On a quiet autumn evening, Kyle was busy chopping wood at the edge of the forest. Yellow leaves were slowly falling, painting the ground with the colors of fall, while Kyle made sure to gather enough firewood to keep his grandfather's cabin warm during the cold nights. The air was cool and refreshing, and the last golden rays of the sun filtered through the branches, casting long, dancing shadows around him.
After cutting the last log, Kyle paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from his brow. He felt tired after the long day and wished he could spend some time wandering the forest as its colors changed with the sunset. But before he could enjoy the moment, he heard his old grandfather calling from the cabin with a hoarse, tired voice: "Hurry up, son, night is falling soon."
Kyle looked up at the sky, now tinged with dark orange, and hesitantly replied, "Coming, Grandpa!" He felt a sense of annoyance, wondering why his grandfather was always warning him about staying in the forest after sunset. There was no clear explanation—just vague warnings that only fueled his curiosity more than they frightened him.
As he was about to leave, he heard a faint meow behind him. Turning around, he saw a small black cat sitting at the edge of the fence, watching him with glowing eyes. The cat appeared to be injured, with a wound on its front leg slowly bleeding. Kyle felt a bit of sympathy for it and took a few steps forward but hesitated when he remembered his allergy to cats. At that moment, his grandfather's voice called out again from the cabin, warning him about the approaching darkness.
Kyle took cautious steps closer and whispered, "How did this happen to you?" He reached out to comfort the cat but quickly withdrew, remembering his allergy, saying, "Sorry... I have an allergy to cats, I can't help you." But before he could walk away, he noticed something strange: the wound on the cat's leg was slowly healing, as if it was closing by itself. Kyle's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the cat's expression shift from pain to aggression, as if it was feeling a new strength coursing through its body. Then, suddenly, it leaped at him, its claws sinking into his face.
Kyle stumbled backward, screaming and trying to push the cat away. After a brief struggle, he finally managed to push it off, but he was left stunned by what he had just seen. He took a deep breath and stared at the cat, his voice trembling, "How did you do that? Why didn't I react to my allergy?" Questions raced through his mind, but he realized he didn't have time to answer them; his grandfather's voice was still echoing from the cabin. He bent down to the cat, saying, "Sorry… but I have to go now. Goodbye!" and ran quickly toward the cabin, leaving the cat watching him with cold, mysterious eyes.
When he reached the cabin, he went to the kitchen and began preparing soup, trying to ignore what had just happened. He set the pot on the stove and stirred the soup slowly, while his grandfather sat in his wooden chair by the fireplace, his eyes closed as if lost in thought. Slowly, the old man looked at him and asked calmly, "How was your day, Kyle?"
Kyle responded, trying to act calm, "It was an ordinary day... I enjoyed walking in the forest."
The grandfather smiled slightly and replied with a somewhat sarcastic tone, "I hope you didn't forget to close the door behind you, Kyle. I don't want any unwanted guests."
Kyle felt a sense of confusion and quickly responded, "Of course, I didn't forget, Grandpa." But when he turned his gaze toward the door, he stopped in shock; the door was wide open, and the same black cat was slipping quietly inside.
Kyle froze in place as the cat entered slowly and confidently. He tried to shoo it away gently, saying, "Come on, go outside..." but it ignored him and jumped onto the kitchen table, from where it fell into the pot of soup he had just prepared. "Oh, no!" Kyle shouted, trying to pull it out quickly. But what happened next was stranger than he had expected: when he pulled it out, the soup wasn't soaked into the cat; instead, the soup had turned into a fish wriggling and moving between his hands.
Kyle sat staring at the fish, his face filled with astonishment, and said in a low voice, "How... how did this happen?" He placed the fish in a dish in front of the cat, which began eating it as if nothing had happened. Her glowing eyes watched Kyle carefully, as if she were enjoying his confusion, while she ate the fish calmly. Kyle felt like his world was beginning to shift, everything seemed strange and illogical, and he couldn't believe what had just happened.
He tried to stay calm, but he felt something strange creeping into his mind. The cat was behaving as if she completely understood him, as if she wasn't just an animal, but something entirely different. Amid the confusion, Kyle tried to recall any tales he had heard about magical creatures, but he couldn't find a logical explanation for what was happening.
Then, he felt something he couldn't explain, until he realized there was something in the air. He looked around, wondering if this event was just his imagination, but he sensed an unnatural pressure on him. At that moment, he began asking himself whether he should speak to his grandfather about what he had seen or just ignore it and let it pass as if it were just a dream.
Just then, the cat approached Kyle, her eyes still glowing with that same distinctive look she had worn from the beginning. She came closer, and then did something strange: she opened her mouth in an unnatural way, as if trying to speak, but instead emitted a strange sound Kyle couldn't describe. At that moment, Kyle took a step back, and the cat began to transform right before his eyes.
At first, it seemed like she was taking deep breaths, but then her features began to change gradually. Her fur started disappearing, and her skin became smooth, almost human-like. She had large eyes, soft lips, and her appearance had become exactly like Kyle's, even down to wearing clothes similar to his, as if she were a perfect replica of him. Kyle was horrified, his eyes widening as he stared at the exact replica of himself.
For a moment, he thought that his mind was starting to unravel from all the questions and confusing thoughts, but he couldn't deny what he was seeing. This creature, which had started as a small cat, had become a perfect copy of him. It was him, but in another body.
Kyle felt a sense of shock, as if his mind couldn't process what was happening. Does this cat had the ability to transform? At that moment, he felt a sense of fear taking over him, and he ran quickly to the door to open it, but he stopped suddenly. He looked again at the replica in front of him, which was watching him with curious eyes, as if it wanted to say something, but it remained silent, only staring at him.
Kyle felt something strange settling in his chest. Was this just a magical creature, or was there something bigger and more dangerous hiding behind this strange phenomenon? He decided to ask his grandfather about these magical creatures, hoping to find an answer, but he knew that his grandfather, like all adults, would dismiss these questions as just myths or trivial thoughts. Still, he couldn't let this pass without understanding it.
He took a deep breath and went to his grandfather, who was sitting near the fireplace. He sat in front of him and said, "Grandpa... are there magical creatures?"
The grandfather looked at him carefully, then smiled a small smile and said, "You're fourteen, son. Have you ever seen a magical creature?"
Kyle paused for a moment, hesitant to answer. He wasn't sure about what he had seen or what had happened, but he decided to remain silent at that moment. He simply said, "No, Grandpa. I haven't seen any magical creatures."
The grandfather replied in a calm tone, but with a hint of sarcasm, "Then stop asking these strange questions. Kids these days ask endless questions and don't believe the truth."
Kyle looked at his grandfather in confusion, but his mind was still full of questions. What did this transformation mean? And why was the cat turning into a replica of him? How could a living creature have such an ability?
As he planned to go to his room to continue thinking, something suddenly caught his attention. There was the same creature from before, he saw him acting weir, moving in a strange way as if it were chasing something. He approached it cautiously, not realizing that this creature looked exactly like him, to the point where Kyle felt his heart stop for a moment.
He moved closer, whispering, "Stop!" But the creature didn't respond. It continued chasing something, as if it couldn't see him. Kyle decided to approach it more, and when his eyes caught a strange mark on its back, he felt a strange sensation fill his chest. There was a large red five-pointed star on its back.