Dangerous

I miss bein’ a kid, Phoenix Coleman mused silently. Perched outside of her sister’s Preschool Center, the young woman grinned upon seeing the children gleefully running out from the school’s entrance. They all wore looks of innocence and naïve wonder; it was rather adorable…and sad. It wouldn’t be long before they’d be introduced to the horrors of the world – death, violence, disease, hatred. Their innocence would become corrupted and would rot away, leaving them nothing but a hard, bitter shell. The world would viciously chew them up and spit them out. But, hey, life’s a bitch and then you die, right?

Shaking her head, Phoenix adjusted the sunglasses on her face and tucked her onyx-colored hair behind her ears. She was beginning to depress herself. Using the radio as a distraction, she fiddled with the station until a hard-rock channel flowed through the speakers. Phoenix smirked at the disgusted sneers from the nearby parents, all glaring in her direction as they covered their kid’s ears and shuffled them into their cars. Fuckin’ snobs, She snorted, but eventually turned the music down to a low hum, just loud enough for her to hear.

Phoenix returned her eyes to the front of the building and smiled. Dressed in ripped jeans, black Converse, and her big sister’s old, baggy Motörhead shirt, four-year-old Shiloh Coleman emerged from the school’s entrance. Her dark-brown hair, slightly lighter that her older sister’s, was pulled into a tight French braid, styled by none other than Phoenix herself.

Phoenix shut off the car, shoved the keys in her pocket, and stepped out into the street. It didn’t take long for Shiloh to see her. The girl beamed and took off towards her big sister, cutting through the grass and nearly tripping over her own two feet. Phoenix laughed at her sister’s excitement and braced for impact. “I gotcha, kid,” She grunted and pulled Shiloh up into her arms.

“Phee!” The young girl squealed happily, squeezing her older sister’s neck. The older of the two smiled warmly and planted a loud kiss to the side of her baby sister’s head, emitting giggles from the child.

The two had always been close; Phoenix had practically raised the girl after Shiloh’s mother bailed. The woman was a stripper with a cocaine addiction and had met their father through a mutual friend. The two had screwed, she’d gotten pregnant, and then she’d spent the following nine months feeding off of Phoenix’s family.

At least one good thing had come out of it.

Shiloh was born two weeks after Phoenix graduated high school. Seven pounds and nine ounces of absolute perfection, and already had Phoenix wrapped around her small, baby fingers. Her mother seemed to feel differently, though. Disgusted with the weight she’d gained, the woman turned to drugs and eventually drained their family of all their hard-earned cash. A month later, the broad was gone.

The years following were tough for their family. Phoenix and Shiloh’s father worked day and night to keep their small family housed, fed, and clean, all while Phoenix stayed home and took care of Shiloh. Unlike most of her friends and peers, Phoenix was never given the chance to enroll in college or get a job; the baby was her job. She put all of her time and energy into this child, and she had to admit, the kid turned out pretty damn good.

“How ya doin’ today, kiddo?” Phoenix asked, swinging Shiloh around lazily. “Have fun at school?”

Shiloh nodded heartily. “Yep, yep. We goin’ home now?” Her green eyes twinkled mischievously. Phoenix knew that look; the little punk wanted something.

“Mhmm,” Phoenix said, eyeing the girl’s grinning face. “Unless you had somethin’ else in mind?”

“Ice cream! Please, please, please, Phee!” Jutting out her bottom lip, furrowing her eyebrows, and batting her lashes, Shiloh gave Phoenix her perfected pouty-face, one that the older sister could never ignore. With a groan, Phoenix agreed. “Yay, yay, yay!”

“But only one scoop, babe,” The older of the two warned. “Don’t need you bouncin’ around the damn house for the rest of the day.” The last part had been said more to herself than Shiloh, recalling the last time she’d allowing the young girl to get an extra scoop of the chilly treat. That was not something that needed to be repeated.

Lowering Shiloh into her car seat, Phoenix planted a kiss to the top of her head and shut the door. Her fingers had just skimmed the handle of the driver’s side door when the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight. Discomfort engulfed her like a large blanket, forcing her to swallow nervously.

Someone was watching.

Her eyes, hidden behind her pair of dark sunglasses, scanned the emptying parking lot. There were no other cars around. Phoenix quickly ripped off her shades and turned around, finding nothing but an empty street. Shaking away her uneasiness, she could see Shiloh’s impatient expression through the window. Phoenix quickly winked at the young girl, and with one last check of their surroundings, the dark-haired beauty climbed into the car and drove off.



File – No. 20997

Full Name: Phoenix Dawn Coleman
DOB: August 18, 1986 | Huntington Beach, California
Parents: (Father) Harold J. Coleman, (Mother, Deceased) Bethany K. Hertz-Coleman
Siblings: (Sister, Juvenile) Shiloh F. Coleman

Features

Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Gray
Body Modifications: Piercing on left side of nose; piercing on tongue; piercing in each ear (3); tattoo on right wrist (see picture enclosed); tattoo on right side of neck (see picture enclosed); tattoo on upper back (see picture enclosed); tattoo on left side of left ankle (see picture enclosed).



“Look at the ass on that one, Shads. Puberty did her right, man,” Perched across the street with a pair of binoculars in one hand and a cigarette in the other, Matt couldn’t have agreed more. The picture they had was old, dated back to when she was a sophomore in high school. Six years later, the scrawny, underdeveloped teen was now a busty, lean woman with long legs, a perky ass, a flat stomach, and one hell of a rack. “I mean, I know she’s got a kid and all, but—”

“It’s not her kid, man,” Matt muttered, correcting his partner. “It’s her little sister. Raised her since she was eighteen. Didn’t you read her file?”

Brian, Syn, shrugged defensively. “Of course I…,” With a stern look from the large, hazel-eyed man beside him, Brian sighed. “Okay, so I skimmed through it. Big fuckin’ whoop.”

Matt ignored his friend’s defensive remarks and observed the young woman. A wide smile was planted firmly on her face, and he then noticed the small child running towards her. “Kid’s comin’,” He murmured to Brian who watched from behind his own spectacles. “That’s Shiloh; four years and eight months. Both share the same father.”

Brian nodded. “Yeah, didn’t the mom run out on them?”

“Phoenix’s mom passed away when she was three,” Matt explained. “But, yeah. Shiloh’s mom was just some coke-head stripper. Left only a month after she popped the kid out.”

Brian whistled. “Damn. Harsh.”

Matt nodded in agreement, still studying the young woman and her sister. Phoenix grabbed Shiloh from underneath her small arms and lifted her into an embrace. Both sisters’ faces beamed with love for one another. Phoenix kissed the side of her sister’s cheek soundly and the young girl laughed; a sound that brought even the smallest of smiles to Matt’s lips.

“She’s a cute kid, man,” Brian said, his voice taking on a different tone. Matt knew that tone. It was guilt.

He was feeling it too.

“Yeah,” He nodded sadly. “She is.”

It was a few seconds before Brian spoke again. “What do you think he’ll do to her? To both of them?”

Matt didn’t speak, mostly because he knew the answer. He knew what would come of the two loving sisters. He knew what that bastard would do to them; what he would put them through. He knew exactly how this entire thing would plan out and it killed him to know that he’d have to be a participant.

Matt could only hope things would be different this time around.

He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take.