It was decided that I would lead them to Alisha in the morning and, as I looked at my cell phone, my hope to meet Alisha outside of her home became lost in a sea of sadness and grace couldn't be found there. "No signal," I muttered coldly.
Sleep never came over me. I was up all night, staring at the stars, and tracing each constellation as I named them. Once the sun's rays were visible over the mountains in the east we took off toward the city. When the signal finally came back I called Alisha. The secret cell phone I paid for since she was taken away from me rang only twice before she picked up.
"Ellie!" She yelled in a half whisper.
"Hey, Allie-bear," I wanted to cry but I kept it at bay for as long as I could. "You know Grandpa's book?"
"Yeah, it's in my room under my bed…or it was."
"What do you mean 'was'?" I nearly yelled it out.
"Well…" Her voice, I realized, had matured in the last year to be an awkward in between voice of a near teenager. "A robot came and tore up the house this morning. I was only able to get my phone before Ginger came and grabbed us all. When I finally came back it was gone."
Bee stepped on the brakes making the caravan stop. Had he heard the entire thing?
"Allie, did it have a name?" I pursed my lips and closed my eyes hoping it would be anybody but the Megatron everyone told about.
"I think someone said Galvatron?"
My lungs burned with holding my breath for so long. "Gotta run," I said and got out of Bee and walked up to Prime. "Who is Galvatron?"
"Where did you hear that name?" He asked while everyone around us waited patiently for orders.
"My little sister's foster home was just attacked by a Galvatron. He possibly took the book you guys are looking for."
"This is bad," Crosshairs finally said from behind Prime.
"We have to make sure he doesn't get the Quill." Prime ordered as they transformed.
"But how are we going to protect something we don't even have?" The bigger one asked.
"I don't know, Hound," Prime admitted in a defeated voice. "Bee, take the human girl home."
Bee nearly flinched at the idea. "You are kidding, right? This poor girl has no home! She has nobody but me."
"Well that just cannot be true! There has to be someone!" Crosshairs put his hands on his hips. He almost reminded me of a sassy woman when he did.
"No, nobody," I said. "My parents died a few years ago and I was never one for making friends and my coworkers don't really like me all that much. My roommate kicked me out too. I really don't have a lot."
Everyone took pity but Prime's command stayed. Bee needed to take me back where he found me, as he put it. How did Bee not know I have the Quill? I didn't want anybody to know either. Defend it with your life, grandpa said. Truth be told if I told them I was afraid they would just take it from me and drop me off all alone anyway.
Bee dropped me off at the apartment. After he took off I took out the Quill and stared at it. On the side there was writing that seemed to change when I first took it.
"That means it chose you. Only you can change the future."
"It's a pen, gramps."
"No, it is a quill."
I couldn't help but laugh. "It's a pen," I told myself, "that can change the future." Then I remembered something else.
"Never learn that language, my dear Elsa. For if you do there will be nothing stopping you from gaining power."
"It's useless to me. That's why he gave it to me."
"Alisha, if you figure out the language please never learn to write it."
"And that's why she was given the book…"
All the pieces seemed to fall in and out of place drastically.
A jet flew overhead. It flew too low for it to be a US fighter jet and the only base I could think of with anyone who would be in Air Force training was still some 30 minutes away and they never fly over cities. I shoved the pen in my backpack and followed its direction until it changed directions. I climbed a ladder to a restaurant's roof just as it flew close enough to touch the roof and it transformed into a robot I didn't recognize.
Quickly, before I was seen, I jumped down and ran back to the apartment building. It jumped in front of me. I was frozen with the winter inside fear to the point that a scream wasn't even possible.
"Well look at what I found," it said and scooped me up as if I were a bug. Its fingers tripped me so I fell backward into his palm and his fingers wrapped around me like I was a doll. It didn't hesitate to take off into flight. It happened so fast that I didn't know what to do or how to get away or who to call.
I screamed now. I screamed because nothing was fair and everything I did, no matter how much I thought it was the right thing, always turned around on me. I screamed because I was scared of whom this transformer would take me to and what they wanted and what they would do if I became useless to them. I screamed because I was out of ideas and I was done with this life. I would trade my luck and life for anybody else's now.
For only a few minutes I was surrounded by a quietness that comes just after you've had a good cry. The only sound I heard was the sound of wind wrapping around my ears. Then my captor landed, "I have brought for you a gift, Galvatron." The robot held me out to his master and bowed.
Air caught in my throat and choked me. His master resembled a little bit like Megatron but he was also a little bit newer in style. Galvatron looked more menacing than anybody could have imagined.
"Haven't I seen this human before?" He rubbed his chin then waved away the thought. In his hand was the book. It looked so normal in his hands but in Alisha's hands it took both of us to carry it everywhere. Sometimes I was the only one carrying it.
"This was the human you saw conversing with the autobots?"
The robot confirmed it.
"Very good, Starscream. We'll take her with us as a hostage."
Hostage? What could he possibly want from the autobots? I couldn't bring myself to ask. I don't think I wanted to know the answer. The one he called Starscream stood and transformed into the fighter jet I had followed. It trapped me inside the domed cage of glass.
I wanted to look around in my backpack and make sure nothing dropped but in the cramped space I couldn't do it.
I watched Galvatron transform into a semi, a different type than Prime, and Starscream followed him all the way out into the desert. Prime and his autobots were taken by surprised to see Galvatron and Starscream. Starscream dropped down just behind Galvatron. The height they were when they were standing in their full form was drastically different, I realized. They stood higher than small mountains.
"What do you want, Galvatron?" Suddenly Prime's voice filled the quiet air. It was cold and, almost, scary.
"I want the Quill, Prime! Where is it?"
He thinks Prime has the pen!
"I don't know what you're talking about, Galvatron!"
"Oh don't be like that. Especially not with your little human's life in my hands." Suddenly I was flung into the air. I covered my eyes, afraid to hit the ground, but I was caught midair by Galvatron.
"That wasn't very fun!" I felt nauseas. Wind rushed around me as Galvatron put his hand out to show everyone who it was. He put his palm out in a way that I sat in the middle of his hand.
"Let her go!" Prime yelled. "She has nothing to do with this fight!"
"Oh, but she has everything to do with it. After all you were the ones who brought her into it."
Only if that were true. My grandfather had introduced me to the fight of good and evil long ago. While Galvatron spoke I ran from his palm to his wrist but he just simply picked me up from my backpack and held me out.
"I would hand over the quill. Humans don't do well when dropping at such a great height."
After a moment of dangling I started to swing myself forward and backward, using my legs to help me out.
"We don't have it!" The Hound growled. "Just let the girl go."
"Hey, now fellas, I do have a legitimate name." I yelled but nobody would listen and I knew that. I looked at Bee, catching his eyes full of worry. "Hey Bee! Catch me!" I let my arms slip out of my backpack and I flung myself outward and closed my eyes for fear he really wouldn't catch me.
I felt wind rush me from Galvatron attempting to catch me by the legs and I felt a hand come around me. When I looked up I was staring at Bee's face.
"No!" Galvatron growled and threw the backpack. Bee turned around and protected me from gunfire. The Hound protected Bee while Crosshairs went after Starscream.
"Bee!" I yelled up at him and he listened. "Bee, my backpack! We have to get it!"
"Now?"
I nodded. "Please! Trust me!"
Bee nodded and ran when the gunfire seemed to pause. His free hand covered me in a protective casing so that ricocheting bullets wouldn't injure me. When he got to the backpack he set me down and I grabbed it. Soon everything stopped and the ground rumbled with the other autobots surrounding me to make sure I hadn't been injured.
"Was getting the backpack really worth it?" Crosshairs asked as he rolled his eyes.
I pulled out the Quill and smiled as I checked it out. "Yep." I looked up. Everyone was in shock at what they were seeing except for Bee.
"What is it?" He asked.
"That is the Quill…but how did you…?" Prime couldn't finish his question.
"My grandfather found it long ago. He found the book too and when he died he entrusted Alisha and me to protect them but with the promise that I wouldn't figure out how to read or write the language and Alisha wasn't allowed to write the language. He somehow managed to decode it. I don't know how."
I handed the Quill to Prime, I was amazed at the reconstruction to fit Prime's hand. Now it really did look like a quill rather than a human pen and it shown in a golden color. Prime inspected it before handing it back. "It seems that I was wrong. You are just as much apart of this war now."
"Hey, kid," I turned to the Hound, "how did you know Galvatron wouldn't keep your backpack?"
I shrugged. "I didn't. I just kinda rolled with it." I kept the part that really I was scared of the lengths Galvatron might go to. I was scared for my life and I didn't care what I left behind in the backpack at that moment but thinking about it now, had Galvatron kept my backpack or destroyed it I would be mad at myself forever.
Crosshairs and the Hound laughed in a hysteria. "I like her, can we keep her, Prime?" They asked. It was like I was their pet now.
Prime set down his palm and I stepped into it so that he lifted me to meet his eyes.
"Promise me you'll defend that Quill."
"I promise, Prime. Promise me you'll get the book from Galvatron. It needs to be returned to its rightful owner."
"That it does." Somehow by the tone of his voice he didn't mean the owner was my sister but I didn't say anything else.