"My next step was to look for the beast which had been the cause of so much wretchedness; for I had, at length, firmly resolved to put it to death. Had I been able to meet with it, at the moment, there could have been no doubt of its fate; but it appeared that the crafty animal had been alarmed at the violence of my previous anger, and forbore to present itself in my present mood. It is impossible to describe, or to imagine, the deep, the blissful sense of relief which the absence of the detested creature occasioned in my bosom. It did not make its appearance during the night-- and thus for one night at least, since its introduction into the house, I soundly and tranquilly slept; aye, slept even with the burden of murder upon my soul!..."

*******

This is not to declare that I did not have nightmares; indeed, my contracting pretext of a heart that refused to die gave an extreme burst of shameful emotion that first night. The dream itself had been quite psychotic, that is to say that my unconscious mind--due that damnable heart- -frightened me to within terror of hell itself: I couldn't have expected it; the guilt pulsing through my heart somehow conjuring up enough of its damnable power to create a cave, a cave of dry plaster: dark and cold. I walked, aimlessly walking and knowing somehow this was a dream. I did not know why my heart decided to bring me to such a dark place. In the cave, I detected a presence behind me--this not being the workings of a sixth sense, but the usual sound of shift in pressure and space such as when one is sitting at a desk, and knows that someone is behind the door before it even opens and the handle is shifted. This shift was obvious to me, and in turn I shifted as well to this new character, wondering if it too was of plaster.

In the darkness I could not make out its shape, but something alerted my senses at the change in pressure--it was large. I sensed its breath upon me. It was then that the hairs on the back of my neck all the way to a specific, unidentified nerve between my shoulder blades stood and stiffened. The creature, whatever it was, realized that its prey knew of the predator. It moved; it moved so quickly that all I could do was stutter and stumble backwards in shock as one--how I knew it was only one I will never know--gigantic forelimb came after me, in a slow walk. In the beginning, this creature had been quite a ways behind me, watching. But now, with one stride, this distance would soon come to an abrupt close, I understood, unless I escaped.

So I ran; I turned and charged into the darkness, hoping to lose it in the strong smell of the plastered caves. It sensed my change from curious stroll to fearful sprint, and the bashes of its mighty SOMETHING on the cave floor resounded throughout my eardrums and rattling my insides. I pushed myself faster, not knowing which was up or down; the darkness seemed only to grow thicker if I concentrated too much on one particular angle, and so I only charged blindly--how long I ran I could not tell. My insides were frozen that the monster's pace did not quicken but remained slow and confident--its knowledge sharing mine as we both knew I could not escape it. But in my fearful scampering I failed to see the approaching cliff, so sure as I was that I could get away...I did not see that my feet no longer touched the ground until my stomach flew upwards, and I heard my screams as I fell. I did not hit the ground instantly: as I stared down into the dark abyss I saw a refraction of light--the only way I had seen it was the reflection off my watch. My eyes widened in absolute horror as I realized that the refracting light was that off of an AXE: a giant axe with an enormous blade, at least five feet in length, with a handle the size of a thick broom, looking as if it had fallen on its back by the careless-- though chillingly large--owner. I could not scream as I fell nearer, though at the second right before I landed upon it the object seemed almost to spring at me in anticipation to slice my delicate human body. In the unwritten rules of most dreams, you cannot die, and usually wake up before you do. But I did not; I laid there for what seemed an eternity, my body chopped perfectly in half--my blood I saw, staining the evil weapon. I could not bear to look at my mangled body and leaking insides. Darkness seemed to surround me more tightly, suffocating me in hot thickness; my heart thudded violently as it struggled for blood, but then it stopped, though I still lived. My consciousness wavered in this nightmare, and out of one eyelid I could see the bottom of my bed--the consequence of each falling nightmare. But right before I opened my eyes, out of darkness I heard a rumble of purring beside my bloody body, and the rhythmic sound of lapping.

When I was fully conscious, it was then that my attention was drawn towards an object on my left, not five feet away. I realized that I must have forgotten to clean it...though oddly I remembered shoving it in the fireplace with my wife. The axe that I now realized I had forgotten to clean glimmered in the moonlight, caked in fresh blood--but of course it was my wife's!--lying perfectly on its back.

*******

"The second and the third day passed, and still my tormentor came not. Once again I breathed as a free-man. The monster, in terror, had fled the premises forever! I should behold it no more! My happiness was supreme! The guilt of my dark deed disturbed me but little. Some few inquiries had been made, but these had been readily answered. Even a search had been instituted-but of course nothing was to be discovered. I looked upon my future felicity as secured..."

*****

Te End! ^_^ For the complete story of The Black Cat, see my profile for the link. It's worth it-believe me!