Kate was out for her nightly jog, as usual. Her blonde ponytail swishing when she bounced on the sidewalk. Her t-shirt and shorts obtaining the slight smell of sweat. She was making great time when the wind picked up. It chilled her to the bone. She continued her pace, she would be home soon enough. The only thing that bothered Kate tonight was what she had read in the paper.

Apparently, there was a psycho serial killer on the loose. He prowled the streets at night looking for people to kill. So far, there had only been three victims, two men and a college girl. Luckily for Kate, they were attacked on the other side of town. Still, she didn’t like the thought of being out too late, so she cut her usual 5 miles jog down to 2 miles. Even with this adjustment, Kate still felt a small surge of anxiety.

Then, strangely enough, all of the street lights went out. Behind Kate, there was an eerie rustling. “Hello?” She called out, turning around. She then stared at the bush, sure that it was the killer. Just by staring at the bush, Kate could feel her heart pounding so hard that it felt as if it would jump out of her chest.
Suddenly, something leaped out of the bush. Kate let out a blood-curdling scream. A sigh escaped her mouth as she saw that it was only a small squirrel. Relieved that it was only a small animal, Kate continued jogging in the pitch black darkness, but she quickened her pace. As she jogged past a park bench, the street light above it came on and flickered.
Exhausted from her jogging, she sat down on the bench. Kate’s heart beat picked up. She heard footsteps around her. She looked around and saw no one. The footsteps grew louder. And louder. And louder! The footsteps stopped abruptly. Kate looked down at her shadow, and saw another. She slowly turned her head around-and saw the silhouette of another figure. An evil chuckle came from the figure and Kate let out a shriek. Her shriek was cut off by a sharp and cold object slashing her throat. Kate tried to scream for help, but her breathing became harder and harder as her lungs filled with blood. She could feel all life draining from her body. Kate mentally punished herself for stopping at that bench during the last few moments of life. Finally, her lifeless body slouched on the bench and a maniacal laugh came from the murderer.