Stray
I’ve come to my senses just this once to tell how I was justified, how none of this was my fault. I don’t want this to make less of me, I don’t want this to become the twisted memory of my life. I realize that redemption is as far as heaven, but I have to try. Maybe one confession could elaborate my innocence and save me. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
I live in a house with two roommates, I do not wish to besmirch their names so we’ll call them; Siegfried and Roy. Siegfried is my oldest friend, and I hated Roy. I think it was because he looked so much like my sister’s parole officer, but I digress. Siegfried had met Roy in a psychology 101 class. They chummed it up quick, next I knew we ditched the dorms and moved in. The house’s backyard was a fenced off, tree shaded, oasis of boulders and grass, where the stray cats of our neighborhood would visit often. They were mostly harmless as long as you didn’t go near the kittens. In that state of nature mother is always watching. After some time we felt bad for the cats, who had become skinner day by day. We put water out for them, and gave them tuna. We considered adopting some, but after a logical discussion of cost we agreed we were better off just keeping them fed and in the outdoors. Then the pandemic happened.
Within a month all three of us had lost our jobs and money was getting tight. Not to mention being held up in this house together was becoming toxic. We shrank skinner day by day. All the canned “apocalypse food” lasted about a quarter as long as television would have you believe. Soon we were broke and starved. I began spending my time with the cats, waiting for change. The feral strangers I dared not touch before had become friendly with me, the mother even allowing her kittens to sit in my lap. Over time however, I noticed the cats began to vanish.
I was closing the house up for the night, heading for bed when I passed Siegfried’s room. I heard snarls and strange noises within. I carefully touched the handle and gave it a silent shake to determine whether it was locked; it wasn’t. I eased the door open a crack, the moment the threshold broke a tremendously awful smell wafted over, nearly gagging me in its passing. I collected myself and peered inside to find Siegfried sitting on the ground, surrounded by the vacant hides of cats. Their blood spattered about the room in every direction. A Pollock visionary. I stepped in standing on my toes and creeped behind his shoulder; he was face first into the stomach of one of the cats, gnawing at every piece. The cat’s intestines dripped out of his mouth, he slurped it up just like a ramen noodle. I couldn’t help but cough, halting his progress. We stood in fear of one another for a moment. Now what I tell you next, I pray you don’t hold against me. These were the hardest times I’d ever known. My hunger was immeasurable. With little hesitation I removed the cat from my good friends clutches and began to indulge myself. It was the best meal I’d had in weeks, months! Succulent, and delicate. After our feast we talked it over, it would be easier for me to get the cats- they loved me. The following weeks the house, minus Roy, was well fed. I had started to feel normal again. It wasn’t until the meals had become uncountable that we noticed the hair. Both of us had developed thick coats of hair, mine on my arms- Siegfried’s traveling across his back between the arms, even beginning to envelop his face. His teeth even began to look sharper, matching his newly pointed ears. It wasn’t long before Roy would notice.
We went on the prowl for another cat but none of the bigger cats showed. Eventually, a kitten landed in my lap. Kittens were small, would this feed us both? We snagged the kitten and were heading inside when Roy stopped us. He stood at the door, staring at our grotesque forms. He yelled and panicked, he had told us he’d seen the cat carcasses, he could smell them throughout the house. At that same moment he lunged towards me, pushing me to the ground and snagging the cat from my hands. He held the kitten protectively, it writhed and yelped in his arms, stirred by the commotion. Siegfried and I got to our feet and began to circle Roy. He tried to back up, but our circle closed. Roy was coming between us and our dinner and times were hard. Impossibly hard. We were blind the to the real. Even when we jumped on Roy we only saw dark and confusion. As we pulled the flesh from Roy’s face, we barely noticed the kitten scurry away. Hunger is a disease if not treated. Our nails had sharpened enough that ripping him into chunks was easy, even when he tried to scream removing his tongue was like grabbing a pinch of salt. He didn’t live long after we opened him from throat to groin. It was the best meal we had in months. The cats were good but this was five fucking stars.
The appetite returned quickly. The mail man was gamier, the ice cream man was nearly flavorless, but the pizza delivery guy was perfectly marbled. With a change in meals there was a change in us. What we look like- what we are, I can’t describe. I won’t describe. I have nothing more to tell you except to stay away. Food has limited itself and soon I’ll be reduced to eating whatever form of creature has become of my last friend. I know it was what he would want though. Thank you for understanding, and believing me. I know that when you read this, you’ll understand how this was all unavoidable, and how you would’ve done the same
Author Bio: Cody Hopper is a student at CSUSM, when he isn’t doing improv, or flippin’ za, he can be found in the dark corners of his room, writing the next story of horror and torment that crosses his mindscape. He loves violent stories, comic books, movies, coffee, and buffalo wings– not in this order.