Chapter 7

"Why would you do that to somebody?" he demanded, disgusted by her words. Didn't she care what could happen to him? Of course not.

"Because I need you to do something for me and I know you won't do it willingly," she replied. "I have to make sure you get me what I want and actually bring it back instead of pulling a double cross."

He didn't get it. "But why me?" he demanded.

"Well for one thing I like the way you taste," she replied. The expression on her face changed and a mad light lit up in her optics. "You're different then the others and for another, when I find something fascinating like you, I enjoying making it suffer."

"So I'm just a toy?" he asked in disgust.

Shadowstar shrugged carelessly. "You could say that. But I prefer to call it something else." she said. "By the way. How much pain can you endure?"

"Why?"

"The transformation is painful," she explained, smiling slightly. "I wouldn't want it to kill you."

Prowl stared at her, her face lit up with pleasure at the thought of his pain. This femme was crazy! "What exactly do you want me to get for you anyway?" he wanted to know, changing the subject. He didn't want to hear anymore about her obsession with others pain.

She leaned against the wall, lifting something and tapping it against her teeth. Prowl saw it was one of his throwing stars. "I didn't tell you, did I?" she asked, thoughtfully. "What I want... is that key."

He didn't know what she was talking about. "What key?" he asked.

She glared at him. "Don't think I'm stupid, Autobot," she growled at him. "The key the fleshling has. I saw her using it to fix you. I don't know how it was able to do that, but I want it."

He didn't understand. What could she possibly need Sari's key for. "Why?"

She looked away again, tapping the edge of the throwing star against her teeth. It made a slight dinging noise. "What else would I need it for?" she asked as if the answer should be obvious. "I want to use it on myself."

Well that was unexpected. Prowl said nothing, remembering what Ratchet had said about energy vampires having incomplete sparks. Prowl knew that Sari's key could bring transformers back to life when they were dead so completing a spark couldn't be too hard to do. "You want to use it to complete your spark, don't you?"

"Ding! Ding! That is correct, give him a prize," she said sarcastically. She turned her body to face him better. "What other use would I have for it? Dinner? It probably doesn't even taste good." she tossed the throwing star in her hand. "I'd go after the key myself, but I prefer doing this the easiest way so I don't have to waste energy. "

Of course not. "By forcing me to do it," he finished.

She smiled down at him encouraged by his progress. "Now you're getting it."

Like he'd ever do such a thing. "What makes you think I will do that, even after I become like you?" he asked her. "You said I'll become mindless."

She gave him a look as if he was stupid. "It's called a "mental link"," she replied, licking the end of the star. "By concentrating on your energy signal I can establish a link with your processor and become your master. You might be a mindless drone but you'll be an obedient drone." she smiled again at the thought. and you'll do everything I say..

He yanked on the chain again, trying to break loose. That was the last thing he would do. She watched him without comment, enjoying his pathetic attempts at getting away. "What do you plan on doing if you get away?' she finally asked. "Even if you return to the others right now that virus will still transform you."

He ignored her. Whether it did or not at least, if he was with the others, they could do something about it for him. Maybe Ratchet knew of a cure?

"And even if you could get loose you wouldn't get very far," she added.

He stopped and looked at her. "Why not?"

"Because you're still low on energy," she replied, pushing herself away from the wall. "I drained most of it, remember? There isn't even enough left for you to break that chain. If you were at full power, it would be easy but you're not and you won't be any time soon." she stepped into the shadows. "Unless..."

He saw something glowing in the darkness. It was a purple-ish pink color and looked very famliar. Energon?

She returned with the glowing item. Now he could see that it was indeed energon but why did she have it? She was a vampire. She couldn't even drink Energon. She seemed to read the question in his face. "This is for when my spark is completed," she answered his unspoken question. "All my life I've wanted be given the chance to be able to take this the way I'm supposed to but so far...." she shook her head. "It's not important. Of course I know you can take it the proper way and I might even give it to you......" she laughed at herself. "That's if you can take it from me." she tossed it up and down in her hand. "Do you want it?"

No, he didn't want it. He didn't know what she might have done to it. For all he knew she could have put something in it.

When he didn't reply she frowned and turned away from him. "I shouldn't waste this on you," she commented, looking at the purple liquid. "It would be pointless anyway. I only have one of these and if I give it to you..." she laughed and tossed it again. "I'll let it be for now." she returned to the shadows and set the cube down then she returned again and once again sat down beside him.

"I wonder..." she mused, absently tracing a pattern on his chestplate, making him shudder. "What is it like to have a complete spark?"

"Are you sure we'll be able to find him?" Sari asked as she rode along with Bumblebee through the city.

"Of course we will," he told her. "That thing has too much food here. It's not going to run away with him."

"I hope you're right," she said, looking out the window. "But what if we can't find him? What if it killed him?"

"Ratchet said that these things don't kill their prey," he reminded her.

"But he also said they don't kidnap their prey either," she pointed out. 'This one is acting differently than the ones he talked about."

He didn't like being reminded. "I know."

He looked away from her, refusing to answer. Did she really think he'd would willingly tell her everything after what she did so far?

She looked down at him in disappointment. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said, though her voice betrayed annoyance. "I can always find out some other way." she got back up and stared down at him, her hands on her hips. "Even if you don't tell me." she smiled again and it made him feel uneasy. "Want me to prove it to you?"

He refused to answer her. Saying anything wouldn't help him in the least. He knew she was baiting him anyway but why was she doing this? Oh yeah, she liked to make her victims miserable. She's a sadist, that's why.

She looked away from him and started pacing, tossing one of this throwing stars up and down. Of course he's not going to tell you anything. I don't care. It's not important anyway. What is important is getting that key. The only way to get it is to have him get it but for him to do that you have to let him go.... she looked down at him. No, not let him go. Make him think he got away himself. If you let him go it means you're getting soft. It also means you're treating him differently than you've treated any of your other victims. No special treatment. He might be different than the others, aside from what they taste like, but that means nothing. He's still an Autobot. All those Autobots think they're so special. They think they know what's best for things like me, but they don't. Her expression hardened as she stared down at him He wasn't saying anything, only watching her. Yes. Let's let him get away but make him think he escaped without any kind of help.

She smiled at the thought then walked back over to him and sat down again, knowing it made him uncomfortable. She didn't care. She looked down at his face as if to say something, then noticed something blue glowing around his neck. "Hmm," she mused, ignoring his glare. She grabbed the side of his face and turned it sideways so she could see it better. She felt his resistance but ignored it. "You're leaking..."

He was what?! Leaking? and why was she smiling about it?

She touched the stuff and lifted her hand so she could get a better look at it. "Or should I say, bleeding," she said softly as if the stuff fascinated her. Then... she put it in her mouth and licked it off her fingers. "Hmm.." She took her fingers out of her mouth, her expression changing as if she was satisfied with the flavor, and leaned down again. He felt her tongue move across his neck.

He did not like her doing that and jerked away from her, trying to hit her with his other hand. She moved her head away and he missed. She was still smiling. He felt angry and wanted to smack that smile off her face. It infuriated him that he couldn't do anything about her getting close. He didn't like any part of her touching him, especially parts that were in the vicinity of her mouth. He didn't like how it made him feel. Of course he didn't tell her that. She didn't care how he felt anyway.

No good-

Suddenly something strange happened, cutting off his thoughts. He heard what sounded like a pulse beat in his head and then his optics and audio receptors filled with static. His head filled with a painful pressure and his thoughts started to scramble. What?

The vampire saw him flinch and commented, sensing what was going on. "It looks like it's starting..."

And then there was nothing but darkness.

"Maybe we should check the tower," Sari suggested.

"Why would Prowl back back at the Tower?" Bumblebee wanted to know.

She shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "It just sounded like a good place to start because of all the robots in the building. If he has turned into a vampire he'll be hungry and probably go there to-"

"And attack some of the machines-" he finished for her. That did sound logical. And, since Bumblebee had an overactive imagination about these things, it seemed like the most likely place now that she mentioned it. "You're right!" he exclaimed, taking a turn. "We'll go there first."

"It looks like my virus made things easier for me," she said, looking down at Prowl who lay twitching. "I was wondering how I'd get you to think you got away easily while you were online." she knelt back down and began fiddling with the chain. "It looks like things just got a whole lot simpler." She loosened it slightly then let it hang, getting up and, after taking one last look at him, walked away, smiling to herself.

Now... to wait.

"He's not there," Bumblebee said, coming out of the Tower. "and it doesn't look like anybodies been there in awhile. Every machine in there is still in perfect working order."

"Then I guess he's somewhere else," she admitted. "But where could he be and where would that thing take him?'

"A cave?" he asked.

She gave him a look. "A cave?"

"Well vampire bats go in caves." he said defensively.

"Vampire bats, not real vampires," she pointed out.

"Then the cemetery," he said, remembering. "Vampires sleep in coffins and there are plenty of coffins in cemeteries."

She doubted that but it couldn't hurt to give it a try. "Okay," she said. "It couldn't hurt to check."

It was only moments later that Prowl came back online. For a minute his audio and vision were swamped with static then both cleared up and he could see and hear again. A quick look around told him he was alone. She must have gone out to feed, he thought, lifting his head and probing the darkness, in case she might be hiding and watching. Nothing.

That was good. Now he could try to get out of here without hinderance. He turned his focus on the chain around his arm and gave it a yank. The chain clanked once then loosened, falling away from his arm and hitting the floor. He stared at it a moment, surprised that it had given away so easily then got up.

Vertigo took hold and the room spun before his eyes, making him dizzy. He covered his face with his hand and stood still, waiting for his equilibrium to catch up. After a few more minutes things evened out and he could walk properly again. His optics searched the darkness for the vampire once more, but still picked up nothing. He sighed in relief then started making his way out of the clock tower.

It didn't take long for him to discover that the Clock Tower's basement wasn't that big. The room he was in led into a much larger room with three doors on each wall, leading...somewhere.. He hesitated, unsure where to go, until he saw a flight of stone stairs across the room. Relieved, he ascended the stairs and entered a much larger room on the first floor. Across the room was the exit. He headed for it.

This seems all too easy...

The thought was barely out of his head when he sensed something behind him. He turned around quickly and looked up, sighting a pair of red eyes that he'd grown familiar with. "You aren't leaving so soon, are you?" Shadowstar's low voice echoed down to him.

His stance changed as it redied itself for a fight. The vampire laughed at him and jumped down from her perch. "You don't have enough energy to fight me," she reminded him. "How much damage do you think you can do."

He looked her over, sizing her up. "Enough."

She attacked.

Where's Bumblebee and Sari?" Optimus asked, stepping into the living room area of the base. The only one there at the time was Bulkhead and he was sitting on the couch, watching the tv to get his mind of their current problem.

"I don't know," he replied, looking over his shoulder at the other transformer. "Maybe they went out for a drive." he noticed the look on his face. "What? What's wrong?"

Optimus knew that the reason the two left was likely because they were going after Prowl. Even so, they had not asked and had not informed him what they were doing. He shook his head. They're going to get themselves into trouble.

The cemetery was located on the outskirts of town. It was a gloomy place where only pine trees grew.

Sari had only been in this part of town once before and wasn't very familiar with it. Even so, the cemetery wasn't too hard to find because it stood out. Bumblebee parked at the entrance and let Sari get out. Once she was on the sidewalk he transformed and they both stepped onto the path.

"Okay, let's look around and see what we could find."

Prowl knew challenging the femme was a mistake even before she landed the first punch. The blow felt like a missile hitting him in the side of the head as it knocked him off his feet and sent him flying across the room. He grunted when his back hit the wall and he fell onto the floor. He got up as quickly as he could and dived out of the way when she tried to kick him.

She followed his movement but missed the blow when she aimed it at his head. Prowl saw his chance and tripped her. She hit the floor hard, landing on her back. She got up, but not before being kicked in the face. She fell back again but didn't stay down, getting up a few seconds later just in time to see him dashing toward the exit. She smiled to herself. I'd give chase but then I'd be back at square one again. Much as I want to keep you here I'll gain more letting you go.

Prowl was more than a little surprised when the femme didn't go after him as he dashed out of the room. Did I hit her that hard? he wondered but wasn't about to stick around to find out. He had to get out of there.

He hadn't gone much further when he heard that pulse beat go through his head again and lost his balance as his optics were blinded by static. His shoulder smacked hard into the wall but he didn't feel it. He forced himself to stay standing. The static cleared up but a buzzing noise filled his audio receptors and refused to quiet down. Trying to ignore the noise, he forced himself to keep moving, though his steps had slowed down greatly and his thoughts were beginning to race.

I have to get out of here!

Sari and Bumblebee found nothing at the cemetery. Graves were the least likely places to look for vampires so they had decided to check out the tombs. Unfortunately for them the tombs were locked and the caretaker refused to open them for them. He didn't understand what they were saying and thought they were just joking around. Vampire robots? Whoever heard of such a thing?

"Well, it was worth a try," Bumblebee said as they headed back to the street.

Sari had to agree but they still hadn't found Prowl and it was getting late. She almost suggested going back to the base and waiting till later but knew he would never agree to that. He wanted to find Prowl and she did as well. Waiting for Optimus to come up with a plan lessened their chance at finding the other Autobot alive.

"Where do you want to look next?" she asked, trying not to sound like she was ready to give up.

"I don't know," he said. "Let's just drive around for awhile. We're bound to find something." he transformed back into vehicle mode and Sari climbed back inside him.

Prowl was beginning to feel worse. Not only were his optics and audio receptors acting up but his chest hurt, like his spark was trying to get out of it. He panted heavily but kept going, even though it felt like he was going uphill when he really wasn't. He was still trying to ignore his problems but they were getting worse and his vision kept filling with static then clearing up.

I hope Ratchet can fix this.. he thought, stumbling out of the building. He glanced over his shoulder and his vision filled with static again for a few seconds then cleared up. The vampire had not followed him. Why? I couldn't have hurt her that much. Why isn't she following me? Is it because she knows she can always get me later?

He didn't want to think about it. He turned his attention away from the interior of the clock tower and kept going.

Bumblebee was not far from the clock tower area when Sari suddenly exclaimed, poiting out the window. 'There!"

He braked to a stop. "What?" he asked.

She pointed out the window, excitedly. 'Turn your headlights left," she instructed. "I thought I saw something."

Bumblebee did as he was instructed, backing up and turning on the headlights. The beams picked up a figure stumbling along a few hundred yards away. He recognized the design instantly. 'That's Prowl!" he exclaimed. He started his engine and raced toward him. "Prowl!"

Before they reached him he stumbled and fell to the ground. Bee braked to a stop and let Sari get out before transforming. He looked down at his friend. "We've been looking all over for you!" he exclaimed. "Where have you-" he cut himself off when he realized the other transformer wasn't moving. "Prowl?"

Sari headed over to him and noticed the poor condition of his body. "He looks pretty bad," she said, taking the key off the chain around her neck. She tried to insert it into him. "Maybe if I-" She felt a pulsating sensation go through the key and it shot away from his body, knocking her off balance. "Whoa!"

Bumblebee noticed. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking down at her. "I thought you were going to fix him."

"I tried," she said, showing him the key. "But the key refuses to do it."

He stared at her. "What?"

"It rejected him," she replied, looking at it then at Prowl. "Why?"

"I don't know," Bee said. "But we'd better get him back to the base before that vampire finds us."

A/N

For those of you familiar with Shadowstar's personality because of seeing her profile on Deviantart the way she's acting toward Prowl shouldn't be surprising. No, it's not love. It's just one of her ways of making him 's just how she is. Sadistic. and yes I'm fully aware that it could be considered sexual harrassment. If you're mad about it go ahead and tell me.

To make a brief correction I got the idea of a vampiric robotic being from the cartoon Cybersix which features a cyborg heroin who gets her life source the same way.

When I was writing this part I was remembering what little I knew about horror stories and trying to use that limited knowledge to get things done, I'm not sure I'm doing a very good job, though but I do intend to finish this story, even if you all kill me.

Don't forget to press the little blue review button and tell me what you thought. I hope you appreciate all the work I put into this cuz I get the feeling you don't.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!