Chapter 4

My heart slammed.

Two years ago, I found a tiny black kitten in the park near our apartment complex. I only meant to feed her and leave, but she followed me all the way to my door. I was completely won over and adopted her.

The kitten would let out little "grr-ows" when she was hungry. Liam said, "Doesn't she sound like she's saying 'Grumble'?" So, we named her Grumble.

But how could this streamer, whom I’d never met, know such an unusual name?

I thought for a moment, then shot back: "Is that against the law?"

Rook then asked: "Did you move because of Grumble?"

I jolted again.

About six months after Grumble came to live with us, she started standing by the front door in the middle of the night, letting out those eerie "grr-ows." I initially thought she was in heat and bought her lots of toys. But not long after, a female streamer across the hall suddenly died of cancer. I'd heard before that cats can see things we can't. Had Grumble seen something?

Liam tried to calm me, telling me not to overthink things. "Who still believes in old superstitions these days?" he scoffed.

But not long after that, a young professional who had just moved in also suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack. I started to get scared, convinced this building felt… cursed.

Liam also thought something was off. So, we decided to move.

When we looked at new places, we'd bring Grumble. If she let out even one of those "grr-ows," no matter how cheap the rent, we'd pass on the place.

It took us over a month of searching before we finally settled on our current place.

But how did he know all of this too?

I directly questioned him: "Who are you, really?"

Rook told me not to rush, saying he had just one last question.

"Did your boyfriend make you get your cat spayed?"

Grumble had been in heat, and her nocturnal serenades were driving us crazy. Liam was under a lot of stress from work. He’d nagged me for ages until I finally agreed.

Rook sighed, then said, **"You need to run! I'm certain now; your boyfriend is trying to kill you!"**