Free Timespell by Diana Paz

herself forward until she thought her arms would tear out of their sockets. She wouldn’t die here, to be found on the bathroom floor.
    They let go abruptly. She almost fell onto the filthy tile. The terrifying heat didn’t leave her shaking body. It took every ounceof strength she had not to collapse. She eyed the nearest drain. God, she needed to throw up.
    And the whole time the girls kept staring at her. “Get out of my way,” she yelled, pushing past them as best as she could. They didn’t hold her back and she kept her relief to herself. “I don’t know what you did, but my father’s a lawyer—ouch!”
    She clutched her arm as her shoulder lit on fire. What had they done to her? She doubled over against the burn, clawing at her arm. “Make it stop! Freaking hell!”
    Angie acted like she cared, kneeling beside her as she sank to the floor, but Kaitlyn didn’t give a rat’s ass about the girl’s fake sympathy.
    “Get ... off!” she ground out. “Get off me!”
    “Maybe if we give her some of our magic,” the bushy-haired girl said.
    The burning snaked around her arm. “Damn it!” she screamed. “Ashleigh! Becca!” She shoved Angie to the side and kicked off the bushy-haired girl’s attempts to get near her.
    “It’s going to be okay,” Angie said.
    The pain in her arm sank deeper, reaching to her bone, and she clenched her eyes shut. It hurt too much. All she could do was hold herself tight, her hatred for them pouring over the pain, helping to numb it. They would never overpower her like this again. She would make sure of it. And she would make them pay.
    “It’s almost over,” the bushy-haired girl said, her voice excited. “Look. The mark is almost done glowing.”
    Kaitlyn looked down at her arm, expecting to see blood. Instead, she found a gold-toned tattoo. It was like the ones Angie and her friend had, full of swirls and designs, except where Angie’s had a moon and the other girl’s had a sun, hers was dotted with dozens of stars.
    She met their eyes, expecting an explanation, but they sat back. Silent again. Waiting.
    Kaitlyn swallowed as bile rose in her throat. Waiting for what?
    A gasp tore through her lungs. Her chest filled with pressureand more burning. The tight, full sensation became unbearable. Her ribs would crack with it. Her whole body would come apart. In a second she would start screaming all over again.
    The girls held out their hands to her, as if they knew she needed to hang on. How she hated them. She wanted to spit on their hands, smash in their faces.
    “Take our hands,” Angie said. Her fake concern was sickening. “You need to release your power to feel better.”
    Kaitlyn wanted to tell her to go off herself, but she had to grit her teeth to keep from screaming.
    “Just take our hands,” the sidekick said, annoyed, “or I’ll grab you and make you.”
    “Julia,” Angie said in a warning tone.
    Kaitlyn couldn’t hold on to this feeling. Her breath came out in a gush as she grabbed their hands. What other choice did she have?
    The moment their fingers made contact the power flowed out of her, leaving sweet relief. She exhaled. Her head rolled back as finally the pain left her.
    “Wow,” Angie said.
    Or at least she thought it was Angie.
    “Cool!”
    Kaitlyn’s eyes shifted to where their voices came from. She could still feel their hands, but no matter how hard she looked she could barely make out their outlines. When they started talking again, Kaitlyn didn’t even care who was saying what.
    “Holy crap! What is this?”
    “I don’t know. We could be invisible.”
    “Oh my gosh! So freakin’ awesome! Let’s go to a mirror!”
    “Wait, we should check on Kaitlyn.”
    A transparent form leaned down. Kaitlyn scooted back.
    “Are you okay?”
    Kaitlyn peered at the weird smudge of air in front of her, then down at herself. Her own arms were as hazily see-through as theirs were, like she was made of glass.
    “What’s going on?” she asked.