The Cat With 14 Lives

In Salem, Massachusetts in 1982 the Meyers family rented a house. This particular house was so old, It was believed to be built back during the 1800’s around the establishment of the town. Despite the house's age it was a beautiful well renovated home with rent so cheap, it was questionable how the house was even available at all. There was one condition on the leasing contract that seemed rather strange to the Meyers. It was that no one may ever enter or go near the old shed on the back edge of the property. The family of 4 quickly agreed; and this story takes place 6 months after the family moved into the home.

Jonas Meyers was 10 years old at the time and the youngest of their 2 children. He had been told many times he was not permitted to go anywhere near the shed. Anytime he would ask for a reason why his family would simply tell him, “Because we told you not to, you do not need a reason to listen to your parents.” One day little Jonas’s curiosity of the mysterious shed had become unbearable to the point he could no longer take it. It was not more than a week after dedicating his mind to discovering the mystery of the shed that he would be given a time window to do so when his family was not home.

It was 12:30 pm on a Saturday, and Jonas had grabbed his flashlight eagerly from under his bed. He laced up his boots with such speed and enthusiasm, he had tied his shoes incorrectly and would have to redo the knots. As he trotted out towards the old downtrodden shed, he felt both fear and the feeling of invitation. He felt as though something else had wanted him to go to the shed even more than he did. It was a strange feeling he could not shake off, and so he supplemented the feeling as even more encouragement to not back out of his plans at the last minute. This was an adventure.

The shed itself was old and decaying; unlike the house, no such renovations or love had been put into its upkeep over the years. The shed was an ugly bright yellow color with big double doors that were locked tight. In fact the only thing that was deemed to have not been from the 1800’s on the rundown shed was its security. It had modern locks, deadbolts, and even fencing with barbed wire surrounding the outside of the shed. It was clear there had to be something really cool inside, or so it would appear to an overly curious 10 year old. Despite all the security, the shed’s front door had been rotted to the point there was a decent sized hole in it. The size was just perfect to the point that a small child or a pet could go through quite easily. Jonas put on his brave face, turned on his flashlight and crawled through the hole.

When Jonas got inside the shed he examined around and noticed the inside of the shed had been bare. There was nothing in the whole shed except an open cellar door that led downwards to what appeared to be a candle lit basement. When Jonas had finally gotten his bearings, two candles on the far wall on the two sides of the lower floor lit up with a bright green flame. Jonas then began to hear the voice of a child no older than himself call out to him. “Hey I'm down here! Come let me out won’t you?” A wave of fear shivered up Jonas’s spine but something in him insisted he go help out the little boy. Jonas bravely grabbed the flashlight and went down into the cellar. As Jonas progressed down the concrete steps to the lower floors of the basement, green candles began to light up on the adjacent sides of the walls; almost as if to guide him. As Jonas got closer to the bottom he could hear the little boy’s voice grow stronger and stronger.

At the bottom of the steps he entered a well lit square room with weird symbols he had never seen before all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. They had all been aligned in the formation of a pentagram and in the very center stood a wooden cage with a black cat in it. The wooden cage had no discernible features besides a lock and an inscription on the cage that read, “Those who dare burn us at the stake, we shall keep as pets”. Jonas had been curious where the little boy had gone, this room was a dead end; he then heard the cat speak in the same voice he was following, “Hi what’s your name?” Jonas was so startled by what he saw his mouth couldn’t move to form words. It was at that point the talking cat continued, “My name's Andy. Don’t be scared of me, I won’t hurt you.”

Jonas finally snapping out of his shock responded, “Hi Andy, my name is Jonas. Why can you speak? You’re a cat.”

“Because I’m a little boy just like you.” Andy the cat exclaimed, “I was turned into a cat a long time ago, and I've been stuck here ever since.”

“What turned you into a cat?” Jonas asked after giving a nod of understanding to Andy’s situation.

“Poor choices.” Andy the cat proclaimed, “But it's alright now that I made a friend. I can finally get out of here!” Andy then proceeded, “You see this cage? Well it’s locked, the key is hanging right up above it.” Jonas took a look at the thin rope hanging down from the ceiling and sure enough there was a key. The key gave Jonas the creeps, it was a dark black old style key with a skull shaped handle.

“Why are you in this cage though?” Jonas asked, “And in this creepy shed?” he continued.

“Well this witch keeps me as a pet, and to make sure I don’t run away back home to my family she locks me up in this cage during the daytime.” Andy responded, “She only comes for me after sunset.”

“A witch?” Jonas asked in a trembling voice, “I didn't think witches were real.”

“Neither did I, that's how I became a cat.” Andy replied, “This used to be her house when they built it.” Andy paused for a brief moment, “But hey can you let me out of here now? I want to get out of here before it gets dark and she comes back. I can tell you anything else you want to know when you get me out of this cage.”

“Yeah sure,” Jonas nodded and grabbed the key off the chain. “I just can’t wait to tell everyone I know a talking cat.” Jonas proceeded to put the key in the lock and open the cage. As the lock opened, all the lights in the room grew very bright and all converged on the area above the cage and merged into the image of a flaming 12. The number began pulsing and changed from a 12 to a 13, after which a giant flash consumed the room and Jonas lost consciousness for a minute.

When Jonas awoke, he felt funny and noticed he felt shorter and was now in the very cage he had just unlocked. Jonas then looked past the bars to see what appeared to be himself. Jonas and Andy had switched bodies,“Hey! What the heck is going on?” Jonas shouted, “Why am… what did you do to me?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Andy said giggling, “You are the one who opened the cage. Didn’t your parents tell you not to come into the shed? I have been stuck in that cage for 15 years as that witch's pet.” Jonas began trying to say something but Andy interjected, “Look just do what the witch says, and you’ll be fine. Another kid will come and take your place; they always do.”

“Please don’t go, I wanna be with my family… I should have never helped you; you lied and tricked me. I don't wanna be a cat; my family will figure out you're not me.” Jonas exclaimed as he broke into feline tears. Andy turned his back to Jonas in his new body and left the cellar with one final statement.

“You don’t need a reason to listen to your parents, but now you have one for your next family. Don’t ever talk to cats.”

Not much truth is known about the accuracy of this tale as it is a common folk legend in Salem, Massachusetts. This story was reported to local police by a 11 year old girl in 2001; Her name was Martha Sanders. It was said by local police that after Martha told this tale it was almost as if she vanished into thin air. What is even more strange is when police came to investigate the address which had been on record since the creation of Salem, it was as if it had vanished into thin air as well. The property had been completely abandoned, even the trees that were once there had vanished. The only thing to be found on the property were 14 black cats.

These 14 black cats could not talk as the young woman had claimed; however, they all shared an almost human-like expression of longing. The cats also never left each other's side for any reason. Another curiosity is that since the discovery in 2001, all 14 black cats have remained on the same stretch of property long past the normal lifespan of any feline. With so many unanswered questions and rumors of the 14 cats’ unwillingness to move, eat or age. This became the unofficial local legend of “Salem’s 14 Black Cats''. This folktale became so popular due to the circumstances, local parents began to tell it as a bedtime story to make unruly children listen to them. To this day some skeptics that believe in the story say that the cats can talk; but only to children, and when they do they ask the children to “never talk to cats”.