The Skulking Terror That Came To Wash

She didn't feel like planning for the hunt, not tonight. The villagers would have what they always had: torches, blades, a few flintlock rifles, and sheer numbers. They knew she would come when the moon was full, and the forest that surrounded the modest village of Wash, practically swallowing it, would be shrouded in the steam fog from the lake; typical of the warm summer nights. It was perfect cover for her; because she was a sleek, silvery-grey cat. From a distance, she appeared to be a regular house cat, but for her size. She was as large as a panther, and much more powerful. Her kind were rare, and she had no name. Cats have no use for names. 

The villagers has tried to stay inside at first. Barricaded themselves behind locked doors and boarded up windows, as if against a natural disaster. And yet, when the morning came and the villagers undid the fortifications, one house would not awaken. All the doors would still be locked from the inside, all the windows still fastened shut, and no trace of the former inhabitants. 

Now, on the night of the full moon, the villagers gathered and went out into the woods to hunt for the creature that took entire families. 

She easily slipped past them and made her way into the village. 

She found the very first house that had been taken, months ago. The doors had been broken in by worried villagers, but had since been boarded up. The windows were also still shut and sealed. The houses were treated as cursed. 

She was able to get inside by going through the chimney. It was a tight fit. 

She investigated the entire house. The kitchen chairs were knocked over, the cupboards were open, and drawers were pulled out completely, their contents strewn across the floor. Almost looked like the work of bandits. But there was no blood, and no real damage. Nothing to indicate people had been battling for their lives. 

She moved on to the second house. Again, she entered through the chimney. It was much the same, except this house was from a more well-to-do family. Their portrait hung on the wall, a painting of the mother, father, and two young children. The children had one peculiarity; their eyes were different colors. The mother had green eyes, and the father had blue. The children each had one green eye and one blue eye. Heterochromia. And no sign of any of them. 

And so she searched the next house, and then the next, with no further insights. She knew she was missing something. All these houses, each left  undisturbed after each disappearance. Why, the neighbors hadn't even bothered to clean up the mess...

She dashed back to the first house and wriggled down the chimney. The house smelled...like a house. Not exactly a clean house, but not a dirty house. No hint of rotting food. She checked the trash cans. 

They were empty.

She raced through through the other houses, down the chimney and back out again. Again, they were all the same. Empty trash cans. 

She had a hunch. 

She ran into the forest, slipping past the prowling villagers with ease, and searched the forest. There, in a foggy glen, she found two little raccoons. They looked up at her, shivering in fear, each with one green eye and one blue eye. 

She licked their faces with her rough tongue, and soon the little kits clung to her. She ran deep into the forest and took them to her den. Then she ran back to search for the rest of the transformed villagers. She could not find them. Perhaps they had been scared away by the mob of villagers, or had been caught in the many traps that had been set out. 

The great silvery cat did not return to the village. She cared for the baby raccoons. They grew much larger than regular raccoons, and the three of them would go on to have many adventures. 

She still didn't have a name, because cats have no use for names, normally, but her kits needed to call her something, so she allowed it. They called her "Mom."

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize for how rough this one is; you can absolutely tell where I just gave up trying to describe things mid-sentence, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. It's late, which is why there's no explanation given for the original source of the vamp-raccoon, if you will, but I assure you there is one. As the title suggests, I was kind of going for Lovecraft's The Lurking Fear and The Doom That Came To Sarnath but with... raccoons. And a cat detective. 

Right. Thanks for reading. This was fun. Kinda wish I didn't have a day job because I am going to be hurting tomorrow. Oh well. That's future Guillermo's problem, not mine. 

Goodnight!