CHAPTER SEVEN

Gone Downhill

***

Sides' and Sunny sped onto our street, with me urging them on the whole way. They parked on the driveway, and I jumped out of Sides', calling out a thanks over my shoulder and running into the house, stumbling into the front hall where I came to a dead stop.

I looked around me in a shocked horror.

My heart seemed to speed up then, and I staggered back out of the house.

"Oh my…oh my God! Oh God no!" I cried.

"What's the matter!?" I hadn't heard the holoforms of Sunny and Sides' come up behind me, until I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders.

"T-the house!" I cried, trying not to get too upset. "It's been…broken into! Ransacked! Oh, all the work Bee and I did yesterday! It's worse then when we started!" I finished in a kind of wail.

I knew the twins exchanged a glance then, and then Sunny, who was the one whose arms were around my shoulders (that surprised me, I thought Sunstreaker didn't like me very much because I was always teasing him), pointed out: "Did they take anything?" I had a feeling an internet check on 'break ins' had just been done by both of them.

I gasped. "I don't know…I should go check…" I knew I had to see what damage had been done.

I also knew that I shouldn't go into the house alone. The thief could still be in there...

At the same time, Sides' said: "We'll come in with you."

I nodded, and together the three of us walked into the dark house.

***

"WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO THIS HOUSE!!??" Fran stormed into the living room, followed by her daughters.

The three of them found me standing there like a statue, staring at the Decepticon symbol scratched into the wall. I had wandered away from the Lambo twins, drawn into the living room for some reason, and I had been too stunned to call out to them.

The thieves hadn't taken anything, which didn't surprise me...what were they looking for?

Had Blitzwing and Lugnut just been a distraction, while Barricade and the others broke into my house and searched for something?

I had no way of knowing.

Now, Fran looked at the symbol on the wall, and recognised it. She took three long strides across the length of the living room and grabbed me by the neck, throwing me against the wall. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!??" My step-mother screamed.

I cried out in pain, I was having trouble breathing because FRAN WAS CHOKING ME. "What are you doing!?" I choked out.

I wrapped my hands around her wrist and tried to pry her fingers open, but that was hard with lack of oxygen. "What are you…doing?" I tried again.

"Teaching you a lesson." She fairly growled, as I began to black out. This was one of the worst things she had done to me. Was she trying to kill me?

What would happen to the All-Spark if she did?

It was then we heard the Lambo twins come into the living room and say, in perfect unison: "What are you doing to her!?" Sides' sounded shocked, Sunny was angry.

Fran let go of me immediately, and I slumped to the floor, clutching at my throat and gasping. I knew that, once Sunny and Sides' left, Fran was going to kill me. For having two strangers in the house and for letting them see how she punished me.

But, for now, I was just thankful I could breathe! The floor was pretty comfy too.

But Sunny and Sides' didn't want me to stay on the floor, and came up and helped me stand up. Sides' was supporting me, and Sunny was glaring at my step-family. He was standing protectively in front of me and Sides', and didn't show any signs of moving.

"You could have killed her!" Sunny accused. "How dare you…"

"Sunny…" I cut him off. "Please…this isn't…I…"

"Ella," Fran said, in a dangerously low voice that she tried to mask with pretend grace. She didn't realise that Sunny and Sides' could see straight through her little act. "Who are these...friends of yours, dear?" Her voice leaned toward contempt when she called me dear, and I swallowed back the lump in my throat.

"These are...Sam and Sean," I said, deciding to use the names we had used to fool Jass that day. It seemed a lifetime ago. "They're my...friends...from...school." I glanced helplessly at Sides', who shrugged inconspiciously.

"Oh really?" It wasn't Fran who spoke, but one of her daughters. Sandra stepped forward eagerly. "How come I haven't seen you guys around campus before?" She asked and, I swear to Primus that this is what she did, she thrust her chest forward a bit. Sunny and Sides' seemed a bit taken aback by all this.

I rolled my eyes. "Because they're new." I replied.

Sandra now glared at me. "I wasn't talking to you!"

"Who cares?" I muttered, wishing Sides' would let go of me. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and pretend this whole day never happened. The Grandfather clock in the dining room struck eight.

"Girls, please," Fran said, and I could see lines of anger start to appear on her face. I had embarrassed her, by letting my friends see how she treated me. She didn't know that they already had.

As if on cue, we all heard a voice right then.

"Ella!?" It was the one voice I didn't want to hear right then. "What happened!?" Bee came into the living room then, and came to a dead halt.

He assessed the situation as I watched him unhappily, knowing that his reaction was going to be unimpressed, to put it mildly.

He saw Sides' holding me, Sunny's protective stance, me holding my throat, and my step-family.

He didn't see the Decepticon symbol on the wall since we were blocking it, but he probably would have freaked out even more if he had.

"Ella," Bee said, in a voice that was touched with concern - but mostly it was quivering with rage. "What happened?" I knew that what he meant to say was what has she done to you?

And, for this reason, I moved away from Sides' and walked quickly up to Bee, putting my arms on his shoulders and whispering into his ear: "Please Bee, don't make this any worse for me then it already is. You're an Autobot too, remember, and you don't harm humans." I think I sounded like movie-verse Optimus Prime then. "I'll be alright, I just need you three to leave now." That was, actually, the last thing I wanted - my heart felt hollow and empty at the thought of Bee leaving now, but there was nothing else I could do if I wanted to stay alive.

Bee didn't look very happy either. "Are you sure?" He whispered back.

I nodded, and swallwoed back another lump in my throat. "Yes. Please go, now."

If I'd only known what was going to happen in the morning, then I would've asked him to stay.