Miss Mia was an ordinary Siamese cat, or so we thought…
This is a set of plot hooks for any horror game. No content warnings here because Miss Mia might be aggravating, but she’s still an adorable kitty cat. She would never actually hurt anyone beyond possibly a bite or a scratch if seriously annoyed. Violence of any kind should activate a sort of Keeper’s fiat or intrusion. Maybe Miss Mia secretly has the ability to turn herself into a puff of smoke or a ghost.
How it begins: (Preferably a modern setting.) One day, as one of the PCs is attempting to leave home, this adorable, fluffy, lovable nine pound kitten walks straight into the dwelling as if she’s always lived there. She will then sit down in the middle of the living area and meow softly to be fed. She purrs quite loudly and lovingly if anyone approaches.
Miss Mia is a Siamese cat, maybe a year and a half old. She wears a black collar with a silver bell. The collar has a silver cat on each side of the name plate that says, “Miss Mia” on it. The collar also has a vaccination tag on it, but the clinic is not evident. The city doesn’t have a vet on file for her and she’s not microchipped. IF the character in question has a roommate or significant other, they might instantly latch onto the cat due to the cute factor.
One thing is for certain. Miss Mia is determined to stay. Even if the character tries to take her to an animal shelter or some such, she will either show up at the character’s residence the next morning OR show up at one of the other characters. She always walks into the PCs homes as if she has always lived there.
Things seem pretty normal at first. Once she has made herself at home and endeared herself upon any/all cat lovers in the house, things quiet down considerably. Miss Mia is usually friendly to strangers and downright affectionate if petted. A treat will get kitty to sit in someone’s lap or lay with them for hours. She’s really friendly and loveable for the most part.
Miss Mia LOVES kids. She will purr for any child under the age of 18. She will sit in their laps, play, beg for food, snuggle- anything a regular cat would tolerate from children times ten. She would NEVER harm a child or allow one to be harmed while present. She is super possessive of everyone’s kids and any cats that are around. (*Other cats have an irrational tendency to follow her as if she was their mother.)
The Keeper must pick one member of the group to earn the absolute dire scorn of Miss Mia. For whatever reason, maybe the character is more of a dog person, maybe Miss Mia doesn’t like the way this characters smells, but she’s genuinely not happy about this character’s presence. Miss Mia will hiss or growl at this one specific character every time they enter a room with her and no one else. If they approach, she might even claw or bite.
Otherwise, Miss Mia is a pure treasure of a kitty for a loving home. She does normal “cat stuff” like shedding, sharpening her claws on the couch, sleeping a lot, and being super cuddly. She demands food at least two or three times per day, but isn’t a fussy eater. She loves to climb and explore the tops of furniture and high shelves, open cabinets and closets. Miss Mia likes to chase mice, birds, and even random shadows.
Then it starts getting strange. Miss Mia is very normal for a cat her age. Playing with string, looking cute, and sleeping during the day. She gets along with any other animals in the house, but dogs seem to have an unnatural aversion to her. Even large dogs will whimper in her presence and immediately attempt to leave the room, or lie down and hope she goes away.
IF Miss Mia is allowed to roam outdoors, she will bring back “gifts” in the form of dead birds or mice and leave them in the owner’s’ shoes or on their pillow. She will also hunt and eat spiders in the house. But that’s not the most unusual thing she does.
When no one is home and Miss Mia is left unattended for more than half an hour, freaky things begin to happen. Roll 1d12 or choose from the list:
- All of the kitchen cabinets are open. Contents strewn everywhere.
- Any holy books in the residence are knocked onto the floor. They may be slid underneath furniture.
- All of the picture frames in the house are knocked face down and cracked- including ones that are in drawers, etc.
- Every electronic device with a speaker is on and cranked to full volume.
- A neighborhood dog is found paralyzed and comatose in front of the house. Puppy eventually recovers. It cowers in the presence of Miss Mia if they ever encounter one another.
- Blood and feathers are strewn all about the house and someone has a “present” waiting on their pillow. Miss Mia couldn’t have possibly gotten out nor the bird could have come in.
- A ring of salt appears around Miss Mia’s bed. There is more salt than could have been in the shaker found next to the unbroken circle.
- Every room in the residence has something knocked over as if a much larger cat or large dog had gotten a case of the zoomies. Even rooms that are closed and locked are affected.
- A bag of flour lies exploded on the kitchen floor. There is a cat-shaped mark in the middle of it and flour paw prints everywhere. Miss Mia is covered head to toe in flour. She doesn’t seem particularly remorseful.
- All of the bottles of shampoo and other hygiene products in the bathroom are open and their contents all around as if they were squeezed.
- Socks lie all over the middle of the living room floor in the shape of a pentacle. At least we know where the missing socks went.
- Everything in the house is unplugged. There are no teeth marks on any of the cords.
Some investigators might get the bright idea to set up cameras to watch Mia while they are gone or sleeping. Like most cats, Miss Mia is nocturnal. She gets the zoomies at 3:00 AM every night like clockwork. She chases what appears to be a shadow all over the residence. At 4:00AM the chase concludes as she goes and lies down on top of her favorite human or outside their door.
Miss Mia will walk right up to hidden cameras as if putting on a show. Sometimes she will bat at the camera or back up to the lens and then sit in front of it. Other times she will roll around in front of the camera or prance about to show she knows exactly where it is.
If an investigator watches enough footage, they will discover Miss Mia chasing shadows around the residence at other times. With enough observation, they may even see what appears to be a shadow taunting Miss Mia out of a sound sleep to initiate a chase. Other times it appears a shadowy figure is petting Miss Mia. She will purr and roll over on her back for tummy scratches for this particular shadow.
On very rare occasions, Miss Mia will appear to walk through walls or just vanish right in front of the camera. (Never with people in the room.) Sometimes she will get the zoomies and run through more than one wall or disappear and reappear in random places.
She also appears to menace other cats, dogs, etc when no one is around. Miss Mia prefers to back the other animal into a corner and then just stare, as if daring them to try to pass her.
One of the most astounding things Miss Mia might do is hock up a hairball. It’s a normal cat thing until the hairball skitters away on its own like a millipede. Miss Mia won’t be in the mood to chase it. If the hairball is caught and examined, it’s just fur, food, and cat barf.
Miss Mia is yours to do with as you choose.
Is she secretly a servant of the Goddess, Bast? Perhaps Miss Mia is secretly possessed by demons. Maybe she is actually a ghost or some other paranormal occurrence made manifest. (an older name tag under the Miss Mia nameplate says “Miasma.”) Whatever she is, it is not openly or outwardly malevolent.
Miss Mia does make for a good red herring during ghost hunts and possession cases. Was it the house or the cat? Could exposure to Miss Mia be causing other supernatural forces to come forward? Was she a witch’s familiar or even a witch cursed forever to live in a cat’s body?
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you. Have fun if you decide to welcome Miss Mia into your next horror themed game.
Jeff's Game Box 