“The song became accompanied by the incessant scratching at the floorboards, and the cat became restless as well, its meowing and hissing intertwining into one hellish song. In his fifty years, Anton had never heard a single cat sound like that.

And then, just when he thought that he could take it no more, the song, the scratching and the rest of the noises stopped, leaving only one sound behind.

The sound of approaching heavy footsteps.”