After Midnight, I was woke up my cat chittering at something outside.

I, James, was awoken from sleep by a distinct little chirping noise that I was very familiar with. Groggily, I reached over to check my phone to see what time it was. 12:13 AM. Great. My white and black tuxedo cat, Buddy, was standing on the back of my computer chair, looking out the window, making little chittering noises, occasionally followed by a stressed bray.

"Thanks, Buddy. Thanks." I sighed. I'd probably been asleep only about 45 minutes. I was off from work the next day, so I could stay up later if I wanted, but I had stuff I needed to get done and didn't want to waste my entire day off by sleeping all afternoon. Now I was going to because my cat saw a rabbit outside or something. Oh well.

I could hear Aria or Pixie, our other two cats, which were both brown mackerel tabbies with white spots, playing in the living room. The quiet stillness of the house, broken only by our cats, told me my roommates—Richard, my best friend, and Chrissy, a different friend's younger sister—were either both asleep or at least in their rooms on our split-level house's lower floor.

Buddy made a slightly louder, more stressed noise. As much as I wanted to be annoyed with him, I just laughed. It was too cute for me to be mad. He suddenly launched himself from my computer chair and booked it out of my room. I could hear the pitter-patter of his paws on the stairs, followed soon by our other two cats. Whatever was outside gave him the zoomies.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I took a long, mournful look at my pillow, too awake to easily go back to sleep now. Curiosity got the better of me, and I swung my legs over the side of the bed, deciding to investigate what had stirred Buddy up. I shuffled to the window and peered outside.

The light of the full moon illuminated the night. Streetlights flickered as my eyes scanned the road outside our house. All the lights in the neighboring houses were out, indicating everyone was asleep. The night seemed just as still as our house...except for one thing.

I had expected to see a rabbit, or at worst a fox, but that was not what I saw. My eyes fell on a large, grey-haired beast. Its features were vaguely canine, but it was larger than any dog, wolf, or coyote I had ever seen. It was nearly the size of a bear. It was eating something—probably a deer—right on the lawn in our front yard.

"What the f-" I whispered, walking backward away from the window and falling into my computer chair, in disbelief at the abomination I was staring at. No wonder Buddy sounded stressed. My heart was pounding in my chest. There was no way this could be real. I took another quick look to confirm that, yes, what I saw was indeed real. Not only was it real, but it was also less than five feet from the window of my best friend's room.

I wasn't sure what to do. Maybe if I left it alone, it would just leave? No. If I did that, it might hurt someone. Trying to stay calm, I went to grab my phone off my nightstand before moving back over to the window and taking a picture. Thanks to the brightness of the moon, the picture came out clear, with that thing visible.

Next, I dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" came a lady's voice from the other end.

"Uh, hi. My name is James. There is some kind of large animal in my front yard. When I say large, I mean large—like, this thing is eating what I'm pretty sure is a deer. I live in a residential area, so it could hurt someone or someone's pet."

"I'll get an officer out there to investigate. Can you provide a description?"

"It looks like a dog, or a wolf, but bigger than any I've ever seen. Fur looks grey."

"I'll get someone there right away. What's your address?" I gave her my address, my eyes never leaving the creature.

"Thank you, James. Are you somewhere safe?"

"Yes. I'm in my house on the second floor."

"Is there anyone else in your household?"

"I have two roommates."

"Are they also safe?"

"They're in their rooms on the lower level of the house."

"Do their rooms have any windows or potential areas of entrance?"

"Both of their rooms have windows."

"Okay. In the interest of their safety until the animal either leaves or the officer gets there and scares it away, can you get them upstairs as well?"

"Yes. I can do that." I let the 911 operator go after that. Before waking up either Rich or Chrissy, I grabbed our three cats and corralled them into my room. They were not happy about it. I watched the three quickly jump onto my computer chair to look out the window, their tails flicking back and forth with an occasional bray. That thing freaked them out just as bad as it did me.

I tiptoed down the two flights of stairs, trying to be as quiet as humanly possible. I stood in front of Chrissy's door, looking between it and Rich's door, trying to figure out which one I should wake up first. I moved to Rich's door; he was in more theoretical danger. I knocked very lightly at first, then grabbed the knob and opened the door.

His room was dark, other than the moonlight creeping in from the windows. I could see the outline of him in his bed.

"Rich," I whispered, trying to stay quiet. "Rich, wake up." He stirred slightly but didn't wake up. "Bro," I said a little louder, "big problem—you gotta wake up." He groaned and sat up slightly.

"Dude? What time even is it? What do you want?" he asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Yeah, it's almost 12:30," I whispered. "I wouldn't have woken you up if it wasn't a big deal. Try to be a little quieter. There is an animal in the front yard."

"So?"

"How long have you known me? It's dangerous. I already called the cops. You have to come up with me to my room or upstairs at least. Just trust me on this one." Rich sat for a moment in the dark and then sighed.

"Seriously? Alright, let me get up and put on pants, I guess."

"Cool, I'm going to go wake up Chrissy." I stood in his doorway for a moment. "Try to avoid the windows."

"...Sure."

I went over to Chrissy's door while Rich got ready. I didn't bother knocking. That girl slept like the dead."

Chrissy!" I called her a bit louder than I had Rich. Not even a stir. I sighed and, something I would never do under normal circumstances, stepped into her room. I moved up to her bed and began to lightly shake her. "Chrissy!"

"WHAT? WHO'S THERE?" she yelped, waking up.

"Relax, it's me. There is a 911 situation, the three of us are gonna shack up in my room."

"Oh God, did someone break in?"

"No, it's—" My sentence was interrupted by the sound of Rich swearing and his door slamming, followed by a loud thud. I darted to Chrissy's doorway; it had freaked her out enough that she was right behind me. Rich was standing in front of his door, panting. "What happened?"

"Upstairs! Now!" Rich said, scrambling past us up the stairs. I had a few guesses about what had happened. I ran up the stairs after him with Chrissy close behind. We ran through the living room, down the hall, opened the door, got inside, and slammed it shut. I heard another loud thud from outside.

"What happened?" I asked, panting.

"I went to my desk to grab my car keys, just in case, and I got a look out the window at that... that... thing, but it got a look at me too," Rich replied.

"Crap."

"What thing?" Chrissy asked, looking at the two of us, confused.

"The reason I woke you up. There is a wild... uh... something in our front yard." There was another loud thud and this time the sound of broken glass. "Correction: there is a wild something in Rich's room. I called the cops. They should be here soon, I hope."

"What kind of something?" Chrissy asked nervously. I brought up the picture of it on my phone and passed it to her. "What... the... f....," she whispered as she looked at it.

"Yeah, that's what I said too."

"What about the cats?"

"I gathered them up before I went to wake you up." Buddy and Aria were at the foot of my bedroom door, pawing at it.

"My door won't slow it down forever," Rich said, shaking his head. "We'll have to go out your window, get to one of the cars."

"Can't we just wait for the cops?" Chrissy asked.

"Don't think so," I shook my head. "No idea when they'll show. I've called them for animals before and they took almost an hour. I don't think we have that kind of time. Did you manage to grab your keys?"

"No," Rich said. "Where are yours?"

"On the table next to the front door." We both looked at Chrissy.

"My keys are in my purse."

"That's a no-go. It will have to be my keys," I said.

"Yours aren't really in a more helpful location," Chrissy sighed.

"Not immediately, no," Rich replied, "but they're closest."

"Alright, who's going to go get them?" she asked. The question hung in the room for a moment. The silence was broken by the sound of splintering wood. From the sounds of it, the beast had found its way to Rich's door.

"I'll go. It's my fault that thing is in the house."

"Like hell you are. They're my keys; I'll go," I replied.

"Whichever of you is going to go, you better hurry." A new noise came from beyond my door—the sound of a hissing cat. The three of us looked at Buddy and Aria. It wasn't either of them.

"Wait... where's Pixie?" Chrissy asked, her eyes going wide.

"She was in here. Oh god. She must have slipped out when we came in." My heart was pounding in my ears.

"YOU MEAN SHE'S OUT THERE WITH THAT THING?" Buddy and Aria looked up at us and meowed. No wonder they wanted to be let out.

"Yeah, but not for long." I grasped the knob. The three of us exchanged a look that said the same thing. There are few things people wouldn't do to save their pets, and if need be, I'd die in a heartbeat for that eleven-pound little fuzzball. Chrissy quickly threw Buddy and Aria into my closet. They meowed in frustration, but we already had one cat out there, and that was one too many.

I swung open the door and stepped out.

At the end of the hallway, Pixie was backing up into the kitchen adjacent to the living room, yowling and hissing. The beast had more than found its way into Rich's room. It was in the living room, stepping towards Pixie, growling. It was on its hind legs, bloody spittle falling from its mouth. It had to be over seven feet tall, with a massive and stocky frame.

I wouldn't let that stop me, though. I bolted down the hall, driving my shoulder with all my weight behind it into its side. Caught completely off guard, it toppled over, its head slamming onto our coffee table as it fell. I stood there panting, Rich by my side. He must have had the same idea as me, and our combined weight was enough.

"Got the cat!" I heard Chrissy say. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her scooping up Pixie and heading back to my room.

"I'll grab the keys! Don't wait for me; I'll go out the front door," Rich said, heading for the stairs. I looked down at the creature, which was starting to recover and get back up.

"No, you don't." I moved to the side, secured my hands under our armchair, and lifted with all my strength, toppling it over onto the creature before running down the hall back to my room. I could hear the chair effortlessly being tossed to the side as I slammed my door shut. That thing's strength had to be unreal.

"Where's Rich?" Chrissy asked me, fear adorning her face. Pixie was still in her arms, clearly breathing heavily. The poor cat had to be terrified.

"Should be outside already. You get the cats out of the closet. I'll get the window open." I ran to the window and threw it open. I could see Rich outside, beneath it, waving.

"Car's started. We just need to get in and go."

"Perfect." I heard the cats running behind me. Guess Chrissy didn't need to work very hard to get them out of the closet. Aria jumped up on the windowsill, and once she saw Rich outside, hopped right out. That cat stuck to him like glue. Buddy was at my feet. Chrissy was already behind me. I could hear splintering wood. The beast was at my door, and my door wasn't going to last very long. I silently thanked the house's previous owners for replacing all the doors upstairs with real wood as it likely bought us precious moments.

"Chrissy, pass me Pixie, and get out the window. I'll pass her and Buddy down. Help Rich get them in the car."

"What about you?" she asked as she handed me Pixie.

"I'll be right behind you."

"O-okay," she stuttered, moving her leg through the window as my bedroom door started to buckle. I kept my eye on the door as best I could as I passed her Pixie. Rich had already got Aria in the car. I picked up Buddy and passed him to Rich as Chrissy ran to the car with Pixie. I was swinging my own leg over the windowsill just as my door finally gave way.

The beast turned to look at me and was climbing over my bed just as I dropped out the window. I landed a little more awkwardly than I would have liked, but I was counting my lucky stars to have made it at all. The creature's head was out my window. It was growling and snapping its jaws, but my window was a good deal smaller than the windows in Rich's room, and it couldn't squeeze its muscular frame through.

I took a second to flick it off before running to the car and hopping inside. Rich was in the driver's seat, and Chrissy was in the back with the cats climbing all over her, mewing softly.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" I shouted as I slammed the car door. That was all Rich needed to hear as he reversed out of the driveway and drove out of the neighborhood at breakneck speed.

"Where are we headed?" Rich asked, slowing down as we reached the highway.

"My grandmother's. We can spend the night there," I answered. "I have a copy of her house key on my key ring."

"Works for me." The three of us rode in silence as the adrenaline wore off, with the only noise being from the engine of the car and the mewing of the cats. Somehow, we had made it.

----------

Once we got to my grandmother's, I called 911 again to let them know the animal was in the house and we had gotten out. I got the same lady as before, and she got my grandmother's address to direct the cop there for follow-up. I let my grandma sleep and told her what happened in the morning.

A cop showed up about forty-five minutes later to let us know he had done a walk-through of our house. Rich's bedroom window and door were broken, my bedroom door was destroyed, the armchair in the living room was in pieces, multiple walls had claw marks, there were multiple instances of grey fur all over the frames of the broken windows and doors, and the back door that led out to our porch was caved in but from the inside. That looked to be the animal's point of exit.

I got a copy of the police report from him so I could call the insurance company. That was going to be a fun conversation. I noticed on the report that the officer refused to identify what animal it could have been.

The three of us returned to the house in the morning to get clothes and our necessities, but we are staying at my grandma's until further notice. There was discussion of selling the house because none of us were sure we would ever feel safe there again.

I'm not sure I could ever feel safe anywhere again now that I know there are things like that actually out there.

My advice to you: if you ever wake up to hear your cat chittering at something outside, don't look.

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