Nyx: A Cat's Tale

Human’s often believe that we are sensitive to those beings beyond the mortal realm. And they are right. (Dogs could, too, if they had an attention span beyond two seconds to comprehend what they were actually looking at. Mostly they just chase them, trying to play while their humans just think they are chasing adorable rodents or some such nonsense, and then their attention is diverted to said such pest.) But it is true, I can see beyond the veil of mortality and right into death itself. It is not as scary as it may sound.

They walk among the humans, and most are harmless. Each of the spirits has a scent and an aura about them, so I can tell at a glance or a sniff if they are friendly or not. The ones that glow like the sun have the scent of citrus, which is very fresh and bright. I don’t know how to describe it because it involves other senses like happiness and joy that surrounds the beings, but it is much deeper. I rather like being around those… I think the humans call them angels? Or are they spirits? Either way, they are very pleasant company.

The ones with a darker aura tend to smell like decay, and I stay as far from them as possible. You can feel it, even if you can’t see them. When all the hair on your body stands on end, and you have this heavy feeling on your heart. You have no idea what is wrong, but you know something is off. Some are so bad that they cause stomach cramps and random panic attacks. They are not random. They are given on purpose, to warn the human to leave… However, it doesn’t help if the human doesn’t understand what it is they are being warned from.

People also believe black cats are bad luck! HA! That is far from the truth! Who comes up with these things anyway? Have they just looked at us and cursed us in their puny human minds instead of opening their eyes to the truth? It is not our fault! I resent the assumptions!

Actually, I believe we are directed to those who need us the most. It is not our fault that the people who tend to need us also tend to have bad things happen to them. We are just there to support those whose bad luck trails them like black smoke. I know it seems unlikely, but it is the truth. We have a certain intuition that tells us exactly who needs us.

Take me, for example. My human did not meet me the normal way… If there really is a normal way to meet a charge. I guess if a parent brings their children to adopt a cute kitten or a puppy, or if there are neighbors who just had a litter that are old enough to sell, that might count as a normal way. But that is not how I found my lovely!

No, my Miss Sophia was hiding in an alleyway behind her house, as that evil father of hers, Frank I believe he is called, had hit my sweet girl again. This is something, unfortunately, she has come to expect and is used to instead of the love she needs. She had been crying, my lovely, and balled herself up to hide from the evil that surrounded her. When I saw her, all I wanted to do was offer comfort and protection.

I came strolling by and heard her soft mewls. I could not pass her by when I knew Fate had sent me in that direction on purpose. (The sneaky being! He and Destiny have lots of fun with us animals to make sure things turn out right.) So I strolled right up to her, nuzzling her neck, purring loudly. She seemed to like that because my lovely startled right out of her melancholy. She was cold and shivering, poor thing. She has no lovely warm fur to keep her from the cold. She has a threadbare shirt and more holes in her pants than fabric! If she’d only had a coat. No one should be without one when winter is drawing near. The dark thunderheads are threatening rain, and she’d rather be out here than covered in her house.

“Oh! What a beautiful cat!” she whispered, picking me right up and placing me in her lap. She does know how to claw her way right into my kitty heart!

Of course, I let her pull me close and fawn over me! She set straight to work petting me, and I must say, I enjoyed it and began to purr louder. She does know how to use those human hands of hers! She has an absolutely magical touch. I will like her very much!

“Do you have a name?” she asked, looking for a collar. I suppose that would be the first thing a human girl would look for, to see if I had an owner and a name she could call me.

No, I did not. Fate had literally dropped me off a few streets away and pointed me in the right direction, so of course I would not have a human yet. I hadn’t even thought of a name, not that it matters much to us animals. Names are what humans give us to differentiate us between each other. But now that I think of it, I would like a name very much! It would bond us together somehow.

“Can I call you Nyx?” she asked me, scratching under my chin. Oh, yes! My eyes close on their own as I think about what she asked.

Hmm… The Greek goddess of Night? How fitting! My beautiful fur is dark as night, and I am a goddess… Well, I think I should be a goddess if I wasn’t traipsing around back alleyways. I wonder what Fate would think of my new name?

I nuzzled her face affectionately, letting her know I agreed to the name. It is a lovely name and well thought out for me… She probably had no clue!

My lovely giggled. She seemed to be a teenager, though I am not good with human age. I would guess she was around 16. Age has no meaning to us animals. We pass through life on a different timeline, which may be why it seems as if we have nine lives… In actuality, we have one very long life until it is time for us to pass through the veil.

“We learned about Nyx today at school. And how she was a daughter of Chaos. Some of her children were called Hemera, Charon, and Nemesis… They were a weird family,” she chuckles as she continues showering me with love. I like to listen to her voice. It’s sad and yet soothing at the same time.

I don’t mind the history lesson, or rather mythology lesson for her, if that is what she needs to feel better. I have a feeling that talking helps sooth her ache and emptiness. It doesn’t matter what she talks about, I will happily listen to my lovely if this is what is needed right now.

“It makes me feel better about my family,” she sighs, looking around the alleyway and then returns her focus back to me, renewing her scratching. “Will you be my family? You see, my mother died last year, my dad killed her,” she choked, her tears renewing themselves. I want to lick them away, so I push off my hind quarters and lean up to her face, licking the salty liquid from her beautiful face. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

I give my lovely the most reassuring nuzzle and touch her nose to mine. I won’t tell anyone! She can trust me with all her secrets. But this new knowledge brings a determination to do something about all of this.

“Thank you,” she giggles, running her fingers through my soft fur. It feels so good, my tail gets all fluffy on its own accord. I could sit here all day and let her pet me if it was safe for her. But Heaven knows it isn’t!

“See, dad lost his job about 5 years ago, and since has not been able to hold anything down. He blamed it on mom and me, but really, it’s just because he drinks too much. Now that mom is gone, he can’t take his anger out on her anymore, so he hurts me instead. I want to leave, but I don’t have anywhere to go,” she laments.

That is the problem with adults who hurt their young. They make their young feel trapped and dependent upon them, when their children would be far better off on their own, or with someone else who is willing to take them in.

Don’t worry, lovely. I will take care of you. I won’t let that brute of a man hurt you anymore, I vowed that day.

Since then, I’ve stuck very close to my girl. Her father calls her Sophia like she is a curse. He was none too happy when I showed up. In fact, he tried to hurt her again, but I was having none of it, so I pounced on him and scratched his face!

That showed him! Since then, he’s been giving me a wide berth. And yet he still manages to attack my girl when I’m not around. He had better watch his back, or he would lose an eye! I have no problems showing the filthy man his place.

However, last night, Frank came home smelling of that horrid stench he drinks from some place Sophia calls a bar, but he did not realize he wasn’t alone. Of course, he would not see him even if he wasn’t drunk out of his mind. The phantom has no body, but it doesn’t stop him from attaching itself to a living being.

I, however, hunched up my body and hissed at the evil being, warning him away from my lovely. He was dark and stank of rotting flesh. I would not let him near my sweet Sophia. My hissing startled Sophia.

“What’s the matter, Nyx? It’s just dad,” she whispers, scared she might set off her father once more.

Frank just sneered at me, tripping over his feet. He knew by then to stay well away from me and my girl when he came home like that! He must have some brain cells left as he knows I will protect his daughter from him. I’ve made the man bleed more than once.

Last night, however, it wasn't him who had incurred my ire. Though I’m sure he is to blame whether he knows it or not. He attracts evil like a magnet, which is how he came upon this leech. See! It’s got nothing to do with black cats and bad luck! It’s the humans!

“Don’t worry, Nyx, I’m not here for Sophia,” the evil entity snickered at me, then looking up at my girl who’d gathered me in her protective arms. “However, I must say, she is a lovely little thing. I can see why you are so attached to her, I may change my mind about this bastard,” He chuckled darkly, eyes sparkling with malice.

Don’t you dare touch my Sophia, demon! She is mine to protect, I growl at the filth following her father like a dark cloud.

“Yes, she is yours. Fate deemed it so, but her father is mine. And what is his, is also mine,” he smirked in satisfaction.

I will fight you to my last breath, I growl, pawing at him.

And I will. But I am just a cat. What can a cat do against such evil?