The weather wasn't too warm for the time of the year and Craig decided to spend some time in "nature" trying to clear his mind of some troubles with a design project. He decided to take a side road to some caves he had heard about. The legends that circulated about those caves made him laugh...spirit animal...strange sexual possessions of those that claimed to have met the spirit. No one had even told him what kind of animal it was supposed to be.
It wasn't a long drive and for an area that supposedly was the home of an evil spirit, Craig was surprised at the beauty...lush foliage, flowers, and yes, even a beautiful pond seemingly fed by an underground spring. Hardly the place to be possessed by anything evil!
Craig parked his vehicle near the very narrow trail that led to the water and headed through the foliage towards the sound of water. Looking down at the soft, red ground he saw small prints that seemingly resembled those of a domestic cat. Laughing to himself he bent down and looked closer; yes, they were ordinary cat prints at first glance, but a closer look showed that the claws of this cat were astoundingly longer than any domestic cat he'd seen. Well...it's probably just a cat from many generations of feral cats, nothing that could harm anyone intentionally.
The sound of the water drew closer as he walked the pathway and he could hear splashing in the water. It sounded like someone was swimming, yet he'd seen no vehicles, nor had he seen any other foot prints other than the cat's and his. As he approached the water he caught a glimpse of a woman just diving into the water. As her deeply tanned body slid beneath the surface her skin glistened in the sun and Craig realized she was naked and smiled to himself, realizing his quiet day was being pleasantly interrupted in a most pleasurable way. She came up from beneath the water and her copper hair glistened in the sun. Suddenly she looked towards him and he quickly looked away so as not to embarrass her...and when he turned back she was gone – vanished. He didn't hear a sound, nor did he see her, but she was gone.
Craig sat by the pond for a while listening and looking for signs of the woman, but he saw and heard nothing. Realizing the sun was going down Craig decided he'd better head back. As he started back down the path he saw the paw prints again, this time they were heading back towards the road and they were wet with water and seemingly fresh. "Demons, spirits?" "I think not" thought Craig out loud...just some woman and her cat out for a day of sun and water.
Approaching his vehicle Craig noticed the sun shining on something copper lying on the hood of his vehicle. The copper was so bright he couldn't make out what it was at first. Shading his eyes and walking closer he saw the cat...long, sleek and copper colored stretched out on the hood. It raised its head and looked at him, the dark eyes seemed almost black. Craig knew this was no tomcat, the beast was too finely boned, almost exquisite.
As he approached he expected the cat to run, but she merely raised her head higher and watched him intently, without fear. The closer Craig grew to her the more interest she showed in him until she finally got up and leapt from the hood of the vehicle, landing softly at his feet with a with an almost singing sound. She began purring very loudly and rubbing against his legs and ankles. Her purr was so loud Craig couldn't even hear the water anymore and as the sun hit her body the copper coat glistened beyond belief.
Unable to ignore the cat's charms Craig stopped and bent down to caress the animal. The cat immediately leapt into his lap and began rubbing softly against his neck, purring so loudly in his ear. Her fur was so hot from the sun and when he looked into her dark, dark brown eyes he felt almost lightheaded because of they're deep gaze back into his eyes. He petted her for a few minutes, feeling the sleekness of her body against his hand, feeling the heat from her fur and hearing that deep purr. It seemed like just a moment, but when he looked at his watch and then the sun he realized he'd been there far too long and had lost track of time. He picked the animal up from his lap and went to set her on the ground, but before he could let go the beast turned and slapped at him with a paw. Craig felt the paw hit his hand and then watched as the cat ran into the foliage, gone in an instant. Not thinking of anything except getting home before dark, Craig hurried to his vehicle and drove away, never giving the extraordinary creature another thought.
Arriving home Craig knew supper was close so he immediately went to the bathroom to wash for dinner. As he held his left hand under the water he felt a sharp stinging and looked down and was amazed to see his hand, his shirt and his pants covered in blood. As the running water washed the blood away he saw 5 deep, long claw marks from his wrist down to his knuckles and felt the sharp sting of them. Amazed that he had not felt them before nor had he seen the blood, Craig applied antiseptic to the scratches and wrapped the hand with gauze. The blood trickled through the bandage and then stopped;, as did the stinging. Well Craig knew he was going to have to tell his story to the family, but he also knew he wasn't going to mention the legend or the naked woman...no sense in causing worry or an argument.
At the dinner table Craig related the events of the day and laughed when everyone wanted to see the deep scratches; shrugging them off as nothing. But insistence grew strong so he slowly began unwrapping the bandage on his hand. When it was off he couldn't believe his eyes...there were no scratches, no scars, no blood...nothing. Well, if course he caught hell for playing such a cruel joke on the family and despite his insistence that the events had actually happened the family forgave him and the matter was dropped. But the "matter" didn't leave Craig's mind...he didn't know why the scratches were gone and that began to worry him...what if the legends were true?
As the evening wore on Craig felt his day catching up with him and decided he'd better take a shower and go to bed. He excused himself saying he had an early day and needed sleep. In the bathroom he turned the shower on and thought he heard something, a purr...no not possible. As he stepped into the shower his eye caught a glimpse of what seemed to be copper but when he blinked there was nothing.
Craig thought a nice hot shower would relax him and set aside the thoughts of the day, but when the hot water hit his skin it seemed to set it on fire...he felt like a raging fever was consuming his body. He turned the hot water off and let the cool water rain down over him. It felt good, soothing his burning skin. As he stepped out of the shower he still felt the fires burning inside and decided that perhaps he'd had just a little too much sun, but he knew he needed to cool down, so he opened the bedroom window and felt the night air sweep over his naked body. It felt so good, he decided not to wear anything to bed tonight...the hell with what anyone thought he laughed to himself.
Standing by the open window Craig thought he heard the purring again, but then there was nothing so he climbed into bed and didn't even pull up the sheets or blankets. His body felt so warm and his mind was so tired, all he wanted to do was to sleep deep and long.
In a short time his mind heard nothing, his body melted deep into the soft bed, his breathing was deep and rhythmic. He didn't hear the soft thud as the cat leapt up to the open window and landed on the sill. He didn't hear her feet as they hit the bedroom floor when she jumped down into the bedroom; he didn't feel her body lightly land at the foot of his bed, nor did he hear that purr growing louder as she approached him. Craig's mind was in a world of her doing now...as she stared intently at him with her black eyes. She began to slowly rub her head along his ankles and stood back, almost pleased as Craig parted his legs in his almost trance like sleep.
