The Cat Burglar

Summary

A security officer, Tyler, encounters a seemingly ordinary cat in the basement of an old building, which turns out to be a ferocious creature that attacks and kills him.

Abstract

In "The Cat Burglar," a short story set in the International Studies Building, Tyler, a security officer, investigates a recurring intrusion alarm, suspecting it to be either a ghost, a faulty alarm system, or the wind entering through a basement window. Upon discovering a cat in the basement, he attempts to remove it but is met with a violent response. The cat attacks Tyler, severing his fingers and ultimately killing him, revealing its preference for human flesh over typical feline prey. After the gruesome encounter, the cat escapes into the woods, planning to find another human victim while masquerading as a harmless pet.

Opinions

The author suggests that old buildings may harbor unexpected dangers, as seen through the haunted atmosphere of the International Studies Building and the feral cat living within.
There is a hint of dark humor in the story, as Tyler initially considers the idea of a "cat burglar" to be a humorous anecdote for future grandchildren, only to be confronted with a literal cat burglarizing his fingers and life.
The narrative implies a critique of maintenance negligence, with the broken basement light and the delayed response to the work order contributing to the dangerous situation.
The cat is portrayed with anthropomorphic characteristics, such as intelligence and a calculated approach to hunting and escaping, which adds to the eerie and fantastical elements of the story.
The story may reflect on the unpredictable nature of animals, particularly those that appear domesticated but can turn violent under certain circumstances.

A short story for your enjoyment

For what must have been the tenth time in the past two night shifts, the intrusion alarm had gone off in the old building, it was The International Studies Building, what was once a residence for students was now used as offices. While not one to believe in ghosts, Tyler the security officer, was beginning to think that maybe there might be something to the place being haunted. Either that or the more likely thing was there was a problem with the alarm system or the hole in the basement window where the dryer vent was when it was a student residence was letting the wind blow things around inside setting the thing off.

Taking his keys out, he unlocked the door, checked the zone on the alarm panel seeing that it was for the basement, which in his mind confirmed that it must have been the wind. He turned off the alarm and radioed back to his dispatcher he would be checking the basement of the place. The door was left open when Tyler turned away from the alarm panel.

Just like out of those old horror movies, when he turned on the light, nothing happened, maintenance still hadn’t changed the light bulbs. What’s taking them so long? he wondered, it’s only been two weeks since we put in the work order. Old building probably not on their list of priorities.

Turning on his flashlight he began going down the stairs, each one creaking and bending under his weight, although only one hundred and seventy pounds, he wasn’t all that surprised at this, the place was twenty years older than he was. Relieved when he got to the bottom, he scanned his flashlight around the room, something black scurried out of the light.

Whatever it was had crawled under an old couch, probably a rat. He got on his knees and shone the light under the couch and to his surprise a cat was baring its teeth at him hissing like cats do.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. “But you really got to leave.” A real-life cat burglar, this would be a story to tell the grandkids if he ever has any.

He reached under the couch to pull the cat out, knowing the animal was probably more scared of him than he of it. The cat chomped down on his index and middle fingers, “You little –” he shouted as he pulled his hand out and backed away from the animal. In shock, he saw that the tips of both fingers were gone, blood pouring down his hand.

The cat crawled out from under the couch, its back arched and fur spread out, the crunching of Tyler’s finger bones as it chewed sounded like potato chips as it prowled towards the security officer. Terrified, Tyler tried to get to his feet screaming over the radio he was being attacked by a cat and for dispatch to call the police.

After the cat swallowed his fingertips, he lunged forward and grabbed Tyler by the ankle, biting his foot off causing Tyler to fall to the floor writhing in pain. The cat climbed up the man’s body before taking a seat on his chest.

“Please, don’t!” Tyler cried as if the cat understood what he was saying.

Even if it did, the animal didn’t seem to care, it bent down seized control of his neck, bit down and took his head off.

The cat, more intelligent than most, had figured that he might have a chance to regain his freedom, the wall that led up to the hole in the window had nothing for him to grasp onto, climbed the stairs, left the basement and as his luck would have it, the front door was wide open for him to make his escape. The world was full of humans for him to munch on, and they are far tastier than mice and birds. At least the one he ate back there, and the two before him, once he got a taste for human flesh, there was no turning back.

Police sirens were wailing, and the cat knew he had to make a quick escape, he heard those things whenever humans were in trouble. They were always followed up by humans that carried loud weapons that killed other humans and cats and all other living things.

Into the woods he fled, he would find another human to feed on in a couple days, for now, he would appear the gentle loving cat that everyone adored. Pretend to be homeless and helpless and an unsuspecting human would be his next prey.