Chapter 2

"Clara, what is this?" Optimus asked me, looking around the room warily.
Neither of us could tell which direction the drums were coming from, and that just scared me even more.
I didn't answer Optimus' question. I was too scared to make any sound. I just snuggled up to him where we were sitting against a tree. We'd been going to get out through the door we came in by, but it had completely disappeared.
"I can understand the forest, but what's with the drums?" Optimus was asking.
"I told you before, the first night we met. It's not the forest that scares me."
Optimus frowned, looking around again nervously. He had been trying to comfort me, but seeing that he was almost as nervous as I was didn't exactly help.
In a way I envied Optimus.
He didn't have a clue what was here. I knew exactly what was waiting for me. Something that had been haunting me all of my life, and I wasn't too anxious to meet him face-to-face for the first time since I was 7.
"You know…the day after we'd stayed at my dad's…when we were going past the forest?"
"Yeah."
"It was him. Watching us."
"Who?"
I shuddered and tightened my grip on him. Enough of my loved ones had died trying to protect me from this man, and I wasn't going to let Optimus do the same thing. I wasn't gonna be letting go any time soon. He ran a hand through my hair gently, allowing me to cling to him.
"What's in here Clara?" he asked me gently. "If you tell me, I can protect you from it. I can't fight something if I don't know what it is. I'd probably just get us both killed."
"I don't want you to protect me from it Optimus." I said quietly. "Enough people have died trying as it is."
Optimus looked at me, but apparently thought better than to say anything.
He shifted his position, pulling a face as the movement sent waves of pain shooting through his leg.
He lay down on his back carefully, pulling me down on top of him.
I rested my head on his chest, lying across him, still holding onto him as he ran his hand gently through my hair.
We were both trying to ignore the drums, and for some reason I found it easier to do today than I ever had before.
I lay there for a few minutes, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, listening to his steady breathing. If I'd had my way, I would have stayed there forever.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end.

We'd been successfully blocking out the sounds of the drums, but in doing so we'd blocked out all the other noises around us as well, so if Optimus hadn't looked up when he did, we both would've been killed there and then. Optimus saw what was coming and he rolled us both out of the way. The spear buried itself almost half way into the ground where Optimus' head had been about half a second before.
The Cybertronian pulled his spear out of the ground, and Optimus raised his sword to block the strike. The attacker backed up a few steps and Optimus tried to rise, only to cry out in pain and fall as he tried to put his weight on his injured leg.
The assailant came after me, and I found myself barely able to stay ahead of his spear. I backed away from him, keeping my shield between the two of us.
Then Optimus was there, grabbing him from behind and dragging him back, away from me.
The stranger pulled a hunting knife from a sheath on his back and stabbed Optimus in his injured leg. Optimus screamed in pain and fell to the floor. The stranger raised his knife for the kill.
And I slammed into him from behind. It was probably the stupidest thing I'd ever done, which was saying something, but it worked. We rolled away from Optimus and fell apart. I felt an agonising pain in my shoulder and screamed, and the stranger vanished.
"Are you okay?" Optimus called to me
"Yeah." I shakily got to my feet and leaned against a tree for a moment before running over to him, collapsing to my knees when I reached him. My shoulder was burning, spreading the sharp pain through my body. I didn't know what had happened to it, and I was too afraid to look at it as Optimus sat up. I just stared at the floor, panting.
Optimus looked at me for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around me, careful not to touch my injured shoulder.
"Don't move." He suggested quietly.
He moved his right hand up to my shoulder and the pain suddenly increased. I pulled a face and rested my head on his shoulder, wrapping my good arm around him. Suddenly the sharp pain in my shoulder died down to a dull throb, and Optimus threw away the assailant's hunting knife.
I helped him to his feet and supported him as we walked. It was too dangerous to stay where we were. We had to find the exit before we were attacked again. Neither of us spoke at all.
After a few minutes Optimus had to stop. He was in a bad way. Tired, panting. His right leg was just getting worse and worse as we walked. The pain wasn't letting up at all. I leaned him against a tree and collapsed at his feet. I was exhausted. Optimus was actually very heavy, and my shoulder felt like it was being torn apart.
He sat down next to me and pulled me into his arms. I could feel his entire body shuddering with exhaustion. I snuggled up to him, careful to avoid his injured leg. I found it amazing that he could be so scared himself, and still have enough strength and bravery left over to comfort me. I felt a strange sensation and glanced around.
"Those bodies weren't there before were they?" I asked nervously.
Optimus looked up.
"No. But we could've just missed them." he sounded doubtful.
He pulled a face and shifted his injured leg into a more comfortable position. I was looking at the two bodies. They were both Cybertronians, and they were strangely familiar. Judging by their sizes, they'd only been kids when they died, and they'd both been here a long long long long time.
"Do you know who they are?" Optimus asked me.
"I have a guess." I replied quietly, "If I'm right then this room has some sick mind."
"You look more angry than scared." Optimus commented.
"So?"
"The whole point of this room is to scare you. If this just pisses you off, why would it do it?"
"It's trying to make me feel guilty." I said after a few minutes.
"The only way it would make you feel guilty is if you were the one who caused their deaths."
I nodded.
"The guy who attacked us just now…" I said resignedly, "he tried to kill me when I was 7. Luke and Tessa tried to protect me, and he killed them."
"Luke and Tessa?"
"My older brother and sister."
"So earlier, when you were talking about how you didn't want me to die protecting you, after several people had done so already…"
"I was referring to them." I finished for him, nodding again.
"How old were they?"
"Luke was 14, Tessa was 12."
Optimus held me against him tightly, and we sat in silence for a few minutes. The drums had stopped.
"You're very brave." He said eventually.
"No I'm not." I replied sadly, "I'm terrified of pretty much everything."
"But you stand up to your fears. That's what makes you brave." Optimus corrected. "You would be a fool if you weren't afraid of anything. The whole point of fear is so that you gain the bravery to overcome it."
"You're very wise." I commented.
Optimus shrugged.
"Not really. I try. I fail very dramatically."
I laughed. Optimus was silent for a minute.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked me, hesitating.
"You just did, but yeah."
"The night I met you, when you were attacked by Starscream, you didn't really seem to want to fight back."
"So what's your question?"
"I was wondering if that was just fear, or…." He tailed off, but I knew what he was so reluctant to say. I sighed and shook my head.
"Optimus, I've had depression since I was 7. I'm suicidal."
I felt his grip tighten around me, almost protectively, but he didn't say anything.
"Is that the exit?" I asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
I could see a door through the trees. Optimus looked up.
"I think it is."
I helped Optimus to his feet and we got to the door without any problems or challenges. We stepped through it, and it closed safely behind us, plunging us both into darkness.