Enjoy!

Miku shivered in her cage, arms wrapped around herself. She felt sick to her stomach, but there were no more tears. It seemed like she had cried herself out.

Miki's body was still sprawled in the dirt. Miku didn't want to look, but she couldn't help herself. Her eyes were drawn to new things – the black and yellow bracelet around her wrist, or the small tear in the thigh of her jeans. She felt a guilty relief that Miki was face-down, so she didn't have to see the dead girl's face.

The dead girl. The phrase echoed around in Miku's head like a guilty sentence of her own. She let out a soft whimper, wanting to squeeze her eyes shut but not being able to.

She forced her eyes up to Teto, who was standing near the tent entrance and cleaning her knife. Before leaving, Meiko had left the clown girl to guard her.

"Let me out," she said. She wanted to say it in the magic voice, but she knew even before Teto answered that it didn't work. Her stomach was rolling with guilt, revulsion, and fear – there was no room for that strange, powerful muscle in her to stretch.

"I don't think so!" Teto giggled.

Miku looked back and forth. Rin and Len had fallen asleep, and Kaito was curled up in the far corner of his cage, making animal-like grunting sounds that almost sounded like muttering. Miku had Teto to herself, at least for the moment.

Miku forced herself to focus on appealing to Teto's sense of reason, although she doubted the other girl had one. Anything was better than thinking of the blood that was slowly drying in the dirt. She watched Teto's methodical movements, wiping at her blade even though it was spotless by now.

"Why do you help Meiko?" Miku asked.

Teto's movements paused, and she looked up at Miku with raised brows. "Because she's the ringmaster, of course! We all do what she says."

Miku's heart skipped a beat. "Not everyone," she said in a quivering voice. Although she didn't want to, her eyes strayed once again to Miki's body.

Teto gave a small laugh, as if conceding a point. "Oh, yep, yep, you got me there! But see what happens when you don't obey?" She gestured at Miki's body with her knife. "She brought that right on herself, yes, she did."

"Is that why you listen to Meiko?" It would make sense, at least. And it mean that Teto wasn't as far gone as Miku had hoped. "You're scared of what will happen if you don't?"

Teto only laughed and shook her head. "Oh, no, no! I'd do anything for Miss Ringmaster, you bet!"

"Why?" Miku tried to wrap her mind around it, and failed. "She – She kidnapped you, didn't she? How old were you when she took you away from your family and friends? How can you be loyal to her?"

Teto only shook her head. "Oh, you just don't get it, huh?" Teto leaned against the side of the tent with a small smile. "Miss Ringmaster … She's let me become more than I could have ever been on my own!"

"She's made you a slave!" Miku tried to look in Teto's eyes, to reach whatever remained of the girl she used to be. "You can't do anything but what she tells you!"

"That's all I want to do!" Teto's tone was cheerful. "She made me strong! She made me smart!" The girl gave a wistful sigh. "It's like this, you see? People always laughed at me like I was some sort of clown anyways. It got me real, real down. But Miss Ringmaster changed all that! Now people laugh at me, but it's because I want them to!" She laughed, a cheerful and innocent sound that became chilling when combined with the dried blood on her sweater. "So, you get it? I'd rather serve her for a million years than live a short life as queen of the world!"

Miku could only stare, silently. The clown girl was clearly a lost cause.

"I knew you'd get it, yep, yep!" Teto chirped, stretching with her hands high above her head. It wasn't long before Tei came in.

"It's my turn," she said to Teto. Even as she spoke to the other clown, though, her eyes kept wandering towards the twins' cage. Teto didn't seem to pay it any mind.

"Okay, okay!" She bounced a few times on the tips of her toes. "I'm off, then!" When she got to the tent entrance, she paused and glanced back at Miki's body. "Ahhh, I should probably take this with me, though!" She scooped the corpse up as though it weighed nothing. "I know there's someone who would like to see her, oh, yes, yes!"

She swept cheerfully out of the tent, leaving only a small, mostly dry puddle of blood where Miki's body had been.

Tei knelt in the dirt near the twins' cage. Both of them were still sleeping, but that didn't seem to bother the clown at all. She simply stared, raptly, into Len's face, and didn't move from that spot. The sky slowly lightened, illuminating her quietly enraptured features.

Miku set her hands against her stomach. She felt like an expectant mother, anxiously waiting to feel her baby kick after days of no movement. And, if she really concentrated, she thought she could feel something. She hoped it wasn't just wishful thinking.

"Let," she said, but Tei cut her off by holding up a long, thin knife.

"Did you see how fast Teto was?" Her voice was monotonous, and her eyes never left Len's face. "I can be just as fast. Ringmaster would not care if you were dead, not anymore. I can kill you before you even finish your sentence."

Miku was silent for a long moment. She couldn't doubt the woman's words, not when she still had the proof of the clown's speed etched on the backs of her eyelids.

Still, one question haunted her. "Why … What do you mean, not anymore?" Was Meiko merely sick of her game? Or was there something more?

"I don't want to be interrupted." That was all Tei had to say on the matter. Miku stared at the knife and kept her mouth shut, as well.

As the sun finally rose, the twins stirred. "Oh, I had such sweet dreams!" Rin giggled. "Nothing like a good show to calm you down, huh?"

"Morning," Len said, nodding to Tei. She nodded back, silently. No words passed between them, but it seemed like they were saying much, all the same. Watching that connection, even as twisted as it was, hurt.

Rin watched this with a bit of annoyance. "Ugh, it's you. Shouldn't you be watching the diva, instead of us?"

"I see her reflection," Tei said, gesturing with her knife. "I hear her. She doesn't make a single move without my knowing. You do not have to worry."

"I'm so comforted," Rin huffed. Still, she didn't make any move to get between her brother and the white-haired girl. Perhaps she cared about his happiness, or perhaps she simply knew that there was nowhere for them to hide from her gaze, any more than they could hide from the circus goers who peered into their peephole.

Miku leaned against the back of her own cage, closing her eyes. She wanted to sleep, to dream of Luka and escape for just a few moments, but sleep wouldn't come.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Miki's face, full of fear and resignation. Her final words echoed in her ears, until Miku thought she might throw up with the horror and guilt of it all.

"If you see Lily after all of this, tell her I love her … Tell her I'm sorry."

Although her throat was still raw, and her eyes ached, Miku began to cry again.

So, this update is a day later than usual! Sorry about that. It needed a lot of editing, and even now I think it's the shortest chapter yet. But I'm still happy with it, and hope you are, too! I can't wait to hear what you guys think. See you on Sunday!

- Jillian Maria