I'm really excited to post my new story! Definitely rated T for language, violence, and abuse...especially in the first few chapters. But I hope you guys like it.

I don't own anything other than the OC's I put into this fic.

Prologue:

A Stormy Night

(5 years ago)

Thunder rumbled lowly across the sky while the heavy rain fell down from the heavens, sliding down from outside objects and sinking its way into the earth. The clouds had completely covered the sky, casting a murky gloom on everything below.

I sat by the warm glow of the fireplace, my legs pulled up to my chest, and balancing on my knees was a copy of A Tale of Two Cities. Right across from me was my twin brother, Noah, who chewed on popcorn loudly as he stared at the horror movie playing across the screen.

I was at the part of where Carton admitted his true feelings for Lucie, when a blood-curling scream pierced my ears.

I shot Noah an annoyed glare from over the top of my novel. "Really?"

"What?" Noah said with a shrug, he momentarily stopped gazing at the TV to smirk down at me, "Did it scare you?"

I rolled my eyes, "No. But would it kill you to turn it down?"

"It's a horror thriller movie, Noe. I can't get the thrills if I can't hear what they're saying." Noah countered.

I raised an eyebrow, lowering my book for a moment, "I thought you said you hated this movie."

"I do," Noah replied, dipping his hand into the popcorn bowl, "But this godforsaken storm is interfering with the channels with good horror movies."

As if on cue, the thunder rumbled lowly in the sky again. It sent an odd shiver up my spine, and it left an even stranger feeling in my stomach. Something about this storm didn't sit right with me, and I couldn't help but think no good would come out of it.

"Noah," I said slowly, he glanced back at me, "Do you feel...like something bad is going to happen?"

At first, there was nothing but silence as thunder rolled in the sky again.

Then he chuckled softly, shaking his shaggy black curls, "It's just a storm, Noe. They said it should be over in a few hours. Wait...you're not really scared, are you?"

Embarrassed, I looked away and grumbled, "Shut up."

He snickered, and then glued his gaze back onto the terrible movie.

I snuggled closer to the fireplace, taking comfort in the warmth that radiated while the dark, cold storm played all around us. I raised my book again, moving my finger to turn the page. . .

. . . And that's when it happened.

One moment, we were content and comfortable. And the next, the roof came crashing down, and with it, brought the pouring rain. I was thrown against the wall from the impact, and it knocked the breath out of me.

I coughed as the dust cleared. The fire was out and it was cold and dark. Lightning crackled against the sky, flashing enough light so that I could see Noah's body lying beneath some rubble.

"Noah!" I screamed, shakily running over to him. I lifted him slightly, checking his neck for a pulse. "Noah? Noah! Can you hear me?!"

"Noelle," He muttered softly, his face covered in dust, and a thin red scratch ran along his forehead.

"Oh thank God you're okay," I cried out in relief, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him out with all my strength.

Once he came free, we both toppled back to the ground, and my head buzzed with pain as it collided on to the broken table. Groans echoed from both of us, but was drowned out by another low rumble of thunder, that seemed to shake the floorboards.

"What...what the hell just happened?!" I said, staring at the large, gaping hole in our roof.

"I don't know," Noah said, shaking his head, "I think something's attacking us!"

My eyes widened, "M-Mom...mom and Dad! They were upstairs!"

Both of us rose shakily to our feet, and ran around the wreckage that was once our living room. I ran up the stairs, and turned a corner to where our parent's bedroom lay. A strangled cry of relief came out of my as I went to throw open the door, but was jerked backwards at the last second.

Another ear-splitting explosion rocked the house, and I was thrown against the opposite wall. Strong arms wrapped around me, they were Noah's arms as they held me back.

"Get off me!" I yelled, thrashing in his grip, "What the hell are you doing?! We got to get them out before-"

"Shh." He snapped harshly, covering my trembling lips with his hand.

There was a silence, a long awful silence as he strained his neck to listen for something. I was far beyond anguished, tears already slipping down my cheeks as more rain drenched us. Suddenly, a large metal claw appeared in the second gaping hole. I shrieked into Noah's hand as another metal claw appeared, both digging into the roof and creating a terrifying screeching sound.

And then, the roof was completely gone. A dark figure was looking down at us, the roof of our home had been tossed aside as if it was a balled up piece of paper. My blood ran cold in terror and dread as I stared into the burning, crimson eyes of the metallic creature hovering before us.

Lightning flashed again in the sky, lighting up more of its features, and my heart jumped into my throat as the creature snarled lowly.

"N-Noah," I whimpered, tears still running down my cheeks.

He held me tighter, and I gripped the arm that was covering my mouth, silently praying the thing hadn't detected us yet. But its frightening eyes looked darted right onto us, and snarled out something in a series of clicks and whirrs.

A large spiky hand reached down, it's claws grasping my right leg and yanking me up along with it. I screamed, as I was pulled out of Noah's grip, and dangled in the air, coming closer to the creature's face.

"Noelle! No!" I heard Noah's distant scream.

My terrified, wide eyes stared into those burning crimson ones, and I began to sob. He reached down, dragging Noah up along as well. I screamed as we were carried, farther and farther away from our home. And away from our parents.

I screamed as we both dangled from one leg in the metallic creature's tight grip, it's sharp claws nearly breaking through the skin. I screamed as the thunder rumbled even louder than before, and the lightning crackled across the sky like macabre branches.

I screamed and screamed, until the blood went to my head, and slipped into darkness.

(Present)

My eyes snapped open, and I shot up on my knees. My heart was beating hard in my chest, and I wiped the sweat that formed on my face, matting my messy curls to my forehead. My breaths came out heavy and ragged, as I stared up at the dark ceiling. All I could think about was the crackle of thunder and lightning, the smell of dust, the dense pitter-patter of the rain, and the blood-curling screams that tore from our throats as were were being taken from our homes, and into the stormy night.

A hoarse cry bubbled up my throat, as my hands covered my face. Arms wrapped around me instantly, embracing me and gently rocked me back and forth as I sobbed.

"You're here Noe," A familiar voice whispered softly in my ear, "It's not real, you were dreaming. You're here, I promise you..."

"Mom...Dad," I wheezed, shaking my head frantically. Something burned in my stomach, and I felt like throwing up.

"You're okay Noe." Noah continued to whisper, "I swear, it was just a dream-"

"Can you shut her up?" An irritated voice snapped, and both of us looked up at the rising heads sitting up on their beds on the other side of the dark room.

A raggedy man with a graying beard glared at us, "We don't have a lot of damn time to rest. And if she keeps shouting, she's gonna get us all punished!"

"Those robots can heard a pin drop!" A woman spoke up, her eyes widened, "What if they heard her? Oh, they're going to kill us!"

"Not if we silence her first." Another man growled.

"Leave her alone," Noah snarled at them, "She's only nineteen! She can't help herself, she had a nightmare!"

"All of us have nightmares!" The man with the beard snapped.

The door to our cell opened, and we all winced as it filled the large, dark room with blinding light. Gasps filled the room as all of the people on their tattered beds, sprinted away from the light, hiding in the shadows as if the light would burn them.

"Since you all seem to be in a talkative mood, you can start your shift early. Out of bed squishes!" A sharp, robotic voice snapped.

I slowly pulled away from my brother. Noah was reluctant to move from the bed, even as the others began slipping off and scrambling to the opening where the robot waited impatiently. I wasn't oblivious to the dark looks some of them shot me on the way, but I didn't care about them.

I looked back at Noah, "Thank you."

"I would kill them all before I let them hurt you." Noah said, his voice filled with unquestionable determination of the dark promise.

I shook my head, pulling some of my matted curls behind my ear, "I meant for the nightmare."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" He asked worriedly.

I nodded silently.

"Did I not make myself clear to you fragging squishies?" The robot's voice growled "Get out of the room, now!"

I didn't even flinch at the shout, but I did slip on my old, weary boots, just as Noah finished tying his. Quickly we both exited out through the door, and into the hell our life became five years ago.

I yelped as I was unexpectedly picked up off the ground, and stared directly into fiery red optics of one of Megatron's soldiers.

The Decepticons. This one was a Seeker, I could tell from the long wings attached to his back.

"You think you can sit around and get away with it?" Skywarp sneered, gripping my waist so tightly.

"No sir! I didn't mean to, please forgive m-" My sentence was cut off when he squeezed tighter, and I found myself coughing and wheezing for air.

"Stop!" Noah called out, catching his attention.

"You dare interrupt me?" Skywarp snarled, only squeezing me tighter. Dark spots appeared before my eyes, and my chest burned for oxygen.

"Please, sir! It was my fault we were late, not hers!"

Skywarp paused for a moment, his crimson gaze turning back to me while I still wheezed for air. A few more moments of burning agony, before he loosened his grip, and I swallowed as much air as I could.

"You're lucky I allowed your pathetic existence to continue." Skywarp growled lowly, lowering me only half-way, before dropping me.

I rolled with the impact, ignoring the pain that raced up my side as I pushed myself back up. Skywarp turned around and began walking through the hall of the tunnel, and the others followed him, tossing smirks our way. Noah and I were the last to follow, both of us gripping each other's hands tightly.

Being enslaved to the Decepticons for so long had taught me to deal and mask the pain. If there was one thing the robots couldn't stand, it was showing any signs of weakness. So I hid the small limp as best as I could, dragging my dirty, worn out boots against the dirt.

I also did my best not to look at a poor young woman, who was crying loudly as her husband was executed right in front of her.

I tried my hardest not to grimace, as the woman's shirt was torn off, and was forced to endure fifty lashes by another one of our kind. And I did my best not to scowl as the man in charge of whipping her laughed maniacally.

We passed many other groups of disheveled humans, all following their Decepticon masters. None of us said anything, because we'd most likely be shot if we did. We just eyed each other, silently acknowledging our misery, and continued to walk.

We walked until the stuffy air turned even thicker, with an underlying smell of sulfur. The brightly lit halls of the underground tunnels got dimmer as we went, and finally we came to an opening of a cave. Hundreds of humans weld hammers and axes, hitting against the walls of the large cave. Today, our shift was to mine Energon, so those beasts could continue functioning.

Noah and I were in line waiting for our tools, watching as the robots on guard snarled at the humans to dig fasters. We watched as an sick, frail man dropped his axe, and a Decepticon by the name of Barricade ripped his arm off because of it.

I looked away, my burning stomach not being able to take much more.

"We can't keep living like this," Noah muttered, so quietly that I could barely hear him.

I eyed him from the corner of my vision, "What else can we do, Noah? Escape is futile. The punishment is death."

"That's only if you get caught."

I froze, my fingers only inches away from the cold metal of the axe. I turned to look at him, my eyes widened, "What are you trying to say?" I looked around for a moment, before lowering my voice, "People have actually gotten out of here alive?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Noah started off, "But think, when was the last time you saw Hugo Sanders?"

I knew exactly when.

"Think about it. If he had been caught, his execution would've been public."

I bit my lip, turning back around to pick up the axe. I didn't need to look up and see the calculation running through Noah's mind.

He had a plan.

Sorry, it's a bit grim at first for a prologue. Hope to hear your reviews!

- SeaKissed140