The Last Phoenix Shifter

Music blared out of Jenna’s I- pod. The earphones drowned out any other noise. She crossed the road and turned into an industrial estate. A part of town that was home to factories and warehouses, at that time of night it was void of any life. In the darkness, the grey tin buildings gave off an eerie feeling, barley illuminated by the random streetlights. But Jenna was unaffected. She was still on a high from her night out and hummed along with the tunes she was playing.

If her mother or father knew that she was still out at that hour, then she would be grounded until she left for college. That would be a long time as she had only just turned sweet sixteen.

However, it was date night, and she knew that her parents were at the movies and her sister was out with her so called new boyfriend. It had just gone past eleven P.M. She had an hour to get home before anyone was expected back.

She had plenty of time.

The party she had just exited was exactly what her best friend Donna said it would be. Amazing. The music was so loud it had made Jenna’s skin tingle. Plus, she was pretty sure that the school’s new hunk Josh was hitting on her. He was new to town. Why anyone would wish to move to Dem’Say Woods was beyond Jenna. She dreamed of getting out of the small town. It had a measly population of six thousand people and was located in the middle of nowhere. The next town was over twenty-five miles away. Everyone knew everyone else’s business and gossiping was more of a hobby than sports.

Dem’Say Woods was surrounded by a large forest which made the town feel lost to the rest of the world.

However, she couldn’t deny that Josh had made her heart flutter. He was one of them guys that drew people to him, but there was something about him. Jenna wasn’t sure what. There was wisdom to his eyes. His smile had made her weak at the knees.

An invisible hand clasped over her mouth. A hypodermic of adrenaline pierced her heart, unloading in an instant. Her ribs heaved as if bound by ropes, straining to inflate her lungs. Jenna’s head felt like a carousel of fears spinning out of control, each one pushing her mind into blackness. She tried to focus and survey her surroundings. The streets were deserted. She was alone with her unknown attacker.

Panic fueled her adrenaline which ran through her system. It is fight or die; her mind screamed at her.

Thrusting her head back and digging the heel of her boot into her attacker, Jenna wiggled free while a loud gasp and curse came from behind her. It was a sound only a man could make. Deep and hallow.

She was pulled backwards by her long red hair and dropped her I-pod in the process. Struggling, she pulled forward which sent an acute pain searing through her skull and her eyes momentarily flashed with lights as dizziness made her stagger forward.

Wasting no time, Jenna set off into a sprint, her head burned, and her heart raced. Don’t look, don’t look. She chanted to herself. The fear of not being able to outrun whoever it was began eating away at her already somersaulting stomach.

She looked behind her. A man, or what she thought looked like a man, wearing black clothes with a hood concealing his face was closing in.

He was tall with long legs which enabled him to cover more ground quicker. Bang. Jenna had run into a streetlight and fell to the ground with a thump. Scrambling to her feet she ran with every ounce of strength she had, pumping her body like she had never before.