The Last Phoenix- Book 1 of the Legends of Henge Series

Chapter 7

Lark Tanning

I woke up in the morning feeling like I'd had the worst nightmare of my life. Don't get me wrong, the party was a big part of that feeling but what scared me most is what I'd forgotten most about the night when I'd come home.

Audrey had screamed at the sight of me. Her brother had tried to spray water at me. I hadn't been speaking when I thought I was and I had somehow scampered through the forest with enormous speed.

Yawning slightly, I untangled myself from my bed sheets and dressed myself. I picked up my brush slowly and went to start brushing my hair when my eyes alighted on my image in the mirror.

The brush fell to the ground and I stumbled back from the stranger staring back at me. Tripping, I fell painfully on my tailbone and yelped in surprise.

My hair, usually so frizzy and wavy, was curled and sleek. I'd seen it like that before when I used a billion products in my hair for special events so that wasn't the most shocking part. My hair used to be dark brown from the roots to the tips and no amount of dying it would make change in an attractive way at least.

Red. Rich and bright red from the tips of my hair and up about half the length. Looking closer, that wasn't the only thing that had changed about my appearance. My eyes had changed from brown to a golden green color.

Carefully, I checked to see if somehow I had those eye color changing contacts in and when I came up with nothing, I shook my head, pinched myself, did anything to check if I was still asleep.

Nothing.

How the hell was I going to explain this to my parents? They'd know I'd been out last night. They'd never let me hang out with friends again! They'd tell my teachers I was trouble student! Perhaps they'd even switch me to another school!

I couldn't leave Audrey and as much as I hated my school, I couldn't leave it. Not because something I couldn't control happened to me. I needed to get out of the house and figure this out. I heard my dad leave the house for the day and I knew my mother would be downstairs, so I couldn't sneak out that way.

I turned to the window as an idea popped into my head. I opened it enough to slip through but my sweatshirt still got caught on the window sill, pulling me back when I tried to sit up. I pulled at it in frustration and a splintered chunk of wood came with it. My eyes widened in horror. I had just ripped a part of my window out! I was staring blankly at the block when someone knocked on the door.

I froze. My mouth was parched and my eyes were fixated on the door as someone started to push it open. The latch had been broken years ago when Finch had repeatedly slammed into it to freak me out.

"Lark? Are you in there?" I relaxed a bit at the familiar voice of my brother. "What the hell are you doing?" He was staring at the missing piece of the window.

"Uh..."

His eyes passed over my face and he looked even more confused. "And what the hell happened to you?" I was silent, not because I didn't want to tell him anything but because I didn't have any answers really. I'm really not sure how I destroyed the window or how my hair and eyes had changed.

"Just don't tell mom," was the only thing I said before I jumped into the tree in our backyard with indescribable strength. I hit the ground running, literally, and maneuvered my way through the trees and thorn bushes, not hitting a single branch.

I saw a stream far ahead and pushed off the ground with as much direction and strength as I could muster. I soared over the rushing water and landed gracefully on all fours. I took off once more, relishing in the feeling of the wind racing past my ears.