THE DEVIL’S PET

Oliver stumbled, almost tripped, and gasped. Lying on the damp, moss-infested, grassy, forest floor was a small, black, kitten, one of its eyes were swollen shut. It looked rather malnourished and neglected. Oliver was just wondering why someone would leave an animal to rot, when he spotted something. Tied on the poor kitten’s leg was a soggy, crumpled, note. Untying it, he read aloud: ‘BEWARE,  THIS CAT IS THE DEVIL’S PET.’
“Nonsense,” Oliver muttered, softly, so as to not alarm the kitten. “ Just because it’s a black cat, doesn’t mean it’s the father of all evil.” He rolled his eyes at the note, before ripping it. Reaching a decision, he scooped up the kitten in his arms and started down the trail that would lead to his humble and lonely cottage located in the forest, where no one else dared to live, or for that matter, enter.

The ancient and dusty wooden door creaked open, revealing a comfortable looking living space. The kitten started meowing, visibly distressed. “It’s okay, you’re perfectly safe with me,” Oliver hushed, comfortingly. He placed it on a velvety red armchair, where it curled up. “ I’ll go find you something to eat.” Oliver yawned, it was already reaching nightfall. He walked up to the fridge, opened it, and took out a can of tuna. Crash!He swiftly turned round to see his favourite vase cracked and broken on the floor. The kitten was still curled up on the armchair, so how did it smash?

“ And the cat was still curled up, was it?”
After the previous night’s events, Oliver had decided to call an exorcist. He wasn’t very religious, but he didn’t want to take any chances. “Yes, when I looked round the cat was soundly asleep, how could a sleeping cat have smashed the vase?”
The exorcist nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “ Sir, do you mind if I check for any demons?”
“ I- no, I don’t mind, isn’t that what you’re here for, anyway?” Oliver replied, as the exorcist started waving his crucifix around the house
“ Sir, your house is unfortunately occupied by- by the devil’s children, most commonly known as demons.” The exorcist was sweating. “I must leave here immediately.” He left, shaking. While Oliver had never felt so terrified in his entire life, he bit his lip, anxiously.

It couldn’t be the cat, could it? Now that Oliver had began to wonder, he realised that before he had found the cat, before he had adopted it, everything in his home and near it was always peaceful. Was it really the stray kitten that he had adopted? Oliver heard a loud and audible hiss, and, terrified of what he would see, he turned round. Standing there was the cat, its eyes pouring blood, and, in a split second, before Oliver had the time to register it, it lunged at him, opening a black void beneath his feet, and sent him spiralling down, towards the murky, dark, fiery, depths of hell.