Nemisis

Once there was a great and powerful wizard, who also happened to be a cat.

Although he was a very potent wizard, the cat chose to live with a very ordinary human named Ralph in a one bedroom apartment in the east end of the city.

And even though the great and powerful wizard cat could conjure spectacular spells and wield magnificent amounts of magic, Ralph had no idea he lived with such a cat sorcerer.

He was a very dull and ordinary human.

Most days the cat lounged in the comfy, sun-faded chair that sat beside the big picture window of the living room and soaked up all of the glorious rays from the afternoon sun.

When Ralph returned home from work in the evenings, they would sit and watch their evening game shows together as they ate; Ralph his single, microwavable dinner and the cat his fish-smelling canned food.

Then, in the late hours of the night, after Ralph was sleeping soundly in his bed, the cat would begin to weave his magical experiments.

In the dim shadows of the his clandestine workshop between the walls, the cat wizard practised his ancient arts, poring over the multitude of spells scrolls he had collected over his long years, building his repertoire of enchantments and charms; all the while, searching for a spell powerful enough to protect him from what was coming.

For sometime now he had felt a great force building, a shadow creeping in secret across the city; an evil presence that threatened his thoughts with a probing malice.

After long hours of searching and spell work, the cat would lumber groggily out from the maze of passageways behind the walls in time to curl up in his bed at the foot of Ralph's just before the human awoke to his bleating alarm to get ready for his day.

Conjuring so much magic, even for a powerful wizard such as the cat was, was draining and he needed to rest in the sun's replenishing beams to regain his strength for the next night's work.

One evening, Ralph came home, yet seemed to be in a hurry, but not to put his meal in the microwave. The normally dull human rushed around the apartment, changing out of his work attire, showering, shaving, and putting on a clean shirt, slacks, and a tie.

He slopped the cat's can of food in the bowl before giving the wizard a hurried scratch on the head and heading out the door, humming to himself.

The confused cat trotted up to the window to look down at the building's entrance and watch his human companion exit and walk jauntily along the sidewalk, cross the street, and approach the apartment across the way.

Ralph rang the building's buzzer and stood worriedly for a moment before he answered whoever had spoken through the speaker before opening the door for him to enter excitedly through.

He disappeared into the building and the cat scanned the lit windows of the low-rise apartment building to hopefully see if Ralph showed up in one of them.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, in the window directly across from their apartment, a young woman in a pretty floral dress hopped up from her kitchen chair and went to open the door, revealing an awkwardly smiling Ralph whom she invited in.

The cat chuckled to himself as he thought that Ralph might not be so dull after all.

As the two went to sit down in the living room, as wave of menace came over the cat, the feeling of dread he had felt over the passed few months bore down on him with such intensity it nearly bowled him over.

Looking over to what was most-likely Ralph's new lady friend's bedroom, the wizard cat saw the dark outline of another cat sitting in the window, staring directly back at him.

The two cats gazed at one another, and the cat wizard knew that this was who he had been preparing for; this green-eyed cat was his nemesis.

And his roommate was on a date with its owner.