Any ideas what I might be dealing with?

[Dennis Haverstand]

Recently, I was contacted by an old friend out of Nanton, a small town just south of Calgary Alberta. She closed her third eye years ago, claiming her time as a wiccan was mostly to upset her parents, and my reading of tarot cards is more a tool of seduction than divination. However, something she couldn't place her finger on was bothering the children at the daycare where she works, and she was willing to believe enough to protect them, if I could be any help.

The children have been very closed mouthed and sullen when I've been dealing with them, but I'm not an expert when it comes to kids. I've been here less then a week, and they don't know me very well, but Stacey seems worried that something "spooky and dangerous" as she puts it, may be coming, and I don't have a lot of time to gain their trust. Fortunetly, none of the children seem to be injured, at least not physically, but they seem withdrawn and subdued for such young ones.

Two days ago I noticed a large grey cat that seemed to be following me down an otherwise deserted street. I probably wouldn't have noticed it, except it was knee high and walking down the middle of the side walk. The same animal has appeared several times, including outside my bedroom window late last night, and I've noticed it in nearby trees on three occasions when I try to speak with the children.

While I haven't ruled out the possiblity that this animal may be some sort of fimiliar, there doesn't seem to be any human motivation for bothering these children. My current working theory is this being is either some sort of spirit with an animal affinity or a feline shapeshifter. Considering the state of Stacey's children, I worry it may be some sort of empathic vampire, feeding on the emotional energy of the kids. Anyone with any ideas as to what I may have on my hands, well, their help would be greatly appreciated.

[The Traveler King]

It might be any number of things. I'm wondering if your former-Wiccan associate may have inadvertently attracted the attention of a Witch (for those who might be reading, the two are NOT the same) at some point in the past. Or it might be that the animal is an extension of something else that wants HER as a Witch.

[Ron Caliburn]

Sorry, this is too subtle for me. You need someone much more sensitive to this kind of thing.

[Debunker]

Sounds to me like like a case of abuse is taking place with the children, I'd look to the day care providers for answers. As you all know verbal abuse can be more devstating than physical, especially if you threaten children of more terror if they tell anyone of it.

And cats are just cats, inheritantly they are just odd creatures, just ask Ron C. about that.

But I can tell you NOT to bother looking for anything supernatural in this issue. Evil Wiccan's, witches, tarot cards, cat familars, its all halloween fodder gang! Stop taking such drastic and impossible measures and look for something realistic. Your fantasies and bogus beliefs are not going to help the children who may have serious issues and need serious help.

[Dennis Haverstand]

A new development has occured earlier today. Stacey provides the daycare out of her home, and this morning a number of concerned parents approached her. They were uncomfortable with the idea of me staying in the house after the children had left for the day. They felt our "circumstances" were a negative influence on the children. While I will admit this was not necessarily the furthest thing from my mind, nothing was going on between us, certainly nothing questionable. I also am realitively certain the year is not 1905, so their moral concerns seemed questionable at best.

I had been gone when this confrontation occured, heading to Calgary in hopes of some better research material. Most of what I found seems to point back to the idea of a fimiliar, and this "Questionable Circumstances" nonsense is not the work of a simple spirit, but a clever manipulator. I also found a number of refrences to a feline spirit called a Bast, but they seem mostly linked to a specific striped breed of cat.

Once I returned, Stacey informed me it would be best for me to stay somewhere else, explaining the situation. I agreed and headed out to check into the hotel I'm now at. However, as I left, I saw this same cat in a tree.

I experienced a sort of mental adreniline rush, the kind I'm certain some of you are familiar with. Instantly, I was certain this was something bigger. It seemed to ooze a sort of darkness. I pretended to have seen nothing, and continued on my way.

Debunker, while your theory is reasonable, Stacey is the sole care provider at the out of home facility, and if she was the cause of any sort of mistreatment, I doubt she'd want me to investigate, let alone facilitate it.

Traveler King, your theory seems to hold a lot of merit. I think I'll call Stacey immediately and see if she knows anyone who may have some sort of animosity towards her from a former occult circle.

I fear I may be dealing with something smarter than I previously considered.

[The Traveler King]

But I can tell you NOT to bother looking for anything supernatural in this issue. Evil Wiccan's, witches, tarot cards, cat familars, its all halloween fodder gang! Stop taking such drastic and impossible measures and look for something realistic. Your fantasies and bogus beliefs are not going to help the children who may have serious issues and need serious help.

Debunker, I sincerely hope that this is a mundane criminal case. In fact, it could very well be that both Dennis and his friend are jumping at shadows. However, I've learned and seen much in the past twenty years. I was a hardcore skeptic like yourself. In many ways, I still am. My employer's methodology is to rule out the mundane before ascribing anything to the supernatural. My gut feeling is that this won't be the case for Dennis, though.

[Dennis Haverstand]

I admit I tend to look for the supernatural first in certain situations, but I've found myself in to many odd situations for this not to bear some credance, at least as far as I'm concerned. Especially not after this morning.

After phoning Stacey, and confirming she has at least no enemies she knows about in the occult circles she travelled in a few years back, I slept. I woke up this morning and my hand was gripped around the tarot cards under my pillow. For those of you who are unfimiliar with the cards, one way to establish a strong connection is to sleep with them directly below your head. Usually when I wake up grasping them, they have something important to say. I did a reading on my current situation and was startled by what I learned. Basically, it revealed the Hermit was waiting by the water. This is a sign of where someone had died. The motive, according to the cards, was an inverted pentacle of dark desire and passion.

I quickly left the hotel and checked on Stacey. She was fine, but asked me again to avoid the house, as it was the wish of her clients. I hurried off, and soon found myself wandering down an old set of train tracks on the west end of town. There was a small stream coming out of a drainage culvert. In the thick clay, I saw a heavy shoe mark pointing towards the large pipe. Grabbing a large stick for my own defense, I headed over to investigate.

Inside the pipe was the corpse of a transient, ripped by some wild animal. His arms were heavily scratched, and a broken rye bottle was gripped in his right hand like a weapon. The thick iron scent of blood caused me to abandon my breakfast all over the grass. As soon as I was able, I phoned the police.

The mounties spent most of the morning taking my statement. They have been unable to identify the drunken drifter, but they currently claim that the man died due to an attack by a mountain lion whcih had wandered down from the foot hills.

I have a very different suspect in mind. The cards would not have lead me to this body if it had not been related to the children. I plan to sleep now and see what I can find later, under the cover of darkness.

Please wish me luck.

[Ron Caliburn]

Good luck to you. I'm doing my own work tonight, I hope I'm as lucky or more.

[Dennis Haverstand]

I truely hate dowsing rods. They look like the punch line out of some old bugs bunny cartoon. If you hold one, you look like you've lost your wits. The thing I hate most about them, though, is if they are properly spelled, they work.

After the sun was long set, I returned to the drainage pipe where I had found the body earlier in the day. I focused the rod on finding the killer, and my stomach flipped as it started to pull. Apart from a Ouji board, I can't think of an occult fetish that has led me to more trouble than a divining rod.

Eventually, the blasted stick lead me to an old ramshackle house. The veranda was sealed in with chicken wire, and about seven cats were visible either in the makeshift cage or through the windows. A varety of fake owls sat on wooden perches hammered into the front lawn. An alluminum ladder headed to the second story window, which was open about half a foot. Being as it was nearly midnight, I was more than a little hesitant to knock. Despite all the trouble I go looking for, I'm more coward than hero. I returned to my car, drove it to the house, and with the aid of convenience store coffee I spent the rest of the night watching the place.

All I saw was a vast movement of cats. As morning rolled around, I finally ceeded that I would not see anything useful. Instead, I waited for nieghbors to appear. A girl of about 10 informed me that little kids think the Cat Lady is a witch. She didn't seem completely shaken of the myth herself, but every nieghborhood has some old shut in attributed with evil. As one family headed to church, I told them I was looking into my geneology, and I'd traced an aunt to that house, and I wanted to know if I should approach her. They told me no one saw Mrs. Clangston on a regular basis. She kept to herself.

Stealing myself at around 11:30, I went to the porch and knocked on the screen door of the enclosed veranda. No one answered. Finding it unlocked, I steped into the chicken wire cage. A chorus of cats started hissing. Brave by daylight, I ignored them and rang the doorbell. No one answered no matter how often I rang or knocked.

Suddenly, the light flashed through one of the window decorations, showing white stars on a blue background. I am now certain I must return at night.

Anyone with any last minute advice, I'd love it before I return to this house of evil.

[Silhouette]

I've run into a creature called a "Terlin" in the past. It's a magic-using shapeshifter that assumes the form of children. There was a group of these creatures running a child-prostitution/kiddie porn ring in Miami not too long ago. Things ended badly there as I didn't expect a number of the 'child prostitutes' to actually be demons and a lot of them escaped. I later found one of the survivors trying to blend in with a kintergarden class and using a summoned succubus and incubus to act as it's parents for the paperwork. The creature's classmates acted strangely as your reporting as it was trying to manipulate them, and re-build it's power base.

It might have nothing to do with what your dealing with, but remember the kids aren't always the victims they appear. I made that mistake once before.

[Ron Caliburn]

Dennis, take care. I wish i could come and back you up.

Go slowly, and don't let your fear control you. Fear is healthy, it gives you clues for your survival, but these things use fear to weaken us and make themselves stronger. If you control your fear, you'll find out that what your facing isn't as fearsome as you think it is.

What's more, if you control your fear, it will fear you.

Good luck, be safe, be the last one standing.

[Dennis Haverstand]

This is now a War Story, so I'll post it there.

[PSC27]

Bast, or Bastet, was an old cat goddess venerated in Bubastis, capital of the 18th province in Lower Egypt. She protected pregnant women and kids, and was patroness for singing, music and dancing. I some how doubt it is Her doing it. Protecting the kids perhaps.

[Dennis Haverstand]

Yes, I found no references to Bast as anything but a nurturing entity. I'm not sure what I was dealing with, but the idea of Bast is out.

[PSC27]

Interesting...A creature called the Raiju ... A Japanese demon whose name means "thunder animal". It is a demon of lightning in the shape of a cat, badger or weasel. During thunderstorms it becomes extremely agitated and leaps from tree to tree. If a tree shows the marks of lightning, people say that Raiju's claws have scratched it open. The demon likes hiding in human navels, so, if afraid, a person should sleep on his or her belly during thunderstorms.

Also, Si'la...A demoness who catches travellers in the wilderness and plays with them like a cat with a mouse. Si'la may also tempt men with gold. She is known to play the flute and make men dance until they die.

And the Kauri Indians of south Peru believe that their lives are controlled by a huge cat called Ccoa that lives in the near mountains. Ccoa brings hail and lightning to steal crops each harvest. He gains new servants when people die before they are baptized. He is only appeased with frequent offering.

Not to mention Aitvaras...A little Lithuanian demon who appears in the shape of a black cat or a black cock. He will give goods and money to those who sell their souls to him; things he stole from other people. Aitvaras usually nests behind the stove, and the inhabitants often leave food and drink for him.

And Para...Ancient Finnish household spirits who appear in the shape of a cat, snake, hare, or frog. They enlarge to amount of food and money with what they stole elsewhere.

Pugut...A Philippine monster. It is black, much taller than a man, walks on its hind legs and eats people -- but only secretly. It is said that it can change itself into a black cat, with fiery eyes, or into a wild dog. The Pugut is a nocturnal being and occasionally appears without a head, emitting fire and smoke.

In Belgian folklore, a water spirit which roams the Flemish country side. This creature, called Kludde, hides in the twilight of dawn and sunset and attacks innocent travelers. Warned travelers listen for the only sound which betrays that Kludde is in the vicinity: the rattling of the chains with which the spirit is covered.

Kludde usually appears in the shape of a monstrous black dog that walks on his hind legs. The faster one walks, the faster this monster follows, often swinging through the trees like a giant snake. No one can ever hope to outrun or escape this creature. The dog is not the only shape in which it can be seen. It can also assume the shape of a huge, hairy, black cat or a horrible black bird.

In Russian folklore a domovoy is a household spirit, also called "the grandfather" and "the master". He looks like a tiny old man whose face is covered with white fur, or as a double of the head of a house. There is a legend on the origin of the domovye (plural): when the evil host had been thrown out of the sky, some malicious spirits fell into human habitats. Living near the mortals those spirits became soft and friendly in time – so to say, transformed into a kind of mischievous helpers.

There is a domovoy in each house, and he watch not only the house itself but all the inhabitants as well (obviously, today we should say that there is a domovoy in each apartment). This spirit is a big trickster and mischief-maker: he tickles sleeping people, squalls, knocks on the wall, throws pans and plates – just for the sake of nothing. He is on good terms with the domovye of the houses next-door to his own – until they start pilfering; then he gets up to protect the house and the property.

There are two kinds of the domovye – a domovoy who lives in a house and a dvorovoy who lives in a courtyard (now people can meet a dvorovoy only in the country). A domovoy is a shapeshifter and could take a shape of various animals -a cat or a dog, a snake or a rat.

A domovoy is fond of those people who live in the full consent, and take good care of their property. But he does not like lazy-bones and trollops and tries to hurt and harm them in every way.

To secure himself from tricks and anger of a domovoy, a man should present this spirit some gift.

Russian domovoy resembles in many ways the Scottish brownie. It was represented as an elongated carved wooden statue.

The belief in the pagan gods of nature never quite died out even after Russians embraced Christianity. This created the condition of dvoeverie or duality of belief. The new Christian protector of hearth and home, St. Paraskeva, acquired some of the appearance as well as the function of the domovoi -- the very pagan figure she was replacing.

That's basically it...take your pick.

[Ron Caliburn]

You can never trust a cat.

[PSC27]

Actually, I like cats.

[Kolya]

Yea, but you cannot trust it!

[The Traveler King]

I trust my cat to behave like a normal domesticated housepet. Which he does quite admirably.