room anymore. They slept in a row outside Aziz's bedroom door, as if standing guard.
Day Three
It was the last day of the cat boarding. Mrs. Titi was supposed to pick Kanti up that afternoon. But since morning, Aziz's house had been cold. Very cold. Even though the city was usually hot. My breath came out as mist.