Annie. The Devil Cat.

Lugging gear up the driveway to Nancy’s house, I had no idea what to expect.

Nancy had warned me about Annie during our phone call earlier in the day. “She’s just plain mean … she’s the devil!” I don’t know how you’re going to get a good photograph of her. She’s threatened plumbers, phone repairmen, and my friends - most of whom have visited just once. But I love her.”

Nancy greeted me at the door with a skeptical expression. Looking over her shoulder, I saw Annie for the first time. She was sitting at the top of the stairs.

What I saw was a glare best described as “stink eye.” Growling and hissing, Annie was poised and ready to take me on. Worse, she had an uphill advantage.

Feeling prepared and a bit over confident, I stood outside the door and pulled out one of my cat toys, a 3-foot flexible stick with a glittery pompom at the end. I assumed it would be a friendly peace offering.

I jiggled the sparkly toy. Annie’s eyes bulged. The hair on her arched back stood up. She positioned herself for attack and looked at me with contempt. My confidence faded. A tense moment passed before she turned around and slowly strutted away. Guttural growls echoed throughout the halls.

Nancy invited me into the house and I carried my camera bag and studio lights up the stairwell and into the living room. I peeked around the corner and saw Annie as she peered through a round opening in her kitty condo.

Shredded and maimed to its wooden core, her nest told stories. I swear that it looked like she had carved eight notches into the bare frame of her lair, probably representing previous victims.

Annie’s piercing eyes told me that she was ready to add my memoriam with a ninth notch. That’s when I realized the true meaning of the proverb “A cat has nine lives.” My life was hers to give or take. I tried to remember if I had packed Band-Aids in my camera bag.

A couple hours passed and I held still, camera in hand. Annie eventually let her guard down long enough for a handful of portraits. Most were created several feet away (for my own safety.)

All of the photos captured her true personality … scowling at me from on top of her favorite tattered chair, under the table, and behind the couch. I recall that wine was mentioned more than once throughout the session.

The legend of Annie the devil cat remains with me as one of my most memorable cat sessions.

She crossed the Rainbow Bridge years ago. But Annie’s stink eye and “not of this world” personality remain with me to this day.