Cat Eyes

honorable mention from our February Flash Fiction Contest

Kenzie was far too beautiful to transition to a man. Exceptions were sometimes made, but they came with the consequence of being looked down on by the industry.  Kenzie did not want to transition. She loved being a woman. But also, she did not want to be looked down on. 

Bedsets were new then. Each day her fans would lay in their beds and hook their bodies up to her stream. This was shortly before the Killing Cure reached unavoidable attention. Hopes were high for what virtual reality could do even as infrastructure crumbled; the lights stayed on and so did the wifi. 

It was proposed that she augment some part of her while still maintaining the brand look Kenzie’s fans loved. Her breasts were already augmented and only premium fans could see those, so that was out. Her nose was perfect and her lips were routinely injected. Someone commented: What about cat eyes? 

“Huh, what do you boys think?” 

A series of positive replies streamed in. “Ok, ok,” she giggled. Several thousand dollars showed up in a matter of hours. Within a week she and her boyfriend flew off  to see Dr. Schneider.

“Welcome back to my first live stream post-op. It’s been a week since my surgery. Thank you so much for your support! You guys are my favorite. Now for the unwrapping!”

Kenzie untied the dressing and slowly unwrapped it, building tension. A pair of large, green, cat eyes with dark slits for irises stared into the cameras. Dr. Schneider said distance was going to be a lot blurrier (there were glasses for that) and colors would be dimmer. Everyone was sending heart emojis and dollars. She thought she looked sexy, but she would always miss seeing the full color spectrum. On the bright side, her peripheral vision was expanded.

The stream concluded and she signed off at about three in the morning. Something flashed in her periphery. She turned to see what it was, momentarily shocked by her ability to see in the dark. She made a mental note to do a lights-out stream with the eye glow. There was that movement again.The thought sank deep into her mind that one of her blocked followers might have found her again.

There was no noise, not even the swish of something moving through the air. Eight silhouetted limbs reached out from the darkest corner of the room. They hoisted a dark mass onto the ceiling about as big as a man. Kenzie darted out of the room with a shriek. She ran towards her real bedroom, turning around to see the giant spider thing scurrying after her. Glowing orbs of light crossed her path in the kitchen. She screamed again. Small elves tumbled out of her trash can and advanced. The spider overtook her. She crumpled to the floor weeping without tears. On its back was the smiling face of a Greek comedy mask. She covered her eyes. None of this made any noise, not the elves, who were now dancing around her, nor the floating orbs. Suddenly they all turned in a certain direction. Through her fingers she glanced in the same direction and saw an old hag tip-toeing towards her bedroom. She was dressed in dark tatters; warts dotted her ancient, sagging flesh. There was a long hooked nose.

Kenzie began hyperventilating. The old hag turned and looked at her. Its smile quickly became a scowl. She moved and watched as Kenzie followed her with her eyes. Then she shouted silently and waved her arms. The woman charged Kenzie on all fours. Kenzie dashed to the bedroom while the other entities scattered, slamming the door behind her and shouting, “Get out of my house!” Her boyfriend was up in a moment. 

“What’s happening? Did that creep find us again?” he asked. Kenzie sobbed in reply. The hag passed through the door and into the bedroom. Kenzie shrieked and pointed at her. Her boyfriend looked at her quizzically. “What? What?” The hag smiled and slowly advanced on them both.

Then the burglar alarm tripped. The boyfriend went to the door and passed through the witch, but before he could get to the knob it burst open and men wearing FBI jackets entered, followed by two hooded figures who were throwing salt and chanting. Kenzie hardly noticed the handcuffs going on as she watched the old hag hurry out the window. The agents escorted her boyfriend away, and sat Kenzie on the bed.

The hooded figures removed their hoods, revealing that one was a woman—she had cat eyes too. The other was a man who had a third eye on his forehead. Kenzie was too tired from the adrenaline crash to care.

“Sexual energy is a powerful honeypot,” the man said.

“W-what were those things?” Kenzie asked. 

“Nothing that hasn’t been happening since you started streaming. Entities are drawn to you, but you could never see them,” the woman responded. She looked up and smiled. The spider creature was back on the ceiling. Kenzie shrunk back. “This one doesn’t bite. We took care of the one you had to worry about.” 

“The witch?” 

“She had been skimming some off the top of your soul, but was upset you could see her tonight. She was going to take it all, hence why we are here.” 

“Who are you?” 

“Government,” the three-eyed man said. He was bald and white as a ghost.
“The implants let me see them?” 

“Yeah, good thing Schneider lets us know every time he does cats. I imagine cats see these things but no one cares about a cat and the cat doesn’t care about them. Anyway, you’re going to have to come with us.” 

“Where?” 

“We have to keep the night hag away from you while you hone your seeing.”

“What-what is happening?”

“You’re becoming a priestess,” the man said gruffly. They picked her up off the bed and walked her out of her apartment forever.