The Truth about Griffin

Chapter 11

     The log came down and Almer let out a surprised grunt before falling to the ground, unconscious. The rest of the crowd took a few steps back. Sharifa dropped the log and rushed to Griffin's side.

      "Jack!" Her hands left marks in his blood as she gingerly touched some of his wounds. "Are you ok?"

     He reached up and patted her hand, leaving it red and visible. "I will be."

     The crowd looked at us with a mixture of fear and wonder. The still looked like they were about to attack. I said as much and suggested that we escape while we still could. Griffin wrapped his arm around Sharifa and struggled to stand up. Blood that oozed from his wounds began to drip down her body. If it hadn't been so horrible and grotesque it would have been rather beautiful. The two stood there, one nearly red from head to toe, and he other slowly coming into view as small drops of blood streamed down her frame.

     The moment didn't last. Another man in the crowd decided to take the lead. "There are two! The very gates of hell must be opening. We must destroy them before any more come."

     The crowd let out an yell of agreement. Sharifa held out her hands in surrender. "No, please. He's hurt and needs help. Just let us go and you'll never see us again."

     "Lies!!"

     "Demons!!"

     "Kill them, before they destroy us all!!"

     Sharifa looked around frantically. "Please, you know me..." She wiped her face with the blood on her hand. "See, it's me. Sharifa." The crowd kept advancing. Then Sharifa pointed at one of the women. "Lacy, you know me. I used to help you carry home your groceries on Saturday while my mother watched little Anna." Next she pointed at a boy, that looked about her age. "And, Tom, you and I use to go down to the creek on Mondays to see if we could catch any crawdads." She did this with more people in the crowd until they had stopped to listen. "You all chased me away after my parents died. What more do you want from me? I've never done anything to any of you. Why can't you just leave me alone and let us live in peace?"

     A silence fell in the crowd, and I thought that Sharifa had calmed them. But someone else spoke up. "I knew there was something off about her. That abomination tried to hide among us."

     "No!" Sharifa looked at each face pleadingly. "I never.."

     "He's right. We should've killed it when we had the chance."

     "Please-"

     The crowd kept shouting angrily. There was nothing Sharifa could do. With Griffin still leaning on her for support, she reached for the log she had used earlier to incapacitate Almer. She held it in front of her defensively. I unsheathed my claws and stood beside her ready to fight. That's when something strange happened.