I thumbed through the glossy pages of my secondhand history book, Ms. Dunn’s fruity voice filling up the room.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I said, stopping my page flipping.

“What was that, Sam?” Asked Ms. Dunn, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

I glanced up at her and could feel my cheeks warming.

“Er, nothing Ms. Dunn, sorry.”

I meant to only think it, not say it. I looked back down at the book on my desk and scanned the picture staring back at me. Piercing green eyes on a stern face, flimsy needles protruding from its cheeks. Pointy ears. Completely covered in fur, a long hairy tube attached to its ass?

A cat. The text said it was a cat. I blinked a couple times. A cat? What I was seeing was the same creature I had seen in the woods with Amanda last weekend, the creature everyone had brushed off and didn’t believe me about.

I shut the book and tuned into Ms. Dunn again.