The Truth about Griffin

Epilogue

"And that's the true story of Jack Griffin and Sharifa; the Invisible Man, Woman, and cat." 

"Do you hear that sound?" The man stood up and looked around.

The woman he was hiking with stayed sitting on the log they had been resting on. "It's just a cat, Jeremy."

He laughed. "Yeah? Well, it sure is a talkative one."

"Yeah. Maybe it's warning us."

"Warning us about what, Liza? Ghost? Oh! Or maybe a zombie." Jeremy held out his arms and trudged over towards the woman, letting out a low moan. "Brains."

Liza pushed him away, laughing. "I don't know; what did those towns people say? Something about demons, right?"

"Oh, I'm shaking." Jeremy mimed chewing his fingers before frowning in disbelief. "Demons my ass."

I grimaced in annoyance. "Really? They're still spreading those rumors? I just told you that they couldn't be trusted. Weren't you listening? If they think that people won't learn the truth than they got another thing coming."

"There's that cat again." Liza leaned towards Jeremy. "Maybe we should keep moving."

"What?!? You getting scared?" His tone was mocking. "There's a cat meowing. Oh no! Whatever shall we do?"

"Shut up. I just think we should keep moving if we want to finish on time." The girl did a little pout.

Jeremy waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, but first, let's find that cat."

"Why?"

"Because it bugs me, that's why." He rolled his eyes. "And I don't want it following us around looking for scraps."

Liza stood up. "You won't hurt it, will you?"

"Of course not." Jeremy didn't sound sincere to me.

The two started to beat around in the bushes, and, against my better judgment, I rolled in a patch of mud, making sure I would be visible if they found me. No need to scare them into spreading anymore of that "demons in the Hogback mountains" garbage. I crept under a log and waited for them to give up the search. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly use to being visible and, apparently, my hiding skills aren't as good as I thought. I let out a yowl of surprise as someone grabbed my tail and pulled me out from my hiding spot.

"Jeremy, be careful."

"Relax, Liza, it's fine."

"I am most certainly not." I hissed as he continued to hold me by my tail. "Tails weren't made to be handles, you know."

Liza took a step closer. "See, it's hissing at you. Maybe you should just let it go."

I nodded in agreement. "She seems to be the smart one here; you listen to her."

"Hold on, I just got to scare it a bit so it doesn't follow us." He gripped my sides and started to shake.

"Jeremy!"

Liza didn't need to worry. I could handle this. With a hiss, I unsheathed my claws and dug them into his hands.

With a yelp, he let me go. "Why that little... I'm going to kill it!"

Lucky for me, that's when Griffin and Sharifa showed up. I could smell them as they stepped out of the foliage and onto the path. I ran and hid behind Griffin's legs.

Jeremy dove at me, and instead made contact with Griffin's knees. "Well, excuse you."

Jeremy jumped away, and stared towards where Jack's voice had come from. "Who said that."

"I did. I really don't appreciate when people threaten to kill my cat, it's rude."

Jeremy's mouth moved but nothing came out. Then Liza spoke up. "Sor-so-sorry," she was shaking with fear, "we-we di-didn't-kno-kn-know."

Sharifa grabbed Liza's shoulder, leaving indentations in her shirt. "Oh, we're sure you didn't mean any harm, but I think it'd be best for you both to leave." Neither of them moved. They both just stared around in horror. Sharifa sighed. "Now."

Jeremy came to his senses first. He turned tail and ran.

Liza stared after him with both fear and anger, before running too. "Jeremy! You coward! wait for me!"   

Sharifa walked back over to me and Griffin. There was a moment of silence, and then Sharifa and Griffin began to laugh. I rubbed up against their legs and purred.

"I guess new rumors will start floating around." Sharifa scooped me up into her arms, getting mud all over herself in the process.

Griffin rubbed his hand along my back then waved it dismissively. "Let them say what they want? Maybe the stories will help keep people away."

Sharifa nodded. "Maybe."

With that we made our way back to the cabin.