A/N: Sorry about not updating for a long time, I've been really sick and still am but I'll try to write. Oh yeah, and I don't own anything except for Twig.

Chapter Two: Transmogrify

It was around five in the afternoon when I woke up to the sound of people talking outside. I rolled out of my hammock unceremoniously and lazily walked out of the tent, right into Evra, with his snake wrapped loosely around his neck.

"What's… going on?" I drawled, trying hard to get rid of the drowsy feeling still lingering inside me.

"See for yourself," Evra nodded his head towards something that the entire cast of Cirque Du Freak was crowding around. I pushed through the freaks only to see Twig being 'attacked' by Hans Hands.

"Do it again!" He cried while she stared at him in disgust.

"No!" She slapped him away, but he just moved closer.

"Please!" he begged. "Just once more!"

"Why?" She yelled. "It's not even that amazing! My god, what's wrong with you?"

He glanced at me. "Darren hasn't seen it yet!"

She gave an exasperated growl. "Fine, but this is the last time! You have no idea how hard it is to do." She gestured for me to come closer. I hesitated but Evra gave me a gentle poke in the back and I slowly approached her.

She took a step back, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A loud crackling sound was suddenly emitted from her as her body trembled and with no warning, her entire form changed into a leopard-like creature. It wasn't as if it just happened. It took around twenty minutes, and it was just a little bit disturbing. My mouth dropped like a dead fly. I had seen a lot of weird things but nothing came close to this. From behind me cheers were emitted.

On all fours, she was almost as tall as I was. Ebony fur covered her canid body, along with a few stripes of copper that ran along her abdomen and up her cranium. But she wasn't like a normal feline, because instead of one tail, there were two bushy ones sprouting from her backside.

A light growl rumbled in her throat before she reverted to her humanoid body, panting as if she was worn out from the process. I gawked at Twig, perplexed by her yet again.

"Okay…" She gasped for breath, her eyelids shuttering her away from the world. "That's… the last… time." She placed a hand over her stomach.

"How did you…" I shook my head.

Her eyes shot open, glaring at me. "Why would I tell you, of all the people in the world, why you?" She barked.

Someone started clapping slowly behind me. I turned, coming face to face with Mr. Tall. "Very good, Twig." He spoke in a drawn out tone. "I'm impressed."

She stuck up her middle finger, mouthed, 'Fuck you,' and stomped away. A few of the performers muttered about how 'uncivilized and rude' she was, and the crowd dissipated.

I turned to Evra. "How many times did she do that?"

"Three," He explained. "The first time, you were still asleep and Hans found her in her other shape. He thought she was a Hell dog, but she went back to her human form before he could say anything. So he called everyone over and made her do it again. And the third time, well, you were there." He shrugged.

I didn't expect him to be as shocked as I was. After all, when you live and work at the Cirque, you get used to seeing strange things. That was a little too strange for my liking though.

"Let's go find her," Evra said after a short silence. I shot him a look.

"Are you crazy?" I shook my head. "Why do you wanna go after her? She's mean and not to mention a little scary."

He gave me a mocking grin. "Don't tell me you're scared of her, Darren?" he taunted. "And here I was, thinking you were fearless."

"Shut up!" I shouted a little louder then I wanted to and punched him lightly in the shoulder, not really wanting to hurt him. "Fine, I'll go and look for her, just to show you I'm not scared of her."

"Okay." Evra drew his shoulders together and I grumbled under my breath.

We found Twig sitting behind the church, playing with a blade of grass. She seemed deep in thought, the pupils of her marmalade eyes once again hairbreadth slits. Evra and me hid around a corner, watching her curiously.

Actually, I was watching her hands. Her index fingers were twitching oddly, and she ripped out a tiny yellow flower, then continued to rummage through the over-grown weeds. I watched her carefully pluck another flower, this time it was one with dark turquoise petals and a midnight blue center, most likely a wildflower.

I crept closer, dried leaves crackling beneath me. I cringed, feeling the intensity of Twig's heated glare. "What do you want?" She spoke in a sibilant manner.

"We just wanna chat," Evra said innocently, approaching her. She sprung back as if Evra had just threatened to dismember her.

"Well, go away," She turned and crouched on her haunches, searching through the crabgrass once again.

Evra ignored her half-hearted warning and leaned over beside her. "What are you doing?" He asked. I was a bit alarmed at his weird behavior; usually I was the one trying to annoy her.

I could hear her grinding her teeth as she looked at Evra with a vicious pique burning on her expression. "You're not gonna leave, are you?" She sat back on her rear.

Evra grinned impishly, then looked at me. "I brought Darren along, too." He gestured for me to come over.

"Whoo, now it's a party," Her voice oozed with sarcasm. I reluctantly dragged my feet over to them and dropped beside Evra.

"So, what are you doing?" I looked at her left hand, which was clutching a wide arrangement of flora.

She sighed exasperatedly. "I'm picking flowers," I blinked.

"No, seriously," Evra said slowly.

A loud groan resonated in her throat. "I really am picking flowers," She made sure to glare at Evra and me while saying this. "And if you tell anyone, I swear to god I will kill you."

"Our lips are sealed," Evra laughed.

"What? It's not funny," She growled, then returned to searching. After an awkward silence, she grumbled, "After I pick the flowers, I press them in my notebook. It helps take my mind off of things."

"What sort of things?" Evra inquired. She kept her gaze on the ground.

"Just things," I barely heard her say. "So, why are you here, really."

"Like I said," Evra cut me off before I could speak. "We just wanna chat."

Twig snickered quietly. "Why would you wanna talk to me?"

Evra shrugged. "I wanted to ask, why are you so…"

"Mean? Cruel? Savage? Heartless? Grim?" She paused to look up at us. "Should I go on?"

"Why are you like that?" I settled my hands behind me and leaned on them.

An unexpectedly mournful look washed over her stony face. "I have my reasons," She pulled a cornflower roughly out of the dirt and placed it into her left hand.

I heaved a sigh. "Don't you ever get tired of being so secretive?"

"No," She plucked another flower, this time it was a big yellow one that resembled a mini sunflower.

Evra studied her intensely. She must have noticed because she looked up. "What?" She said, annoyance clear in her voice. "What do you want now?"

"Nothing," He was quiet for a minute. "What are you hiding?" He finally said. She stopped running her hands through the grass and sighed desperately.

"I'm hiding a lot, okay?" She sounded like she was going to break into tears any minute. Neither Evra nor I had seen her so vulnerable since she had arrived.

"I had a really bad past." Twig's pupils grew in size instead of narrowing. "It's hard to explain."

"Try us," I leaned foreword.

She looked at us as if trying to figure out whether to trust us or not. Finally, she shook her head. "You have to swear you won't tell anyone. I'm risking enough just talking about my past."

"We swear!" Evra and me shouted in unison. The suspense was nearly killing us.

Twig pressed her lips together firmly before starting in a low voice, "When I was a little girl, I remember…"

A/N: Sorry, I know it's short and it's a bit of a cliffhanger… oh well. R&R.