Jess took the last pull of her cigarette and plucked it from between her full, pink lips. She idly blew a stream of smoke out into the afternoon air.

There was movement in the mossy gravel by her foot. A spider crawled next to her white flats, moving on long spindly legs heedless to the girl that watched it from above. She rolled her cigarette between her fingers, the little tube warm from the still glowing ember.

Jess closed one eye as she took aim. She pinched the remains of cigarette between her white, manicured nails before flicking it towards the unwary arachnid.

The burning cylinder exploded onto the ground, missing the spider by a couple of inches. It reacted to the sudden rush of heat and scuttled away, its eight legs pumping as it fled over the stones.

There was a movement behind it. A stone the size of its torso crashed to the ground as Jess lifted her foot. The sky above it turned a grey stained tan, the world drowning in shadow as the sole of Jess’ shoe moved casually through the air.

The spider ran ever faster, stumbling across the rocks as the sky began to fall. The shadow stretched in every direction, the light reduced to an ever thinning line. It changed direction, running this way and that in its panic. The sole of Jess’s shoe was almost upon it. Its simple mind raced as it was pushed onto its belly, eight eyes reeling in their sockets. The spider’s legs twitched frantically as it was crushed into the dirt.

Jess stepped down.

‘Fuckin bug,’ she pouted, twisting her foot back and forth to grind it further into the moss speckled concrete. She sighed impatiently and dropped back against the graffiti covered wall. She lifted her other foot, pressing it against the brickwork to steady herself.

She pulled her silver cased phone from the pocket of her tight, pale blue jeans and glared at it accusingly. ‘Where the fuck was Zoe?’ Jess bit her bottom lip. What if something had gone wrong? The last text from the freshman said Jay had fallen for the trap like Jess knew he would. He had had his eye on Zoe for a while. She was the perfect bait. Still, what if it had worn off already?

No. Her white tipped fingers pushed her phone back into her pocket. The solution would last 72 hours; she had been assured of this. It certainly would last longer than Jay would.

The thought brought a smile to her face that widened as Zoe rounded the corner. The younger girl hurried, throwing a cautious look over her shoulder for fear of being followed.

Jess hurried over to her, wrapping her arms around her waist in a brief embrace. ‘Oh my god Zoe!’ she beamed, ‘I can’t believe it worked! Do you have him? Where is he?’ Her hazel eyes burned into the younger girl who stood almost a head shorter than her.

‘I, um, he’s in my bag’ Zoe stammered, fumbling at her handbag as Jess stared at her intently. She popped open the wrong pocket, revealing the blue vial and its strange luminescent contents. Jess’ eyes widened, ‘You have some left?’ She asked, barely masking the surprise in her voice. ‘Perfect!’ she grinned, regaining her composure, ‘Zoe, you are a superstar! Hand it over.’

Zoe stammered again. Though they were friends the older girl always made her nervous. There was something in the way she spoke, in the way she carried herself. Something that automatically made you feel inferior.

She plucked the bottle from its compartment and handed it over. Jess snatched it from her greedily, holding it up to the waning light to admire its contents. ‘Perfect’, she repeated to herself. Her fist closed around it as she turned her attention once more to Zoe’s bag. ‘So,’ she smiled coldly, ‘where’s our little friend?’

Zoe returned her smile though did so weakly. Without a word she unbuttoned the other pocket and reached inside. A shiver of excitement went through her as her fingers connected with their tiny captive. She closed her fingertips around him and brought him into the light. He squealed, a tiny sound like that of a mosquito, and thrashed in her grip.

Jess’ face fell as Zoe held him up to her to see. ‘Oh my god,’ she whispered, ‘I can’t believe it.’ She held out her remaining hand and Zoe dropped Jay gently into her palm. He floundered for a moment, struggling to rise to his knees on the soft mounds of flesh.

Jess lifted her hand, bringing it to her face so that her wrist was just before her lips. The movement, though slight, caused the tiny Jay to fall heavily onto his face. He clutched his nose and rolled onto his back. It was then he saw Jess for the first time.

Zoe jumped as he screamed louder than ever before. Jess laughed down at him, her powerful voice blowing his hair and drowning his cries of fear. She completely ignored the freshmen as she spoken to the terrified man in her palm.

‘Well, well, well,’ she purred at her prey, ‘what do we have here?’ Jay continued to scream as she drew her huge pink lips towards him. ‘Looks like a little bug to me. What do you think Zoe?’

Jess’ eyes darted to the young girl who stood enraptured by the display. Her gaze pierced her.

She approached tentatively, staring down with wonder at the terrified student in her friend’s palm. He didn’t look like he was going to find this funny later.

‘I said, what do you think Zoe? Doesn’t he look like a little bug to you?’

In Jess’ palm Jay turned on his knees, looking up at her with eyes filled with dread. ‘Zoe, please, help me!’ he cried before jess tilted her hand sending him sprawling helplessly across her skin.

‘Shush bug,’ she chided, ‘we’re talking. So, Zoe?’ The younger girl wilted before her, ‘Yeah, I guess so.’ Zoe regretted her part in this with every passing second. Her discomfort was plain on her face.

Jess dismissed it, grinning widely back at her. ‘Good. And we know where bugs belong down we?

Jay’s world fell out from beneath him as Jess closed her fist and plunged him downwards. He slammed heavily into her closed fingers as she stopped abruptly before releasing her grasp and letting him fall the ten feet or so on his scale to the ground.

He hit the ground hard, grazing his arm against a pebble the size of a bowling ball. Above him Zoe gasped, the ground rumbling as her sandal clad feet took a step away from him. Jess reached out and fastened her fingers around her upper arm. ‘It’s ok,’ she cooed, ‘he’s fine. This was what we planned remember, we were going to scare him. It’s just a joke babe, it’s ok.’

Zoe’s eyes were downcast though she tried to avoid looking at Jay. He lay on his side, cradling his arm. ‘It doesn’t feel like a joke,’ she mumbled.

Jay gritted his teeth against the pain in his arm. The wound was superficial and would heal quickly. He sat upright before rising unsteadily to his feet. His mind raced, spinning at what was happening to him. He stood in shock, his hands trembling by his side. The girls stood over him, stretching what seemed to be miles into the sky. Their slightest movement shook the earth. He wanted to run but his legs were locked in place. His heart sank, he wanted to be sick. Even if he ran they would catch him, in her sandals his head wouldn’t even reach as high as Zoe’s toenail.

How could this be happening?

Jess’ tried to suppress her irritation, forcing a sweet smile onto her lips. ‘Honey, honestly it’s fine. I’ve known Jay for years, we’re friends. Aren’t we Jay?’ She directed this to her feet but didn’t wait for an answer from the man that cowered before them.

‘Listen babe, we’ll laugh about this next week, I promise. We’re all friends, it’s just a prank. We play pranks on each other all the time, it’s what friends do. We are friends aren’t we?’

Zoe’s eyes flicked upwards, her heart quickening in her breast. Jess pouted, her face a picture of hurt feelings. ‘Yes, of course!’ Zoe squeaked, ‘Sorry, I just, I’ve never heard of this before, it’s a lot to take in.’

Jess extended her arm across Zoe’s slender shoulder. ‘Don’t worry about it hon,’ she smiled sweetly, ‘not many people know about it yet. This kind of stuff is very underground, very cutting edge you know? They don’t just let anyone use it. Trust me; we do this all the time. Jay will find it funny, he probably thinks you look hot too.’

Zoe’s cheeks flushed red. ‘You know what guys are like,’ Jess continued, leaning against her, ‘they love to think they are all big and tough but they all get a hard on for a tough girl.’

She lifted her foot and swung it forwards, slamming it down hard next to Jay. ‘Ain’t that right bug boy?’ She sneered.

Jay was knocked from his feet by the force of the blast, the shockwave rumbling through the earth. He had stood in disbelief as Jess drew the freshman in with her false stories of friendship. He shouted desperate denials, begging Zoe to ignore her and to rescue him though his words had been drowned out by Jess’ lies. Her laugher rang down upon him as she stamped again, pitching him across the cold, moss spotted concrete.

‘Come on,’ Jess laughed, nudging Zoe in the ribs, ‘give it a go. Trust me.’

Zoe still harboured doubts. Would he really be turned on by seeing her from this angle? She had already pinned her skirt to her legs to prevent him seeing up it but was she just being a prude? Maybe Jess was right. Guy’s liked the domineering thing didn’t they? This was sort of the same she guessed, although it was a bit weird.

She fluttered a weak smile and cast a trusting look at her friend. ‘Ok,’ she grinned, ‘so what just stomp near him?’

Jess laughed, ‘Yeah, that’ll really shit him up. Or, y’know, if you’re careful you could step on him a bit. Not like properly step on him obviously but like, y’know, hover your foot over him so he thinks you’re gonna do it but just don’t step down all the way.’

It struck Zoe that Jess spoke about Jay like he wasn’t there. She wasn’t sure how she felt about making him think she was going to squash him.

‘Unless you’re not ready to turn a guy on like that,’ Jess smirked at her, ‘it’s totally cool if you’re still a virgin or whatever.’

Zoe gritted her teeth. This was more than she was comfortable with but she didn’t want to lose face with her new circle of friends. One wrong word from Jess and she was back to being a nobody.

‘Pfft, yeah right!’ she laughed, raising her foot, ‘I’m gonna blow his mind!’

Jay bolted across the concrete, his paralysis shattered as Zoe swept her sandaled foot over him.  Their laugher thundered around him as he ran in her shadow, ‘Not so fast bugboy!’ Zoe called to him, slamming her foot down in front of him, cutting off his escape.

The shrunken man cried out in surprise, swerving to avoid crashing into her heel. The ground rumbled as she drew her foot back to try and catch him in her arch. Her toes flared as he dove before them, scrambling through the dirt to avoid being crushed beneath her. ‘You’ll have to do better than that,’ she laughed, positioning the ball of her foot over him ready to strike.

A shiver ran through her, the power she had over the tiny creature rushed through her once again. She would never really hurt him but right now it was impossible to deny how easy that would be. A wide grin split her face. ‘Here I come,’ she sang, lowering her foot upon him.

She had almost caught him when she noticed Jess reaching towards her. She turned, her smile fading as the senior girls cold eyes fell upon her. The blue bottle was clasped in her fingers, the stopper popping off with a squeak. ‘Let’s see how you like it bitch,’ Jess sneered, throwing the shimmering contents towards her.

‘No!’ Zoe cried out in horror, throwing up her arm as the strange concoction splashed across her. She wobbled on one leg and toppled sideways, crashing to the floor.

Jay was thrown from his feet by the shockwave as the giant girl struck the earth. Already she was shrinking, her body writhing as it folded in upon itself. Jess stood over them both, an expression of hatred twisting her beautiful face.

She slipped the bottle into her pocket. Within seconds Zoe had dwindled to nothing, a tiny insect barely taller than Jay. Jess stood over them both, her feet placed either side of them, a goddess standing victorious over her helpless prey.

Zoe was sobbing, terrified of the huge girl that towered above her. ‘Jess please,’ she squeaked over her frightened tears, ‘what are you doing?’

‘Didn’t I say it was perfect?’ She smirked down at the tiny girl, ‘enough left in the bottle to dispose of the bait.’

Zoe gripped her head in her hands, shaking it back and forth. ‘What do you mean?’ she trilled, ‘What? I don’t, why?’

‘Oh shut up,’ Jess sighed. Jay cried out as she flicked her foot forwards, crashing it into Zoe’s stammering frame. A tiny spray of crimson blood splattered across the tip of her white shoe as Zoe’s mouth and nose exploded. The air was filled with the sound of cracking ribs as she was sent sprawling across the grey slab.

Jess frowned at her shoe, ‘Bitch! You got blood on my shoes!’

Jay watched dumbstruck as the giant girl withdrew her foot from her shoe and moved it forwards, the deadly shadow slithering across the ground beneath it. Zoe rolled onto her back, mewling pitifully. She raised a trembling arm, ‘No, Jess, please’ she croaked. It was no use.

Jess stepped down.

The thud shook his bones. It was quicker than he had imagined. Jess’ foot now rested where the tiny girl had once cowered. She twisted it back and forth; pulverising Zoe’s liquefied remains between the concrete and her flesh.

Jess laughed and lifted her foot, taking her ankle in her hand to inspect the tiny bloodstain on her sole. ‘Eww, just like stepping on a bug,’ she giggled, ‘so Jay, wanna see what’s in store for you?’

Jay pleaded with her as she hung her bare sole above him. Her skin was speckled grey from where the dirt had been glued to her flesh by perspiration. She flexed her toes, sending long shadows dancing around him. A tiny red stain clung to the ball of her foot, the only thing that remained of the young, blonde freshmen.

‘Now,’ Jess purred, glaring down at him, a wicked smile on her pink lips, ‘what should I do with you?’