Strange sounds in the night - Daily writing exercise

Slowly, slowly, she inched down the stairs.  Reluctantly.  Hair tousled from a fitful sleep, goosebumps raising on her arms as she dragged her sock clad feet forward.  The incessant scratching and moaning had become to much.  Though she dreaded what lay ahead, she dreaded being alone and imagining what it was going on to be worse.  As she reached the bottom of the stairs the noises seemed to disappear.  She took a deep, quiet breath, and peeked around the corner.  Nothing. 

This was impossible.  When she was lying in her bed, just above this very room she had heard it below her.  A scratching noise, that at first she had assumed to be a tree branch or raccoon, but when it had awoken her a second time with a faint moan joining in, she knew it was something else.  At first she had sat dead still, wrapped tightly in her blanket, willing the sound away.  When it had not gone she knew she had to find out what it was.

The first thing she had done was check on her roommate.  Angela was passed out cold.  Even calling her name did not rouse her.  So she had gone to figure out what was happening on her own.  She took another deep breath and looked slowly around the basement.  Nothing seemed out of place.  All was silent.  

As she turned to head back up the stairs she heard a whimper near the door.  Instantly the hairs on the back of her neck went up and a chill ran down her spine.  She slowly turned back towards the door, praying for protection as she did so.  When she saw what was sitting by the door she exhaled loudly.  Relief slid over her.  There by the door was a mother cat, who had evidently just given birth.  Four little kittens were nuzzled up to her nursing peacefully.  

Grateful that the horrors she had imagined were unfounded and untrue, she gathered a box with some soft blankets for the mama cat and kittens.  Gently she moved them all to the box and headed upstairs to get the starving new mother some food.  Once she had done so, and feeling more at ease, but exhausted, she headed back to the comfort of her bed and the soft, cozy blankets she had abandoned.  Snuggled in, she reached down to tenderly pat her new feline friends.  Tomorrow she would find out if they belonged to anyone, tonight their purring would lure her to sleep.