For a brief moment, I felt at peace for the first time all day. We sat there, waiting for the bell to ring, holding hands.

“You know, I never wanted any of this to happen,” she said, breaking the spell.

“And you know that Mitzy and I are just friends. I don’t know why you freaked out that day.”

She pulled her hand away. “I know, Seth. But what I’m becoming, who I’m becoming…you wouldn’t like. It was necessary to extricate myself from our relationship.”

“You mean the gothic lolita bitch witch?”

She chuckled at that. “I take it you don’t like the look.”

“I know the real you underneath all the makeup, hair, and clothes. You don’t need all that to shield yourself.”

“Says the Cis white man.”

I glanced at my fingernails. “Not sure how much longer on that.”

“I’d need to consult with my mother to find out what’s happening to us.”

“Lovely,” I said, sighing. “I only have PE and Spanish left. If we want to head over to your place, can we find out what’s going on?”

“I still need to finish my test in government.”

“Can it wait?” I looked at my hands and arms. It was like a woman’s hands were attached to the end of my masculine arms. “I mean, it’s definitely spreading. I haven’t looked at my feet, but I’m about to slip out of my athletic shoes. I think they’re shrinking too.”

“Hold up your hands,” she said.

I held them up, palms out to her. She did the same.

Our hands were exactly the same size, with nails exactly the same length. Hers were colored a glossy deep purple.

We looked into each other’s eyes, shocked.

“How could this be happening?” I said.

“It’s the tendril connecting us. Something about it is…well, creating a duplication?”

“Why the hell would someone want that?”

As I watched, my nails filled in with color—the same deep purple as April’s.

“Oh, that’s freaky as shit!” I said. “April, we have to stop this!”

“It’s like spell I used to duplicate my dress and hair is still going!”

I brushed out the long ebony locks. “I haven’t tried cutting the hair, but if they’re anything like the nails, it’ll grow back almost immediately.”

She snorted. “We could make a fortune selling to a wig store.”

I smiled at her giggle snort. That was the old April shining through.

“What the hell am I going to do about practice!” I said.

“Tell coach you’re feeling sick or something?”

“April, we have to get this to stop. Right now! Maybe if we both pull on each side of the tendril, it’ll break the spell?”

“I suppose it’s worth a shot,” she said. “It was so strange when you tugged on it, like it was anchored right in my ovaries.” She closed her eyes a moment and put her hand on her stomach.

“Yeah, and mine is in my nads. Think that is why I’m changing into you?”

“I’m sure it has something to do with it.”

“Well, let’s try it, at least.”

She nodded, and we stood up, facing each other. “I warn you, don’t follow the black thread, however. I suspect I know where that is anchored, and it could spell doom if we pull on that one.”

“We might not have any choice, April!” I said.

“There are far worse things than being in a duplicate body, Seth.”

I nodded, sighing. “Well, let’s at least try.”

She nodded, and we both closed our eyes—

And opened our third eye.

I took a look around first. Everything looked so different, like I was seeing the threads of reality all bound together. I could see between the walls and the people beyond. Most of the kids around us were pretty dull, but among them were some shining ones who had…well, aura’s a bit simplistic, but an inner fire that glowed bright. April’s light shone the brightest, and modestly, I saw mine did too. Her light was a shining pink, while mine was orange, but as I watched, I saw the pink sliding along the thread toward me...

“Your aura is blending with mine,” I said in a soft voice.

You don’t need to speak in here. We can hear each others’ thoughts.

Wow, really?” I sent. This is so cool!

Okay, grasp the tendril on your side with your Strength, and I’ll do the same.

I nodded. Okay.

On the count of three, give a modest tug, She sent.

Sounds good.

One, Two…

I took the thread in my invisible hand and gripped it tight.

Three!

I pulled and immediately wished I hadn’t.

April screamed. I don’t know if it was in my mind or in the physical world. I think I yelled too, but my mind filled with her pain.
It was like someone with a size twelve steel-toed boot just kicked me in the testicles. I roared in pain and immediately fell to the ground writhing and moaning. My third eye closed, and I just rolled in pain and anguish, feeling very hurt and bruised down there.

“Well,” she said, gasping and with tears in her voice. “That didn’t work.”

“No!” I said, still holding my tender spot.

“I felt it give though. I think we almost snapped it.”

I nodded, sitting up.

I felt a burning in my arms, sliding up my wrists and into my elbows. At the same time, I felt my feet like they were on fire, and it moved up my ankles into my shins and then my knees.

“Oh, Jesus!” I said, trying to put the fire out.

“Oh, I saw that happening!” She said. “It was like a snap back; as your tendril recovered, it pulled some of mine toward it!”

I closed my eyes and opened my third again. I could see what she meant. The pink aura that came from her had slid over my legs and arms up to my knees and elbows.

“Do you think we could…I dunno, pull it back and tie it off maybe?” I said.

“We could try.”

I nodded.

“So rather than break the cord, you want to tie it off?”

“Think that might work?” I said. “You’re the magic user.”

“I suppose it’s worth a try,” she said. “But it will probably still hurt you.”

I nodded, panting. I’d broken out in a cold sweat. I looked at the thread closer, zooming in. I could see where orange met pink, but the entwined black was still there too, like it was the root of it somehow. I didn’t follow the black down into the earth, but I did follow it upward. It joined our thread and seeped over toward April. In some places, the pink had been overcome by the black.

“Umm,” I said. “The black is mixing with your pink.”

She nodded. “That’s why every so often, I have to cast off some of my excess magic. There’s a lot less black now after you helped me earlier. But it’s still there, and it creeps into me. It’s due to the bargain I struck, but I don’t want to speak of that right now.”

“Bargain?”

She nodded quietly, her face turning red.

“April, what bargain did you strike and with whom?”

She shrugged.

“April!” I said, shaking her shoulder. “Obviously, it’s having an impact on you. What the hell did you do?”

She sighed. “It’s part of the Ascension into our Coven. You have to bargain a part of your soul to a Dark One, but I’ve kept it in check, Seth."

I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound right, April. But I guess you have to do what you have to do.”

“Let’s try tying this off. If we can do that, at least slow it somewhat, then I can go finish my test, and then we can go talk to Mom.”

“Okay,” I said.

She took a grip on the thread. “Instead of jerking it, I will try slowly increasing the pressure until I can pull all of my Essence from your body and tie it off. Does that make sense?”

I sighed and took a deep breath. “Go for it.”

I mean, what's the worse that could happen, Right?