Virtually Twisted (Original)

Jim Rumsfield was a regular teenage boy, or so he thought. When he unexpectedly undergoes a twist his world is turned upside down.

Author’s Note: This is my earliest completed tg transformation story and quite frankly it really shows it. Please don’t hold that against me. This story is part of Morpheus’s Twisted Universe which can be found at fictionmania and bigcloset. Other entries by Elrod W and Trismegistus Shandy are worth checking out as well. The original post date was April 02, 2011. I actually started a rewrite a year or two back, but have never gotten around to finishing it.

I was sitting in class, on the last day of school at Clearville High, bored out of my mind. My fourth period teacher, Mr. Beekman insisted that every day of school was important even the last one. So there I was listening to a boring science lesson on the last day of school, instead of goofing off like I had in every other class.

I think I must have dosed off for a little bit because a short while later I woke up to the sound of the school bell. I immediately jumped out of my seat, but was stopped by Mr. Beekman, “Mr. Rumsfeld,” he exclaimed with his nasally voice, “In your eagerness you seem to have forgotten that class ends when I dismiss it, not at the sound of the bell.” With an annoyed sigh I sat back down.

“Alright class as I was about to say before Mr. Rumsfeld interrupted me,” Beekman continued, “Those of you that will be taking my AP Chemistry class next year remember there’s a twenty-five dollar lab fee that’s due by the first day of school. Class Dismissed. Enjoy your summer and don’t get into any trouble.”

I was one of the first out of class, every extra second in that place was one second less of my summer. I sped down the hallway, weaving in and out of the crowds. As I made made my way to the end of the Hall, I nearly ran into Megan Hails.

“Oh, hey Jim,” she said smiling. Megan was a pretty hot tomboy. Megan and I grew up together and had been friends as long as either of us could remember. When we’d gotten older I’d found myself rather attracted to her and I even asked her out a few times, but she didn’t seem interested in being anything more than friends. Which was pretty hard sometimes because I really had a thing for her.

“Hey, did you hear about that new Game Palace in the mall?” I said suddenly remembering I had been meaning to mention it to her.

“A Game Palace in the mall?” she said thoughtfully, “Awesome!” she suddenly grinned, “There’s one where my grandma lives.”

I grinned in return, “Yeah, there’s one in Clinton it’s pretty freaking awesome.” then I added, “You want to go check it out? They’re supposed to have a huge grand opening Friday”

“Sure,” she replied.

“Alright, I’ll pick you up Friday around noon,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said then added “I gotta go, see you later.”

“Alright,” I said, “later.”

Then I watched her fade from sight as she walked away.

I arrived home after a short drive from school. The house was empty, my mom hadn’t made it home yet. She worked some pretty crappy hours being a manager at her job so it wasn’t that surprising that she wasn’t home. So I climbed up the stairs leading away from the landing and I plopped down on the couch and flicked the television on with the remote.

I watched tv for a quite a while watching some documentary on a ziprock band who had made it big and squandered it all on drugs and prostitutes. It was mildly interesting and it gave me something to do until my mom got home.

After a few hours I realized the time so I threw a couple frozen meals in the oven for dinner. I sat down again and I watched a repeat of a sitcom I liked. It was pretty funny.

A short while later a voice called from the landing, “Jim, I’m home.”

I hopped off the couch and made my way down the landing where I found my mom, Kate, setting down her bags. “Hey mom, how was work?”

“I’m just glad to be home,” she said, “I’ve been doing employee evaluations all day.”

My mom worked as a Manager at a department store in the Mall called Haglund’s. She hated it, but managed to bring in a decent sized paycheck every month. Not bad, considering she started out as a lowly grunt and worked her way up the ladder in only eight years.

“Dinner should almost be done,” I said changing the subject, “I put in a couple of those Lasagna dinners you bought the other day they should be done in a few minutes.

Mom looked a little relieved, “Good, I’m famished.”

After dinner was over I looked to mom and asked her, “Want to watch a movie or something?”

“Maybe after the news,” she replied, “I want to see what the weather is going to do tomorrow.” So we went into the front room and mom switched on the tv.

“-is 570 MBC, News,” the tv blared, “This is Katey Charles with today’s News. In Los Angeles, a suspect has been arrested in relation to the Echo Park killings, the police have not released the suspects name, but he is believed to be a 24-year-old male Twisted, find out more after these words from our sponsors.”

Mom muted the television as she growled, “Those damn Twisted! Those freaks need to be locked up so they can’t hurt anyone else. What’s this world coming to when decent people can’t even trust-”

That’s where I started tuning her out. I really wasn’t in the mood to listen to another one of my Mom’s rants. I used to think the twisted where just as horrible as mom always said, but my views had become rather conflicted on the subject as of late. Megan’s dad was a pretty good guy, for a lawyer, and he seemed to think they were decent people. On, the other hand there were the twisted we heard about on the news, the ones that did horrible things, but maybe they were as much the victims as the people they harmed.

“Your father was-” my mother started to say snapping me out of my reverie, “You know what? I’m feeling tired. I think I’ll go to bed.” she said then sprang off the couch and hurried up the stairs.

“Mom wait! What about my father?” she didn’t seem to hear me. I think it’s needless to say I was rather perplexed at this point so I followed her up the stairs. When I had nearly reached her bedroom door she slammed it shut. I reached for the doorknob and found it was locked. “Mom, what were you going to say!”

“Mom!” I called out again. Still she didn’t reply. I pounded on the door a few more times, then I gave up.

My mom had done some bizarre things, but this one took the cake. What had she been about to say? Every time I’d ever asked my mother about my Father, she would quickly change the subject or act like she hadn’t heard me. What was it about my father that she didn’t want me to know? What had she come so close to telling me and what did it have to do with the twisted?

With an exasperated sigh, I made my way to my bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I went directly to the chair I had sitting in the corner and turned it over. I pulled loose the bottom, taped inside was my mother’s old sophomore high school year book. I’d found it hidden in the back of her closet a few years ago. Loosening the tape on the bottom of the chair, I opened the book.

I flipped to page thirty-two there listed in the second column was a boy named Harry Turow. A heart was drawn around his picture and underneath was written “Harry and Kate 4ever”. The boy’s physical resemblance to me was striking, which made me wonder: was he my father? If so what had happened to him?

I was born during my mother’s junior year of high school. I learned by asking Megan’s dad that his family had moved away the summer before I was born. Had he and his family moved away because they’d learned my mother was pregnant? Or had they moved away for some other reason not knowing of my conception?

I sat there for a moment staring at the photo of the boy, who might have been my father. I closed the year book replacing it in it’s place under the seat of the chair and popping the bottom back in. I righted the chair then I laid on my bed and thought about the boy in the yearbook photo.

When I finally fell asleep I dreamed about the boy who might be my father. In the dream the boy stood with a man holding a knife to his throat. The man pointed to a scar above his left eyebrow with his free hand and laughed. I begged the man to let go of the boy, but he refused.

“You don’t get it,” he said with a laugh, “This boy aint nothing. He’s not your father don’t you see?” the man raved.

The man’s arm began to shake uncontrollably. Blood dripped from the boy’s throat. I called out to the man demanding that he stop. The man grinned, then with one swift jerk he slit the boys throat.

“He’s not your father, Jim.” the man cackled, “I am.”

“Nnnnnnnoooooooooooo!” I screamed out ready to hurl myself at the man, but soon realized that I was no longer facing the man, I was in the comfort of my own room. After a few seconds I became fully conscious and realized I’d been dreaming.

“What a weird dream,” I mumbled as I stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. I did my business then went to wash my hands. After I was done, I went into my mother’s room only to find it empty. She must have had an early shift. That wasn’t too uncommon, her work shifts seemed to hop all over the place. It was just one of the hazards of working retail, or so she said.

I made my way downstairs and had a couple bowls of cereal. After that, I headed back upstairs and took a shower. Once out, I went back into my room and switched on my Gamestation and began playing Last Illusion XX. It wasn’t long before I got caught up in the game and lost track of time.

It was almost noon before I remembered that I was going to pick up Megan to go to the Mall. I quickly saved my game then shut down the console. I raced out of the house almost forgetting to grab my keys on the way out. I hopped into my car and within a few minutes I pulled up in front of Megan’s house.

I was about to get out when the door to Megan’s house swung open. Out came Megan, followed by a really hot looking blond girl I didn’t recognize.

“Hey Jim,” Megan said as she approached my car, “Is it okay if my cousin Allison, comes along?”

“Sure,” I replied. Megan look at her cousin and seemed to scowl for a minute, but quickly covered it up.

“Well, hop on in, girls,” I said reaching across to open the passenger side door.

Allison got in the front, leaving the back for Megan. Megan didn’t say much as she got into the back seat, but I could tell she was rather annoyed with her cousin.

“Hey, I’m Jim Rumsfeld,” I said holding my hand out.

She took it and giggled, and with a rather vacant expression on her face she said”You’re friend is cute, Megan. I’d wonder why you weren’t dating him if I didn’t already know you were gay.”

I choked at that “You think I’m cute?”

“Yeah,” she giggled, “I’d totally date you if I didn’t have a boyfriend.”

Then it suddenly clicked what she’d said about Megan. I seemed to have trouble thinking straight around cute girls. “You’re gay?” I said looking back at Megan.

Megan sighed, “Thank you so much Allison,” she said with a sneer, “I wasn’t really ready to drop that particular ball, just yet. Were you planning on telling any other of my secrets today?”

The previously vacant expression on Allison’s face took on a more menacing cast as she said “No, but there are still plenty of hours left in the day.”

Things were getting a little on the heated side so I decided to step in,”Ladies, I think things have gotten off to a rocky start. Perhaps we should all forget what was said and just have a fun time.”

The vacant expression returned to Allison’s face, “Oh, we’re just teasing each other,” she said giggling again, “Aren’t we Megan?”

I looked back at Megan, “Yeah, sure” she said gritting her teeth, “Just teasing.”

The drive to the mall was pretty awkward, but luckily the mall was only a few minutes drive away. Once there, I found a parking spot and we piled out of the car. Allison went her separate way upon learning our intended destination was a gaming store.

Once we parted company with Allison I let out a sigh of relief. It was a lot less awkward with just me and Megan. There seemed to be some kind of rivalry with Megan and her cousin.

“So,” I said ,”You like girls.”

“Yeah,” she said, “I only came to realize it a little while ago. Remember, last month when I visited my uncle? Well…” she trailed off for a moment. “Allison had a slumber party with a few of her friends while I was there. Long story short, I-I” she stuttered a bit, “I found myself strongly attracted to one girl and without knowing what I was doing I sort of kissed her.”

I found myself thinking of Megan kissing another girl, and found the idea very provocative to say the least, but for the sake of Megan’s feelings I kept those thoughts to myself.

“Is that why things between you and your cousin seems so tense?” I asked.

Megan sighed, “Yeah, her friend that I kissed won’t talk to Allison, and she blames me.”

We continued talking as we made our way to the Game Palace, eventually our conversation shifted towards video games, and we had soon made our way to the store. The place was packed, and for good reason, they had the largest selection of games I had ever seen. We moved to the center of the store where they had an exclusive demo of the upcoming Demon Can Die game.

“Awesome,” I exclaimed, “I can’t wait till it comes out.”

Megan didn’t agree, “Oh, come on the only game of the series that was half-way decent was the first. I seriously doubt the fifth game will be better than the other sequels.”

I was about to retort when something caught my eye, “Holy freaking crap,” I said running to a display, “They have Death Stalker I’ve been looking everywhere for this,” I said grabbing it off the shelf, “and it’s only twenty-five bucks,” I added.

“Look,” Megan called out waving me toward an area where a crowd was gathering. At the front of the crowd there was some guy demonstrating the capabilities of some new virtual reality system, called Virtual World, that he claimed was supposed to make the gaming experience feel completely real , it even enabled people to feel the wind blowing on their skin inside the game or so he said. There was what appeared to be a big screen tv and something about the size of a motorcycle helmet sitting on a table under a big cloth behind him. He continued on for a few minutes, then he called for a volunteer to test it out.

I raised my hand just as everyone else did, “Pick me,” I called out. The man scanned the crowd for a few seconds then his eyes passed over me, and seemed to settle there, “You with the blue shirt there,” he said pointing at me.

In disbelief I made my up to the front of the crowd where the man was waiting.

“Young man, what is your name?” the man asked enthusiastically.

I replied haltingly giving him my name.

The man smiled a huge grin spreading across his face, “Tell me Jim, have you ever used a VR system?”

“No, but a friend of mine used the virtual attachment for the Playnetwork system,” I said then added, “He thought it sucked.”

The man laughed, “I’ve heard a number of gamers say much the same thing, but the Virtual World system is a much more advanced device than anything that has come before. As I’m sure you’ll agree once you’ve tried it out for yourself.”

“The Virtual World system uses diodes that are built into a head mounted sound and display system. It does not operate by catching your motions, like older vr systems, but instead senses what you want your avatar to do, and in turn feeds sensory information back to your brain.

“That sounds awesome!” I said feeling the excitement building inside me, “When do I get to try it out?”

The man laughed, “Well folks looks like our eager beaver is ready to try it out. What say you?”

The crowd was unanimous they wanted to see what the system could do.

“Alright,” the man said and with a dramatic flick of his wrists the man drew clear the cloth sitting atop the table. Underneath was some kind of helmet with a darkened visor over where the eyes would go. The man grabbed the helmet and placed it atop my head. He adjusted some knobs on the side as he did so I felt some metallic points touch the skin on my forehead and the back of my neck.

“Do you feel metal touching your forehead and neck?” he asked, and after I replied in the affirmative he in turn asked if I was feeling any discomfort. When I replied in the negative he flipped the visor down over my eyes.

“Now,” I heard his muffled voice speak, “As our friend, Jim, experiences the full splendor of the Virtual World System, this television monitor will display a limited visual interpretation of what Jim will be experiencing. So that you may catch a glimpse of the detail and awesomeness of the Virtual World Console.”

Suddenly, a flash of blue light appeared before my eyes and some kind of menu appeared in front of me. The man started to give me instructions. I chose to ignore him. I reached out with my hand and noticed that instead of a my own hand I could see something resembling what a crash test dummy might have.

“Must be some kind of default avatar,” I thought to myself. “As you might have noticed…” I heard the man start to say, but I chose to ignore him again. Instead I reached my hand out again and touched the menu option that seemed to indicate gameplay. There was another bright flash this time it was a green one and I found another menu before me.

I heard the man speak again, it was some dumb joke about me getting ahead of myself. I simply stopped listening to him at that point. I looked at the menu and noted what appeared to be several game demos. One had a picture of a really hot looking woman with light blue skin, almost catlike ears and a small set of horns in a futuristic setting, another had a bearded wizard with lightening shooting out of a staff, and the last had an Tarzan-like character in a rainforest.

I debated for a minute then reached out my hand and chose the science fiction setting. I’d always had a thing for science fiction, plus the alien, or whatever she was supposed to be, looked pretty hot. There was another bright flash, this time it was white then my vision cleared and I found myself inside what may or may not have been a spaceship. I marveled at the detail and how it looked real. It wasn’t until I drew near a bulkhead that I noticed a few details that didn’t look quite right. I drew my hand up the wall feeling it with my hands. I could feel it like it were real.

I studied the wall and the surrounding area for a few minutes, and then I took a look at my hand realizing for the first time that all was not quite right. It was blue like that of the woman in the image, but what struck most about it was that it had six digits rather than the usual five. The nails were short and well-manicured, the fingers themselves were long and delicate like those of a woman.

It was then that my hands went to my chest and noticed something very different from the usual. There protruding from my chest were what appeared to be a set of large breasts poking out from a rather revealing halter top. I grabbed hold of one and felt it jiggle on my chest. “Wow,” I said aloud, “That’s definitely weird.”

I started to feel tingly like static electricity was building around me and there was pressure that was somehow building up inside me. I wasn’t sure if it was the game or something else, but…

“Stop right there,” a voice said behind me, interrupting my thoughts. I found myself facing a character in the game in some kind of combat armor pointing some kind of ray gun at me. “Crap,” I said, hearing both the voice of the female character I was playing and my own.

Still feeling the pressure inside of me I looked down at my hip noticing the gun I had holstered there. I began to reach for it, but then stopped short when everything seemed to explode and a incredible jolt of pain shot through my body like I’d been struck by lightning. Massive forces rippled through me and for a moment it seemed as if the entirety of my existence began to waiver as if I would simply cease to exist. Dark swept over me and I lost consciousness.

When I came awake, a bright light blinded me, I tried to bring up my hand to shade my eyes, but nothing happened. I wasn’t able to move. It was as if some very strong person was holding me down. I opened my mouth to talk, but there was no sound.

I would have panicked then if not for Megan. “Jim, you’re going to be alright don’t worry,” she said not sounding particularly convinced herself. Nevertheless, her voice acted like a soothing melody calming my nerves and keeping me from the grips of hysteria. It struck me then what a good friend she’d been to me, it was too bad she was a lesbian I think she could have grown to be much more than a friend.

I tried to move my hand again, and much to my relief I felt my fingers twitch. I worked at it a bit longer and was able to bring my hand over my eyes, but in so doing my hand brushed against something. Something that shouldn’t be there. After a bit of a struggle, I was able to force my head up and found a pair of naked blue breasts poking out from my chest.

I simply stared at them for a minute. Was I still in the game? I looked around. Megan was there next to me and a crowd of people had gathered around me. No, I couldn’t be in the game, but then how was it that I looked as I did? Suddenly feeling very self conscious of my naked form, I used one arm to cover my breasts and another to cover my new privates.

“What is it?” A boy to the right of me said.

“It kind of looks like that character from the game. That hot looking alien chick. How is that possible?” said a voice from behind.

“I’ll tell you how it’s possible,” said a girl standing right in front of me. “That creature is a twisted freak.”

The second I heard those words escape from the girl’s lips I new she spoke the truth. I was twisted, I was a freak. I lay there stunned unable to understand how this could be possible. Then realization struck me, my mother must had known. That’s why she’d always been so secretive about my father. He must have been twisted too, but then…

My thoughts were interrupted by the girl “Your kind aren’t welcome here,” she said this time her voice filled with venom. Then she practically screamed. “Get out before you expose us all to the Antarctic Flu.”

I was so taken aback that I did not reply I simply stared up at the girl not knowing what to say. The girls lips curled up into a snarl and she acted as if she were about to speak, but before she could Megan stepped in front of me and hurled her fist into the unsuspecting girl’s face.

“Shut up, you stupid bitch,” she said as the girl fell to the floor clutching her nose. The crowd nearly erupted into chaos, and would have done so if not for the arrival of the mall cops. They cut right through the crowd and went straight for Megan, handcuffing her arms behind her back.

“Get up, you freak of nature,” the tallest of the three mall cops said angrily.

Still a little weak, I forced myself up and in so doing I felt my hair brush against my shoulders and my back. I reached back about to touch it, but then catching the look of undisguised hatred in the tall mall cop’s eyes I turned around putting my arms behind my back so he could cuff me. I looked back as we were leaving noticing the burn marks on the ground where I had been laying. It must have been a result of my twist. The damage to the floor was quite extensive. It was a wonder no one had been hurt. “Get moving,” the mall cop,who had cuffed me said kicking my bare rear with his shoe. I stumbled forward, barely able to stand let alone walk.

The mall cops marched me and Megan nearly halfway across the mall. They made no attempt to cover me up. When Megan asked for something so I could cover myself, she was told to keep moving. As I walked barefoot and naked through the mall I felt everyone’s eyes on me. It was the single most humiliating experience of my entire life. Tears cascaded down my face a few escaped far enough to splatter upon my breasts.

When we finally reached the security offices, Megan and I had our handcuffs removed and then they shoved us into a security cell. I narrowly avoided landing on my new breasts, as I twisted to the side.

I continued to weep, I simply couldn’t help it. I don’t know how long I lay there, but I remember Megan coming over next to me and wrapping her arm around me. She didn’t speak, but simply made her presence known.

As strange as it might seem under the circumstances, I think I must have cried myself to sleep because the next thing I remember was hearing voices speaking somewhere nearby.

“… story short Jim went through a twist and that’s why we’re in here,”said a voice I think it was Megan.

“That’s the only reason you’re in here?” the voice of a man asked, it might have been Megan’s dad Jonathan Hails.

“Well…” Megan’s voice said trailing off, “I might have hit another girl in the face, but she totally deserved it.”

“Oh god,” I said sitting up interrupting their conversation, “It really happened. I’m a girl now,” I said looking down at my breasts. “I even sound like a girl,” I said noticing my very feminine voice for the first time.

Megan started motioning towards my chest and I realized with a start that she was trying to tell me to cover my breasts. “Sorry,” I said my cheeks burning, “I never even suspected I was twisted. Suddenly, growing a pair of…” I said trailing off l looking embarrassed at Mr. Hails and then at Megan, “Well you know… breasts wasn’t exactly something I expected to happen.”

Mr. Hails cleared his voice nervously, “That’s quite alright Jim,” he said his face bright red from embarrassment. Then he quickly changed the subject, “I think it would be a good idea to contact your mother. She works somewhere here in this mall doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, she works over at Haglund’s,” I replied.

“I think It might be a good idea for me to go find her,” he mumbled then started toward the door.

“Mr. Hails?” I asked.

“Yes?”

“Could you maybe get me some clothes,” I said.

“Yes, yes. I think that would be a good idea,” he replied then swiftly left leaving me and Megan alone.

We both sat there awkwardly staring at one another for several minutes before Megan finally spoke, “So…” she said trailing off, “You’re about the last person I expected to be twisted.”

“Yeah I think my dad must have been twisted. Mom was always secretive about him.” I replied. “Your dad didn’t seem too fazed when you told him I was twisted.”

Megan pursed her lips, “You heard that?” she paused for a moment as if considering something, “Dad’s twisted, and everybody says mom was too. Most of their relatives are twisted, so it’s something we’re pretty used too.

“Wait both your parents are twisted that means you’re twisted.” I said.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, “I haven’t really been through my twist, yet.”

“Are twists usually this extreme?” I asked reaching up to touch the new ears and horns that were now protruding from the top of my head.

“No, not always. Some are, but some people end up looking more or less the same after their twist.”

I groaned “Why couldn’t I have been one of those.”

“Trust me it could be worse. A lot of people get weird compulsions and sometimes they make them do weird and even bad things. Like that guy they think killed all those people in California.”

“How do we know I don’t have some kind of compulsion?” I asked.

Megan pursed her lips and started to speak, but was interrupted as the door swung open behind me. I turned my head to see who was entering, it was my mom.

Mom looked down at me with a look of contempt on her face, “Twisted freak,” she muttered.

“Megan, where’s Jim, and what is this thing doing here?” she asked spitting out the last part.

“Well, um didn’t my dad tell you what happened?” Megan replied nervously.

Mom sighed, “No, he only told me there was some kind of incident and he seemed rather intent on buying some clothes,” she said casting her eyes once more towards me then mumbled, “Probably for this freak.”

Megan looked at me then back at my mother, “Well I, um Jim I mean h-”

“Oh for crying out loud,” I cried out, “I’m Jim. I appear to have undergone a twist. By the way mom thanks for telling me I’m twisted.”

Mom simply stared at me for a moment seemingly flabbergasted. Then suddenly she lifted her arm and slapped me, “How dare you,” she screamed, “I worked so hard to keep the truth from you. Hoping you would never end up like your freak father. Just look at you, you’re an even bigger freak than he is.” she spat.

It was my turn to be flabbergasted as I stared up at mom. Tears began well up in my eyes. “Mom,” I started, but found myself unable to continue.

Megan stepped in “You thought if you kept the truth from Jim, that he wouldn’t be twisted. That’s screwed up lady.”

“Shut up,” mom snarled. “this is none of your business.”

Tears still streaming down my face I finally was able to speak, “Her business or not, she has a point.”

“I can’t tolerate the presence of a twisted in my home,” she said suddenly, “You have until Wednesday to remove you’re belongings from my home,” she finished.

“What?” I said, “Where will I go? What will I do?”

“I don’t care,” she said flatly then turn her back and exited the room after waiting a moment for the guard to open the door.

Where before my tears had been a light drizzle now they gushed out as if they were a rapid torrent. Megan came over beside me placing her arm on my bare shoulder,”Oh god, Jim. That was horrible.” she said.

I didn’t respond I just buried my face in her shoulder.

I was still crying when Allison arrived about ten minutes later with a bag of clothes.

“Oh god,” she said, “Is that really you Jim?”

I didn’t respond, I couldn’t bring myself to speak. “Yes, it’s Jim.” Megan replied for me.

“Something has happened,” Allison said suddenly, “Why is she crying?” she asked. Her use of the female pronoun was not lost on me.

This time I answered, “I am crying because I just had my heart cut out,” I said, “My own mother wants nothing to do with me because I’m a freak!”

“What?” Allison’s responded her voice full of shock, “What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said sniffing, “Are those for me?” I asked indicating the bag of clothes.

“Um yeah,” Allison said holding the bag out to me.

I grabbed it nearly tearing it out of Allison’s hands. In the top of the bag I discovered a package of bikini panties. I hesitated a moment then I split the bag open fetching a white pair then pulling them up my legs. I couldn’t help, but notice how different they felt from my usual boxer briefs especially with the lack of my usual equipment.

I peered back inside the bag and found a red polo shirt with a black collar. I slipped it eagerly over my head glad to finally cover my breasts. The shirt was a bit tight,especially over my breasts, but it would suffice. I was about to move on to the next item when I realized my hair was caught inside my shirt. I pulled the hair out and held it out in front of my face, noticing it’s purple color for the first time.

Brushing my hair behind my back I reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of black short shorts with a drawstring. I held them before me fighting the urge to throw them back into the bag. They were completely and undeniably feminine and despite my very feminine body, I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to wear them in public. Casting all doubt aside I forced them up my legs. They were a little loose so I pulled the drawstrings tight then tied them into a bow knot.

And finally I pulled out a pair of flip flops. I pulled off the packaging they were attached too and slipped them on.

I looked down at myself taking stock of how everything looked. The short shorts showed off a lot more leg than I would have liked though I had to admit I had a nice looking set of legs.

“Seriously,” I said, “short shorts?”

Allison shrugged, “They were cheap.” she said defensively.

“They look good on you,” Megan said suddenly.

I wasn’t quite sure why, but her comment was oddly comforting, “You really think so?” I asked.

Allison looked from me then back to Megan, “You definitely have the bod for it.”

I felt a tingle of excitement at Allison’s comment. “Oh, god,” I said, “I am so hot.”

“I think you might have some mental changes,” Megan said a hint of a smile on her face. When she caught the questioning look on my face she added, “It’s not that uncommon of an occurrence with a twist.”

I opened my mouth about to speak, but suddenly sensed motion from behind and I turned to find Mr. Hails standing in front of the now open door. “It took some doing, but I managed to convince them not to press any charges.” he said then looked about, “Jim I expected to find your mother here.”

“She was here,” I said finding myself fighting back tears, “She left. She won’t have anything to do with me, like this.” I said motioning down at my transformed body.

Mr. Hails stared at me for a moment then spoke, “I would have thought a mother’s love would see past such things.”

“Apparently not,” I said my lips trembling.

“I’m sure she’ll come to her senses,” he said, “Until then you can stay with Megan and me.

“Thank you,” I muttered.

“Come on,” Megan said putting her hand on my shoulder, “Let’s get out of here.”

A bit of a melancholy smile touched my lips, “Gladly,” I said, “I never want to set foot in this mall again.”

When we stepped out of the security offices I could feel the eyes of nearly every person in sight fall on me. I cast my gaze about noting the hateful glares on just about every face. I even noted a few lustful glances. For some weird reason I found myself liking the lewd looks I was given, but I still had a hard time with the hateful ones.

I noticed a boy of about thirteen staring at my chest, I looked and noticed my nipples were poking out through the fabric of my shirt. Blushing furiously I folded my arms across my chest. The walk out the Mall wasn’t as humiliating as my naked march to the security offices, but it was a close second. Before I’d been so shocked about my sudden change that I hadn’t really paid as much attention to the denizens of the mall. This time I noted every hateful glare, every obscene jester, and all the other looks I was getting.

We followed Mr. Hails to the North side of the Mall and had nearly made it out when I found myself face to face with the girl from before. The one who Megan had hit in the face. She was sporting a huge black eye, and her nose looked swollen.

“FREAK!” she screamed, “I don’t know how you got out, but I’m…”

“Shut up, and get out of my way,” I said.

“No,” she said, “I won’t let you get away.”

“You thought being hit by my friend here was painful.” I growled motioning back at Megan. “What I will do to you will make what she did pale in comparison.” I said with a nasty grin on my face.

The girl paled noticeably and stepped out of the way. “Freak,” she muttered halfheartedly under her breath as we walked away. From there we made our way out of the Mall’s double doors and into Mr. Hails car. I was startled to realize it was already dark.

“Thanks for coming to get us dad,” Megan said after buckling herself in.

Mr. Hails smiled,”You should really thank your cousin. She was the one that called me.”

Megan glanced at her cousin then after a brief moments hesitation she said, “Thanks Allison.”

“How’d you find out what happened to us anyway?” Megan asked.

Allison shrugged, “I started to wonder when I couldn’t find you guys. So I started to askFall around. I learned that someone had been carried off by the mall cops. I figured it had been you so I called uncle John.”

“Oh,” Megan replied, “That makes sense.”

Silence followed Megan’s comment and a few minutes later we reach the Hails home.

After Mr. Hails let us in. I realized I kind of had to pee, “Um, can I use your bathroom.” I said asking Megan.

“Yeah,” she said giving me a weird look, “Go ahead.”

I made my up the stairs, then once I had reached the bathroom I locked the door behind me.

I flipped open the toilet seat, and pulled my short shorts down ready to take a wiz in the usual fashion,only to be reminded once again that I no longer had my male parts. So I flipped the seat back down, and plopped down. It took me a moment, but after a few second and a little bit of pushing I managed to evacuate my bladder. Once, I was done I realized I was still a bit wet down there so I tore off a small chunk of toilet paper and I dried ‘it’ off.

Once done I pulled my shorts back up and began washing my hands. Even such a simple act reminded me of my change, my hands were long and slender and the additional finger made them look just a little too large for my arms. I glanced at the mirror and felt my jaw drop. The girl in the mirror was nothing short of breathtaking, despite the oddities. The girls breasts were quite nice. They were the perfect size, large, but not monstrously huge and oh so firm. Her angelic blue face was a framed by a mane of violet hair that ran almost all the way down her entire back. Atop her head growing out of her parietal bone was a set of horns that matched her ice-blue skin. Just to the side of each horn was a pair of blue-colored feline-like ears, but the most striking feature of all was here eyes. They were the same violet as her hair, but amazingly the iris seemed to constantly shift shades, almost giving it the appearance of some tumultuous violet fire.

“Wow,” I muttered staring at the girls eyes, until I realized I’d been thinking of my own reflection as if it belonged to another person. “No,” I said, “That’s me now.” I reached up to touch my ears each in turn. The were hairless matching the color of my skin it felt strange feeling something where it should not have been. Next, I reached out to touch my horns. The feeling reminded me of the way it felt to touch my teeth, but very different in other respects. I looked back at my reflection, “Damn,” I muttered feeling a bit turned on, “I’m totally fuckable.”

I continued staring at my reflection. I was a bit weirded out by the arousal I felt not only because I was getting off by my own reflection, but because the very same arousal I was feeling felt familiar yet alien to what I was accustomed too. It was an all-over sensation whereas when I was a guy it had been more concentrated. I couldn’t believe…

There came a pounding at the door, “Jim are you alright?” it was Megan, “You seem to be taking a long time.

“Yeah,” I said clearing my throat, “Yes, I’m fine I’ll be out in a minute.” I said then finished washing my hands and wiped them off then swung open the door.

I found myself eye to eye with Megan, “What were you doing in there?” she asked suspiciously.

“Nothing,” I said, “I was just looking at myself in the mirror.”

“Right,” she said obviously straining to keep a straight face.

“You know,” I said quickly changing the subject, “I think I’d like to have a chat with you guys. I think I need to know more about being twisted.”

“That might be a good idea,” she replied. “Here let’s go back downstairs.”

Once back on the main floor, we found both Allison and Mr. Hails lounging on the furniture.

“So,” Megan said the first to speak, “Jim wants to know about the twisted.”

“Why would you think we know more than anyone else.” Allison said with a nervous giggle.

Mr. Hails looked to me then to Megan then back to myself, “I think under the circumstances that Jim should be told the truth.”

“Dad, I’ve already told her that we were twisted,” Megan replied. I winced at her use of the female pronoun.

“Well in that case. What would you like to know Jim?” he said.

“Well,” I said, “I really don’t know much I know it was passed on by the survivors of the Antarctic Flu to their children and grandchildren. I know some guy from Canada, John Kinkaide I think his name was, brought it back after exploring in Antarctica.”

Mr. Hails nodded his head, “That’s correct though I might add that those who survived the Antartic Flu did not show any signs of being twisted. They’re descendants however did.”

“Oh,” I said, “I didn’t know that.”

Mr Hails sighed, “The schools don’t really seem to teach much anything where the twisted are concerned, except of course to fear and hate us.”

“Yeah,” I said, “People don’t really like th… us,” I said correcting myself.

“So,” I said suddenly, “How is it even possible really? It’s always seemed to defy all logic.

“Well yes,” Megan piped in suddenly, “but I’ll let dad tell you.” she said after catching a look from her father.

“I don’t really understand the scientific principles that well, but I’ll try to explain. The twisted are unique in that we can tap into some kind of quantum field. When a person undergoes a twist it’s usually triggered by a new experience, or an emotional response. It also the first time a twisted taps into the quantum field. For reasons I don’t understand the field changes us in strange and unexpected ways. The changes can include not only physical transformation as you have experienced, but also changes in personality. Many times the twisted gain compulsions to make them behave in way they otherwise wouldn’t and we almost always gain a trick.”

“A trick?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Allison said, “It’s kind of like having a super power.”

“You mean like flying or something?” I asked.

“Our abilities come from tapping into the quantum field and aren’t always so grand,” Mr. Hails said, “but some people do gain the ability to fly. We always refer to them as tricks so as not to draw any more ire from the public’s eye.”

“So what’s your trick?” I asked Mr. Hails.

“I can shrink or grow to a quarter my regular size and back,” he replied.

“That’s awesome!” I said, “Can I see?”

Mr. Hails grimaced, “Maybe later. I was thinking you might want to try out for yourself and see if you have a trick.”

“Yeah, but how?” I asked.

“It varies from person to person, but it for me it involves a good deal of concentration,” Mr Hails replied.

“Ok,” I said, “here goes nothing.”

I closed my eyes and begun to breathe in and out and cleared my mind. I felt a kind of tingling sensation similar to when I had undergone my twist, but nothing seemed to happen. I opened my eyes again and brought my hand up to my face as I did so my hand brushed against one of my breasts and I felt my chest jiggle a bit and found myself wishing my breasts wouldn’t jiggle so much.

That’s when it happened, my clothes seemed to twist and contort and change upon my body. It lasted only second, but the changes were almost immediately apparent. I looked down at my chest, instead of wearing the red polo as I had been before I found myself wearing a red t-shirt with with the lower portion cut-off. It left a good portion of my abdomen exposed. I touched one of my breasts and I noted it felt significantly less jiggly so I peaked under my shirt and noticed I appeared to be wearing a matching red bra.

“That was awesome,” Allison said suddenly, “I wish I had a trick that let me change what I was wearing.”

Megan seemed to stare at my chest for a moment, “Did you mean that to happen?”

“No,” I said, “I felt this tingling then I remember wishing my chest wouldn’t jiggle.”

“That doesn’t seemed to make much sense. Why would you be wearing that instead of a bra or something?” Allison added.

“I am wearing a bra,” I replied feeling my cheeks burn.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that you’ve gained the ability to change your clothes. I would guess that it’s limited by the amount of clothing you are wearing.” Megan said.

“Why couldn’t my trick have been something cool?” I said with a groan.

“It’s still possible you might have another trick,” Mr. Hails added, “It’s not too unusual for a twisted to have two tricks..”

I looked down at myself again, “God I looks so hot. I can’t hardly believe this is me.”

I looked over at Megan and realized she was staring at my breasts. I felt a bit of a thrill at that, like I had before at the mall. It must have had something to do with my twist. I had a hard time not looking at Megan, she was very attractive after all, but for some reason she seemed even prettier than usual.

“Well,” Mr. Hails said apparently oblivious of the looks Megan and I were giving each other, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m feeling rather hungry.”

“Yeah, starving,” I said looking toward Mr. Hails then back at Megan, only to find that she was no longer looking my way.

“How’s pizza sound?” Mr. Hails asked.

After receiving an enthusiastic reply from Allison, Megan and myself, Mr. Hails called up Pizza Master and placed an order.

A short while later our pizza arrived and we sat down to eat. Throughout the meal I kept finding myself staring at Megan and she in turn would cast her own glances at me.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Allison said suddenly slamming her slice of pizza into her plate. “Would you two just get a room already!”

Megan’s jaw dropped and her eyes immediately darted to glance at her father.

“Megan,” Mr. Hails said, “Your cousin is right you and Jim have been giving each other googly eyes all night. Is there something you need to tell me?”

Megan sighed and her eyes briefly met my own, “You were probably going to find out eventually anyway.” she hesitated for a moment then said flatly, “I’m a lesbian.”

“I can’t say I’m too surprised from the way you’ve been looking at Jim. I guess the question is how long have you known?”

“Since I visited Allison’s house in Spiral,” she said.

Mr. Hails raised an eyebrow and gave Megan a questioning look, “Is there something you and Allison need to tell me?”

“What?” asked confusion evident upon her face then realization seemed to strike and she said, “No no no… That’s not what it sounds like. Ew definitely no.” she said glancing at her cousin, “Allison had a slumber party and I might have kissed another girl.”

“Megan, you could have told me,” he said, “You know that I would never think less of you for being gay.”

“Yeah, I know dad. It’s just that I’m just coming to grips with it myself. I always has a clear-cut image of how my life would turn out. I never pictured my life any other way.”

Mr Hails smiled, “Sometimes when life takes you off the beaten path, you make your own way.”

“Look at me,” said a bit embarrassment evident in her voice, “Here I am whining about being a lesbian while Jim has had his hole life turned upside down.”

“It’s okay, Megan. I think I’m a lesbian too.” I replied.

Megan laughed and I think it must have been the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

After we finished our meal, Mr. Hails excused himself, and Megan, Allison and I hung around and just talked. We kind of lost track of time and before we knew it it was getting pretty late so we headed to bed. Megan offered me a pair of pajamas, I turned her down upon seeing Allison in her night gown. I chose to morph my clothes into a rather form-fitting black nightgown. It wasn’t until after I had morphed into the nightie that I felt a bit of unease at wearing such a feminine garment, but then I thought about how hot I must look wearing it and suddenly it didn’t seem so strange.

“Aw shit,” I said, “You were right, Megan, I did get some mental changes. I don’t even know myself anymore.”

Megan smiled sympathetically and put her hand on my shoulder, “I’ve known all my life that I would one day go through a twist. You didn’t have that advantage. I know that none of this was expected, but maybe you can take comfort in knowing that no matter what happens I will be there for you.”

I felt my eyes mist up a bit, but I managed to keep myself from crying again, “Thanks Megan. I don’t know what I would have done had you guys not taken me in.” I replied reaching up to where Megan’s hand was touching my shoulder.

I don’t know quite how it happened, but I found myself feeling some very strong emotions for Megan. Suddenly I was face to face with Megan, our lips drew close to one another. Our lips brushed, and I could feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

Before we could truly kiss we were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. It was Allison, who I had forgotten was in the room with us.

“Oh, god Megan. You are such a lesbian whore. Jim just barely got turned into a girl and already you’re trying to stick your tongue down his throat,” she said.

Before Megan could retort I cut in, “It was as much me as Megan,” I said.

“I think we should just all go to bed and forget this even happened,” Megan said.

I felt a bit of disappointment at Megan’s suggestion, but I nodded my head in agreement nonetheless.

“Come on,” Megan said, “Let’s get you situated for the night.”

As a moderately successful trial lawyer Megan’s dad made a pretty good living, enough to afford a rather large five bedroom house. Two of those rooms served as bedrooms for Megan and her father, the third functioned as a guest room, the fourth as a computer room, and the fifth as a home office for Megan’s dad. Since, Allison was already occupying the guest room I was given the computer room. It had an old, but rather comfortable looking sofa sitting opposite the computer. Megan walked over to it and pulled the back of the couch forward then pushed it back and laid it down flat to make it into a bed.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Megan, she was so beautiful even in her big frumpy pajamas.

“Dad says it’s called a Klik Klak,” Megan explained, “There’s sheets and blankets in the closet.”

“Thanks,” I said my eyes drifting to her breasts.

“Well, good night,” she said seeming to blush a bit.

As she turned to leave I grabbed hold of her hand “Megan wait,” I said, “I don’t want to forget what happened.”

Then I kissed her. I had kissed girls before, but this was different this was so much better. Her lips were so soft and warm again my own. She broke the kiss then looked me in the eyes, and before I knew it I found her lips locked against mine again. We kissed for what seemed like hours,and I found myself wishing it would never end.

When we finally broke apart, we simply stood there staring at one another. It was Megan that finally spoke, “I can’t believe we just did that.”

“Me neither,” I replied sporting a huge grin.

We stood there for several minutes just holding each other. Then finally she kissed me lightly on the lips and said, “I better head to bed.”

“You’re probably right,” I said releasing my arms from around her back.

Megan smiled as she turned away, “Goodnight.” she said.

“Goodnight,” I replied closing the door behind her.

I collapsed on the bed, the memory of her lips touching mine still very clear in my mind.

I didn’t sleep too well that night. My body was still very foreign and I just couldn’t get comfortable. Every time I changed positions my new breasts or my hips, not to mention the ears and horns atop my head, seemed to get in the way. I finally resolved myself to lying on my back and after quite a while I drifted off to sleep.

I don’t remember much about my dreams but I seem to remember a lot of angry people screaming at me. I think my mom might have been there too. The rest was a big blur, but I do remember waking up in the middle of the night feeling really freaked out.

In the morning, I woke up to find myself in a strange place. The memories of the previous day were temporarily forgotten in the cloud of my drowsiness. I reached up to rub my eyes, and in so doing my hand brushed against something sticking out of my chest. I looked down and I freaked. I screamed like the girl that I now was.

I don’t know how long I kept it up, but after a stinging blow to my face I came to my senses and found Allison and Megan standing over me. All my memories from the previous day came flooding down on me like a wave. “Oh, god,” I muttered. “It really happened.”

I let myself drown in my self pity and anguish for a few moments then I pushed it aside, “Who slapped me?” I asked rubbing my jaw.

“That would be me,” Allison volunteered a bit guiltily.

“Thanks, I needed it.” I replied.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied giving me a quizzical look.

“Jim are you alright?” Megan put in.

“Fine, just woke up and sort of freaked.” I replied, “What with the new hardware and all.”

“Just don’t do that again, ok?” Megan said relief evident on her face, “It scared me.”

“It scared me, too,” I said a wry grin beginning to form on my face.

“Well, since you’re up,” Allison put in, “Uncle John is making chocolate ebleskivers for breakfast.”

“They’re Danish pancakes,” she added after catching my blank look.

“Sounds great,” I said, “I’ll be right down.”

After excusing herself Allison left the room, and I was once again left alone with Megan.

“You look nice,” I said giving her a peck on the lips.

“You look miraculous,” Megan replied, “I could never look that good when I first woke up.”

“Really?” I said feeling pleased by her complement.

“Definitely,” she said returning my kiss.

“Hey are you two coming or not,” said poking her head from around the side of the door.

“Yeah, we’ll be down in a second,” Megan replied a bit irritably.

“Well, I guess we better go,” I said wryly.

“I guess so,” Megan replied. And with that we both made our way downstairs.

The ebleskivers were done cooking by the time Megan and I had made our way downstairs. They looked a lot like a cream puff, but tasted more like a cross between a popover and a pancake and they were covered in powdered sugar. We had bacon and orange juice to complement the meal.

After breakfast we took turns showering when my turn came I found much to my distress that Allison had taken it upon herself to brief me on a few feminine hygiene basics. After a one of the most awkward conversations I had ever had with a casual acquaintance. I hopped in the shower. First I soaped my body using Megan’s body soap she said I could use. When I got down near my vulva I stopped.

I traced my hand over the very foreign body part. Feeling first along the slit then outward. I moved onto my breasts. They seemed massive when I looked down at them, but I knew from looking at the mirror, that they weren’t nearly as huge as they seemed. I cupped them with my hands gently caressing them. They felt so foreign, but the way they felt when I caressed them was unbelievable.

Once, I had finished with my breasts I continued to wash myself. I cleaned my vulva the way Allison had instructed me then I moved on to my hair. It was pretty wet by then so I just poured some shampoo into my hand and began lathering it into my hair. It took quite a bit more shampoo than I was used to, and it took a lot more work to get the suds out. Once done I repeated the process and then I was just about to turn off the water when I spotted the bottle of conditioner.

I’d never used the stuff before, but for some reason I felt a strong urge to use it. So I reached for it. I followed the instructions and I was soon out of the shower. I dried myself off and worked to dry my hair the best I could.

Then I reached for the clothes I had been given. First I put on the pair of panties from the package Allison had gotten me the day earlier. Then I reached for the jeans I had been given. They were definitely of a feminine cut, but looked to be pretty old. They must have belonged to Megan’s mom before she had passed away. Then I grabbed the shirt it was a bright pink t-shirt that had been given to Megan by a well meaning elderly relative. Megan, who detested the color pink, had never worn it.

I looked down at myself, not even remotely satisfied. So I morphed the clothing. I morphed the shirt into a violet tank top with spaghetti straps, to match my hair, and the jeans I morphed into a pair of form fitting black low-rise jeans. The excess material I used to form a builtin bra in my shirt and a pair of socks that matched my top.

Once dressed I yanked my hair irritably out of my shirt then, I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. I found myself facing Allison. She took one look at me and let out an annoyed sigh. “You didn’t comb your hair did you?” she said irritably.

Before I could reply she directed me back into the bathroom and pushed me in front of the mirror. Pulling a comb out of drawer she proceeded to comb my hair starting at the tips and working her way up.

“Did you use conditioner?” she asked.

When I replied in the affirmative she spoke, “Good, just remember to always use it. It helps keep long hair from tangling. Shampoo takes all the moisture out of your hair, conditioner adds it back. Combing after showering helps prevent tangling, too. Make sure you use a wide-tooth comb and not a brush.”

“All right, professor,” I replied sarcastically, “Thank you for the lecture. Can I go now?”

“Yes, just remember what I said,” she said.

“Okay,” I mumbled then left Allison standing alone in the bathroom.

I walked down the hall and made my way down the stairs and found Megan sitting on the loveseat in the front room. “I think your cousin takes things a bit overboard.” I stated.

“Why what did she do now?” Megan asked.

I explained what had just occurred and Megan started to laugh, “Her personality changed a lot after her twist. She can be a huge pain sometimes.”

I sat down beside Megan and grabbed her hand, “Why is she visiting if you and her don’t get along?” I asked. “I’m sorry that’s none of my business.” I added.

“That’s okay,” she replied, “After everything I’ve witnessed happening to you, I don’t think there’s anything I couldn’t share with you. She’s here because her parents are on some sort of cruise and they had no one else to dump her off on.”

“Parents, at least she still has hers,” I muttered bitterly.

Megan gripped my hand more tightly, “I’m sorry if what I said upset you.”

“No,” I said, “That’s all right. I’m just been sensitive since my twist.”

Megan smiled sympathetically, “You have a right to be. I know I’d be upset as hell. I think you’re handling it pretty well.”

“Thanks,” I said, “I need to talk to mom, make her understand…” I muttered, “It’s not something I can control. It’s just who I am. I thought she’d know that.”

Megan jumped up, pulling me up with her, “Let’s go,” she said.

“What?” I balked, “No we can’t!”

“Look Jim, you need to confront her. You need to know for sure if she’s really wants nothing to do with you. She’s had all night to think about it maybe she regrets what she did.”

I shook my head, “You don’t know her like I do. She’s so damn stubborn she’ll never admit she was wrong. Not even over something like this.”

Megan sighed, “Then at least go and try and get some of your stuff. You need clothes, and with your trick you should be able to salvage your old boy clothes.”

I’m not sure what made me do it, but I finally relented, “Fine, I said, “but we’re leaving if things get too hairy.”

“Agreed,” she said.

We left after grabbing a roll of plastic garbage bags. The ride to my mother’s house was the longest of my life. Logic told me that it was only a few minutes, but it seemed like much longer. By the time, we reached the house, I was so nervous, that I almost told Megan to turn the car around, but after a reconsidering I forced myself to get out of the car and walk to the door. I was surprised to find my car sitting in the driveway. Mom must have had somebody bring it home with the extra keys.

Upon reaching the door, I hesitated for a moment, then I grabbed Megan’s hand for support and rung the bell. A few moments passed by then the door swung open. Much to my surprise, it was not my mother who answered the door, it was my aunt Lily who I hadn’t seen for a number of years.

“You! What do you want?” she sneered.

I bit my lips then clenched my teeth, “I’ve come for my belongings.” I said defiantly.

Aunt Lily laughed mockingly, “You have a lot of nerve. After, what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done! You think I wanted to get turned into this!” I said grabbing hold of my breasts.

I forced my anger down, then said “Look, just let me talk to mom. Then I’ll leave if she don’t like what I have to say. I promise.”

Lily hesitated for a moment, then the choice was taken away from her as mom appeared at the door.

“What the hell do you want?” she said angrily.

“I’m just trying to understand. I’m still Jim beneath all this,” I said motioning at my breasts. “I just want you to say it’ll be all right. I want you to say you still love me.”

“Love you?” she spat, “I can’t love that and you…” she trailed off tears beginning to form, “You are not Jim. He’s dead.”

“But Mom,” I said nearly in tears myself.

“NO!” she screamed, “Go away! Go somewhere you’re wanted. Go live with your freak father.”

“My father? I don’t even know who he is!” I yelled back at her.

“Liar!” she growled, “I found my yearbook taped inside your chair!” she said storming off.

I followed her and confronted her inside the house. “All these years,” I said, “You could have told me. At least then I would have been prepared. I would have know that I was twisted!” I screamed.

“I had to hide it,” she snarled, “I was trying to keep you from ending up like your father.”

“What kind of sense does that make,” I said throwing my arms out, “It obviously didn’t work.”

“Because you asked too many questions,” she said poking her finger into one of my breasts. “Look at you, you’re an even bigger freak than he is.”

Frustrated I tried changing tactics. “That boy in the yearbook, Harry Turow, is my father.” I said making it a statement of fact, “Where is he now? Why did he leave?”

Mother laughed bitterly, “He left after he had his twist. Had I known he was twisted I never would have let him touch me. You never would have been born.”

I gritted my teeth, “But where is he now?” I asked again.

“How the hell should I know?” she spat.

Sighing, I spoke, “Is there any chance that you will ever want me” I wasn’t even able to finish before mother interrupted me.

“No!” she said vehemently, “I don’t want anything to do with you! Get out of my house!”

Suddenly I found Megan’s hand within my own again. I hadn’t even realized she had followed me when I had gone running after mother. I squeezed her hand and she in turn did likewise.

“Fine,” I said forcing the tears back, “Just let me gather some of my things and I’ll leave. You’ll never see me again if I can help it.”

My mother didn’t answer. So I took her silence as an affirmative. With Megan in tow, I went to my room. Megan pulled out the garbage bags, and we began throwing my clothes in them. I was a boy, so I didn’t have a lot of clothes about a weeks worth and a set of dress clothes for special occasions so my closet and drawers where empty in a matter of minutes. I grabbed a few other things, my stamp collection, all my money, and all my gaming stuff and I was ready to go. As I was about to leave I grabbed my extra set of keys that were sitting on my dresser as an afterthought.

We met no resistance as we left. Mom just stared at us, and Aunt Lily let out quite a few curses at me, but she made no attempt to block our departure. Once out the door I headed straight for Megan’s car. Just as I as reaching for the door, I looked back and noticed something hanging out of the trash can from under the lid. Without saying a word I walked over to the dumpster and flipped the lid open. Inside I found a binder labeled”Jim’s baby book”. With tears running down my face I grabbed the book and went straight for Megan’s car.

Megan put her hand on my shoulder once we were inside the car. “I’m sorry, ” she said, “I shouldn’t have pushed you to come.”

“It’s okay,” I muttered, “I needed that.”

Megan smiled sadly putting her hand on my shoulder then she started up her car and we were on our way.

We had our first glimmer of what was to come a few blocks away from Megan’s house. It happened at a stop light. The car beside us was an old Jeep, it belonged to a classmate of ours, Jeff Goldwin.

Without even thinking about it I waved a friendly hello. He returned my gesture, though in a much less cordial way. He flipped me off.

“Fucking twisted bitch,” he spat “If I had my way you’d be lying in a ditch somewhere.”

“Your kind aren’t welcome here. Go live with the rest of the freaks in Spiral,” a pedestrian called out as they walked across the crosswalk in front of us.

A few moments later the light turned green and Megan stomped down on the accelerator and in short order we had reach her home.

“Well,” I said, “That wasn’t very pleasant. First mom, then Jeff and that pedestrian. Is this whole town going to turn against me?”

Megan grimaced, “I won’t lie. It’s a very distinct possibility.”

It was my turn to grimace, as I said “I was afraid you’d say that.” then I added, “No use fretting I suppose, what will come will come.

“I’m sure everything will turn alright,” she said not sounding particularly convinced herself.

I smiled wistfully, “Let’s hope so.”

We sat there silently for a moment until finally I broke the silence, “Wanna help me with these bags,” I said reaching into the back of the car.

“Yeah,” she replied reaching into the back seat then we hopped out of the car and made our way inside.

Much later on that day after a great deal of emotional turmoil on my part, Megan decided that it would be a good idea for a diversion. She put a movie on and practically dragged me in front of the TV. The movie was one of Megan and mine’s favorite Science Fiction movies. The diversion worked pretty well, soon I had forgotten all about my problems.

Part way into the movie I took hold of Megan’s hand. Megan gazed at me then my hand. Smiling she gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

“You two are such nerds,” Allison said from the doorway, “I can’t believe you watch this stuff.”

“Allison,” Megan said with a sigh after pausing the movie, “You used to watch this type of stuff all the time before your twist.”

“Thank god for my twist then!” she exclaimed, “Because this show sucks.”

“Then why don’t you go somewhere else, so we can hear the movie,” I spat out.

“Fine I will,” she said and stomped off angrily.

“What was that about?” I asked Megan.

Megan shrugged her shoulders, “How should I know?” as she pressed the play button on the remote and resumed the movie. About ten minutes later, we were interrupted once again, this time it was the doorbell.

Pausing the movie again, Megan hopped off the couch and ran to the door. When she opened the door, Mrs. Belmont one of Megan’s neighbors and one of the town’s biggest gossips, stepped inside.

“So it’s true,” she said a look of disgust on her face, “You are harboring that thing,” she said emphasizing the word thing.

“Mrs. Belmont,” Megan said gritting her teeth, “I don’t really care what you think of Jim. I happen to like the company.”

Mrs. Belmont sneered, “Young lady I’d be careful who you associate with. People might get the wrong idea.”

I inwardly cringed at that comment, not necessarily because I found it insulting, which I did, but because I knew that Megan wouldn’t react well to such a statement. When she got mad, she had a tendency to do wild and impulsive things. I don’t think I was quite prepared for her reaction, although that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it.

Megan didn’t say anything immediately, she turned her back on Mrs. Belmont and then she practically flung herself at me. She kissed me passionately as if she and I were the only two people present. She pulled away leaving me wanting more.

Then she came to face, Mrs. Belmont and said, “I think that gives people the right idea don’t you?”

Mrs. Belmont was seething, “Little whore,” she spat, “Now I see it’s not from some misguided sense of charity that you and your father have taken this freak in,” she said then stomped off angrily slamming the door behind her.

Megan laughed, “That was awesome did you see the look on her face!?”

It was then that I noticed Mr. Hails standing in the doorway that lead from the adjoining room. Megan must have noticed me staring because her gaze shifted toward him. He didn’t look very happy. “Megan, that was foolish. Nothing good will come of this.”

“What was I supposed to do?” she retorted.

He shook his head, “Anything, except that!” he growled.

They went on like that for quite a while, finally Megan stormed off leaving me alone with Mr. Hails.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” he muttered.

I smiled a bit awkwardly, “That’s okay I know how stubborn Megan can be.” I hesitated for a moment then I added, “This is all my fault. Mrs. Belmont came here because of me.”

“No, don’t ever think that,” Mr. Hails said, “Don’t blame yourself for the prejudices of the world.”

“I know, but you, Megan and even Allison have all been tangled up in this. I don’t want your lives ruined for my sake.” I said casting my eyes to the ground.

Mr. Hails came and sat beside me, “Jim I’ve known you all your life, you’ve been friends with Megan since she was barely able to walk. You’ve been like a son to me. I could never stand idly by and let you stand alone against people that would do you harm.” he said then added, “It is only a matter of time before Megan undergoes her twist if you hadn’t gone through your twist we would have had to deal with the same problems further on down the road.”

“Thanks Mr. Hails,” I said, “It’s nice to know I have someone I can turn to.”

Mr. Hails smiled, “Don’t mention it.” he said an odd look passing across his face.

A little while later I wandered upstairs and found Megan lying on her bed. I sat down beside her and clutched my knee.

“God, you’re beautiful,” Megan said suddenly.

I smiled, I couldn’t help it I loved being told I was gorgeous. “Thanks, you’re not so bad looking yourself.” I replied.

She sat up and we shared a brief kiss. We sat there a moment staring at one another and then suddenly she spoke, “Jim, I want you to consider something.”

I smiled, “What?”

“I think you need to chose a new name, a female one.” she said.

I didn’t really know what to say in response to that. The tattered remains of my masculinity screamed at such an idea. It would be like giving in, proclaiming to the world that I was no longer a man. It was ridiculous considering the conditions of my twist, but a part of me felt that if I chose another name I would lose something of myself, something irreplaceable.

On the other hand, perhaps that part of me was already lost. Could I be masculine in a body that oozed femininity? Could I be a man if had a pair of boobs? Then my thinking became more concrete, I was whoever I made myself be regardless of what gender. Gender was such a small superficial part of who was. What really mattered was the type of person I chose to be.

“You’re right,” I said finally, “It’s silly of me to go around calling myself Jim, when the name obviously doesn’t fit me very well anymore.

She beamed, “Great! Have you thought of any names?”

I shook my head, “Megan, you know I haven’t, but I’m guessing you have.”

She smiled, “I’ve thought of a few,” she admitted a bit guiltily.

I sighed, “Well, let’s hear them then.”

Megan began listing off a few names and none of them really appealed to me they were all average or just a little strange for my tastes. I was just about to tell her to forget the whole thing, but after she listed a few more one seemed to grab at me.

“That last one, say it again,” I said.

A hint of a smile touched her lips, “Calista.”

“Calista,” I said trying it out, “Calista Rumsfeld.” I paused then said, “Calista Turow.” using the last name of my supposed father.

Megan smiled, “I think we found a match.”

I pursed my lips hesitating knowing that I chose this name I’d likely be using it the rest of my life. “Calista,” I repeated. Then finally said, “Calista it is.”

Megan seemed quite thrilled about the whole thing. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it, but knew it was probably for the better. She kissed me and said, “Calista you look even more beautiful then your new name.”

It was kind of a cheesy line, but what can I say? I’m a sucker for a pretty girl. We kissed again and then she drug me out of the bedroom to tell everyone the “great news”.

Upon hearing my new moniker Allison, mumbled something about it being “about time” and almost immediately began calling my Callie. Mr. Hails’ upon learning the news said that my new name suited me.

I had thought that Megan perhaps in er excitement had forgotten of her previoush argument with her father, but apparently she hadn’t, “Dad,” she said, “I’m sorry about before. You were right I shouldn’t have provoked Mrs. Belmont like that.”

Mr. Hails smiled, “I was wrong to get mad at you. What will happen would likely happen even without Mrs. Belmont leading the charge.” They hugged each other and everything was alright between them.

After a few minutes Megan and I went back upstairs and with short order I was setting up my Gamestation and we were playing video games and having a blast.

About an hour later Mr. Hails received the call. Someone, we were never really sure,called up and started making threats. I don’t know what exactly was said, but upon hearing the commotion Megan, Allison and I ran down the stairs to see what was going on. When we got into the kitchen we found Mr. Hails, his face had turned scarlet red and he was yelling at the person at the top of his lungs moments later he slammed the handset back onto the base station.

“Dad,” Megan said in a worried tone, “Who was that? What did they want?”

He sighed and shook his head, “I don’t know, their name didn’t show up on the caller id. They were calling because of J- Calista, they made some threats.”

Mr. Hails rubbed his forehead, “Girls,” he said looking from Allison, Megan and finally to me, “I want you to pack your bags. I have a feeling we won’t be staying in Clearville much longer.”

We went to go pack our things, most of my stuff was in the bags we had brought from my mother’s so in short order I was done and helping Megan, pack her stuff. Allison joined us a few minutes later, her bags for the most part already packed. It didn’t take much longer for us to pack the rest of Megan’s things.

“Calista,” Megan said suddenly just as we were finishing up, “I’m scared.”

It still felt weird being called that, but I thought so long as I had Megan in my life I wouldn’t have it any other way. I hugged her from behind my breasts digging into her back and my arms wrapping around her waist, “I am too.”

Allison rolled her eyes, “Can you two go five minutes without touching each other?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I replied.

Allison rolled her eyes again and stomped off.

Megan turned inside my arms, facing me she wrapped arms around my back, “Thank goodness she’s gone.”

We kissed deeply and passionately our tongues exploring each others mouths. We finally broke for air and we just held each other. It was nice, having someone to hold. I know it sounds girly, but I felt safe with Megan, she made me feel that no matter what was wrong with world, everything would be alright. Eventually we made or way to the bed, we didn’t fool around or anything. We just lay together cuddling. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep holding Megan in my arms.

The next morning I awoke to find myself intertwined with Megan. She wasn’t awake yet, so I just let her sleep all the while I watched her. I watched her chest rise and fall, the way the sun danced across her face. It was beautiful. Later Megan started to stir. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled. “Hey there,” she said with a bit of a yawn.

“Morning sleepyhead,” I said a bit of smile touching my lips.

She touched my face, “It’s hard to believe just a few days ago, you were a boy.”

“It seems like a lifetime,” I agreed, “At least if I’m stuck like this I get a really hot girlfriend out of it.”

Megan smiled mischievously and kissed me again, “I think I got the hotter girlfriend.”

“Oh yeah,” I said looking down at myself, “I think you might be right. I am one delectable little morsel.”

Megan laughed, “Come on, we ought to get up before Allison and Dad get up. Dad will freak if he finds out we slept in the same bed.”

I reluctantly agreed and we made our way downstairs. Megan seemed quite relieved when there was no one to greet us. It looked like we were the first up. We sat around for a while, just sitting close to each other and talking in whispered tones.

“Well, you two are up early.”Mr. Hails said from the stairs.

Megan smiled and squeezed my hand, “We had a good night.”

Mr. Hails gave her a strange look and looked as if he were going to say something then shook his head as if thinking better of it. “Did you happen to bring the paper in?” he said finally.

Megan shrugged her shoulders, “No, I forgot all about it.”

Without another word Mr. Hails made his way to the door,stepped out onto the doorstep and out of sight to presumably get the paper. A few minutes passed and he didn’t return. A few minutes more and Mr. Hails came back inside without the paper. His face was red, like it had been last night, and he was shaking with rage. He looked like we wanted to tear someone to pieces with his bare hands.

Megan and I exchanged glanced the Megan spoke up, “Dad what’s wrong?” concern was evident in her voice.

“Goddamned hate-mongering vandals!” he muttered.

I was taken aback I’d never once heard Mr. Hails curse. He had always been very polite and well spoken. I jumped off the couch, and Megan soon followed. We both sprang for the door.

When the door swung open my voice caught in my throat. I was unprepared for what I was seeing. I’d seen vandalism, but this was much more than the kind of vandalism I was accustomed too. When I thought of vandalism I though of teens flinging TP or graffiti. Although both were represented here this went far behind simple teenage vandalism.

There was spray paint all over the place even on the lawn with hateful phrases like “get out freak lovers”, “Die twisted freak” and a few I didn’t care to repeat. TP was strewn about all over. The mailbox and all of the lawn ornaments had been smashed to bits and both the cars had numerous dent in them, as if someone had taken a baseball bat to them. This had been an act of hate, pure and simple.

We stood outside gaping, until Mr. Hail called us back in. I couldn’t understand it I hadn’t done anything to harm anyone. Yet, all this hatred was directed towards me and the Hails simply for something I had no control over, something I could not reverse.

When we were back inside, Mr Hails closed the door behind us. “I’m putting a call into the underground. I’ve witnessed what can happen in these situations and I don’t care for any of you experience it.”

“The underground? What underground?” I said confused.

Mr. Hails paused for a moment, then spoke up, “Do you remember in your history classes if they ever mentioned the Underground railroad?”

I nodded, “Yeah, it some kind of network that supposed to have helped escaped slaves flee to freedom in the north before the Civil War.”

Mr. Hails nodded, “Yes, correct. The underground I’m referring to helps twisted who are being persecuted escape to Spiral and other safe locations. We work in much the same way as the Underground Railroad did. That’s why I came to Clearville all those years ago. My career as a lawyer helped me clear up sticky legal matters that the underground needed taken care of.”

I gasped, “It all makes sense now. It didn’t make sense that you would live here if you knew Megan would someday undergo her twist, and you’d have to leave. Now it does.”

“Actually, I never intended to start a family when I came here. I met Megan’s mother through my involvement in the underground after coming to Clearville.” he admitted.

Mr. Hails looked me in the eyes, “There’s more to tell. I’ve been holding back the truth from you for some time. I helped Harry Turow flee town almost eighteen years ago after he underwent his twist. I’ve suspected he was your father for years. I encouraged Helen, my wife, to place Megan in the same playgroup with you when you were both very young so I could watch you.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was about to speak, but Megan beat me to it, “Dad! You’ve known all these time, you didn’t tell Ji-” she paused, “You didn’t tell Calista and you used me to keep tabs on him.”

Mr. Hails rubbed his forehead, “I had no way of confirming my suspicions. You two hit it off so well that knew I’d be able to keep an eye on Calista here.”

I spoke up, “You said you helped my father escape.” Mr. Hails nodded and I continued, “Does he even know I was born?”

Mr. Hails shook his head, “No, I lost contact with him after we had him safely out of town.”

I hesitated with the next question, the one I had been seeking the answer to as long as I could remember. “Where is he?” I asked finally.

Mr. Hails pursed his lips, “My contacts in the underground tell me he’s in Spiral. He settled there a few years ago and started a family.”

I didn’t know what to think. All these years, I’d had no idea who my father had been. I’d never been able to get a straight answer out of my mother about anything concerning my father. All this time, Mr. Hails had known or at least suspected the answers I had wanted so much. He could have told me, but he didn’t.

I felt conflicted. He had been hiding this from me for my hole life. Yet he had been watching me, and trying to keep me safe for just as long. I turned to look at Megan I could see the conflict in her face, she must have been thinking similar thoughts.

I bit my lip, “You could have told me.” I said tears streaming down my face.

Mr. Hails sighed, “Maybe I should have, but I was afraid how you might react to such a revelation. Your mother had a strong hatred for our kind and I wasn’t sure you’d believe me. In telling you I risked exposing not only myself but my family. That is a risk I could never take.”

I felt suddenly very angry, “All this time. You knew and you didn’t tell me. I could have know I was twisted.” I said.

Megan started yelling at her father, I don’t think either of them noticed when I left. At the time I had no concrete plan, I just had to get away. I slipped out the back door, once outside I made my into the front yard and just kept walking. I walked without knowing where I was going and I really didn’t care.

As I walked I thought. I was not in a particularly clear state of mind and began thinking some pretty dark thoughts. I wondered if anyone really wanted me or cared about me. My friendship with Megan had been built on a lie, and I thought she might be better off if we had never met. Mr. Hails had lied to me and I didn’t feel I could trust him. The entire town had turned against me, including my mother. I stopped at a corner grabbing hold of a sign post with one of my hands then fell to my knees and wept.

So caught up in my own grief, I didn’t notice when someone came up behind me until that someone spoke, “Twisted freak.” a male voice spat. My head snapped up and I found Jeff Goldwin standing over me with a look of utter contempt on his face.

“Jeff,” I muttered, “Just leave me alone.”

Jeff’s face twisted into an angry sneer, “You stupid bitch!” he said hitting me across the face.

I fell backward my head hit hitting the curb. I stared up at him, too shocked even to speak. He moved closer to me then with a menacing glint in his eyes he brought his right foot up and kicked me in the face. He kicked me again and I fell over the curb.

Something inside me snapped. All the pent-up frustrations that had built up since I had undergone my twist exploded out of me. I felt suddenly on edge. When he brought his foot down to kick me again I grabbed hold of his foot and with more strength than I knew I had, I sent him reeling into the street behind me

I scrambled to my feet and watched as he picked himself up, “Stupid bitch,” he spat and started toward me again. When he got close enough, he swung his arm and I just reacted. Before his arm could had extended I knocked it aside and I hit him in the face with all the force I could muster.

He stumbled backwards and nearly fell backward, one of his hands coming up to cup his nose. A look of complete shock passed across his face. When his hand fell away I saw that he was bleeding. I don’t know who was more shocked him or me.

As a boy I had always been a little small, and I never could have taken on Jeff. Let alone after having transformed into a girl. That’s not to say I wouldn’t have gone down without a fight. I didn’t even have an athletic body,as a girl. I never should have been able to hit him that hard. Yet, I had. It was my twist it had to be.

Jeff, was coming at me again and I twisted out of the way. “Oh, you are in for a world of pain.” he jeered.

He made another swing at me and I blocked it. I hit him and sent him sprawling. He fell and I heard a sickening thud, as his neck hit the curb. I looked down at him, his neck looked fine. I knelt down beside him and tried to find his pulse. Admittedly I didn’t know what I was doing, but when I failed to find a pulse I panicked and I felt my heart jump into my throat. Oh god, I thought, I’ve killed him.

I panicked. I ran and kept on running.

After my confrontation with Jeff, I ran for quite a long time, until I collapsed from exhaustion. When I’d come to, I found myself in the park. It was dark by then and I didn’t remember what had happened. The events from earlier came flooding back to me, and I wept.

I finally stopped crying, and forced myself to confront my feelings on the matter and I knew what to do. My mind was set.

I couldn’t believe how well I could see, my twist must have given me the ability to see in the dark. I stood up then headed out of the park. I made my way back to Megan’s house, it wasn’t my final destination, it was just a stopover. Within moment I had reached the house and noted all the lights were off. When I got closer I noticed Mr. Hail’s and Megan’s cars were gone, they were probably out looking for me.

I snuck into the back yard, and then the back door. It was locked. Fortunately I knew were they hid a spare key so after a few moments I was able to get inside. I made my way upstairs and into the computer room that I had slept in that first night.

Quietly, I closed the door behind me and then I grabbed a piece of paper from the computer desk. I wept as I wrote, it was probably the most difficult thing I had ever done. It was a rather short note, but I told Megan how I felt for her and I wished I could stay with her, but I had to leave town and I couldn’t let her or her family come with me. I hinted that I would be going to the bus station. It was a lie, and I hated deceiving her, but I knew she would try to stop me from leaving and I couldn’t allow it.

Once done, I wiped my tears away and I went back into the hallway and slipped the note under Megan’s bedroom door. Then I went back to the computer room and I grabbed a bag of my clothes that Megan and I had retrieved from my mother’s home. Then I made sure I grabbed my money and keys. Then within moments I was back outside and headed away.

I snuck through town it was much harder going with the bag of clothes, but I needed them. Twice a car passed by. Fearing it was Mr. Hails or Megan I hid, once behind a bush the second time behind a car that was parked on the street. Finally, I reached my destination. My mothers house. I let out a sigh of relief when I noted her car was gone. I used my keys to open my trunk placing the bag of clothes inside. I slammed the trunk shut and opened up my car door and I hopped inside.

Technically the car’s title was in my mother’s name, but it was my money that had paid for it. I had not spent a single penny of my paychecks from my summer job last year to pay for it. I wondered if mom would report it stolen. I was likely already wanted for murder, so theft was the least of my worries. Although, it would make my trip a bit more complicated if the police were looking for a stolen car.

I shrugged there was nothing I could do about it in any case. I started my car, back it out of the driveway and began my trip to Spiral. My gas tank was almost full, so I didn’t need to stop for gas,. Which was a blessing I had very limited funds and I didn’t know if it was enough. It would have to be.

I drove through town, towards the town’s only interstate on-ramp. I told myself that I wouldn’t miss the place, but I knew in my heart that despite everything that had happened, Clearville would always be home. I turned down fifth avenue and the on-ramp was in sight. Within moments I was on the open road, headed towards my future.

I had been driving for some time, when realized I had no idea how to get to Spiral. I knew was headed in the right general direction, but that would only get me so far. So I took the next off-ramp and pulled into a gas station. I hopped out of my car, and was about to go inside when I looked down at myself. My blue skin really stood out, and I really didn’t want to draw that much attention.

I opened up my trunk and pulled out a few pieces of clothes. I morphed a few pieces of clothing into a light-weight hooded jacket and a pair of gloves to cover my hands. Then I pulled out an old hat that had been sitting in my trunk for some time and put it on. I pulled the hood of the jacket over my head and almost went into the store, but then I thought I might want to buy some gas.

I moved my car over to a pump and filled it up. Then once I was done, I replaced the gas cap and went inside. The place was empty save for the attendant I turned my back to him so couldn’t immediately see my face. I looked around for a few minutes and found a roadmap, and I grabbed some food and water realizing suddenly that I was very hungry.

I moved to the checkout counter. The attendant was reading a book, and he didn’t immediately see my face. When he looked up and saw my face he froze. I could tell he wasn’t sure what to think of me. He even looked a little scared.

“Relax,” I said, “Believe it or not, I’m not here to do you any harm. I just want to pay for this stuff and be on my way.”

“Y-yeah of course,” he said nervously as he grabbed my items and began to ring them up.

“I have gas on pump four,” I added.

He added my gas to the price, and I paid for everything with my cash. My purchases at the gas station had taken a sizable chunk out of my money I didn’t know how much longer it would last but I determined to make it to Spiral. I would get there by whatever means necessary. After a few minutes looking at my new map I headed back out and was soon on my way again.

It was early afternoon and I had driven through the night, and I was getting pretty drowsy. I didn’t have the money for a hotel so took an off-ramp and after a few minutes of driving I found a copse of trees a short distance off the road. I pulled up behind them then I reclined my seat and drifted off to sleep.

It was dark when I awoke. I was feeling pretty stiff from sleeping in my car, so I got out and stretched a bit. After that I ate some of the food I had gotten from the gas station then I hopped back into my car. I pulled out behind the copse of tree and decided it might be a good idea to fill up my gas tank. So I started driving down the road I had taken to get to the copse of trees and eventually found a gas station. This one unlike the last was not empty there were several cars in front and another at a pump.

I pulled in, then I donned the jacket and gloves again. This time I morphed a scrunchy out of my clothes and put my hair into a ponytail. I put my hat on, but I noted with considerable annoyance that it wasn’t very comfortable with my ponytail so I morphed a hole in the back to more easily fit my ponytail. Then I flipped the hood of my jacket over my head.

Once, I was properly attired. I got out of my car and began pumping gas. When I was done and I went inside. This time I spotted almost immediately. Everyone inside just stood there and stared at me. I grabbed some food off the shelves and a couple big bottles of water. As I was walked to the counter to ring up I was stopped by a tall athletic looking man who was probably a foot and a half taller than I was..

“Hey girly,” he sneered, “This place is for normal people, not freaks like you.”

I looked up at him, “You really don’t want to mess with me.” I said, “You might get hurt.”

He laughed, “Oh, yeah. You here that Jack I might get hurt.”

A scrawny looking guy started laughing too, “Oh yeah, I’m so scared.”

I started toward the counter again, but was again stopped by the tall buffoon, “He grabbed hold of my wrists and I dropped all my things. “Oh come one now I’m only just playing,” he said a menacing look on his face, “Why don’t you and I go out back and I can show you a good time.”

The idea was so repulsive to me that I could feel bile rising in my throat. Like it had happened with Jeff Goldwin, something inside of snapped and I felt on edge. I grappled with him and was able to free my wrists. He swiped at me, and I knocked his arm aside as easily as I had with Jeff Goldwin.

“Stupid little bitch,” he spat as he swung his fist at me.

I dodged out of the way and I hit him in the chest. He staggered back a bit, but he took the blow better than Jeff had. He did seem quite surprised by my unusual show of strength, but that didn’t stop him from making another swing at me. I hit him hard enough that time that he went down and stayed down.

Everyone in the place looked as if they wanted to bolt, even the tall guy’s friend Jack. “I warned him,” I said coolly, but the truth was I wanted to bolt myself. After what had happened with Jeff I really hadn’t wanted to fight anyone again. I couldn’t help myself I just reacted.

I held my calm facade, as I gathered up the water bottles and the food off the ground and walked over to the counter. I paid for everything using nearly all the cash I had left then walked out the gas station got into my car and drove off.

I drove all night and spent another afternoon sleeping in my car, then I stopped at a gas station this time with no incident. I used the little money I had to purchase a few gallons of gas. It didn’t come close to filling the tank, but I thought maybe it would be enough to get me to Spiral. As it turned out it wasn’t quite enough.

It was after noon the following day and Spiral was only twenty miles away when the engine in my car stalled. I was in the leftmost lane when it happened. It became very hard to steer, but I was able to maneuver the car to the side of the road before it stopped completely. I immediately knew what the problem was I had run out of gas.

I had no money, so I had two options I could hitchhike, or walk. Being pretty close to Spiral I tried hitchhiking, but after an hour it became pretty obvious no one was going to stop for me. I started walking occasionally sticking out my thumb hoping someone would stop for me. No one ever did.

I walked for about 5 hours when it started to rain. I tried morphing my clothes to give me some more protection, but my trick didn’t seem to be able to produce water-proof clothes. So within a few minutes I was thoroughly drenched. The rain continued and I made much slower progress. I was exhausted and it was a struggle to put one foot after another. After about two hours of struggling in the rain, I somehow managed to reach Spiral. It was dark by then I wasn’t really sure of the exact time, but it had to be after eight.

I had a renewed spurt of energy and I made my way into town. I stopped in at a small convenience store. I knew my father lived somewhere in town, but I had no idea where. I hoped the store would have a phone book so that I could look up his address.

The store was empty save for a boy about my age who seemed to work there. “Miss,” he said, “Are you alright?”

I must have looked a mess dripping wet as I was. I looked him in the eyes, they were the strangest bright orange. He was twisted, I realized, he was like me. I couldn’t help but smile, “I wasn’t, but I think I’ll be much better now.”

The boy gave me a weird look, and acted as if he wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t have to say anything I spoke first, “Do you have a phone book?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think we do,” he said, “I’ll be right back.” He said disappearing behind a set of doors.

He returned a few minutes later phone book in hand. He handed it to me and I thanked him. I flipped it open and went straight to the T’s, Turow wasn’t listed.

“Dammit,” I cursed. I was so close and his name wasn’t listed in the stupid phonebook. How would I find him now?

“You wouldn’t happen to know a Harry Turow would you?” I asked the boy not really expecting him to know.

“Yeah,” the boy replied, “My little brother is friends with his kids.”

My heart skipped a beat, “Do you know were he lives?” I asked.

The boy grinned nervously, “Yeah, he lives over on Newmont Way.”

“How far is that?” I asked.

“Just a few blocks north of here,” he said then added, “I don’t know the exact address. It’s like two-forty or two-fifty something it’s the only blue house for a few blocks.”

“Thanks,” I said smiling and started for the door.

“Hey miss,” the boy called after me, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

I laughed, “Yes, I think I am.” I said then I burst out the door and started for my Father’s house.

I found Newmont Way a few blocks down just as the boy had said. I followed the street until I found a slate blue-house with the address 247 on the front. It had to be the one, there weren’t any blue houses nearby. I walked up to the doorstep and I hesitated. What would I say? Would he even be willing to hear me out?

Finally I forced myself to ring the doorbell. A woman came to the door. She looked about my mother’s age, she had long brown hair and kind green eyes that almost immediately registered concern. Was this woman my father’s wife?

“Is this the home of Harry Turow?” I asked pursing my lips.

“Yes,” she said then added, “Are you alright, dear?”

“Yes, thank god!” I said then on impulse hugged the woman.

I realized I was wet and quickly broke away. “Sorry,” I said with nervous laugh, “I didn’t mean to get you all wet.”

The woman smiled sadly, “You poor thing. Come inside and I’ll draw a nice warm bath.”

“Can I speak with Harry, first?” I asked. “It’s important.”

She frowned, “He’s not home at the moment, but I expect him home soon. Come inside and we’ll get you out of those clothes and into a nice hot bath. You can speak with him once he gets home.”

I reluctantly agreed, and allowed her to lead me into the bathroom. She ran the water, then helped me undress. I was pretty self-conscious about being naked in front of the woman, but I knew that women felt differently about this sort of thing than men did. So I let her help me.

I stepped inside the bath water, and it felt pretty good. I closed my eyes and just sat there for a moment. When I opened my eyes again the woman was gone along with my wet clothes. I lay there in the warm water until the woman returned with a set of clothes. She got a towel out for me and told me I could use anything I needed. She left again and I started to wash myself using the available soap and shampoo.

Once done I started to drain the water and got out drying myself on the towel. I got dressed, once again pulled the hair out from inside my shirt. I examined the clothes I was wearing, they fit fairly well, I could have morphed them to fit better, but I didn’t feel comfortable doing that to another person’s clothes without permission so I left them as they were.

I left the bathroom, and found the woman in a kitchen. She was heating up some food in a microwave. “I though you might be hungry.” she said.

“Thank you so much.” I said.

She smiled kindly, “You don’t have anywhere to go do you?”

I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes. She wiped the tears from my eyes “Well don’t you fret, you can stay here for the night. Then tomorrow we’ll figure everything out.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“My name is Linda by the way,” she said get up to get the food out of the microwave and placed the dish in front of me.

“I’m Calista,” I replied grabbing the fork she offered and started to eat. I don’t know exactly what the dish was, but it was some sort of potato casserole with hamburger in it. It was pretty good.

She smiled, “Well Calista, you must have come a long way.”

I had a fork full of food in my mouth, and wasn’t able to speak so I nodded my head instead. Which was just as well I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell her too much without her husband present.

I scarfed down the casserole pretty quickly and she offered me another serving. Still famished I hungrily agreed. Linda looked as if she wanted to ask me something, but she seemed to hesitated each time she opened her mouth to speak. I continued to stuff my face hoping she wouldn’t ask any more questions.

“Linda honey,” a man’s voice said in that not so far distance.

Linda left the kitchen and I could soon hear her speaking with the man. “I dropped Amanda at the her cousins and Brandon and Cory are staying at the Pearson’s house. We have the house all to ourselves.” he said.

“Harry,” I heard Linda speak, “We have a guest.”

“A guest?” he asked.

There was a moments hesitation, “A teenage girl. I think she might be a runaway. She’s been asking for you.”

A runaway, I guess that did describe me though I hadn’t thought about it until then,”Do you know what she wants?” Harry replied.

“No,” Linda replied, “She was sopping wet when she got her. I haven’t done much more than get in her a warm bath and feed her. Why don’t you go talk with her she’s in the kitchen.”

I heard footsteps and in short order a man appeared in the kitchen. He was about average height, had brown hair and green eyes. What caught me almost immediately was his strong resemblance to myself, or more accurately his resemblance to me before my twist.

“Hello,” he said then sat down across from me and smiled, “My name is Harry. What’s yours?”

My heart raced. I had wanted for so long to meet my father here he was sitting right across from me and I had no idea what to say. Suddenly I noticed his hands six-digits just like mine. It was an odd coincidence and I’m sure it was no doubt a result of his twist.

Finally I managed to speak, “Calista.” I said then continued, “Are you Harry Turow from Clearville.”

He gave me an odd look, “Yes, I am. Do I know you?”

I pursed my lips, “No,” I said, “When you were in High School you dated Kate Rumsfield.” I made it a statement of fact.

He looked back to the doorway where I noticed for the first time Linda was standing and exchanged glances with her. “What’s this about?” he asked a look of consternation on his face.

“I’m your son.” I suddenly blurted out. Then realizing my mistake I added, “I mean I’m your daughter.”

Harry’s face seemed to drain of all color, “You are Kate Rumsfield’s child.” he said.

I nodded tears streaming down my face, “Yeah.”

He let out a long sigh, “When were you born?”

Still weeping I told him my birth date. He didn’t reply for almost a minute, “It’s very possible.” he said finally.

Linda came over beside him, sat down and took his hands. “I’m sorry.” he said finally. “Had I known. I would have done something I would have been there.”

“It’s not your fault.” I said, “My mother hates the twisted,” I added, “She thought if she hid the truth of my birth from me that it would somehow keep me from becoming twisted like you.”

“So, you came here looking for your father after you went through your twist,” Linda said.

I nodded, “I didn’t have any choice. Mom wants nothing to do with me.” I told them my story. How I used to be a boy, about my trick pretty much everything except killing Jeff. I wasn’t sure how they would react to that.

When I was finished Linda was the first to speak, “You poor thing. You’ve been through so much.”

I nodded, I wasn’t really sure what else to say.

We talked for quite a while after that. We talked mostly about my life, but after a while it turned to theirs. We talked about Harry’s life after he had left Clearville. How he had involved himself with the underground and had met Linda and come to Spiral to start a family. How he had started up his own business and become a successful entrepreneur coming to own several restaurants in town.

“I think it might be a good idea to get some sleep, we can talk more in the morning.” Harry said finally.

We all agreed, then they showed me into one of the bedrooms. They told me the room belonged to my three-year old half-sister, Amanda. They said, that they’d figure out some more permanent sleeping arrangements later.

The room looked every-bit like it belonged to a three-year old girl. The paint on the wall was pink and the decor had a strong princess motif. After they left I lay down in the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning I woke up and felt absolutely terrible. My feet were throbbing from all the walking I’d done yesterday. My stomach hurt, and I felt like I could throw up. My breasts felt larger for some reason and the were really tender.

I got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. The one I had bathed in the previous night. I pulled down my pants and was about to pee. I was bleeding from my Vagina. I hadn’t paid too much to the girl stuff in sexed class, but I knew this was a common symptom of a period.

I cleaned myself up a bit, and left to find Linda. She was in the kitchen cooking some breakfast, my father was sitting at the table reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. When I entered the room they both stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

I looked to Linda, then to Harry, then back to Linda. As embarrassed as I was to ask Linda for help with my period. I was even more embarrassed to speak about it in front of Harry. I hesitated then finally spoke, “Linda could you help me?”

“Sure,” she said smiling, “What is it?”

I looked to Harry and grinned nervously then looked back at Linda, “Um, could you join me in the bathroom?” I said then walked off. Leaving them both with perplexed looks on their faces.

I went back into the bathroom and waited for Linda. I didn’t have long to wait, Linda appeared within moments, “Calista what’s wrong?” she said.

“I think I’m having my first period,” I blurted out.

Linda let out a sigh of relief, “Thank goodness. I thought it was something much worse.”

She helped me clean myself up then she took the clothes I was wearing to go wash them. I quickly showered then got out. Linda returned shortly with a sanitary pad for me to wear and the freshly washed clothes I had showed up in last night.

She showed me how to wear the pad under my panties and told me were they were in case I needed another one. Then she left to let me finished getting ready by myself I combed my hair before I did anything else. Then I put on my bra. It felt a little tight so I used my trick to make it feel a little looser. I put on the pants I had been wearing before, I changed their color to black then I put on my shirt once again morphing into the purple tank top with spaghetti straps then I sort of merged my bra into my shirt.

I stepped out of the bathroom and made my way back to the kitchen where I found Linda and Harry waiting.

Harry looked up from his newspaper, “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, Fine” I muttered not feeling particularly fine.

Linda offered me some eggs and bacon, but I turned them down. I don’t know if I would be able to keep any food down, I settled for a piece of toast with a little margarine on it.

“I think it might be a good idea to get you an appointment at the Spiral Clinic.” Harry said after finishing he eggs.

“What’s the Spiral Clinic?” I asked.

Harry smiled, “It’s a specialized clinic for the twisted. Many of us have unusual medical needs that most normal doctors can’t fill. I thought due to your unique physiology it might be a good idea to have a doctor look at you.”

I sighed the idea of going to the doctor wasn’t particularly appealing, but logic told me it was the smart thing to do, so I said,”You’re probably right.”

Harry nodded, “I’ll call and see if I can make an appointment.”

Harry made a quick call into the Spiral Clinic and due to a last minute cancellation was able to get me an appointment later that day. I didn’t expect to get in so soon, but figured it was probably better to get it done with sooner rather than later.

It felt pretty weird being around my father after all this time, which was complicated by the fact that none of us knew quite what to say to one another. We all sat around looking at one another. I could tell both Linda and Harry wanted to say something, but it was as if they couldn’t figure out how to ask what ever it was on their minds. I felt more or less the same way.

Finally it was Harry that broke the silence, “I have half a mind to call and speak with Kate. I just can’t understand how she could keep this from me.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to this, when I did reply I immediately regretted speaking, “I know the phone number.” I volunteered.

It was about the last thing I wanted him to do, but there was no way I could back out if he decided to call. If word had gotten out that is was me that had killed Jeff Goldwin, mom would be sure to tell Harry. She loved to gloat, and she would revel in telling this particular piece of information. It would, in her mind, prove that she was justified in ridding herself of me. I could barely live with myself as it was. I don’t know if I could go on if I lost my father after having just found him.

Harry let out a long sigh, “If I could speak with Kate. It would feel so much better about this hole thing.”

I nodded my head, and reluctantly agreed to give him the number. I waited nervously, sitting across from him as he dialed the number.

“Hello,” he said into the phone “Am I talking to Kate?” he said as he stood up and moved to talk in the other room. I couldn’t hear what he said, but I was sure mom wasn’t being particularly pleasant.

It wasn’t long before Harry returned. He came back into the room and sat beside me. He sat there for a moment staring at me and slowly he shook his head, “I’m sorry Calista, I should have believed you when you told me you were my daughter. I don’t care to repeat what Kate said on the phone, but it was sufficient for me to believe her when she said you were my child”

I realized then that I was crying. God, I thought, I’m such a crybaby since my twist. “I can’t fault you.” I said, “I think I would have done the same thing were I our situation reversed.”

He wiped away my tears away, and spoke “I know this has been difficult for you, I found it quite difficult after my twist, but I had my family. You’ve lost everything you ever knew, I hope you can find a new home with Linda and I. I can’t promise you that you won’t feel heartache or pain because you are different, but I can promise that so long as I am able I will always be a part of your life.

I bit my lip as fresh tears rolled down my face. I think I knew then that I had finally found a place that I could call home.

I wasn’t very surprised to learn that Harry had decided to stay home from work that day. As owner of his own businesses he was able to make his own hours. I was grateful because it allowed me to get to know him and in large part I think he had stayed home for that very reason.

It was Harry that brought up the subject of my car, “You said you left your car out on the freeway.”

I nodded, “I suppose my mother didn’t say anything about it when you spoke with her on the phone.”

“Actually she said to keep it, She was tired of that damn lawyer pestering her,” he said, “I assume she was referring to that Hails fellow.”

I nodded again. It had to be Mr Hails, but what had he said to her? “I bet it was him.” I said.

“Well why don’t you and I go retrieve your car.” Harry suggested.

I agreed and Harry retrieved a gas can and we stopped to fill it we were on our way. One the way we talked, mostly about Mr. Hails, after I described him Harry remembered meeting him when he had left Clearville, but had never learned his name. He asked me about Megan, and how long I had been friends with her. I told him all about Megan, and how I feared I would never see her again. I told him I think I would even miss Allison.

We drove almost thirty miles going the away from Spiral then after finding an off-ramp we got back on headed back toward Spiral. After another ten miles we found my car exactly where I had left it. We emptied the gas can into my car’s tank and had it running in a matter of a minutes. I got into my car and followed Harry back to Spiral.

When we arrived back at the house, there was a car parked in front of it that hadn’t been there when we had left.

“That’s Sally’s car,” Harry noted. When he caught my blank stare he added, “Linda’s sister. She was watching Amanda for the night.”

Amanda, the little girl whose room I had slept in the previous night, my half-sister. I felt a bit nervous as I stepped into the house. A little girl with blonde pig-tails and a pink princess dress hurled herself at Harry. “Daddy!” she squealed in delight.

I stood to the side watching as father and daughter interacted. “How’s my little princess?” he asked a big grin on her face.

Amanda went on a long rant detailing her night with her cousin Emily. Harry listened patiently and occasionally laughed at his daughter. I had to admit she was cute as hell.

Finally after hearing out Amanda, Harry turned to me then back to Amanda, “Princess,” he said, “I’d like you to meet someone. This is Calista. She’s your half-sister.”

Amanda looked at me wide-eyed, then back at her father “What’s a halfthithter ?”

“It means your mommy isn’t Calista’s mommy, but I’m her daddy just like I’m yours.”

Amanda seemed to understand. I bent down to kneel at her level, and she gave me a great big hug. I hugged her back.

“Kawista wanna see my room?” she said.

I smiled at her and took her hand, “Sure let’s go have a look.”

She led me up to her room. Even though I had slept her in her room the previous night I let her think this was the first time I had seen it. I didn’t really want to spoil it for her. She showed me all her princess toys and her princess castle which she seemed particularly fond of and last she showed me her tea table. She had a ring of stuffed animal sitting around it and a plastic tea set sitting in the middle.

I half expected her to invite me to sit for a imaginary cup of tea, but once she was done she bounced back out of her room and I followed suit albeit with no bouncing.

I followed her back into the living room where Linda was chatting away with a woman I presumed to be her sister, Sally. She held a little girl in her lap, the girl was fast asleep. Introductions were made, and as I had guessed the woman was indeed Linda’s sister.

Sally seemed nice, but I barely had a chance to talk to her she left less than ten minutes after I had met her. Then it was just Linda, Harry, Amanda and me. Amanda sat down next to me, holding my hand and continued an endless stream of questions about me, I answered them as best I could, but when she asked me about my ‘mommy’ it hit a little close to home and I started crying. Linda came over beside me and whispered something into Amanda’s ear. Amanda looked up to her mother then back to me, then quickly scampered off.

“Sorry,” I said, “I don’t know what came over me.”

Linda sat down beside me, “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

I laughed bitterly, “It’s this damn period.” I replied then realized Harry was still in the room. I turned to look at him, he looked a bit surprised and uncomfortable as well. I turned back to Linda, “God, I hate this. At least when I had Megan around I felt like maybe being a girl wasn’t so bad.”

Linda put her hand on my shoulder reassuringly , “Being a girl isn’t so bad. There are some advantages you may not see them now, but you’ll come to see soon.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said tears still streaming down my face.

It wasn’t much later when the twins arrived home. They came running up the stairs to greet their parents. Amanda reappeared then climbed up beside me and almost immediately fell asleep. A woman stepped through the door followed by a boy about the age of the twins. Linda sat up and went to talk to the woman. In short order, the woman and her son were gone. Then, Harry introduced the twins and I to each other.

“Brandon, Cory,” he said, “This is Calista. She’s your half-sister.”

I couldn’t yet tell the twins apart, but the one in the red shirt spoke, “Half-sister? How come we never met her?”

Harry then explained that when he had still lived in Clearville and before he’d undergone his twist, he met a girl who he had strong feelings for. That he and her had lost contact with one another after he had left Clearville. He explained how the girl had had a child that he had been unaware of. Then he told them how I had come to them last night and finding out that I was his daughter.

The twins both looked at me then back to each other. I could tell the twins didn’t know quite what to think of me. My introduction to Amanda had been much easier, but Amanda was three years old and accepted anything so long as she could understand it. I tried to talk with them each time trying out different subjects, but each time I was met with blank stares and silence. Try as I might I couldn’t win them over.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to leave for my appointment at the Spiral Clinic. Harry and I left, leaving Linda to watch over the kids. A short drive later and we had reached the clinic. After a short wait I went in with the doctor and Harry followed.

The doctor was a middle aged man who had green hair otherwise he looked completely normal, he
held out his hand for us to shake, “I’m Dr. Clark. So had our twist have we?”

I nodded, “Yeah, it came as a real surprise.”

The doctor nodded, “So I take it you weren’t aware you were twisted.” I nodded again and explained how I had come to Spiral after having run away from home.

The doctor asked me about my medical history. I told him everything I knew, though I was hardly ever sick so I didn’t have much to tell at least nothing I could remember. He asked me if I’d had a period since my twist.

“Yeah, I’m having one right now. My first actually.” I said feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Your first period?” the Dr. Clark said incredulously, “A girl your age should have had her first period years ago.”

I blushed furiously, “Well, I was a boy before my twist.”

The doctor merely nodded and continued asking questions. He asked me all kinds of questions some seemed a little personal, but I could see how he might need to know the answers. He asked me if I’d exhibited any tricks.

“Yeah,” I said, “I can can morph my clothes and change them into a different outfit.”

The doctor smiled, “I could see that being very useful.”

He took my blood pressure, heart rate, tested my reflexes, and few other things. All of which he said were excellent although he did note that my reflexes were much better than average. He did a physical examination of my ears, horns and my hands. He noted my extra digits on each hand, and muttered something about polydactyl digits. Then he asked Harry to leave and I was told to undress.

I felt a little uncomfortable undressing, but I figured he was a doctor and was accustomed to seeing people naked. So I pulled my shoes and socks off then stripped off the rest of my clothes.

Dr. Clark asked me to lay on an examination table with a top that flipped down like a tanning bed. He told me to hold perfectly still then lower the lid of bed over me. The bed hummed weirdly and emitted a eerie purple light. After about five minutes, the doctor raised the bed and told me I could get dressed then turned his attention to a computer screen.

Shortly after I was dressed. The doctor let Harry back in and he discussed with us the details of my
exam.

“Well you are one healthy young woman.” He said, “You’re completely female. You could more than likely become pregnant if you wanted to. There were a few abnormalities. First, you have a thin layer of anomalous tissue surrounding the Epimysium, a fibrous tissue that covers your muscles.”

“So I have something wrapped around my muscles and you have no idea what it is?” I replied.

The doctor nodded, “More or less. I believe it has something to do with your twist. I don’t believe its anything to worry about in any case. Have you experienced any strange physical anomalies?”

I thought for a moment, then my flashed by to my fight with Jeff Goldwin, and the fight with that guy at the gas station. “Well, I seem to have these spurts of strength.”

“What do you mean by spurts of strength?” Dr Clark asked.

I skipped over the fight with Jeff and describe the fight with the guy at the gas station and how I had
been able to beat him.

“Interesting,” the doctor muttered, “I would guess the anomalous tissue surrounding your Epimysium is more than likely the source of these spurts of strength. I would like to consult with Dr. Foster, one of our experts on tricks, before you go in to speak with her. ”

I raised my eyebrows, “I’m seeing another doctor?”

Dr. Clark nodded, “It’s normal procedure for an individual who has undergone his or her twist to see three doctors. One does a physical exam, another is a specialist on tricks, the other is a psychiatrist that helps to determine the patients mental state.”

“The second abnormality has to do with your eyes,” he said, “I’ve never seen anything quite like them, the way the color shifts like that, but judging from your scan I think it’s likely you can see in the dark.”

I thought back to the night I had fled Clearville, I had been able to see quite well in the dark. I hadn’t thought of it much since then. “Your ears seem to be pretty close to the normal human range, despite their resemblance to cat ears.” he continued, “Your hearing is likely slightly more sensitive than it was before, but only just barely.

“Oh, there is one more thing.” He added, “I think under your circumstances it would be advisable to have a paternity test done.”

“A paternity test?” I asked, “How accurate will that be with the extent of my changes?”

Dr. Clark smiled, “More accurate than you might think. When a person undergoes a twist much of their genetic structure is changed, but many of the genetic markers that we look for in a paternity test remain unchanged.”

Harry interjected then, “You know you don’t have to do this if you’re not comfortable.”

I nodded, “I know, but I want to. This will remove any doubt.”

Harry nodded, “What exactly does this entail?”

The doctor shrugged, “I swab the inside of your mouths and then the samples are sent into the lab for comparison.”

“Alright,” Harry said, “Let’s get this over with.”

The doctor walked over to a cupboard and produced two little packets. He tore the first open and produced what looked like a single tipped Q-tip and then swabbed the inside of my cheek. Then he placed the swab inside a plastic bag. Then he did the same to Harry.

We waited in the the exam room for a few minutes then the doctor returned. When the doctor returned Harry left to go back and wait in the lobby. Then the doctor asked me to follow him and I found myself in another exam room with a really hot looking blonde female doctor who looked to be in her thirties. “Hi, I’m Dr. Foster, but you can call me Janet. I hear you have a trick, and you might have another” she smiling.

I nodded, “Yeah.”

She smiled again, “Would you like to show me?”

I agreed, then I closed my eyes and cleared my mind, when I felt the familiar tingling sensation. I willed my clothes to change. My clothes shifted on my body, my shirt shifted into a white t-shirt and the built in bra shifted into a real bra then my pants shifted into a black skirt my socks stretched out to become white knee highs and my shoes shifted into a pair of black low heels.

The doctor seemed impressed, “That’s one trick I’d love to have.” then she continued, “It says here you were a boy before your twist. I think judging from your choice in clothes you’ve had some mental changes as well.”

I nodded, “Yeah, it’s weird. I feel like I don’t even know myself.”

Janet smiled and nodded in understanding, “Yeah, my personality changed quite a bit when I went through my twist.”

“So how did this trick manifest itself?” Janet asked me.

I told her how Mr. Hails had wanted me to try seeing if I had a trick and how I had discovered that I could change my clothes.

She nodded, “And how exactly do you feel when you use your trick?”

I shrugged, “I feel sort of tingly allover almost like I did when I went through my twist, but not quite as intense.” I said.

“Dr. Clark believes you may have a second trick, and that it may have something to do with some unusual tissue that surrounds your muscles. Why don’t you tell me about this second trick?” she said.

I repeated the story of my fight with the big doofus at the gas station, once again omitting my encounter with Jeff Goldwin. “I think Dr. Clark suspicions are correct.” she said after I finished my story, “I’d like to run some tests and see if we can’t find something out.”

She guided me over to an exam table she attached some sensors to my skin and ran some scans. She had me use my trick to change my clothes several times. By the time I was done I was wearing a short purple dress that was the same shade of purple as my hair, and a pair of tall black boots that went up almost to my knee. I learned later they were called wedge boots. Then she had me concentrate like I did when I used my trick, and as usual I felt the tingling. Then she had me think of of the man from the gas station. Nothing seemed to happen.

She tried a number of other things until finally she found something that seemed to elicit a response. She had me think back to the incident with the big fellow and think about how I felt when he first approached me. I had been afraid. She told me to focus on that fear and imagine as if it were happening again. Almost immediately I could tell something was different I felt on edge like something bad was going to happen and I needed to prepare for it.

“I’m reading some interesting activity,” Janet said, “How do you feel?”

I breathed deeply, “Weird and on edge.”

She walked over to a closet and pulled out some kind of dummy. Then she had me get up and start pounding on the dummy. I knocked the dummy around as if it were a rag-doll. After a few minutes of that, she had me lift the exam table. I easily lifted it then gently set it back down.

“Very interesting,” Janet said finally, “How do you feel now?”

“I still feel a bit on edge,” I said, “but it’s starting to fade.”

The doctor examined her display for a moment, then she turned back to me, “I’d say this ability to call on strength as you did, is in fact a second trick as Dr. Clark suspected, but its also a physical characteristic of your new body. Without the unusual tissue surrounding your muscles I don’t think you’d be able to call on your strength. When you use your trick you call on the quantum field it then in turn produces an electrical field inside your body that activates the tissue, and somehow acts to temporarily enhance your strength.”

Janet sighed, “The main issue here is going to be control. If you can’t control your trick you could potentially cause unintended harm to others or perhaps even yourself. I would talk to the psychiatrist first and get her opinion, but it might be a good idea for you to try yoga or perhaps even martial arts. Yoga could help you learn control over your emotions, so that you won’t unintentionally use your strength. Many martial arts have a meditative aspect to them which could help you as well.”

I winced a bit when she mentioned me causing unintended harm. Thankfully she didn’t seem to notice. I nodded to everything she said indicating agreement.

She smiled again, “Well, I think I’m done with you, for now. I would like to see you again in a couple weeks. If you want to follow me, I can show you to Dr. Manfield’s office.”

I nodded, then stood up and followed her out of the room, down a couple hallways, and to a room with a closed door. Janet knocked on it and a middle aged woman appeared at the door, they exchanged greeting and Janet introduced me to Dr Manfield.

Dr. Manfield invited me in, but before she offered me a seat she said, “I’d like to start you off with a personality test. She pulled out a seat in the corner where a computer sat atop a small desk. “If you’d please sit here and answer all the questions as truthfully as you can. There are no right or wrong answers.”

Once, I sat down and started answering the questions on the computer the doctor disappeared from the room. The test was pretty long and had all kinds of weird questions that seemed pretty silly, but I answered them all the best I could until finally I was done. I sat there a few minutes waiting for the doctor return. After about five minutes she returned, then I waited a little bit longer as she studied the results of the test.

When she was done looking at the results, she smiled from across the room at me. “I don’t have anything to compare these results to, but I’m assuming you’ve experienced some changes in personality judging from your choice of clothing.”

I nodded, “Yeah.”

Dr. Mansfield scribbled something down on a notebook then she asked me another question, “I’d like you to describe some of the changes you’ve noticed in your personality.”

I told her how I liked to look hot, and how I liked to get attention because of it. I explained how I’d been much more emotional since my twist.

She nodded, “How long has it been since your twist.”

“I had my twist last Friday,” I said.

She asked me a bunch of questions, mostly about the details of my twist, how I felt about being female, and how I was dealing with the sudden changes. I told her the details of my twist and everything that had happened to me up to coming to Spiral. As I had the other times, I left out the part about Jeff Goldwin. I was still afraid what might happen if anyone found out I had killed him. I was afraid that Dr Mansfield, as trained psychiatrist,might be able to tell I was holding something back, but she gave no indication one way or the other.

She asked about my tricks and I told her everything I knew about how they worked. She agreed with Dr. Fosters recommendation that I try out yoga or martial arts. She thought martial arts might be the better choice, due to the nature of my trick. She even recommended a martial arts studio in town where I could receive one-on-one training.

We talked for a bit longer. Mostly about my feelings of rejection, first from my mother then the people of Clearville. Then we spoke about how I had been manipulated by Mr. Hails and how it made me feel. I cried quite a bit during this final part of the appointment. When the doctor was finally done questioning me she gave me a few kind words and few words of encouragement.

She looked down at her noted for a moment, “I’d like to speak with a parent.” she said then looked down at her noted, “It says here your father is Harry Turow.” she seemed pretty surprised by that. I got the feeling she new him, but she didn’t immediately say anything to confirm or deny my suspicions.

“Is he here?”she asked.

I nodded. She excused herself for a moment then returned with Harry.

“Harry,” I’d like to talk with you a minute about your daughter.

Harry gave her an odd look, “Is there something wrong?”

Dr. Mansfield shook her head, “No. Generally when I speak with a patient who has undergone their twist I like to speak with the parent so they can better help their child adjust to their changes. Although I must say I was surprised to learn that Calista was your child.”

Harry smiled ironically, “Yeah so was I.”

Dr. Mansfield, “I am a bit concerned about Calista. She’s had a great deal of emotional trauma since undergoing her twist. She has a strong resentment towards her mother and I believe she has numerous issues that need to be worked out.”

Harry nodded and sighed, “She has been through quite a bit.”

Dr Mansfield nodded, “I think she will benefit from the stable environment that I think you and your wife can provide.”

“As long as there is still a breath in my body I will do my best to make that happen,” Harry said.

Dr. Mansfield continued, “I am also concerned about Calista’s trick.”

“Her trick?” Harry asked, “You mean shifting her clothes? Is there some element of her trick I’m not aware of?”

Dr. Mansfield sighed, “I was referring to Calista’s second trick. Her ability to call upon tremendous spurts of strength for short periods of time.”

Harry bit his lip, “Is it that serious?”

“Yes and no. I think that if Calista doesn’t learn to control her trick, it could cause trouble for her. From the way she has described this trick, she just reacts to her fear when she feels she is in danger. If she were to get a false sense of danger she could mistakenly cause harm to another individual. One of our trick specialists recommended martial arts as a possibility to help her to learn control over her emotions. I happen to agree with her recommendation.” Dr. Mansfield said.

Harry sighed, “Martial arts, huh? I suppose that might help. I’ve heard certain types of martial arts practice meditation.”

Dr. Mansfield nodded and told him the dojo in town that she had recommended to me earlier. After a few more minutes of discussion most of which was more or less a recap, Harry and I were on our way out of the clinic after having made some follow up appointments with both Dr. Foster and Dr. Mansfield.

After a quiet dinner, Harry, the family, and I sat down in the front room. It had been a pretty awkward meal. Neither Brandon or Cory were very comfortable around me, and their unease had effused itself upon the enter family. It wasn’t until Harry suggested a family game night that the twins began to relax. Both enthusiastically agreed and in short order we were all joined in playing on the family’s Gamestation.

There weren’t enough controllers so we had to take turns. When Amanda’s turn came up we let her win. The twins on the other hand were another matter, they were quite competitive and seemed to dominate the game. So when it came my turn again, I decided to show them how a real gamer played. They were pretty good for kids their age, but I’d been gaming before either had been born and was able to defeat them pretty easily.

They got even more competitive after that and the next time it became our turn together I let them win by just a little bit. Gradually they opened up to me and we started joking with one another. By the time we were done playing, I think I had managed to win them over.

After a while Harry and Linda declared that it was time for bed. Linda guided the twins to their bedroom and Harry carried Amanda to her bedroom. Linda returned first, apparently Harry was reading Amanda a bedtime story and it would be sometime before he was done.

Linda smiled apologetically, “We really don’t have a place for you tonight. I hope the couch will be alright.”

“The couch is fine. I’ve slept in worse places.” I replied thinking back to the day I had passed out in the park.

Linda grabbed me a sheet to drape over the couch and a blanket. She whispered a goodnight and left me alone with my thoughts. I thought of Jeff Goldwin. Logic told me that I had killed him in self-defense and that it had been accident, but no matter how hard I tried to convince myself I couldn’t shake the feeling that it could have been avoided. The truth was I had killed a person and no matter how I tried to justify it I was still a murderer. I wept, sobbing silently so as not to wake anyone. I hated myself for killing Jeff, for leaving Megan and for being a freak. I could hardly live with myself.

I continued weeping in self pity my thoughts eventually leading to Megan. God I missed her so much. I wanted nothing so much as to be with her. It hurt so bad being away from her, but I knew also that she was much safer without me being around. I took some solace in that fact, it was the only thing that kept me going. I lay there for some time before I finally drifted off to sleep.

I was first up the following morning. I tried to go back to sleep, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t fall back asleep. I stumbled into the bathroom and relieved myself. After I washed up I decided to take a shower, but first I would need some clothes. After a trip outside to my car to grab some of my old boy clothes, I was back in the bathroom preparing for a shower.

Once, finished I morphed some of my old boy clothes into girl clothes. I started out by morphing a pair of shorts into a bra and matching pair of panties. Then I morphed a pair of jeans into a short black denim skirt and tight white sleeveless top with a neckline the exposed just a little bit of cleavage. I morphed a pair of socks into a pair of white knee highs and morphed my shoes from the previous day to match the ensemble.

Once done I headed back into the front room and switched the tv on, being careful to keep the volume down so not to wake anyone. It wasn’t long before Linda and Harry woke. We gave our good mornings then Harry left to go take a shower, and I helped Linda make breakfast. Harry returned shortly then we sat down to eat breakfast.

Harry smiled as we sat down to breakfast, “Calista, I’ve been thinking we should take you out today. I know with your trick that you don’t really need new clothes, but Linda and I were talking last night and she made me understand there are some things you might need as a girl.”

I stared back at him with a blank look. It was Linda that elaborated however, “Well I thought we could take you to the salon and get your hair cut for starters.” she said.

I reached up touching my hair, “Is it uneven?” I asked suddenly very concerned about how my hair looked.

“It just needs touched up a little,” Linda replied, “I thought you might want to stop by the mall as well.”

“Alright,” I said almost immediately regretting I had agreed to go.

Pretty soon Amanda, and the twins stumbled out of bed and ate breakfast. Soon afterward everyone save me and Harry took turns taking showers. Amanda being the last took a bath with Linda by her side. Once everything was said and done, we hung about the front room for a while then we all hopped into the families van. After dropping the twins off at a friends house, and Amanda at her cousins Linda, Harry and I were headed for the salon.

I followed Linda into the Salon with Harry taking up the rear. Once inside, Linda walked up to the counter and talked to the lady there. While Harry took a seat in a small waiting area, I was ushered onto a salon chair with Linda following closely behind.

A moderately attractive woman in her mid-twenties came up beside me, “Oh, wow,” she exclaimed, “You look unbelievable!”

I was a bit taken aback. I wasn’t exactly sure if her comment was meant as a compliment or an insult, but her next comment seemed to clarify “Very exotic. I think you look awesome.”

“Umm. Thanks?” I replied.

The woman smiled, “I’m Sally, I’ll be cutting your hair today.”

I gave her my name and she continued, “So I’m guessing this is your first haircut after your twist.”

I grimaced then nodded. “Well do you have anything in mind?” she said draping one of those cloths over me and then clipped it to me neck.

I hesitated not really sure what I really wanted. The part of me that was still male wanted her to cut it all off, but my feminine side was slowly becoming dominant and the idea of cutting my hair off seemed rather drastic. Especially since I wouldn’t look nearly as sexy. I was however getting sick of my long ass hair so I made a compromise between my two feuding selves. “This long hair is driving me nuts, I’d like it shorter.” I paused then said, “Maybe shoulder length.”

Sally looked rather distressed at this for some reason, but it was Linda who spoke first, “Calista it will take a long time to grow your hair out that long again. Are you sure you want to cut it that short?”

I nodded, “Do it.”

The hairdresser turned to Linda as if seeking her permission. They had a brief whispered conversation, Linda wandered off and then with a shrug, Sally began cutting my hair. I watched in the mirror as she began to clip long strands of hair away. Once she got my hair to the length I wanted she started trimming it to make it more even. When she was done she let me look in the mirror. It looked nice, but it just didn’t seem to fit me. It needed something.

“How do you like it?” Sally asked.

I grimaced, “It looks good, but it seems to be missing something.”

I motioned Linda over and she agree with my assessment, and suggested streaking my hair. It was something I had never even considered, but I knew the moment she suggested it that it was what I wanted. I grimaced inwardly I really didn’t want to spend much more time in the salon, but I also new that the feminine me would never be satisfied with my hair as it was. So with some trepidation I agreed.

I passed off to another lady who introduced herself as Wendy. I really didn’t spend much attention to the process, but it involved a weird looking comb that had a metal stick protruding from it, some aluminum foil, some hair clips and some colored goop. Wendy accidentally poked my ears a few times, but it didn’t hurt real bad so I didn’t say anything. When Wendy was finished, she had me look in the mirror. I couldn’t believe how different I looked. My hair was done up in small strands of my normal purple, pink and black. My hair had been styled with kind of choppy ends to give it a bit of a wild look. I looked hot as hell.

Wendy removed the cloth around me and I got out of the chair. I went with Linda to the counter and she paid. I couldn’t believe the price and felt guilty that she would spend so much on a such a simple thing as my hair. Linda however didn’t seem at all perturbed by the price. Once she paid, Harry got up from were he had been waiting and we were soon headed to the mall.

After we had arrived we strolled inside. I noticed almost immediately a huge difference in the attitude of the people towards me. While I did get a lot of looks my way, none of those who looked at me showed any hate or malice. A great many looked upon me with lust in their eyes, some of the girls gave me jealous glares, but there was no real malice in their eyes

Harry and I followed Linda through the mall, and after walking a short distance we stopped at a department store. I was beginning to feel a bit apprehensive, I was starting to get a good idea of what Linda was up to. My suspicions were confirmed when she led us straight to the makeup counter.

“Linda what are we doing here?” I asked feeling very uncomfortable.

Linda looked at me a bit apprehensively, “I thought you might like to try it out.”

A somewhat pretty middle-aged woman, with a name badge that said Candace, approached us from the other side of the counter, “Can I help you find anything?”

“I dunno, maybe,” I said with a gulp. I know it seemed silly especially since my experience at the hair salon, but I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of wearing cosmetics.

My apprehension was soon pushed aside when the Candace spoke. “My you are a very exotic beauty.”

She had pushed the right buttons. I blushed, “Thanks,” I said.

Linda smiled and said, “She just underwent her twist, she doesn’t know anything about cosmetics.”

Candace smiled sympathetically, “You poor thing. Come close here so I can take a look at you.”

I stepped forward a bit apprehensively and let the woman look at me. She grabbed hold of my chin and lightly traced her hands across my cheek. “You have beautiful skin. Which is fortunate, with your unusual skin color you’d be hard pressed to find foundation that would match your skin.” she said removing her hands from my face.

I had no idea what foundation was or why I would need it, but I nodded nonetheless. At that point, I was hanging on every word Candace said. Damn my twist. As my interest started to fade again, she managed to draw me back in. She recommended some eye makeup to draw attention to my “beautiful eyes”.

It didn’t take too long for her to convince me to consent to a makeover. She had only to complement my looks and I would do just about anything to enhance that beauty. She started by applying some make up around my eyes, first with a brush then with a little pencil. When she was done with that she got out of one of those metal things that curl eyelashes. Once she had used the curler on my eyes, she applied mascara with a brush.

When she was done with everything she gave me a mirror to look at myself. I had to admit, the eye makeup really accentuated my eyes. She had used some light colored purple eyeshadow above my eyes. The makeup wasn’t very dark, and had been only lightly applied. Nevertheless it had done its job and drawn attention to my eyes.

Candace smiled, “Now doesn’t that look nice?”

I nodded and smiled in return.

Candace then suggested applying some blush. I agreed, and she brushed some purplish power onto my cheeks. Finally, I allowed Candace to apply some lip stain and gloss to my lips and she was at last done. I looked myself over in the mirror again and was blown away.

I looked so feminine I couldn’t hardly believe it was me. Before, I had been beautiful, with the cosmetics and the new hairdo I looked even more so. After listening to a few beauty tips from Candace, Linda picked out some cosmetics for me and paid for them. Like at the Salon, I couldn’t believe how much they had cost. I felt guilty all over again.

As we made our way out of the store I happened to cast my gaze behind me. I thought I caught site of a familiar face. Within a word to Harry or Linda, I turned around and made my way through the crowd. I walked only a short distance, when I caught sight of a girl with familiar looking blonde tresses. I got closer then I called out her name, “Allison.”

The girl with the blond hair turned and I knew instantly that I had been right. It was Allison. Shock and recognition registered on Allison’s face. “Callie?” she said, “What are you doing here?”

I stood there a moment not really sure what to say. I had never expected to to find Allison here in Spiral, certainly not so soon after I had fled Clearville. I knew she lived here in Spiral, but it had never really occurred to me that we might one day meet again. “I couldn’t continue to endanger Megan. Spiral was the most obvious place for me to go. ” I said finally.

Allison rolled her eyes, “Whatever.”

It was the kind of reaction I had come to expect from Allison, but despite that her response still managed to make me feel guilty. “Is Megan here, in town?” I asked.

Allison shrugged, “And if she is?”

I frowned, “Allison, please. I need to know.”

Allison rolled her eyes again, “Yes she’s here in town. You didn’t really expect after what happened that Uncle John and Megan would be able to stay in that God-awful town do you?”

It really hadn’t thought about it. I had just assumed that with me gone, things would have gotten better. Apparently that wasn’t the case. “Where is she?” I asked.

Allison sighed, “Just chill out. She’s at my parents house. ”

I hesitated then. I was afraid what the answer to my next question was going to be. Would Megan welcome me back into her life, after I had left her. I had to know in no matter what the answer might be. I forced myself to speak, “How is she?”

Allison grimaced, “Oh, god she’s so annoying. The little tramp keeps going on and on about you. Even after I gave her a makeover and she went through her twist. She’s still going on about you.” She said.

“Wait,” I said, “She went through her twist?”

Allison nodded, “Yeah, she’s obsessed with fashion and make up now. She looks a little different too. Speaking of makeovers what’s the deal with the hair and makeup?”

I shook my head, “Never mind that now. Can you take me there?”

“Take you where?” a voice said from behind nearly scaring me half to death. I turned around to face the owner of the voice, it was Harry.

“Harry, this is Allison.” I said motioning toward Allison, “Allison this is my father Harry.” I added motioning back at Harry.

“The same Allison that’s a cousin to that Megan girl?” Harry asked.

I nodded, “She says Megan’s here in town.”

Harry pursed his lips, “Go to her.” he said, “Don’t let her slip away.”

“Thanks,” I said then I turned back to Allison, “Will you take me to her?”

Allison glared at me, “Oh, god you don’t give up. Fine, I’ll take you to her.” she said then without another word she turned back around and started heading the opposite way she had been walking. I followed her out the mall and to a little convertible parked near the entrance to the mall.

Allison let me in the car and we drove clear across town. On the way I tried to engage Allison in conversation, but she didn’t seem very interested. Her responses were often sarcastic snide comments, so I gave up talking to her. When we finally arrived we were in what looked to be a more wealthy part of town in the hills.

I sat there in the car seat as Allison turned off the car. What would I say? I had abandoned Megan, and I didn’t if she would forgive me. How would she react when she saw me? Would it be with arms wide open or would she reject me? I didn’t know, Megan had always been prone to impulsive acts. She was just as likely to kiss me as attack me.

“Ugh,” Allison growled, “Would you just get out of the damn car already?”

I looked to Allison and noted that she was standing beside the drivers side of the car. In my reverie I hadn’t even noticed that she had gotten out of the car. I got out of the car, and followed Allison to the door. She opened the door and I followed her inside.

“Allison honey, I didn’t expect you home this soon.” A man said who was sitting on a nearby sofa.

“Yeah well, I was expecting to run into Calista here.” Allison said with a sigh and pointed her thumb back at me.

A figure appeared in the doorway of the adjoining room. It took me a minute for the face to register, but when it did I realized it was Megan. Her twist had subtly changed her face, and it had taken me a moment to recognize her. Add to the fact that she was wearing makeup, a skirt and a pair of high heeled shoes, which was so unlike the Megan I had known so long, it was no wonder I hadn’t initially recognized her.

Megan simply stood there staring at me for a moment, then she muttered my name and walked over to face me. Then she did something that really surprised me, though it wasn’t really out of character for Megan. It was just the sort of impulsive thing that Megan would do. She balled her hand into a fist and punched me across the face. I staggered back a bit and I could feel my trick starting to surface. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. It didn’t work that well, but I managed to not hit anything.

Megan grabbed hold of the collar of my shirt, and I feared she was going to hit me again. Instead, she kissed me. The kiss was passionate and filled with anger, but was also filled with deep desire. We broke away and then I kissed her back.

“Idiot,” Megan growled after we had broken our second kiss, “What were you thinking?”

I looked at her as shame washed over me. I had been telling myself I had left to protect Megan, but that was a lie. I had left for my own selfish reason I had left because I was afraid. “After what happened with Jeff I couldn’t stay. I was afraid.”

Megan looked at me blankly then realization seemed to dawn in her eyes, “That was you? I don’t get it why would beating up Jeff Goldwin make you want to run away?”

I stared at her confused what was she talking about? “Jeff’s dead Megan. I killed him.”

Megan shook her head, “What? No, he’s alive and annoying as ever.”

I couldn’t believe it all this time I had thought I’d killed Jeff and much to my surprise, and he was still alive. “Oh, thank god!” I exclaimed.

“You really thought you killed Jeff?” Megan asked.

I nodded a feeble expression on my face, “It’s this second trick I have.” I said. “I have a hard time controlling it.” Megan looked confused so I explained about my second trick and how it worked.

“Jeff claimed he was attacked by a gang of thugs,” Megan said, “I guess his male pride wouldn’t let him admit he got beat up by girl.”

“I guess so,
” I agreed. Then I added, “Megan I should never have left. It was stupid.”
“Yes, it was.” she said and she kissed me again.

More than a month later, I was applying makeup in front of the mirror in my newly finished bedroom. Previously it had been part of the unfinished basement, but after I had stayed a few days with my new family, it had become quickly evident I needed my own room. So a portion of the basement had emptied out then walls had been put up and then the new room was painted, carpeted and gradually furnished.

I was getting ready in preparation for my date with Megan. It was her turn to drive and she wasn’t due for another half-hour, but I wanted to be ready when she arrived. Megan had forgiven me just a few nights ago, though I still hadn’t managed to forgive myself for abandoning her. After everything that had happened, I had been feeling undeserving of Megan. When I had tried to break things off with her, Megan had told me to stop being stupid and kiss her. So, I had dedicated myself to making sure Megan would never suffer heartache on my account again.

Then there was my life with my new family. My new life with them had been wonderful, especially when it came to Amanda. I don’t know how I could ever gotten through my dark times without her bright and shiny disposition. She was constantly giving me new reasons to laugh, and I loved her to death. She was the little sister I never knew I wanted, but now that I had her I wouldn’t trade her in for all the world.

The twins and I didn’t get along so well sometimes. Sometimes they treated me as if I didn’t really belong there. Part of it was my age, and another was my gender. Despite the fact I was a boy before my twist they didn’t know how to behave around me. Despite all my attempts we were never able to really bridge the gap between us. The only time we came close to doing so was when we were gaming against each other.

Harry, was starting to become the father I had always wanted. He and I had begun to bond and I was even considering starting to call him dad. The paternity test had come back positive, and proved without a doubt that Harry was in fact my father. Harry had even seemed relieved when the results of the test had come in his favor. Had they come back negative I don’t know where I would have gone or what I would have done.

I was growing close to Linda as well. She had stepped into the role of the surrogate mother and helped through some pretty hard times. She had even helped me embrace my femininity and become more confident in myself. At first I had resisted some of her efforts, but had quickly come to realize I liked my new found feminine self. After that I had come to accept her and now welcomed any advice she had to give.

Then there was my martial arts training, I had started the week following my reunion with Megan and I really believed it was helping. I was starting to enjoy the time I spent at the dojo. I struggled about with the meditative parts of my training, but it was time well spent if it meant controlling my trick.

All in all I couldn’t complain with my new life. I looked myself over in the mirror again. It had taken me quite a lot of practice and a little help from Linda, but I had learned how to correctly apply cosmetics. I’d tried a number of different combinations, but the one I favored was very similar to the combination the lady at the makeup counter had tried on me. The main difference was that I used pink blush which closely matched the color of pink in my hair.

Once I was done I picked out a silver necklace from my jewelry box. It had an amethyst gemstone set in a silver pendant. I undid the clasp then I reattached the clasp once the the necklace was around my neck. The necklace had been the first I had bought with my own money. It had taken some doing, but I managed to convince Harry to give me a job at one of his restaurants. It came in handy for buying jewelry, cosmetics and purses since my trick didn’t seem to extend to any of the three. Of course, that didn’t account for all my spending I was still an avid gamer and I needed money for my dates with Megan.

I looked over myself again, and smiled. I looked hot as hell, and I knew Megan would agree. I started out my bedroom and began my way up the stairs. It was then that the bell rang. In all likelihood it was Megan. Eagerly, I made my way the rest of the way up the stairs and reached the door. As I had guessed it was indeed Megan.

She kissed me deeply on the lips and I thought then that maybe I could spend the rest of my life with Megan. I returned her kiss then I followed her out the door and we left on our way to what could be a very bright future.

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