Moonlight, Monsters & Magic

by Linda G. Hill

  Janie nodded. “Sounds good.” She plopped on the sofa and gazed up at Olivia expectantly. “Open Mira’s first. Keep mine for last. It’s a surprise.” She grinned and lifted her fingers to her lips. “Shh … Quiet.” Olivia giggled, not used to seeing Janie so drunk.

  Olivia carefully opened Mira’s package and pulled out a pair of stunning stilettos. She glanced at the designer tag. “Mira,” she breathed “These are amazing! I don’t even want to ask what you spent on them.”

  Mira rolled her eyes. “And I wouldn’t tell you, even if you did. Anyway, they looked like you. I thought you’d like them.”

  Olivia nodded. “I love them!” She hugged Mira, overcome by her friend’s generosity. “Thank you so much. Now, if I only had a date worth wearing them for.”

  Janie piped up from the couch. “That’s where my present comes in. Open it!”

  Olivia looked at her and then back down at the small package. “You fit a man in here?” she joked.

  Janie grinned and hiccupped. “In a manner of speaking.”

  Olivia raised her eyebrows. “Okay, now I’m intrigued.” She ripped the package open and pulled out a tattered piece of cloth. She turned it over and inspected it. It appeared ancient, covered in odd symbols and writing. “Uhh, Janie? What the hell is this?” She crinkled her nose and held the filthy rag away from herself with two fingers. Henry yowled, jumping from Mirabelle’s arms to run over to Olivia. She absentmindedly picked him up, taking care not to touch him with the dirty fabric.

  Janie grinned in triumph. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s the answer to all your prayers.”

  “Uhh … explain please?”

  “I got it from a fortune teller I ran into tonight. That’s a Wishing Cloth. You put it under your pillow and then wish with all your might for what you want the most. When you wake up, it will grant your wish. It’s simple!”

  Olivia snorted and stared back down at the dirty piece of cloth. Henry leaned over and sniffed it. He hissed and shot Janie an accusatory look. Olivia understood his reaction; she felt like hissing at it too. “I really hope this didn’t set you back too much, because I think you’ve been tricked by someone dressed in a gypsy costume.”

  Janie shook her head and stared at her intently. “Don’t laugh. There are powers in this world you can’t begin to comprehend.” Her deadly serious expression disappeared in a flash, and she was back to her drunken, cheerful self. “Besides, what can it hurt? If nothing happens, nothing happens. You’ll never know unless you try.”

  Olivia stared down at the piece of cloth with distaste. “You want me to put this under my pillow?”

  “Yup. One night won’t kill you, I promise.”

  Olivia blew out a breath. “Two might.”

  Mirabelle watched the exchange in amusement. “You guys are insane.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to get home. I have an early conference call tomorrow. C’mon, Janie. Let’s get your drunk ass back to your apartment.”

  “Yes, Mother.”

  Mirabelle rolled her eyes and gave Olivia a hug. “Night, sweetie. Don’t worry, good things will eventually start to happen for you, even without silly fairy tale wishes.”

  Olivia sighed. “I won’t hold my breath, but thanks for the encouragement. I’ll talk to you both in the morning.”

  After they left, Olivia carried Henry to the bedroom, set him down, and started to change out of her clothes. She realized she still held the tattered piece of cloth. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she stared at her pillow. What could it hurt? Well, aside from possibly giving her cholera. She shrugged and quickly placed it inside the pillowcase.

  She took a quick shower and got ready for bed. Henry jumped onto the bed to curl up next to her as she slid under the covers. The offending smell emanating from her pillowcase reminded her of what she was supposed to do. Sighing, she rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered, “This is completely silly and pointless, but okay. I wish … I wish for my soul mate to finally appear. And by soul mate, I mean the perfect man for me. Someone who will accept me for who I am and think I’m beautiful, even if I’ve just woken up and am truly terrifying. Someone who won’t judge me, who will want to spend time with me, who will listen to what I have to say, and who will love me with all his heart. Just let him find me, no matter how far away he may be, or how impossible it may seem. If there’s truly one person for every person in this world then let me have mine. That’s my wish.”

  With Henry purring loudly by her head, she rolled over, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

  ~~ * * * ~~

  Olivia woke up to a male voice softly repeating her name. She opened her eyes to find a very gorgeous, very naked man kneeling next to the side of the bed. Shrieking, she scrambled to the other side. She grabbed her phone and ran as fast as she could to the bathroom. Slamming and locking the door, she started to dial 911. A calm voice on the other side of the door kept her from completing the call.

  “Olivia, wait. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I’m as confused as you are about this. Hear me out a second, okay? You don’t have to unlock the door; just listen to me. If you still want to call the cops after I’m done talking, I’ll understand. I’m going to go grab the ugly brown robe from your closet. Is that all right? Will you wait a second?”

  “How do you know my name?” she yelled through the door. “And how do you know I have an ugly robe in my closet?”

  “The same way I know your mom got you the robe for your twenty-eighth birthday because she wanted you to be comfortable. Since you didn’t have a man around to impress, she said it didn’t matter if it was ugly.”

  Olivia gasped and stepped back from the door. “What the hell? No one was around when she gave that to me.”

  “Actually, I was. You got upset and accused her of being judgmental, which led to her crying about the grandchildren she’ll never have.”

  Olivia raised her hands to her mouth in shock. “What the hell is going on? Who are you? How do you know all this stuff?”

  He was silent a moment. “You’re not going to believe me.”

  “Probably not, but you’d better start explaining. I’m two seconds away from connecting this call and having you arrested. Who are you, and why are you in my house?”

  “Henry! I’m here because I’m Henry.”

  “Because you’re Henry? What does that even mean? The only Henry I know is my cat.”

  “Exactly,” he retorted. “I’m your cat … Or at least I was.”

  Olivia let out a bark of laughter. “Ok, buddy. I’m calling the cops. You’re clearly off your meds.”

  “You found me while you were walking through the park, Olivia. I wore a tag with my name, but no other information. You took me to the vet, but I didn’t have a microchip, and no one answered your ads, so you kept me. You’ve had me for five years. I won’t eat cat food, and you thought someone trained me to use the toilet instead of the litter box.” His voice moved farther away from the door, and Olivia heard the closet open.

  Her heart started to race. “Do you work for the vet? Is this how you know all this? This is an invasion of privacy or something! I’m definitely calling the cops.”

  “Wait!” His voice was back at the door. “Do me a favor and call Janie first. She gave you that piece of fabric, and I think it must be behind this. I want to know where she got it. She said a fortune teller, but I need to know which fortune teller.”

  Olivia inhaled sharply. “What do you know about the fabric?”

  “It smells horrible and it’s in your pillowcase. You made a wish for a man last night, and I think it somehow brought me back. I went to sleep a cat and woke up human again. I wasn’t always a cat, but I certainly didn’t expect this to happen. After five years of being feline, I assumed I just needed to learn to accept the hairball medicine you force down my throat once a week. I promise you it does not taste like salmon.” He paused. “Can you please open the door? This might be easier to explain if you look
at me. I’m dressed now.”

  Olivia stared at the door. It wasn’t possible, but how else did the guy know everything he knew? She put her hand on the knob, weighing her options. “I’m opening the door. I have the phone set to dial, so if you try anything, I’m dialing. Understand?”

  “Yes. If it makes you feel better, I’ll go stand by the window.”

  “Yeah, do that. I’ll wait.” She waited until she heard him call from farther away. Taking a deep breath, she cracked open the door and peered out.

  True to his word, the man stood by the window wearing her hideous brown robe. It strained at the seams; he was seriously tall and very deliciously built. Olivia gulped as she studied him. His jet-black hair was the same color as her cat’s fur. Considering him for a second, she yelled toward the living room, “Henry! Come here, baby!”

  As she waited for him to run into the room like he always did when she called, the man sighed. “He’s not out there because he’s right here, Olivia. I already told you.”

  “Sure,” she responded, keeping her eye on him. After a few seconds with no cat appearing, she called out again and the man snorted.

  “You’ve always been stubborn. While we wait, do you want me to tell you what else I know about you?”

  “Yeah. How about you tell me something I’ve never told anyone but the cat,” she scoffed.

  “Sophomore year of high school you had a crush on a kid named Billy Allen. He moved away but you were certain he liked you back. Two weeks ago, he came up on your dating site, and you were thrilled to find him again. However, when you messaged him, he didn’t remember you at all and told you to send nudes instead. When you wouldn’t, he blocked you. You cried into my fur for an hour. How am I doing so far?”

  Olivia stared at him in astonishment. No one knew about that. It was too embarrassing to even mention to Mira or Janie, and she did cry about it to her cat for an hour. She lifted the phone to her ear and he groaned. Shaking her head, she clarified, “No, not the police. I’m calling Janie. Go sit on the couch until she gets here.”

  ~~ * * * ~~

  It only took fifteen minutes for Janie to arrive. Olivia carefully skirted the massive man sitting on her couch and threw the door open. Janie rushed in, took one look at the man, and stopped dead.

  “Oh. Goodness,” she breathed. She looked back to Olivia. “You said the cat turned into him?”

  “He says that, not me. I’m trying to figure out how he knows so much about me … and you, I guess. He told me to call you.”

  “Me?” Janie walked over to the couch and stood in front of the man. She stared down at him. “Why me?”

  “Where’d you get the piece of fabric, Janie?” he countered.

  She studied him for a moment. “You know,” she said to Olivia, “he really does look like a human version of Henry. He even has the same eyes.”

  Olivia frowned and went to stand by Janie. She had kept her distance before Janie showed up, but she felt safe enough to inspect the man now. He gazed up at her with clear, green eyes—the same green as her cat’s. She backed away and sat down heavily on the coffee table, suddenly dizzy.

  The man glanced back at Janie. “The fabric. Who gave it to you?”

  “A fortune teller I ran into at a Halloween carnival in the park. She read my palm, asked me a few questions, and found out I needed a birthday present for Livy. Thus, the fabric.”

  “What was her name?” he asked, moving closer to the edge of the couch.

  “Um, Madame Zhirova, I think. She looked about ninety and had the weirdest eyes—”

  “Were they silver? Were they so shiny it seemed like she was wearing contacts?”

  “Yes! How’d you know that?”

  “Because that freak turned me into a cat, that’s how! I knew she’d show up again eventually, but I’ve been stuck here as an indoor cat, so I couldn’t exactly go look for her.” He glanced reproachfully over at Olivia and continued. “I made a wish. I’d just gone through a bad break up with my girlfriend. She cheated on me, and I was completely drunk and heartbroken over it. Apparently, I said something to offend the fortune teller because when I made a wish for a woman to be devoted to me for the rest of my life, I wound up becoming a cat instead.”

  Janie shrieked in laughter and then clapped her hand across her mouth. “Oh shit, Livy. I think he might be telling the truth. Wouldn’t it be wild if Henry was a man trapped as a cat this whole time?” She snorted again and turned to him. “Oh my God, the things you must have seen.”

  He reddened slightly. “Um, it’s been interesting.”

  Olivia froze in horror, thinking about how many times her cat had watched her change, gone into the bathroom with her, and stayed in the bedroom while she had boyfriends over.

  Janie giggled nervously. “I assumed the weird feeling last night was because of the alcohol, but maybe something paranormal was going on. Let’s go back to the park and see if the carnival is still there. I doubt they’ve packed up yet, so someone must still be around.” Looking at the man, she added, “You need clothes, Catman.”

  Olivia spoke up. “I have a couple oversized sweatshirts, and maybe an extra pair of basketball shorts from when my brother visited. Let me check.”

  After a moment, she shoved a ball of wrinkled clothes into the man’s arms. “Go change in the bathroom. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

  ~~ * * * ~~

  They all walked through the park to the spot where Janie said the carnival was set up. However, the meadow was empty and quiet, with no mess to indicate that anything had stood there the night before.

  “Wow, they tore down quick,” grumbled Janie.

  Olivia spotted a groundskeeper who was trimming hedges. “Excuse me,” she yelled as she started to walk toward him, the others following.

  “Can I help you?”

  “The carnival that was here last night, do you know how to contact them?”

  “Carnival?” the groundskeeper asked, clearly confused.

  “Yes,” said Janie, sounding annoyed. “The Halloween carnival. There were a few rides, some animals, sideshow attractions like a fortune teller: that sort of thing.”

  “I think you must be mistaken. There wasn’t any carnival here last night.”

  Janie snorted. “I think you must be mistaken, because there certainly was. I was here.”

  “Ma’am, I patrolled here all night, making sure kids didn’t pull any Halloween pranks. There was nothing here. Maybe you’re thinking of another park?”

  Janie turned to Olivia with wide eyes. “What’s going on? It was set up right here. I even ate cotton candy!”

  Catman coughed softly, and they all looked at him. He smiled wanly. “When I turned into a cat, I came back to the park to find her. That’s why you found me here, Olivia. There was no sign of the carnival then, either. I think maybe she does what she does and disappears.”

  The groundskeeper snarled, “All right, I don’t appreciate being interrupted for nonsense like this. Go do your practical jokes somewhere else. If you have a complaint, take it up with the city.” He turned his back on them and resumed working on the hedges.

  Olivia grabbed Janie and pulled her toward the path. Catman trailed behind them. “This is getting weirder and weirder, Janie. I’m almost inclined to believe him, but this is crazy. People don’t turn into animals.”

  Janie shrugged. “I’ve heard of stranger things happening. She swore you would find a man who loves you unconditionally, and your cat has always loved you. He does look like a human version of him, Livy. It’s downright spooky how much.”

  Olivia glanced at Catman, and he raised an eyebrow haughtily—a human-like expression she’d seen from her cat many times in the last five years. She felt the air leave her body. “Holy shit,” she whispered.

  He watched her a moment. “I think we should talk. Maybe without Janie around?”

  Olivia looked back at Janie, and her friend nodded. “I’m out of here. Call me later.” She took off down
the path, leaving Olivia and the now-human Henry standing there, watching each other in silence.

  ~~ * * * ~~

  Neither Olivia nor Henry spoke on the way back to the apartment. Once inside, she opened her mouth to say something, but he shook his head, interrupting her.

  “No, let me say my piece. Then you can decide if you want me to stay or go, okay?”

  She nodded, and he sat down on the couch. “When you found me, I was in full panic mode. It took me a bit to realize what had happened. When I did, I had no idea what to do next. It was terrifying, and confusing, and impossible. Then you showed up. Here, sit.” He patted the sofa next to him, and she sat, scooting to the farthest section away from him. He sighed and continued. “Here was this hot brunette picking me up and cooing to me and petting me—which, for the record, feels amazing—and I thought maybe I’d died overnight, and this was heaven. Unfortunately, after a few days of being a cat, I started to realize I might be stuck like that forever. Don’t you remember me freaking out?”

  Olivia thought back. The cat had seemed to have an existential crisis right after she’d found him. It was part of the reason she’d taken him to the vet. “You calmed down, though. The freak out only lasted about a week.”

  He shrugged. “Being around you helped, so I figured I’d better get used to my new life. It’s not so bad being a cat once you get over the shock. It’s like an extremely lazy vacation with great room service.”

  She laughed and then remembered what Janie had said earlier. “Oh my God, you have seen things you should not have seen.”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, about that—I’m sorry, but being a cat is also very boring. I didn’t think I’d ever be a person again, and you offered me some interesting viewing opportunities throughout the years. Although, after a while, when you had boyfriends over, I started to plot ways to murder them while they slept.”