Night Prowler
By: Jason Mcbride
Tags: Short Story, Dark, Fiction, Supernatural, Writing

When night came again, Chris went through his standard routine. He tucked in the children, locked all the doors, closed all the windows, and turned off all the lights.

Only then did he retire to his bed in the den.

He opened his book only to realize he was too tired to read. He laid the book down and immediately fell asleep.

He heard a woman’s voice calling to him.

“Chris. Chris. Chris.” She repeated in a raspy, distant tone.

“Can I help you?” He said.

“Come join me?”

“Join you where?”

“Join me.” The voice was full of authority.

Chris felt himself being pulled away from his bed, through the walls of the den and outside. He saw the cougar, its eyes once again staring right at him. He returned the stare, trying to match the intensity of its glare.

Chris was pulled in through the eyes.

Chris blinked. His head was spinning. He felt nauseous.

“Give it a moment. The confusion will pass. The woman said.

“Where am I?” Chris asked. “What have you done to me?”

His tensed his muscles, but instead of his arms tensing, his legs, all four of them, tensed. He also sensed a tail and was in a crouch.

“You are with me.” The woman said.

“Are you the-the cougar?” Chris asked.

“No. I am Lina. I am inhabiting the cougar with you.”

“This is a weird dream.”

The same laughter from the night before echoed in Chris’s mind.

“This is not a dream fellow traveler. You have just projected your consciousness.”

“Projected? How? I’ve never done anything like that before. I don’t even believe in it.” Chris said.

“Not all mortals have the ability. It is a rare gift.” Lina said.

“Okay. I want to wake up now.”

Lina laughed once more.

“Let me explain it this way. The ability to project your consciousness is the result of a specific genetic mutation and the right conditions. It is not much different from being an elite athlete or gifted scientist. You have the right genetics. I am just giving you the right conditions.”

“So, you and I are both inside of this animal?”

“Yes. Your consciousness, my consciousness, and the cougar’s consciousness all inhabit this body for the time being.”

“I can’t hear or sense the cougar,” Chris said.

“That’s because the animal’s consciousness is weak. It is not strong like yours or mine. Reach out and feel the cougar around you. You have access to its thoughts and its body.”

Chris wasn’t sure what was happening, but he felt strangely compelled to obey the voice — to obey Lina.

He relaxed. He started to feel like a cougar. He could see sharply, even in the dark. New smells flooded in — things he had never smelled before. He tried to walk and found his movements fluid and graceful.

“Yes. Now open your mind up all the way.” Lina said.

Chris again obeyed and was flooded with the animal’s memories, hyper-awareness of his new body, and absorbed eons of instincts.

He bounded off zig-zagging through the neighborhood with an exuberant freedom he had never experienced before.

He climbed trees, leaped over fences, and indulged in his keen new senses.

He found himself at the neighborhood park.

He felt something tugging at his mind. At first, he thought it was Lina. He could still sense her, silently observing him. This new presence was different. It was the cougar. It did not speak to him. But it communicated something between a thought and an emotion.

Danger.

“The master of this body knows you need to be careful with its energy,” Lina said.

“Of course. It — she — is a predator. I must not waste her resources.” Chris said.

Lina was silent, but Chris could sense she was smiling.

“It is late. It is time for you to go back.” Lina said.

Chris felt himself coming out of the cougar. He had traveled several blocks to his home. He flew over the neighborhood and back to his body in his bed.

His alarm sounded within minutes of his return. He expected to feel exhausted. But, he felt invigorated. His physical body had rested all night.

Chris sprang out of bed and began his day in the best mood he had experienced in decades.

During breakfast, the conversation turned toward the neighborhood cougar. It took all of Chris’s willpower not to share the details of his escapade.

He was positive it was real and not a dream, but he was equally positive nobody would believe him.

Michelle mentioned someone’s surveillance camera had captured footage of the cougar. She showed Chris and the kids the video on her phone. The majestic animal looked like it was doing a cougar version of parkour.

“Why are you grinning so big?” Michelle laughed.

“I guess it’s just nice to see the enthusiasm this creature has for life.”

The rest of the day seemed to drag on for Chris. He wanted desperately to get back inside of the cougar. To be the cougar.

Before he came home from work, he stopped off at the neighborhood park to walk around the area he had visited during the night.

He spotted a variety of signs warning about a cougar in the area. They had a grainy image taken from the footage he had watched that morning.

Chris laughed and headed home.