Free Entanglements by P R Mason

the small segment that closed the K into an R.
    “Omigod.” I pointed the letter. “Look at this.”
    Senji stopped his continued harangue about how he had in fact won the race and squinted through his glasses at the floor. He broke out in a guffaw.
    “There,” he yelled triumphantly. “Kizzy arrived first. Her tag proves it.”
    Billy stepped around Senji, pushing him aside. Consternation crossed his face.
    “That isn’t Kizzy’s tag.” Billy's tone was defensive.
    “Yeah.” Quinn, who had been shining a flashlight down the tunnel a few yards away, turned and stomped back to us. “It’s faded.”
    “That’s her tag. Right Kiz?” Franky asked.
    “Ummm.”
    “Tell the truth.” Billy took hold of my upper arm, squeezing it in an angry pinch, and jerked me toward him.
    “Get your hands off her.” Franky struck Billy in the back with his flashlight.
    Dropping my arm, Billy rounded on Franky and punched him in the gut, knocking him into the wall. The weight of him brought down the remaining bricks like a wrecking ball. Senji hopped on Billy’s back, his arms closing around the bully’s neck. Quinn tried to pry Franky off as Billy bucked.
    As the threesome wrestled and lurched, Billy managed to dislodge Senji in a twisting motion and Senji fell into me. I slammed to the ground landing on my hands and knees on top of the letter design. Pain ripped through my leg along with the realization that the cut on my shin had reopened.
    I felt Juliette at my side bending to help me up. A sonic boom sounded, shaking the room and the R began to pulsate with a black tinged violet glow. The spiral of the circle lurched a few inches counterclockwise and then lurched again. I knew what was coming.
    “Get out! Everyone. Out.” Scrambling to my feet, I screamed as I backed away from the design.
    The lurching of the circle quickened to an easy turning motion and the paper trash on the floor ruffled in the wind. Juliette stood at the edge of the moving circle gazing into it with a look of wonder. The four guys continued to wrestle and scuffle, ignoring me—and the spiraling floor—so close to where they struggled.
    Franky threw a punch into Quinn’s stomach. The blow barely dented him. The punchee lifted a meaty fist and brought it down onto the top of the smaller teen’s red head, causing Franky to stumble back two steps. On the third step, Franky’s right foot hit the swirling circle and disappeared as if sinking into quicksand. The loss of a foot upset his balance and as he began to topple. Franky’s frantic eyes flew to mine.
    Juliette screamed. The diameter of the swirling had increased and was pulling her in. At her cry, Billy, Quinn and Senji finally noticed something wrong. Billy rushed toward his girlfriend and Senji toward Franky.
    “Kizzy!”
    Swiveling I saw Rom enter the morgue. I don’t believe I’d ever been happier to see anyone in my life. If reincarnation was possible, I wouldn't be happier in any other lifetime either.
    “The rope,” I yelled, pointing to the coil at his feet. “Toss me an end and try to tie the other on something.” Before I’d even stopped speaking he moved.
    When I turned back the scene that met my eye was horrific. Juliette was trapped to the waist by the whirlpool that had been the floor. She screamed as she clung to Billy’s hands. He strained and pulled but she only sank deeper. Debris and trash disappeared into the swirling as if being vacuumed by a cosmic force. Senji had an arm locked through one of the metal rings in the wall as he grasped Franky’s hand with the other. Franky lay on an angle, mired up to his thighs on one side and to his neck on the other. Quinn stood like a petrified statue in the corner of the morgue, barely visible.
    On the opposite side of the swirling circle, two figures protruded as macabre inversions of Franky and Juliette. The only visible portion of one figure consisted of boots and black trousered legs. Next to that one was another