Adam, New York.
As he drove towards his wife's house, the radio was giving constant updates on the Laminax controversy. Shipping manifests that contained... Mark Schwartz under investigation after... riots in the streets... two men in hospital after... Feeling overwhelmed, Adam turned off the radio and let out a long sigh of frustration. Finally arriving at his destination, he parked his car on the street and made his way to the front door. A woman opened the door to find Adam standing there. "Hello, Margaret." "Oh my goodness! Adam! I've been so worried! Come in, come in." Adam walked inside and Margaret closed the door. Adam took off his blazer, revealing his blood-stained shirt and tie.
"So, Margaret. You are probably wondering what's going on."
"Of course I am, Adam! Why do you have that bandage on your nose? Why is there blood on your shirt? Oh goodness, the earthquakes, those strange, humanoid animal creatures, the riots, it's chaos! You used to study them, and you didn't tell me?"
"I know Margaret. I couldn't tell you at the time. It was top secret."
"I saw you on the news this morning. Laminax said that they were demoting you!"
"I don't care about that, Margaret. It was horrible working with them. They were incompetent. They were unprofessional. I'm glad I got demoted. I was on the verge of quitting every day. I studied these Gootrax. Do you have any idea, how close I was to death, every time I studied them?"
"Oh Adam... I'm so sorry. I didn't know. But, all that matters is that you are safe and here right now. As long as we are together, I am happy."
Adam smiled at her, and said "Before I forget, I should give you this."
Adam got something from his pocket and presented it to Margaret. It was the necklace, which contained the panther tooth at the bottom of it.
"Now, I know it might not be your style, but-"
"No, Adam. It's perfect. I love it."
The two smiled at each other, and Margaret placed the necklace around her neck. When they couldn't hold it back anymore, they embraced and passionately kissed each other.
Michael, Portland, Maine.
Michael boarded the plane, which was significantly full. Michael found his seat and the plane took off soon afterwards. Once the plane had landed in Boston, Michael ventured towards the parking lot where he had left his car, a 2009 grey Honda Civic. He unlocked his car, and drove away from the airport, getting caught in traffic soon after. After Michael finally managed to get out of the traffic, he made the decision to stay off the main roads to get to Portland faster. He drove up north from Boston, eventually driving into the state of New Hampshire, he took the main road again. After driving over the Pisacataqua River Bridge and driving for about fifty more minutes, he finally arrived in Portland. He drove to his house, where he parked his car on the street and exited it, walking towards his small house and unlocking the door. He turned on the lights and went upstairs to his room.
Michael opened his closet, grabbing a fishing rod, making his way back downstairs. He locked the houses door, then made his way to his car, where he drove to his father's house. In the distance, Michael could see his father mowing the lawn, and when his father saw his sons car approach, he immediately stopped the mower and ran to where Michael had parked his car, where Michael exited it, and his father immediately said to him "Michael! I was so worried about you. This.... Laminax company is evil! I can't believe you used to work with them. I mean... I saw the footage of those things they contained. You must've had a guardian angel looking after you, considering how you didn't get attacked by one of them." Michael shrugged and said "Yeah, I know. To be fair, I didn't really work around them, I just did my job and tried my best to avoid them. Can we just... forget about them for a while?" His father eyed him suspiciously, and said "Why's that, Michael? Do you want to talk about anything else? Concerns?" Michael got out the fishing rod from his car and showed it to his father. "We can fish in silence." Michael said. Smiling, his father ran inside his house, then ran back outside, holding another fishing rod, some bait, a fishing hat and a bucket. The two got inside Michael's car and drove towards the beach. As the two fished together in silence, as per Michael's request. That was until Michael's father said, "When's the last time we did this together, huh? I remember when you were just a child, on the water, catching your first fish. Striped bass, was it? Or was it an Atlantic mackerel? I can't seem to remember, it was so long ago. My son, 32 years old already... wow." Michael turned to him and said "It was an Atlantic mackerel. I remember it well." They were both silent for a while longer. At one point, Michael had gotten a fish on the hook, but it managed to get away. After some more silence, Michael said "I'm sorry. For not seeing you. I've just been busy." "Oh, it's fine Michael. You were busy, I'm sure, working in the same place with those strange... animal things. God knows how they were discovered, or made. I'm still not sure. The only thing i know for sure, is that I will be avoiding them, as you did during your time working." The two continued fishing.
