The Truth about Griffin

Chapter 15

     "What?!? You can't be serious."

      But Griffin was. "Of course I am. Those townspeople won't be coming back any time soon, you made sure of that."

     "Yeah, you don't have to remind me."

      "I'm serious. They think we're demons? Why not let them believe it?" Griffin's bandaged form was pacing frenetically. " We can rebuild the cabin- we'll make it bigger so you'll be more comfortable, of course- and, if anyone ever comes snooping around, we can just scare them off again. Although, seeing how they reacted yesterday, I highly doubt that anyone will come back for awhile."

     Sharifa seemed to be perking up. "You don't really think that would work, do you?"

     "Why not?" Griffin grabbed Sharifa's shoulders ecstatically. "Sharifa, I'm tired of running. Let's stay."

     "What if they come back?" Sharifa pulled away slightly. "What if, next time, I can't control myself? What if-"

     "Hey. Would I ever let anything happen to you?"

     There was a pause. "No."

     "Exactly. We're a team, and as long as you and I stick together nothing the world can throw at us will ever be too much. So, what do you say?"

     I rubbed up against Sharifa's leg. I'd never seen Griffin this excited about anything other than his work. If Sharifa only knew how much she had changed him. She had to stay. Even if Griffin thought he didn't need her, I knew the truth. Those first few weeks had been rough, but I had heard it in his voice the moment he had asked her what she knew about chemistry. That moment in the lab felt like months ago now.

     "I guess... I'm in."

      "Great! Then it's settled." Griffin made a large sweeping motion. "Where should we build?"

      "You want me to decide?"

     "Why not?"

     Sharifa took a moment to think. "It would be easiest to rebuild on the foundation of the old house, but that seems like, I don't know, bad luck. The clearing looked like a good spot, but...." We didn't have to go there. Sharifa took a second to think. "Have you ever seen those houses that have a tree growing in the middle of them?"

     "You don't mean..." I could tell a small smile was creeping onto his face. The bandages that showed his body gestured towards the tree and did a small gig. "It's perfect."

      Sharifa laughed. "So how, exactly do we do this? I'm assuming we can't go about this how a "normal" person would. How'd you build the first cabin without raising suspicion?"

     "Well, last time it took a lot of bribery." Griffin sat back down at the base of the tree. "I'm not sure I have enough money to do it again."

     Sharifa sat down next to him. "But I might."