The Devil Cat (Hebert Huamani Jara)
In Southern Peru, Department of Puno, in the zones of Pomata and Juli there is a terrifying story for women expecting family. It is said that many of them have disappeared and never been seen again.
The people of the region’s cities say that these disappearances are because the earth is thirsty for blood and that it is the earth, itself, that has swallowed these women. They say their disappearances are the work of the devil who has taken them to hell in order to make them his wives or to just eat them.
The story talks about an animal that looked like a cat but was the size of a cougar with a red tail. It is called the “devil’s cat” because it cries at night whenever a pregnant woman is taken by the devil.
One night the red tailed cat was seen to arrive with three shadows hidden in flames. Their identity could not be discerned. In one leap the cat rose to the house’s roof and in the moon’s light began to meow. It sounded like a child but the sound was not beautiful. Instead it was frightening.
