Shadow Cat

In the beginning, I wanted to leave, but four years later I got used to it. I met great people here, and have learned to accept the things we cannot control. Sol Valley College is one of the oldest and most affordable colleges in the Sol Valley area. It enrolled 300 students every semester. Most avoid the college due to rumors of strange events. The greatest thing about the Sol Valley campus is its vast library collection and its cherry blossom trees. Not to mention the credit points you re given at the beginning of the semester.

500 credits to use at the campus cafeteria or the campus bookstore.

My first week of classes was like any other campus. It had not occurred to me but on the fifth day students and staff were in a rush, whenever it was about to be 5 pm. I have a few classes during the day and a night class, so I signed up for theater writing. Instructors and students avoid taking or teaching classes after 7 p.m. The staff also don’t want to be on campus during the night hours. Rumors of strange things happen, during the night hours.

The second time I went to my night class, a woman pushing her baby in a stroller was walking through the cherry blossom trees when the giant clock on every campus building struck sounding off with a loud bang. Letting us know it was 6 p.m. The sound of the clocks sounded like a ticking grandfather clock with a tune from a song. The women tried to get out of there fast. The stroller lost one side of its wheels, and the woman grabbed her bags and carried her baby, rushing off. Leaving the stroller behind.

The night security has witnessed seeing things. When they talked about it, they were shrugged off or told it was due to lack of sleep. New security had taken on the job, but would only last a day working. One security by the name of Rico has been working at the Sol Valley campus the longest. He never had any complaints or spoke out. People see him as a crazy old man who mutters to himself.

It took me a month to adjust to the classes and campus. Nothing odd happened, except for some students saying they had seen something. No one knew whether to believe them or not. Those older students used it as a prank for the new incoming students. They did not believe in the rumors like many others.

It has been a month since I noticed, that every time I go to the cafeteria, there is this student Dayana. She would always be in there buying up half the snacks. She was in one of my other classes. She sat in the far back taking a nap, so we never talked before. When she was awake she would be snacking on something. One time in the cafeteria she had overused her credit points that she had to wait until the next semester. I offered her to use my student credit and gained her friendship along the way.

“I don't believe the stories about this campus. It’s all just bedtime stories for children,” Dayana said.

I sat down beside her not even thinking of asking her about the campus rumors. It was the first thing Dayana said as she knew I would ask later on.

“There is no way a ghost stalks this campus,” Dayana said. She went back to chewing her salad.

“How did you know I was going to ask?”

“It is all that anyone talks about these days,” Dayana said.

Dayana was the type of person that did not believe in ghost stories or any kind of unexplained, mysteries. She had to see it for herself to believe it.

Dayana was about only a few that seemed normal. The thought of a ghost on campus did not affect her, as if she was immune. I hung out more often with Dayana as we both were not oddballs.

About a month later, I sat down in the library study cubicle waiting for my next class that afternoon. There I ran into Nova. Nova was in my science lab class. She was the student that everyone would run to if they did not understand the assignment. I thought I would be friendly and meet someone new as I walked up to her and greeted her.

“Hi, Nova! Have you started on the science essay project?” I asked.

Of course, she has, Nova usually gets things done a lot sooner. She even once asked the professor for the next upcoming week's assignments.

“I got that done a few days ago,” Nova said.

Every time I saw her, I would make small talk, just to be friendly. Little did I know, Nova would be the one to fill in the blanks for me. She knew more and a lot about the campus and the events that frightened most of the people on campus.

I caught her sitting in the Quad one time and asked her about the strange events that go on. It is then I would find out about the ghost cat.

“You never heard of Sammy the cat, have you? She was the most beautiful cat,” Nova said.

“A cat?” I said. Wondering if she was making it up.

“Sammy was the campus cat. The cat roamed the abandoned building before they turned it into a college campus. Everyone loved that cat. It would greet students every morning, meowing at the students or staff when they arrived or walked by the main entrance,” Nova said. She looked around the area as if she was seeing something move.

“What happened to the cat?”

“Someone ran over the cat. Why? No one knows who did it, and we will never know,” Nova said.

“Ten years ago, students say they have been seeing the cat as a ghost walking around campus or lying on top of the bookshelves in the library,”

I was still unsure if she was making the story up so I played along.

“Let me guess, students went missing?”

“Not quite, professors went missing after every semester,” Nova said. She had a serious look on her face as she did not look at Kaydn the whole time.

“I know how this ended, they were never found, right?”

“They were found teaching at a different campus. Due to a one-year semester teaching plan contract,” Nova said. She was getting irritated as she wanted to get back to her books. Piled and stacked in front of her.

“Why is the cat attacking people if it was once liked a loved?”

“The cat attacks people because it is trying to get revenge on whoever killed it,” Nova said. She was looking down at her to-do list written on a paper.

“A good cat that once loved everyone now has turned on them for someone else’s evil actions,”

“How do you know all this?”I asked. Nova grabbed her stuff and rushed off, not saying anything else.

Towards the end of my semester, it was the last class of my night class. I was on my way the streetlamps were lit up, and most students were back in their dorms. Nothing but the sound of crickets and a light wind blew.

Trees danced while the cherry blossom leaves flew and fell off. Above the street lamp, I had seen something bright. Was it a shining bright star or a plane getting ready to land nearby?

No plane has green lights I told myself, looking up at the night starry sky.

Too many cat stories I was starting to see strange things in the sky. I looked up at the sky one last time as the green light came closer changing into a small shadowy figure. The last thing I remember saying was the words.

“Ghost Cat!”

A month later I don’t remember anything from that night. Only that I woke up in the campus health center. Dayana told me I blacked out. She had seen a shadow of a cat turning a corner, still believing it was an actual cat and not a ghost.