It's here, the start of the next Paranormal Encounters Comic :]
Beginnings is going to be a prequel comic, explaining a few things that happened before the start of the fanfic. It's going to follow Blaster as he becomes a 'human'.
I have some behind-the-scenes bits for this I'm going to post a little later :]
Ratchet kneeled, and Blaster was lowered onto the ground. It was easier to move, and Blaster managed to roll himself over onto his back. He curled into himself and shut his eyes. The small motion left him exhausted.
A light flashed through his eyelids. He winced and felt static run through his body in a wave.
With their changes mounting, the group decides to leave town.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
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The past few days had been intense. More intense than Blaster would ever be comfortable with. He didnât even know how this had become his life. His two friends were changing in ways that should be impossible. They were being stalked by strange creatures.
Blaster didnât feel safe. He was too afraid to leave to apartment alone, and he doubted Jazz or Prowl would even let him leave. With every moment he spent in their apartment, he felt like he was invading their space. He knew he wouldnât be able to return to his place alone for a while, but that didnât stop him from feeling bad.
The three of them had turned on some random movie in an attempt to get their minds off of whatever was happening to them. Blaster wasnât even sure what genre it was. It had been on for over an hour, and his brain just couldnât focus on it.
He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He growled in frustration. He ignored it. His phone had been going off nonstop ever since he ran into Rewind and Eject. The messages were either unreadable text messages or voicemails filled with static that hurt to listen to.
He had cried the first time he listened to one of the voicemails.
He didnât know why.
Prowl looked over at him from his end of the couch. He had a brow raised, and he shot a pointed look at Blaster. He did his best to ignore Prowlâs now icy blue stare. He averted his eyes and pretended to watch whatever movie this was.
He hadnât exactly told his friends this had been happening. They had their own things to worry about, and this seemed small in comparison. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and flicked it over to do not disturb. He went back to overthinking this whole situation. He felt his phone go off again. A second later, his ringtone started to blare. Someone was calling him. The phone flashed with an unknown caller message on the screen.
âSorry! Thought I set it to silent,â He pulled his phone out and prepared to just turn the damn thing off completely. Heâd pull the battery out of it if he had to. He fumbled with it for a second, and he accidentally hit the accept call button.
He had no words to describe the sound that came out of his phone. It was sharp and high. He could hear voices through the noise, begging him to come home. He dropped it, and the sound only seemed to get louder. He covered his ears, and it didnât help.
The sound hit its highest point, and Blaster heard a popping noise. It had sounded like a speaker or an electrical part had blown. He collapsed to the floor in a heap. Everything went fuzzy for a moment. The world had lost definition around him, and he couldnât focus. His eyes burned. It felt like his whole body went numb.
He could barely feel someone shaking him. Jazz and Prowl were saying something to him. He couldnât make it out. They sounded quiet overhead. Blaster winced as one of them looped their arms under his shoulders. They lifted him off the ground and laid him down on the couch.
He felt a breath on his ear, âBlaster!â Jazz shouted next to his head. He winced. He felt a stab of pain in his ears as Jazz yelled.
He could feel noise come out of his own mouth, but he couldnât hear it. He groaned and tried to reach for his ears. He felt a pair of hands holding his own down. He frowned. He blinked his eyes. The world around him was still a blur of color, lacking definition. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to make the world around him make sense.
He shook his head. His vision sharpened, but his eyes still burned. His ears started to ring. Sound had come back to him.
Blaster frowned.
It had come back wrong. He could hear too well. He heard thundering footsteps from across the room, but from what he was seeing from Prowl, he was doing anything but that. It looked like he was just walking gently across the floor. Each footstep rang out in his head painfully.
âBlaster?â He turned his head towards Jazz. His voice echoed in his ears uncomfortably. âYou feeling alright man?â Blaster frowned at the tone of Jazzâs voice. He sounded worried, but he also sounded scared.
âToo loud,â He moaned.
âSorry,â Jazz said overhead. Everything he heard was painful. It grinded against his ears. Everything from the shuffling of fabric was excruciatingly loud.
Jazz let go of Blasterâs hands. Prowl came into view with a blanket and roughly threw it over him.
âWhat was that?â Blaster asked.
âThe TV and your phone just started both going crazy. Prowl had to unplug the TV to get it to shut up. I think the speaker on your phone blew out.â
He sighed. He didnât care if his phone was busted; he was just happy to be free from that sound. Blaster tried to drag his hands out from under the blanket. Jazz grabbed them and pinned them down before he could. âWhat are you doing?â He asked. His arms still felt numb. They rubbed in an uncomfortable way against the texture of the blanket.
Jazzâs blue and black eyes shifted nervously towards Prowl. Prowl looked distinctly uncomfortable. Blaster felt the start of worry enter his brain. He looked between his two friends, searching for an answer as to why they had him pinned down.
âGuys?â He asked. He didnât like this.
Prowl broke the silence, âJazz, let him see.â
The worry took full hold. It felt like something was squeezing his heart, âSee what?â He asked quietly. Or he thought he had. It was hard to tell what volume anything was. His own voice sounded painfully loud in his ears.
Jazz slowly released Blaster from his hold. He wiggled his arms out of the thick blanket and frowned when he caught his finger on something. He tugged it free and sat up. He pulled his arms out and froze.
His skin had turned a deep shade of blue. His fingers had elongated; they had tapered off into sharp points. He flexed them in front of his face. He moved just like he would have expected his hands to. He did the only thing he really could have done.
He screamed.
He flailed and almost fell off the couch again. Prowl stepped in and kept him steady. He felt his nostrils flare, and his heart pounded in his chest.
âNo. No. No,â He muttered, âThis isnât happening.â He tried to reassure himself. He was doing a bad job at it. This felt too real. He pulled up the hem of his sleeve and looked up his shirt. He panicked when the dark color continued up his arm.
He wrapped his arms around himself and winced as his now sharp fingers dug into his upper arms. He forced himself to relax his grip, and he collapsed back down on the couch. He curled up and grabbed the blanket that was still on his lap and pulled it over his head. He avoided looking at his hands.Â
He barely felt soft touches through the blanket. âBlaster, itâs gonna be okay.â Jazz said.
Blaster laughed. He sat up again and felt a tear run down his cheek. âHow is this going to be okay?â He kept his hands out of view. âWeâre turning into freaks, man,â He admitted aloud. He felt bad as soon as the words left his mouth. Jazz and Prowl both seemed hurt by the statement. Even if it was true, he knew he shouldnât have let the words escape from his mouth. He looked away from his friends with shame.
âIf weâre going to be freaks, weâll be freaks together at least,â Jazz said gently. He reached under the blanket and grabbed Blaster's hand. He could barely feel it. He knew something was touching his limb. But he only felt a bit of pressure and a biting cold emanating from Jazz. The touch felt distant. Almost like he was wearing a pair of gloves.
âYeah, freaks together,â Blaster said.
Blaster closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He still wasnât calm. He probably wouldnât be calm for a long time. He could at least put on a strong face for now.
âWhereâs my phone?â He asked. He needed something to distract himself. The only thing he could think of was checking to see if his phone's speaker had really broken. Prowl held it out, and Blaster grabbed it and felt an eye twitch as he saw his hands grab the phone. His hand felt the same, but he could tell the proportions were off. His fingers were longer and thinner, and the points of his fingers tapered off almost like claws.
It looked like he was wearing the gloves of a Halloween costume.
He forced himself to ignore his hands.
He pressed the side button on his phone to power it on and frowned when he heard a loose part on the inside move. He opened a random song on his phone and frowned when only a quiet static noise came out of the speaker. âDamn. Canât exactly replace that right now,â He said jokingly.
He felt something shift in his hands, and he let out a startled breath. He watched as they contorted down into a more normal shape. The sensation felt alien, but it wasnât painful. They stopped shifting around and settled at a size that seemed close to what his hands normally were.
He frowned as the changes stopped. He still had what almost looked like claws at the tips of his fingers, and his skin was still the same deep blue shade.
âHow did you do that?â Jazz asked.
Blaster shook his head, âI donât know, they just started to do that.â He said breathlessly. He flared his hands out experimentally. The tingling sensation had receded a bit, but it was still present.
âMaybe if you can figure out how you did, you could change your eyes back.â
Blaster froze and turned his head slowly to look at his friend. Prowl face-palmed beside him, and Jazz winced.
Blaster looked back down at his phone and turned the screen off. In the glass, he could see his reflection staring back at him. His eyes looked almost exactly like Jazzâs did. He couldnât see any hint of his original eye color.
He leaned in close and pulled back an eyelid, and tried to look for any sign of the whites of his eyes. All he could see was a glossy pitch-black color with pupils that glowed the same blue color as Jazzâs and Prowlâs eyes. They looked more like glass than anything.
He swore.
âItâs not that bad,â Jazz said. He sat down on the couch. Jazz crushed Blaster's leg. He scooted his legs away in response. Blaster leveled what he hoped was an unimpressed stare at his friend.
âOkay, so itâs a little bad.â
Prowl was still standing next to the couch. He was deep in thought. A flash seemed to go through his eyes, and he leaned down and got close to Blasterâs face. âWe all have the same color eyes.â
He looked down at Blaster's hands in his lap and pursed his lips.
âProwl? Whatâs going through your head?â
âI donât think this is going to stop at our eyes,â He said.
Blaster froze. He looked down at his hands reluctantly. âYou donât think the hand thing is going to happen to both of you, too?â He asked.
As bad as it sounded, it made sense as soon as the question left Blasterâs mouth. Jazzâs eyes had changed, then Prowl's did, and now his had. Did Jazz have something contagious? Had they all caught something that was changing them? Even those thoughts didnât sound extremely possible, but Blaster was struggling to come up with any reasonable explanation.
âIt is, Iâm almost sure,â Prowl said.
Jazz collapsed against the couch. Blaster winced as he crushed his legs against the back cushion. Jazz sat back up quickly, realizing his mistake.
âWhere is this even going to end?â Jazz said. He placed a hand on his head, âWill we even be recognizable?â
Blaster really hoped not. That was one thought he hadnât had yet. They could keep changing and distorting until they no longer looked even remotely human.
Prowl stayed still and silent above the two of them. It seemed like this was something that had already crossed his mind. For as paranoid as Prowl could be at times, he always seemed to have a good contingency plan for everything that went wrong. He was a planner. Blaster wondered what plan was running through his friend's head.
âWe canât go to a doctor. I donât want to think about what could happen to us if we showed up to an ER like this.â
Blaster could, and it went two ways, the doctors being convinced they were playing a prank. Or the doctors believe them and call the government, and the three of them would end up on a lab table. Neither sounded desirable.
âWe need to leave. If the changes get worse, maybe we should think about taking one of the cars and camping out somewhere in the woods until we can figure something out. Maybe we can find an abandoned cabin?â Prowl rested a hand on his chin as he started to go deeper into his thoughts.
They hadnât spoken once about even contemplating leaving the area. Fleeing the area just seemed incomprehensible. They couldnât leave the town. They just couldnât leave. But the woods that surrounded the town went on for miles in all directions. There were abandoned campgrounds all over. Some of them did have cabins. It wouldnât be easy, but if they kept changing, Blaster didnât know what else they could do besides hide out somewhere.
Silence took over the room. All of them were thinking about what their futures held. At the moment, it seemed pretty damn dark.
Blaster looked over to Jazz. He seemed so lost. He had been putting on his normal, strong act this whole time. Blaster knew Jazz enough to know it was an act. Prowl did too. Jazz was scared; they all were. All of them were too damn stubborn to say it out loud.
Jazz let out an exaggerated sigh. âWe can worry about our lives as forest people if more changes happen.â
Blaster didnât have the strength in him to tell Jazz that it was more of an inevitability. If Jazz wanted to pretend for a little bit longer, Blaster was not going to be the one to stop him.
Blaster kicked his legs out from behind Jazz. His friend let out a startled gasp. Blaster adjusted himself back to a sitting position. Prowl collapsed onto the couch. Prowl pulled out his phone and started browsing it immediately. Blaster could catch him downloading a delivery app onto his phone.
Jazz didnât look over at Prowl. But he did look over to Blaster.
âWhat do your hands feel like?â He asked. Jazz looked nervous.
Blaster frowned, âNumb, it feels like I fell asleep on them.â He raised his hands back up from his side. They already looked longer than they had the last time he looked. Blaster swallowed. It looked like they were already trying to return to their narrow and sharp form. He swore he could feel them shift around. He forced them back down and curled his hands into fists.
Blaster didnât want to believe this was happening.
Blaster saw Prowl staring. His eyes were locked onto his hands. Blaster sighed, and he realized he wasnât just imagining his hands deforming in front of his eyes.
Jazz pushed himself off the couch and warily plugged the TV back in. It looked like a different movie was on. Jazz settled down on the couch and locked his eyes onto the screen with laser focus.
Prowl reached around and held out his phone for Blaster. He mouthed to him to add anything he could think of. Blaster looked down and saw a delivery with a high tip for a local camping goods store. It was a few towns over, and the delivery fee alone made Blaster wince.
Prowl was planning on moving out quickly. He wondered just how fast Prowl was expecting these changes to happen if he already was getting ready to take off for the middle of nowhere.
Blaster was impressed with the order Prowl had started, and a little terrified that this was quickly becoming a reality. He winced at the number, but if they really were running off, that probably wouldnât matter. Everything from a large canvas tent to a wood-burning stove was on the order. He saw a lack of food supplies and a lack of first aid gear. He added anything he could think of. He passed the phone back to Prowl silently.
Prowlâs face looked dire. He was taking this seriously. Blaster was sure Jazz would, too, in time. He couldnât blame either of them for reacting like this. He was barely holding it together. If he were alone, he would probably be curled up in a ball, screaming and crying his eyes out. All things considered, the two of them were taking this well.
He felt something pop and snap in his hands. Blaster couldnât just sit down while he knew his hands were warping just out of sight. He forced himself to look down. As subtly as he could, he examined his hands.
His hands trembled as they thinned out and took on a sharper shape. They felt the same. They still felt like they should have been the same size. He struggled as he subtly moved the fingers and felt pins and needles crawl along them.
The sounds around him became too much again. He felt Jazz touch his shoulder, but it sounded like he was hearing his friend through a loud horn.
He stood up from the couch and stumbled. He walked away from the living room and ignored the calls for him. Even the sounds of his clothes rubbing against his skin were bothering him.
He didnât want to be alone. He yearned for company. But he needed to be somewhere quiet. Blaster walked into the bathroom and closed the door. He felt something shift in his hands. Each finger had returned completely to their distorted shape.
He gulped. He closed his eyes, and the sound from the world around him seemed to dampen. He felt his head hit the wall of the tiny bathroom. He felt tears run down his face. He leaned down and felt like crying harder when the tears glowed against the fabric of his shirt.
Someone knocked on the bathroom door before opening it. Blaster didnât move his head to see who it was. Jazz leaned down in front of his face. Jazz kneeled on the floor in front of Blaster and grabbed him tight. Blaster responded in kind.
Blaster let out a broken laugh, âHope youâre ready to start living in the woods, man.â
Jazz sighed. âNot really, but I donât know what else to do,â He sounded as defeated as Blaster felt.
They broke off in their death grip hug. Prowl was standing at the door. âSupplies will be here in less than an hour. As soon as theyâre dropped off, weâre leaving for the nearest abandoned campground that has a cabin.â
Prowl probably already had a place in mind. It was almost scary how well he could plan things out.
âCanât believe weâre just leaving,â Jazz said. âPart of me just wants to stay here and wait what whatever this is to finish. But, I donât think that would be a great idea,â Jazz looked down at Blaster's hands for a second before looking away.
âWeâre not leaving the area. The place Iâm thinking about is twenty miles out of town. Weâll still be in county lines.â
That was a bigger comfort than Blaster thought it would be. He frowned. He couldnât figure out why that was comforting. He knew none of them had ever left the region before. Maybe he was just nervous about going somewhere new?
He could practically feel something push the worries out of his mind. He had other things to focus on. At least thatâs what he told himself. âI already grabbed what I needed from my place.â
There were other things he would have wanted to bring. Who knew if they could ever come back here? But, he knew that with everything else Prowl had planned on bringing that they would only have room for the essentials.
Prowl rubbed his eyes and exhaled. He turned to face Jazz. âGrab anything you donât want to lose.â
The small apartment became a flurry of activity. Jazz grabbed a backpack and placed keepsakes and documentation in it. Prowl was shifting through items in their closet and shoving things into a small suitcase. Blaster was given the task of packing any shelf-stable food he could into a plastic tote that had held holiday items in it before they were unceremoniously dumped on the floor.
Jazz and Prowl werenât big on canned food. Even then, they still had more items then he could fit into the tote. He sat down on the floor, fumbling with boxes and cans. His grip was off, and he was having trouble not poking holes into some of the flimsier packaging.
He heard a knock at the front door and saw Prowl walk by the kitchen. He expected to hear the door open. He waited in anticipation for it, but didnât hear anything.
âItâs here,â Prowl said.
Blaster stood up and dusted his shorts off. He sighed as he put the lid on the tote. He didnât want to believe this was happening. He lifted the tote off the ground and was surprised by the weight. With everything he shoved in the box, it should have been almost too heavy for him to carry. It almost felt light.
Jazz walked into the kitchen with a stuffed backpack thrown over his shoulder. He had a somber look on his face. He gestured with his head toward the front door. Blaster nodded. He wasnât sure of his ability not to cry if he spoke.
The two of them walked slowly toward the front door of the apartment. Prowl looked through the window and held up a hand. His shoulders relaxed, âOkay, theyâre gone. I told them to leave it by my car.â
Blasters' shoulders sagged. It saved them work, but it also meant this could be the last time he saw this place. The thought sent a shiver down his spine. He didnât want to go, but looking at the claws that had replaced his hands, he knew he couldnât stay. How could he even attempt to live a normal life, especially if this wasnât the end of the changes?
Prowl pushed the door open. He left the apartment without a second glance. Jazz slowly crossed through the door and had a sad expression cross his face as he looked backward one last time. Blaster took a deep breath and followed the two of them.
It was dark outside. He could hear crickets chirping and tree frogs croaking.
Prowl locked the apartment door. He adjusted his grip on the small suitcase and quickly started walking to the complex's parking lot.
Blaster kept his eyes fixed on the ground as they walked. He stepped carefully, mindful of what should have been a heavy package. The three of them walked silently. The sounds of nature fell away, and soon the only thing he could hear was the sound of their feet hitting the gravel. Blaster paused; he strained his ears.
He couldnât help but feel like something wasnât right. He could see Prowlâs car in the distance. He sped up in his walk. He told himself he just needed to make it a few more steps. There was a painful tug in his chest. He stumbled and dropped the crate.
Blaster heard rapid footsteps come up from behind him. He caught a quick glimmer of two familiar figures coming after him. He didnât make it one step before they reached for him. He let out a muffled scream. He was lifted off the ground.
He heard Jazz and Prowl scream after him.
He struggled in Eject's grip. His fingers dug into Blasterâs skin. He struggled as hard as he could, but he couldnât find a way out. The world quickly became a blur of trees as he was carried farther away. Blaster kicked his legs out as hard as he could.
âCareful!â Rewind shouted.
It didnât seem to do much besides hurt his foot. He let out a quiet hiss of pain. Eject jerked at the sound.
âIâm trying! He wonât stop.â Eject was stopped by Blaster, trying to push his way out of his grip. He felt Ejectâs fingers loosen slightly, and Blaster slid over his shoulder. With a flare of pain, he hit the ground face-first. He felt himself roll onto the ground.
He heard the two of them argue over him. It was hard to make them out. His head was pounding. The details of the world seemed to fall away from him. Darkness engulfed him, and he passed out.
He inhaled sharply. He was lying on his back. He opened his eyes and saw trees stretch out overhead. It was still night. The moon was peeking through the trees overhead. Blaster shivered as he felt a cold burst of wind.
He could still hear Eject and Rewind arguing. There were new voices that joined in with theirs. They were all around him.
âI canât believe you two let this happen,â One of the new voices hissed out. He didnât sound particularly happy.
âDadâs fine! We brought him here, didnât we?â Eject said casually.
âYou dropped him. Heâs unconscious,â Another new voice said.
Blaster shut his eyes. He slowed his breathing down and strained his ears to keep listening to the conversation.
âYou try keeping a grip on him! He wouldnât stop wiggling. The smaller frame is too small to get a good grip on,â Eject said.
âAnd itâs fragile, you know what happened with Mirage.â
Blaster felt his breathing hitch. He felt scared as he heard the familiar name. He didnât know what Mirage had to do with this.
Rewind huffed, âMirage was crushed under several thousand pounds of metal in an accident. Eject just dropped him a little.â
âNot like the smaller frame matters anyway.â
Three of the four voices groaned.
âAfter Blaster goes back into his real frame, itâs not like this one isn't gonna matter that much. As long as the spark chamber is fine, I donât see the issue, Steeljaw.â
âRamhorn, he can feel pain. Do you really want him to be in pain?â Steeljaw said.
This conversation was a mix of confusing and terrifying. Blaster was struggling to keep his sleep act up. Keeping his breathing steady was an uphill battle; he was struggling to maintain the facade.
âDid Ratchet ever tell you guys how this works exactly?â Rewind asked. âDo we just hand him off to his frame?â
Blaster really did not like the direction of this conversation. He didnât know where he was beyond being somewhere in the woods. He had no idea where he could even run to.
The four voices went silent.
âHis frame is nearby. We could try,â Ramhorm said.
âI think we should comm Ratchet,â Rewind said.
âWe can just call him if it doesnât work. If it does, think about how happy heâll be to have another pair of hands to work on things,â Steeljaw said.
The other three seemed to agree.
Blaster was seriously contemplating running. The four of them were right next to him. He probably wouldnât get far, but he hoped it wouldnât hurt to try. Before he could make his escape, he felt another pair of hands gently lift him off the ground. He was thrown over a shoulder like a sack of flour. He sagged limply; he wasnât sure what he should do.
He opened his eyes and saw the ground move as he was carried off. He lost track of time. The four of them had stopped talking for the most part. The walk to wherever they were going was broken up occasionally by small talk. Blaster felt comforted by the almost familiar chatter.
His chest felt heavy. He was cold, but something inside of him felt warm and content.
The ground stopped moving below him. Their journey had halted.
âHis frame was wandering around here earlier.â
He heard a loud thud. It sounded like something heavy had hit the dirt. His ears started to ring. He heard the thudding again; it was rhythmic and steady. It was getting louder. The louder it got, the louder the ringing in his ears got. He wanted to struggle again, to try to wiggle out of Rewind's grip.
Something was telling him to be calm. A silent whisper in his mind. He needed to be still. This was right. His eyelids got heavy. Struggling seemed pointless.
He was only shaken out of his state when he felt himself being pulled down from Rewindâs shoulder. He felt another set of hands take him. His feet dangled off the ground, and he looked up slowly.
He blinked.
A large figure loomed overhead. Blaster wondered if this was what Jazz and Prowl had seen. It was a large human-shaped creature. Its body was made of the same metal that Rewind and Ejectâs were. But it was several times larger.
Blaster felt like it looked familiar.
It was kneeling, staring at Blaster in the eye. It tilted its head slowly. Its face had a neutral expression. Its blue eyes were blown wide, staring at him without blinking.
His brain clashed with itself. He should be calm, but he should run.
It felt like he was being torn in two. His chest felt like it was burning. He only screamed when the creature started to reach out for him. His common sense overrode whatever fog had been trying to take him over. Panic dug into him as its large hands plucked him out of Rewindâs grip. Its hands wrapped around him tightly, pinning his arms to his sides.
Metal strained as the creature stood up to full height. He struggled in its grip, but he couldnât find any way to get loose. The creature didnât react to any of his attempts. It just stared at him. The longer he was in its grip, the more his chest burned. He could feel the fog forcing itself back into his mind.
Whispers, assuring him that it would be alright. Gentle prodding, telling him to let this happen. That it would be alright. His head lulled to the side. It came to rest on one of the massive fingers. It felt like everything around him stopped.
âIs something supposed to happen?â
âMaybe it takes a while?â Eject said hesitantly.
âIâm going to comm Ratchet.â
His eyes locked onto the creatures. They stared at each other, unmoving. The feeling of dissociation was almost like being drunk. The creature looked up. Blaster forced his head to turn to face the same direction.
Rewind and Eject were waving to a rapidly approaching figure.
To add on to the pile of strange his life had become, he saw what he assumed was Steeljaw and Ramhorn. The two of them stood on all fours and looked like robotic animals.
It was another one of the giants. Blasters' eyes widened slightly. This one was even taller than the one that was holding him. It had a tarp wrapped around it as some sort of makeshift covering. Its face was obscured by shadow, and he could only make out its narrowing, glowing blue eyes.
Blaster tried to struggle weakly again. He still couldnât get away.
âYou werenât kidding.â
âWhy would we joke about something like this, Ratchet?â
Ratchet walked forward. His steps were more sure, more aware than the creature that was holding him. Â Ratchet came to a stop and leaned down to examine Blaster. Ratchet's eyes were wide, and a smile was on his face.
Ratchet muttered assurances to Blaster that he could only barely make out.
This did nothing to reassure him.
Blaster tried to shake his head, but the best he could manage was lifting his head off the finger it was resting on slightly. Ratchet gently pried the hand holding Blaster open, and he fell into Ratchetâs hand. Ratchet kneeled, and Blaster was lowered onto the ground. It was easier to move, and Blaster managed to roll himself over onto his back. He curled into himself and shut his eyes. The small motion left him exhausted.
A light flashed through his eyelids. He winced and felt static run through his body in a wave.
Ratchet hummed. Blaster opened his eyes and saw a curious expression on Ratchetâs face. âHeâs not quite ready for a spark transfer yet. Iâll bring Blasterâs frame back to the ship. I donât think I need to remind you to be careful with the smaller body.â
Ratchet stood up and placed a hand on the large creature. Frame?
âCome on, Blaster,â Ratchet said. He gently guided the large frame out of Blaster's sight. Steeljaw and Ramhorn hesitantly looked back at Blaster before following Ratchet.
Blaster wondered to himself why they were calling that thing by his name. He felt a shiver run down his spine. Did they somehow think they were the same? He needed to get away. He saw Rewind step into view again.
âEject, grab his legs, Iâll get his arms, might be easier that way,â Rewind said.
Blaster scrambled to his feet. He started to run. He looked down at his feet and frowned when he noticed his sandals where gone. He doubted he would be able to get away, but he had to try. The forest floor dug painfully into his feet as they slammed against the ground.
Each step he took away gave him new complicated emotions. He felt tears run down his face. He felt like sobbing. Not out of fear. Blaster stumbled as he realized he felt guilty.
He heard Rewind and Eject shout out after him. They sounded sad and distraught.
A part of him screamed louder and louder to stop. He was angry with himself.
Something shifted in his legs. He heard and snap and a pop. His balance was thrown off, and he tumbled to the forest floor. He let out a startled yell as he collapsed. He tried to stand back up, only to immediately fall back over.
He barely managed to roll himself over. He looked down. He couldnât see well in the dark. But he could tell something was wrong with his legs. They looked longer.
He heard Rewind and Eject get closer. He weakly attempted to push himself away, but he wasnât able to make much progress. Any fight he had left in him faded away as the two of them got closer. He collapsed back onto the ground.
He let the world around him fade into a blur as the two of them talked over him in quiet tones. He couldnât really focus on what they were saying. It didnât matter to him. They were bickering quietly with each other. It was so painfully familiar. It was comforting just listening to the two of them talk.
He felt guilty again. He felt guilty because, for the first time in his life, he felt complete.
Even with Jazz, he still felt like something was missing.
Not here. Not at that moment. For the first time in his life, he felt whole. He knew he should have been terrified. He couldnât find it in himself to be. The whispers of assurance hit his ears, and he couldnât find the energy to try to escape again.
The two of them gently lifted him off the ground and carried him off into the night. He didnât struggle.
Prowl gets a call in the middle of the night from Red. The three of them head out to Prowl's workplace, the local cemetery.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
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Prowl remembered this dream. It had haunted him for years. It was his first memory. He was alone in the woods, dressed in thin clothes, huddled under a tree. He didnât know how he got there, or if someone had even left him there. He just remembered the growing fear and dread when he realized he didnât know where or who he was. He remembered the biting cold and huddling in on himself alone and confused.
When he was younger, a group of hikers found him. However, in his dream, he stayed alone. No one ever came for him, and no one found him. He sat in the dark forest alone, calling out for strangers.
He could almost feel the cold of the dream digging into him.
His sleep ended abruptly. He jolted out of sleep as his phone rang out. His eyes snapped open. He unwrapped his arms from Jazz as carefully as he could. He reached over to his nightstand and picked up his phone.
The caller ID was for Red. He fought back a bout of nausea as he swiped at his screen and answered the call. Part of him was hoping that it was nothing. He couldnât help but feel like something must have happened.
âRed?â He asked wearily.
Prowl heard Jazz groan next to him. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to Prowl. Prowl could just barely make out his unimpressed expression. Blaster was huddled up on the couch cushions in the corner, and he turned in his sleep. He could hear Blaster mutter something as he sat up in his makeshift bed on the floor.
âProwl!â Red sounded panicked over the phone. He started muttering something under his breath. He was talking too quickly to make out anything.
âRed? Whatâs going on?â Prowl asked.
âOne of the cameras went out, and the alarm for that area of the graveyard is going off! No one else is answering their phones!â
âEven your boyfriend? Do you need me to come out to the graveyard?â Prowl asked.
Jazz groaned silently next to him. He rolled out of bed.
âInferno is almost here! I just got off the phone with him, but if it wasnât any trouble, I would appreciate it if you helped us check it out and see if we can figure out what took out the camera,â Red said quickly.
Jazz shoved his shoes on and squirmed as he worked his hoodie over his head. Prowl sat up and got out of bed.
Prowl rubbed his eyes, âI donât think Jazz will let me go out alone. Weâll both be out there soon,â Prowl hung up before Red could argue. Prowl chose not to mention that Blaster would most likely tag along. As far as he knew, Red had never met Blaster. If he had mentioned that Red would have most likely protested.
 Blaster looked exhausted. Prowl felt wide awake, as far as he could tell, so did Jazz.
âWhere are we goin'?â Blaster murmured half awake.
âWe have to run out to my work real quick. You two can stay here or in the car,â Prowl said.
Blaster blinked slowly. He held up a hand and raised a finger. âWait, donât you work at the cemetery?â
Jazz snorted as he left the bedroom, âYep.â
Blaster shook his head and blinked his eyes rapidly. He chuckled nervously. âSure, cemetery in the middle of the night, how could anything go wrong?â
âYou donât have to come if you donât want to, Blaster,â Prowl offered half-heartedly. Prowl had never been bothered by the location of his job. He knew other people were more unsure about working nights at a cemetery.
âI am not staying here alone. What if they come back?â Blaster said. The panic had seemed to wake him up slightly. He pushed himself up off the floor and shoved his sandals on. He scrambled out of the room while rubbing his eyes.
Prowl shoved yesterdayâs clothes on and picked up his jacket as he left the room. Blaster was pacing in the kitchen, and the bathroom door was closed. Light pooled out from under the door. He heard Jazz shuffle around. Jazz emerged from the bathroom wearing a pair of sunglasses.
When Jazz tilted his head just right, Prowl could make out the glow through the lenses. He suppressed a shudder as he caught his own unnaturally colored eyes in the reflection of his lenses.
âItâs not too noticeable, right?â Jazz said sarcastically.
âRed will be too worried to notice, hopefully,â Prowl said.
Jazz sighed, âI was really hoping he wouldnât call.â He pushed the sunglasses up over his head and left them resting on his beanie. Jazz rubbed his eyes. An exhausted sigh left his mouth.
Prowl looked away.
âI didnât think he would. Iâm sorry. If you want, I can head out alone.â
Jazz seemed worried. His fingers tapped against his jacket, and his foot tapped against the ground. He let out a sigh. âIâm not mad, Prowl, I promise. But you have to admit it wouldnât be smart for any of us to go off on our own anywhere for a bit.â
 âFine. If you want to stay in the car when we get there, that will be fine,â Prowl said.
Jazz narrowed his eyes.
âRed and Inferno would be with me the whole time. I wouldnât be going anywhere alone.â
âIâm not staying in the car, Prowl,â Jazz placed a hand around Prowl's side and dragged him into a hug.
Prowl wrapped his hand around Jazz and kissed him. âOnly if youâre sure.â
Jazz snorted, âAfter everything thatâs been going on, the last thing Iâm going to be afraid of is a cemetery.â
Prowl grabbed his car keys.
Jazz hollered after Blaster, who rushed out of the kitchen. He had thick bags under his eyes and seemed to shake himself awake.
Stepping outside was difficult. As soon as he crossed the threshold, it felt like he was stepping into another incident waiting to happen. Something whispered to him that this was a bad idea. He should turn around and head back inside. His guilt won, and he forced himself forward.
A puff of air left his mouth, and he saw a white mist blow in front of his face. Prowl twisted his face in confusion. It hadnât felt that cold.
Jazz and Blaster started walking quickly around the building. Prowl rushed to follow. All three of them were on high alert. He heard a tree frog croak off in the distance, and it put him on edge. The slightest sound would send all of them into a quiet frenzy as they searched for the source.
Thankfully, they made it out to his car without incident. He was half expecting something to jump out at them.
Prowl started the engine and left as soon as he heard Jazz and Blaster buckle up. The sooner they got out there, the sooner they could head back to the apartment. Blaster fell back asleep in the car on the drive to the cemetery. Jazz crossed his arms and kept his gaze forward.
The silence buzzed in the air. Prowl felt horrible. He felt sick to his stomach. He was upset that he had dragged Blaster and Jazz out of the apartment. He didnât even want to be out of the apartment. He hoped that the camera had broken, and it would be a quick stop. He just wanted to curl back up with Jazz and go back to sleep.
As they got closer to the graveyard, Jazz pulled the glove compartment open. Prowl heard him shuffle things around. âFound it!â He quietly exclaimed.
âFound what?â Prowl asked.
âThe spare EMF meter. That first night, it went crazy when we saw that thing.â
âSmart,â Prowl murmured.
âFor once, I donât want it to go off,â Jazz said.
Prowl drove slowly to his workplace. He didnât think anything serious had happened. Or at least he hoped nothing serious had happened. The only reason his other coworkers didnât want to work at the cemetery was that they were afraid of the idea of it. Prowl had never had that issue. He found the silent nights lonely and dull. Nothing serious had ever happened while he worked there.
Jazz sighed as he pushed the sunglasses down to cover his eyes as they passed the sign for the graveyard. They wrapped around his eyes slightly. If Prowl looked close enough, he could faintly make out a blue glow around the edges of the frames in the dark.
Prowl forced his view away and pulled in his car next to Infernoâs pickup truck. He saw Red and Inferno standing in front of the unlocked gate. Inferno had a hand wrapped around Red and was talking to him.
Blaster jerked awake in the back seat as Prowl turned the car off. He shook his head and forced himself out of the car.
Prowl opened his door and was greeted by the sound of footsteps hitting the gravel. Red was sprinting over. His flashlight was gripped tightly in one hand. He heard Inferno sigh as he walked over to follow Red.
âProwl! Thanks for coming so quickly,â Red said. He shone his flashlight into Prowl's eyes, making him wince. Red frowned as he looked over the three of them. âIs Jazz alright? He looks a little sick?â Red asked.
Jazz faked a cough next to him. âIâm fine.â
Red flicked the flashlight down and took a few steps back. âAnd whoâs this with you?â
Blaster shuffled his feet and kicked the gravel below him, âIâm Blaster, Iâm staying with them for a few days.â
Red let a high-pitched humming sound.
âRed,â Inferno placed a hand down on his boyfriend's shoulder. âItâs late. Why donât we have them come with us to make sure everything is fine and then let them go back to sleep?â
It looked like Red forced his eyes closed. He took a few deep breaths and gave one sharp nod. âThe camera on the back right of the property just started shaking, and then it just cut the feed.â
âIt was probably a wild animal chewing threw the wire,â Prowl suggested.
The cemetery was in a heavily wooded area. Prowl had seen his fair share of raccoons and even heard the odd coyote in the distance some nights. He had even found chewed threw wires before on some of the security equipment on a few occasions.
âMaybe,â Red said. He shook his head, âHopefully. Iâm sorry if I called you out here for nothing.â
Red pushed the old metal gate open. It let out a high-pitched squeal. There were no lights out here. There was a small house on the far corner of the property that held the office. It had the only lights in the old cemetery. The lights on the house were not visible at the entrance. Prowl could only make out the familiar shadows of the headstones in the pitch black night. It was familiar. Prowl had seen the same sight hundreds of times. This time, though, it was unsettling.
No matter how much Prowl told himself this was familiar, and this was normal. He couldnât shake the feeling of something being off. Red held his flashlight and pointed it toward the ground. It provided enough illumination to avoid any debris that was scattered around, but the harsh shadows it cast did nothing to ease Prowl.
 Jazz carefully walked towards the back of their small group with Blaster. The only sounds gracing their ears were the sounds of their own footsteps on the gravel path. The night wasnât even graced with the sounds of wildlife. Prowl suppressed a shiver. He told himself it was just the cold.
Red and Inferno quietly talked at the head of the group. Inferno leaned down and whispered something in his ear. Red let out a nervous chuckle, and Inferno huffed.
âThe camera that went out is over here,â Red pointed a finger toward a pole.
It was near the external fence. The old iron fence wrapped around the whole property. Sections were original to the property. Over the years, though, some parts had broken. Whenever a part fell, they were replaced with newer, cheaper, chain-linked fences.
Red pointed his flashlight up to the pole.
âDamn,â Inferno muttered.
There was no camera on the pole. The remaining wires sparked erratically.
Red took a step back. He pointed his flashlight down and moved it across the ground. âI donât understand! Where did it go?â
As Red swept the flashlight across the ground, Prowl stilled. He saw large impressions under the pole. They almost looked like footprints. Large footprints. Prowl looked over to Jazz. He met his covered eyes. Jazz reached a hand in his pocket and pulled out the EMF meter. He switched it on. The light indicator flashed up into the medium zone. Jazz flashed it in Prowlâs direction. He shoved it back into his pocket, but didnât turn it off.
Prowl hoped Red would be too focused on finding the downed camera to notice the large imprints on the ground.
Red narrowed his eyes and shone he light on the ground again, âNo marks from a latter,â he said critically.
âNo marks for a latter,â Prowl responded.
The group collectively winced as Red suddenly let out another high-pitched hum. Inferno looked unimpressed. He sighed and placed a gentle hand on Redâs shoulder.
âWhy donât we make our way back out to the office? I donât think thereâs much we can do out here, Red,â Inferno said.
âMaybe an animal carried it off?â Blaster said weakly.
âI donât like this,â Red murmured.
The EMF meter wailed in Jazzâs pocket. Prowl was filled with dread.
Red let out a startled yelp at the noise. He fumbled with the flashlight, and it fell to the ground.
Red and Inferno turned to Jazz. His brows poked out from underneath his glasses, and he pulled the meter out of his pocket and switched it off. Jazz pressed his lips together in a thin line.
âSorry, that was my phone,â Jazz said apologetically.
Inferno leaned down and picked the flashlight back up. He placed it in Redâs hand.
âHell of an alarm,â Inferno muttered.
Prowl did his best to keep the fear off his face. One of those creatures was here.
âMaybe we should head back to the office, Red,â Prowl said nervously. âMaybe one of the other cameras picked something up?â
Red turned on his heel and started walking in the direction of the office building. The others rushed to follow. Despite everything, Prowl lingered. He stared up at the pole and looked at the torn wires with a critical stare. Blaster ran off to follow Inferno and Red, but Jazz stood by him.
âWe should go,â Jazz said firmly.
Something in Prowl froze. He felt a spike of pain in his chest. He grabbed his shirt and grunted. His heart pounded loudly against his chest. It felt like it was trying to burst out of his rib cage.
The snapping of wood echoed out behind them. The two of them stiffened and turned around. It was dark, but Prowl could make out a pair of glowing eyes looming out from the tree line. They heard a loud thud hit the ground as it slowly inched closer. It stopped at the fence line.
The air distorted in front of Prowl. He felt a pull on his chest, and a form took shape in front of him. It was vague at first, only humanoid in shape. But it took on a hauntingly familiar form.
Prowl stared at his warped mirror image. Prowl faintly registered that he could see through it. Its face was expressionless, and its eyes were dark. It reached out to Prowl's chest. He felt the fingers ghost over his shirt.
He could only stare on as the fingers started to pass through into his chest. As they passed through, he felt his heart burn. The arm of the figure warped and disappeared. It started down and the distorted limb. It turned its head slowly back towards Prowl. The limb reappeared, and it reached back out.
âNope!â Jazz shouted next to him.
Prowl let out a strangled gasp as Jazz pulled him along and started to run. Prowl stumbled as he was dragged away. The further away they got, the more his mind cleared up. He let out a strangled gasp. He started running in tandem with Jazz.
He found his head turning back around. The large figure turned around and walked back off into the forest. The ghostly figure blinked out of existence. Prowl contained a scream that was starting to rise in the back of his throat.
Prowl could see Red's flashlight up ahead. He carefully listened behind them, and he didnât hear the telltale signs of footsteps following after the two of them.
âThere you are!â Blaster said. âWondered when you guys would catch up.â He squinted at the two of them.
Prowl wheezed and kneeled over.
 âYou alright?â Inferno asked.
âWe saw a cougar!â Jazz exclaimed. âIt started coming towards us, and we took off running.â
Prowl was impressed with how fast Jazz came up with that lie. It was very possible. There were mountain lions that roamed the woods. If one was desperate enough, they were known to go after humans.
Blasterâs eyes widened. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the two of them. Thankfully, he didnât say anything.
âA cougar?â Red said.
âWe should head inside then,â Inferno said.
âThat would be for the best,â Prowl murmured. He hoped the building would be safer than being outside with the phantom image of himself wandering around.
âInferno and I can check the recording system for whatever took out the camera,â Red said. He looked concerned.
âYou two are looking a little sick; it might be good for you all to head back,â Inferno said.
âWe can watch over the footage with you, Red,â Prowl said.
He wanted to wait a few minutes before running off. He had to be sure that thing was gone before he left his coworker out here alone. If something happened to him, Prowl would never be able to forgive himself.
Red nodded stiffly.
They headed off to the old home that was used as the office for the property. Prowl saw the porch light as they rounded a corner on the path. The old home was hidden between the trees. If you didnât know it was there, it would be easy to miss. The home was worn down, and the roof was covered in a carpet of moss.
The wooden porch leaned to one side, and it was covered with debris from the trees. A mix of old leaves and pine needles covered the ground. Prowl carefully stepped as they climbed the rickety stairs. They gave under each footstep and creaked ominously.
The group was on watch. Inferno and Red seemed less on edge than the rest of them. Prowl hoped that was for the best. He was happy that they were unaware of what had happened. Hopefully, after tonight, Red and Inferno wouldnât have to deal with whatever the three of them were dealing with.
Red pulled the keys for the building out of his pocket and pushed the door open. The musty smell of the building hit the group as they crossed the threshold. Red and Prowl led the rest of the group to the security office. It was a small room that was tucked away on the side of the house. A small desk and a swivel chair were in one corner. The rest of the room was full of boxes filled with paperwork that the owners of the cemetery had stashed away in there.
Red sat in the seat and waited patiently for the ancient computer system to finish booting. The computer buzzed, and the fans clicked. Red pulled up the management software for the security systems and started to work his way through the nearby cameras. There were only two. Neither had a line of sight to the camera that was taken out.
Red tapped his finger as he fast-forwarded through the camera feeds. The other two cameras hadnât picked up anything unusual. Red sighed and went back to the camera feed for the camera that had been taken out.
âI looked over this earlier and didnât find anything, but it might be good to check it again, just in case?â Red said.
This camera feed started like the others. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until the camera started to shake for a second. It cut to black shortly after it started to shake. Prowl saw a flash of blue right as the camera died.
Prowl knew the creature had taken the camera. He couldnât figure out why it had done that. Was it smart enough to know he worked here? Was this an attempt to lure him out?
âIt doesnât make any sense. Where did the camera go? If it fell off, it should have been on the ground still,â Red said nervously.
Prowl coughed. He had a pretty good idea as to what happened to it. But he didnât say anything. After all, what was he going to say? That aliens had come in the night and stolen a security camera from a rural cemetery? It even sounded insane in his own head.
âIâm not sure there is a satisfying answer here, Red, maybe a bird knocked it over, and the cougar ran off with it?â Prowl said.
âMaybe?â Red whispered. âI donât want to keep you out here all night. I donât think thereâs going to be anything we can do besides putting in an order to get it replaced,â Red said reluctantly.
âAre you sure? I donât mind staying out here if that will make you feel better, Red,â Prowl said.
Inferno waved a hand, âNah, Iâll be here with him, I wonât let anything happen to him.â
Red crossed his arms and looked away from the group for a second. He rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh. âWeâll be fine, Prowl, donât worry,â His voice was shaky and uncertain.
Prowl didnât know how to feel about leaving him alone. So close to what they saw. He couldnât find a good excuse to stay. Prowl let out a shaky breath as he agreed to leave. Â
Red and Inferno walked them back to the car. Prowl waved as he slowly pulled out of the parking lot.
âWhat actually happened?â Blaster asked.
Jazz laughed nervously. He pulled the sunglasses off his face and turned around to face Blaster. âI think we saw Prowlâs ghost.â
Sorry that it's not really an ask, i'm just still not over the 8th chapter T-T
I really liked Jazz's eyes complete colour change, and that one short bit when Prowl had a revelation that he hadn't thought of going to a doctor
Would insurance even cover such cases without involving the x-files???
Also, excited for any further disasters! Especially with Red's new graveyard shift schedule :D
Hello yes, seeing this made me audibly scream. I love it so much.
@frogisland, your art is amazing, and I love all of these so damn much. The first one with Jazz is so perfect captures what he's going through so wellđ.
Preceptors lack of depth perception has led him to fall over many cliffs.
Early on the war he lost an optic. Preceptor can normally get by just fine without it, but without his spark his husk has significantly more difficulties getting around. His frame is functional but it has definitely seen better days.
I finally finished his ref, as soon as I did I made this. The power of art.
Ref bellow the read more. I also have some fun stuff coming soon that Iâm exited to share some news about :]
Sooo I have some general updates for this AU, and some exiting news :] I havenât been posting as much because Iâm working on something exiting (at least to me)
I am working on a new longer paranormal encounters comic đ The comic is a prequel to the AU. I wanted to wait to share it until it was at a point where I knew I could finish it. This comic is already scripted, and laid out. This is going to be a 18 page long comic that I will post one page at a time on a weekly schedule. Some weeks it might be more than one page if I have the time.
If this comic goes well I have some plans for other plans for even longer comics that I might explore doing :]
In other news Chapter 10 will be posted sometime in the next few days. Iâm exited to share it, from this point on the fic is going to be getting darker and I have some fun stuff planned >:]
Iâm also hoping to get through some asks this week there are some amazing ones that I have been wanting to answer.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
<- <- Start | <- Previous
The apartment was quiet. Blaster and Jazz were talking quietly in the kitchen while they were cooking. He hadn't smelled any smoke yet, but he was vigilant. The two of them had gotten distracted while cooking before and had flooded their apartment with smoke on more than one occasion.
Jazzâs laughter echoed through the apartment.
Prowl was happy to hear Jazz laugh at some joke Blaster had made. They deserved a chance to take their minds off what had been happening.
Prowl walked quietly into the bathroom. He clutched the bathroom counter tightly. He had been avoiding his reflection. He shook his head and tried to get over the illogical fear of the reflective surface. He looked up as he turned the sink on.
Prowl stared at the bathroom mirror with a blank expression. His eyes were blue. They had taken on the same shade as his partner's eyes while he was sleeping. He barely noticed they had changed. The only sign was a slight burning sensation when he woke up from a nap. He looked away from the mirror and down onto the counter. The blue lines had been appearing more often on his skin. They were almost a permanent feature. They would disappear and reappear at different places on his body.
He could make out the start of one from under the sleeve of his shirt. He shook his head and left the bathroom. He didnât want to linger on the strange changes his body had been undergoing more than he absolutely had to.
He knew he couldnât keep avoiding thinking about it. Prowl rubbed his forehead. He didnât know what to do. If these changes kept happening, would he and Jazz even be able to leave their apartment safely? Would they even look human?
He didnât want to bring it up around Jazz; he knew he should have talked to his partner about it. Jazz had just seemed too scared. Prowl knew that bringing up the idea that these changes could continue would make his partner shut down. They were all stressed out, and Prowl didnât want to do something to add to it.
As Prowl entered the kitchen. He promised himself he would only bring it up if the changes got more severe. The two of them could wear sunglasses and cover up to hide the changes they had so far. They would get weird looks, but it was doable. Prowl fought back thoughts of what more changes would look like.
Jazz and Blaster were leaning against the counters of the kitchen. Blaster was fighting back a laugh. Jazz looked enthralled by whatever conversation they had going on. His eyes glowed brighter as he laughed.
âNo way!â Jazz exclaimed.
âIâm being serious, he told me he turned around and it was gone,â Blaster said.
âSounds like his students were just messing with him. What does he think that the microscope grew legs and walked away?â
Prowl had no idea what either of them were talking about. The distraction was extremely welcome.
âHey, Prowl,â Jazz smiled and pushed himself off the counter. âDinner is just frozen lasagna. We had one in the freezer. It should be done in a few minutes. If you want, you can cut up some of the cheese in the fridge to put on top. Might make it taste less like preservatives.â
If either of them had noticed Prowlâs new eye color, they did not mention it.
âSure,â Prowl said.
He grabbed some of the mozzarella they kept in the fridge and pulled out their one remaining sharp knife. They had a partial set that was gifted to them, used. Over the years, most of the knives had become borderline unusable with how dull they were. He pulled out their cutting board and got to work.
âSo what were you talking about?â Prowl asked.
âSome guy who called in to my show last week. Heâs a local teacher, and he was telling me that heâs convinced that some of the classrooms are haunted,â Blaster said.
âYou've got to tell him about what he said happened,â Jazz insisted.
Prowl flicked his gaze up briefly while he was slicing the cheese.
Blaster shrugged, âHe said that some of the lab equipment has been moved around when no oneâs looking. Even happened while he was in the room once. I told him it was probably one of the kids playing a prank. He didnât seem to be convinced, though.â
The knife hit the cutting board with a dull thud. Prowl looked down. Â He blinked slowly. The knife had slipped and cut his finger. He hissed as he placed the knife down. He saw a drop of red and looked away.
âYou alright?â Jazz asked.
âJust got myself with the knife a little bit.â
Jazz looked at him with a critical eye. âIâll go grab the first aid kit,â Jazz said. He left the kitchen.
Blaster hovered behind Prowl's shoulder nervously. âDoesnât look like you got yourself too bad at least.â
âHey, Blaster! Grab a chair! Itâs a little too high up in the closet for me to grab.â
Blaster rushed off to help Jazz and dragged one of the chairs behind him.
He walked over to the sink. He turned the tap on and placed his finger underneath. A thin trail of red seeped out of his finger. He could see how deep the cut was. He frowned; he should have been bleeding more.
He turned the faucet off and grabbed a paper towel. He dabbed the wound carefully. He pulled the towel away. He saw a familiar shade of blue mix in with the blood running down his finger. He stared on in horror as more and more blue fluid leaked out of his hand. It was thicker than his blood.
Prowl quickly wrapped his finger back up in the paper towel. He looked behind him and saw his partner and Blaster reenter the kitchen. Prowl took the first aid kit with his free hand and carefully hid his finger as he wrapped it tightly with a bandage.
Jazz tossed out the cheese he had cut up. It looked like it had been covered in the smallest amount of blood from the cut. Jazz placed the knife and the cutting board in the sink.
The timer on the oven rang out. The sound echoed through the apartment loudly. Jazz poorly hid a wince as he mashed the button on the oven to get it to turn off. Jazz fumbled and placed a stained oven mitt on. He pulled the warmed-up meal onto the top of the stove. It bubbled and sizzled as Jazz pulled down some of their mismatched plates.
Prowl stepped in and helped plate the meal out of its tin container. It steamed as he placed it onto the plates. Jazz and Blaster grabbed their plates. They all sat down at the table. Jazz started eating as soon as he sat down. Jazz frowned as he ate.
Prowl stared down at his meal. He wasnât particularly hungry. He would eat, he knew he had to. He hadnât had anything to eat since yesterday morning. The frozen lasagna wasnât his favorite, but it was food, and thatâs what mattered. He sighed as he started mindlessly eating. It tasted worse than he remembered. He could practically taste the chemical preservatives in it.
âWhat do you guys think about that Mirage guy?â Blaster asked quietly.
Jazz huffed, âI think he has some screws loose. He could just be trying to pull some sort of prank on us; he did seem kinda young.â
Prowl pressed his lips into a fine line. âIâm not so sure. If it was a prank, how did he know we saw something?â
âThe local kids play weird pranks here all the time,â Jazz insisted as he shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth.
âI am well aware. I saw the teenager who was pretending to be a cryptid a few years ago,â Prowl said.
âNah, man! That was a real bonified cryptid, no way that was some kid pulling a prank. Iâm talking like the classic stuff, going around town and swapping lawn decorations. I remember some of the stuff me and Blaster got up to when we were younger,â Jazz said with a smirk on his face.
Blaster looked away from Jazz. He poorly concealed a laugh.
âIâm just saying he could just be going up to everyone and doing that to creep them out,â Jazz said.
His face quickly turned serious. He let out a deep sigh. âI donât know Jazz, something just seemed kind of off with the guy?â Blaster said nervously.
âSomething was off with him for sure. He looked kind of off. Uncanny?â Prowl suggested.
Prowl felt his phone buzz against his leg. He pulled it out of his pants pocket.
âSorry,â Prowl whispered as he saw the caller ID.
It was his coworker. Red didnât call him normally. Red had only called him in the past when there was something serious going on at work. Emergencies with other people working different shifts, or if something had happened that required him to be at the office.
âItâs work,â Prowl whispered apologetically as he answered the call.
âProwl! Um, how are you doing?â Red asked.
âIâm doing fine. Is everything alright?â Prowl asked.
Prowl heard another voice on the phone, but he couldnât make out what they said. âIâm asking,â Red whispered. âI wasnât able to find anyone to cover your shift, so Iâm going to be taking it over at least for the rest of this week. I was wondering if you had any tips? Or if there was anything you wanted me to know?â Red sounded nervous.
Prowl could not blame him. The first few times he had worked the night shift at the cemetery, he had been a little afraid. That fear left with time as nothing happened. He would deal with the occasional person sneaking in after nightfall or the odd wild animal. But nothing as serious as the grave robbery the person before him had missed.
âIt will be fine, Red. Itâs a calm shift. The worst Iâve dealt with was a few vandals last summer.â
âI know, I skimmed all of your reports this afternoon from the last year,â Red admitted. The fear was clear in his voice. âI just want to make sure Iâm ready for anything before I head out.â
Prowl winced. His reports were neat and precise. He filed everything diligently and correctly. He also knew they were a little longer side. Red never did do things by halves. He was nervous, but he was thorough and good at his job.
âRed, if it makes you feel better, you can call me if something happens, and I will come out and help you.â
Prowl regretted it as soon as it left his mouth. Jazz shot him a look. With his new eyes, it looked more intimidating than normal. Blaster winced next to Jazz.
âI couldnât ask you to do that! Not while you're sick!â Red said quickly.
Prowl had an easy out there. But he would feel bad if he told his anxious coworker no. It was a calm shift; the odds of something happening were low. Most likely, he wouldnât even have to go out.
âI should be fine, I wouldnât offer if I wasnât being serious, besides Inferno would come out too, Iâm sure,â Prowl said.
He heard the other person talk on the phone again; this time, he could make it out if only faintly, âHeâs right, you know. Iâll be there for you the second something happens.â
Red let out a panicked-sounding hum, âOnly if youâre sure it wonât be bad for your health, Prowl.â
âI should be fine,â Prowl reassured.
If looks could kill, Prowl would be a dead man. Jazz did not look happy with him at the moment.
âIs there anything else I should know?â Red asked quietly. He could almost imagine Red pacing around in his home.
âNothing really, the cameras all work, and I check the alarms regularly. They were all working during my last shift. If you have any questions, you can just call and ask. Iâm normally awake at night.â
âI will, I promise. Thank you for taking the call so late, Prowl. I appreciate it. I really do.â
The line clicked. He placed the phone down with a sigh. He rubbed at his eyes. Prowl did his best to mentally prepare himself for the inevitable conversation.
âProwl, why did you even offer to go out there?â Jazz asked. He crossed his arms and leveled a flat stare in Prowl's direction. âThe idea of you going there alone just sends shivers down my spine right now,â He sounded worried.
Prowl felt terrible. He looked away, âHe had to take over my shift, Jazz. If heâs going to do that, I can at least offer to go out if something happens.â
Prowl knew he couldnât go into work with whatever was going on with him and Jazz.
He couldnât help but feel guilty about leaving Red to cover his shift. Red was one of the best at the security firm, but he was just a little prone to overthinking things at times. Red was the last person who should have offered to take over the shift. He would do a good job, Prowl was sure of that. But he was also sure that he would be scared out of his mind the whole time.
Prowl had hoped someone else would step up to cover his shift. It sounded like it would be a few days at least before someone would. At least he hoped someone else would step up and offer to take over the shift.
âWe could have at least talked about it first,â Jazz said tiredly. âI donât want you going out there alone with everything going on.â
Blaster looked like he wanted to be anywhere but at that table. He pulled out his own phone and started to scroll through something.
âIâm sorry, next time I will ask, I promise. Nothing will happen, nothing ever happens. Thatâs the only reason offered.â
Jazz sighed. He leaned back in the chair. He looked over to Blaster briefly and winced. Jazz stood up from the table and gathered his plate, and headed over to the sink.
Prowl stood up and followed after his partner. He wrapped his arms around Jazzâs shoulder in a careful motion.
Jazz laughed gently, âIâm not mad, I promise. Iâm just scared.â Jazz leaned into Prowl's hold. âToo much stuff is going on.â Jazz leaned back into Prowlâs hold.
Prowl wanted nothing more than to keep Jazz happy and safe. Too many things felt out of his control to do that. Everything was too unknown. He wanted nothing more than to hunker down in this apartment and not leave. Leaving would just add more unknowns.
Prowl held onto his belief that nothing would happen on Redâs shift.
Prowl, Jazz, and Blaster decide to take a few days off work sick while they try to figure out what's going on.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
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Prowl groaned as a stray beam of light hit him in the eye, waking him up. He closed his eyes and reached blindly toward the nightstand on his side of the bed. He quietly grabbed his phone. He groaned again when he saw that it was one in the afternoon. Everyoneâs sleep schedule had been thrown out the window with everything that had happened to them.
He felt off that morning. Not in any way he could identify. He just felt the distinct feeling that something was wrong. Prowl frowned. He wasnât in pain. But he was uncomfortable.
He rolled over in bed to check on Jazz. His partner was also awake. He was curled up facing away from Prowl. It looked like he was scrolling through a medical website. Prowl had wondered how long Jazz had been searching. Prowl thought the search would be fruitless. This didnât seem natural. Prowl felt a sharp stab of pain between his eyes. Prowl forced back a groan.
He forced his eyes away to give Jazz some privacy. He quietly pushed himself upright. He snorted when he saw Blaster in a very similar position to Jazz on the floor. The two of them could be very similar sometimes. It made sense to Prowl; they had known each other for a long time. They had rubbed off on each other to an extreme degree.
The two of them had both been found wandering in the same stretch of woods as teenagers. Neither of them had any memory of any family or of who had left them there. After that, they were taken in by the state. They were placed into a group home, where they spent two years before aging out of the system. Prowl had met Jazz a few years later, and Blaster soon after.
Prowlâs own story was similar to theirs. He had also been found in the woods. His remaining childhood years had been different from theirs. He had been adopted. Prowlâs years spent in that home were incredibly lonely. He never clicked with his adoptive family. As soon as he was able to get a job that paid enough, he moved out. He still talked to them from time to time, but they had never really felt like a real family to him. Jazz and Blaster were more family to him than they ever were.
Prowl knew both of them were awake, so he wasnât as mindful of the noise he was making. He stepped out of bed and went off into the Kitchen to make something for the three of them to eat. He switched on the coffee machine and set it to brew. He started to dig through the freezer.
He paused as he caught sight of his arm. The veins on his arm were blue. Not a normal shade that he would have expected, but the same blue that Jazzâs eyes had changed to. They were practically glowing. He pulled his arm back and examined it close to his face. He rubbed his eye with his free hand and sighed with relief when he opened it, and his vein appeared normal again. It was probably just paranoia. Or at least that was what he was trying to tell himself.
He didnât have much time to think about what he had definitely not seen on his arm. He heard shuffling footsteps slowly making their way to the kitchen. Jazzâs head was down as he entered the kitchen. He fumbled with the coffee pot before pouring himself a mug.
âMornin' Prowl,â he said.
âItâs 1 PM,â Prowl responded.
âWe just got up, it's morning,â he said with a bit of humor. He lifted his head to meet Prowlâs eyes.
Prowl froze when Jazzâs eyes met his. His irises were still the same glowing blue color. What made him freeze was the whites of his eyes.
âProwl? Whatâs going on?â Jazz looked worried the longer Prowl just silently stared.
Prowl shook his head and tried to regain some composure. âYour eyes changed again,â he said delicately.
Jazz was not happy with that news. He stumbled out of the kitchen, and Prowl followed after him. Jazz pushed the bathroom door open. Prowl watched as Jazz gripped the sink in a vise grip as he stared into the mirror. The whites of his eyes were pitch black.
Jazz stopped breathing. He stumbled away from the mirror and collapsed onto the ground. Prowl could hear his strangled gasps for air.
âI donât understand whatâs happening,â he closed his eyes, âThis canât be happening, this isnât possible,â Jazz said breathlessly. Prowl could hear the faintest whimper escape Jazzâs lips.
Prowl had never seen Jazz so vulnerable.
He sat down next to Jazz. He didnât know what to do. Jazz was right, this wasnât possible. He didnât have even the faintest hint of an explanation to give to his partner. All he had was himself. Prowl hesitated before hugging Jazz. The creature they encountered in the woods must have had something to do with this. But Prowl wondered why this was only happening to Jazz?
âI donât know whatâs happening either. But Iâm here.â
He heard quiet footfalls. He looked over and saw Blaster staring at the two of them. He stood motionless at the threshold. Prowl watched as his eyes went wide. Prowl frowned. Jazz still had his eyes firmly closed; he didnât know what could have been scaring him.
âProwl, whatâs that on your arm?â Blaster asked. He walked forward and peered down at Prowlâs arm.
Prowl did not like that. He slowly turned his head to look at the spot Blaster was staring agape at. The blue veins had returned. Prowl could practically feel them burn beneath his skin. He heard Jazz gasp next to him. Jazz gently grabbed his arm and pulled it towards his face.
âWhatâs happening to us?â Jazz whispered.
Jazzâs gaze was fixed firmly on his arm. Prowl looked up towards Blaster, whose expression was transfixed on Jazzâs face. He caught Prowl's stare. Prowl shook his head and pursed his lips as he saw Blaster open his mouth. Blaster hid a wince and gave Prowl a short nod.
âWhat are we going to do, Prowl?â Jazz asked. Prowlâs arm was still in his grip. Prowl gently forced it out and did his best to ignore the glowing blue lines.
âI think we should bunker down for a few days. There is a chance that whatever this is, itâs temporary,â Prowl said. He didnât think he sounded very convincing. He wasnât even convinced of the words coming out of his mouth. There was no way for them to know if this would be temporary or if the changes would stop or continue.
Prowl hoped they would stop.
âSo, what we just all call out sick from work and hide here?â Blaster asked.
âYes,â Prowl said.
 âShouldnât we take you guys to a doctor or something?â Blaster asked.
The thought hadnât even crossed Prowl's mind. âI donât think they would do anything for us.â Prowl sighed, âThe only thing they might do is lock us up and experiment on us. People donât randomly have their eyes start to glow or have glowing blood vessels.â
Prowl hated how that sounded as soon as it left his mouth. He sounded similar to the conspiracy nuts online whom he and Jazz would make fun of.
Jazz looked up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath and released it slowly. âIâll call my boss; Iâll just tell them I got something nasty off of a guest.â He pushed himself off the floor and staggered back into their bedroom.
âYou might want to do the same, Blaster,â Prowl suggested delicately.
Blaster looked confused, âWhy? I mean, I donât exactly want to leave the apartment right now, but nothing has happened to my body.â
âWhatever those things were that you saw last night, it sounded like they wanted to grab you for something. I donât think you should take the chance of heading into work alone while this is all going on,â Prowl said.
Blaster looked uncomfortable, but he nodded and left the room. Prowl could see him fish his phone out of his pocket as he stepped out of the bathroom.
Prowl stood up. It sounded like the two of them were already on the phone with their respective bosses. With how small the apartment was, Prowl decided to just call him from the bathroom. It was the closest he would get to having privacy without having to step outside. Prowlâs own phone was in his back pocket. He fished it out and dialed his bossâs phone number.
After ringing for a few times, he picked up the phone, âProwl? Everything alright, you ainât normally up this early.â
Prowlâs boss was the owner of the only private security firm in the county. He was a stern man, but he was fair and treated his employees decently.
âI wonât be able to come in for a few days. Jazz and I picked up some sort of bug, and I need at least a few days to get over it,â He forced himself to speak in a weaker, rougher tone of voice to hopefully pass off this lie. It wasnât that hard to do. He already felt exhausted from what had been happening the past couple of days.
His boss hummed on the line, âDarn Prowl, must be pretty serious for you to take time off. I canât even remember you ever calling out sick.â
To Prowlâs memory, he had not. He wasnât one to normally get sick. As far as he could remember, he had never even had a cold before.
âIâm sorry to ask so last-minute, sir.â
Prowl could almost see his boss shaking his head, âNow donât you go and apologize for something out of your control. You take as much time as you need to get better. But if you want, I do have some office work you could do from home while you recover. I know how stir crazy you get. You could do that for a few weeks before I would need you to come in again.â
Prowl did not hesitate, âThank you, sir, that would be appreciated. I can come by today and pick it up.â
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it slightly. If he was leaving the apartment, Jazz would not let him go alone, and if Jazz went, Blaster couldnât be left alone in the apartment either, in case those things came looking for him. But being able to work from home for a few weeks would give them more time to figure this out.
âSounds good, Iâll leave a laptop with Red. Just be sure to wear a mask if you think youâre contagious, you know how he can be sometimes.â With a click, the line went dead.
Prowl sighed as he put his phone back into his pocket. He didnât hear anyone else still on the phone. Hopefully, the two of them had also gotten through to their respective bosses. Â He strained his ears and heard footsteps in the kitchen. He carefully walked in and prepared himself to ask the two of them to leave the apartment.
He saw the two of them sitting at the coffee table, sitting silently next to each other. Neither looked upset, so he was hopeful that the conversations had gone well.
Prowl cleared his throat. âMy boss wants me to head in today to pick up some paperwork to do from home. If I do, heâs willing to let me work from home for a few weeks.â
Between the three of them, Prowl didnât know who was more nervous at the prospect of leaving the apartment again. It felt like every time they left, something worse happened. He wanted nothing more than to barricade the doors and huddle down. But he knew they wouldnât be able to do that. They needed a way to pay their rent, to buy food, to pay their bills. He really hated the logic behind it.
Jazz swore under his breath. âWhat are we going to do about my whole?â he jabbed his hand toward his eye roughly.
There wasnât even a question of whether the three of them would all go or not. The second one of them was alone last night; something had happened. Prowl was sure none of them would be inclined to go off alone anytime soon.
âYouâll have to wear sunglasses. Iâll park in front of the office, and the two of you can wait in the car while I run in. It shouldnât take more than ten minutes, then we can come back.â
âWhen do you need to be there?â Blaster asked.
Prowl frowned, âHe said to come in anytime, but the sooner we do it, the better I think.â
Jazz grumbled. âLetâs get it out of the way now before any of us has time to have second thoughts.â
âWe donât have to do it right now, Jazz,â he insisted.
Jazz shook his head. He had an overly cocky smirk on his face. Prowl could see through the expression. Jazz was scared. âNah. If we donât do it now, I donât think weâll ever do it.â
Blaster nodded his head in agreement. He looked hesitant. âItâs just going to be a few minutes, Prowl. I donât mind if we leave to do it now.â
Prowl was surprised they agreed to this. âFine. Iâll put something on to cover my arms a bit better, then we can leave.â
Prowl did not look down at his arms as he left the kitchen. The burning feeling in his arms was the same. He didnât need to look down to know that they would still be glowing. He walked into the bedroom and pulled on some clean clothes. He grabbed a long-sleeve shirt and pulled it on over his head. He grabbed his jacket and left the bedroom.
Jazz and Blaster were standing by the front door. Jazz had foregone his normal fake leather jacket and was just wearing his hoodie. He had pulled up the hood and was wearing a pair of sunglasses. As he turned his head to look at Prowl, he could faintly catch a glowing pupil looking at him for a split second. It was uncanny.
Prowl promised himself to do his best not to react. Jazz was incredibly talented at hiding how he felt. For once, though, Prowl could easily see how bothered he was by this. He didnât want to make his partner feel any worse than he already did about whatever was happening to them.
The drive to the office was quick and passed in silence. Prowl drove his car. Jazz was seated in the passenger seat. He was messing with his sunglasses as he tried to use his phone. Blaster was on edge the moment they left the apartment. Prowl couldnât help but notice how he seemed so critical of everything going on around them.
He saw the turn for the security office and pulled into the parking lot. The building was a renovated home that their boss had turned into a makeshift office. The parking lot was just the front yard of the home that had been covered in gravel to make parking easier. There were two company security cars parked to the side of the building.
Prowl pulled as close to the front door as he could. There were a handful of security cameras on the outside of the office, and he knew one was pointed here. It made him more comfortable to leave the two of them out here.
âIâll be quick. If something happens, come inside,â Prowl said.
He stepped out of the car and quickly walked inside. As soon as he stepped through the door, he was assaulted by the musty smell of the old building. The smell was familiar to Prowl, but it almost seemed stronger.
Prowlâs coworker was huddled on his chair, staring at his laptop's screen in the back of the main room. His eyes flicked up as he heard Prowl approach. Red had been a nervous man for as long as Prowl had known him. Prowl wasnât even sure what his full name was. He only ever told him to call him Red, and any attempt he made to dig deeper just seemed to make the short man panic.
âProwl!â Red stood up and pushed the desk chair back. âBoss told me youâre going to help me with some admin work? Youâre not contagious, are you?â Red shuffled back a little as Prowl got closer.
Prowl paused in his approach and raised his hands, âI donât have anything contagious,â He replied calmly.
Red seemed to calm down slightly. He nodded to himself and moved some papers around on the desk. âHereâs the laptop the boss wanted me to get ready for you. Sign in should be the same as your work email.â
Prowl took the laptop gently out of Red's hands. As he grabbed it saw a flash of blue from his own hand. Prowl tucked the laptop under an arm and roughly pulled his shirt down. Prowl winced as Red seemed to home in on the action.
âI hope I didnât create too much work for you,â Prowl said in an attempt to distract his coworker.
Red shook his head, âDonât worry about that, Iâll find someone to cover the shift at the cemetery. The boss just might need to offer some incentives. Youâre the only one really willing to work there at night.â
Prowl could see the stress on Redâs face. Red shook his head rapidly. âBut donât worry about that. The boss and I are handling it. I sent you some stuff to do over the next few days, and I think the boss did too. Just get those done when you can.â
The office phone rang. Red excused himself and stepped back behind his desk to take it. Prowl relaxed slightly and waved as he left the building. Prowl didnât want to linger there any longer than he had to. Being out in the open felt wrong.
Jazz and Blaster were still sitting in the car, and neither of them looked any more freaked out than they already were. Prowl took that as a sign that nothing had happened when he ran inside.
He hopped back into the car and started it. âDo we need to do anything before we head back?â Prowl asked.
He adjusted his rearview mirror slightly and froze. He turned around, and he saw Jazz and Blaster do the same to look outside the car.
It was the same cop car again. Prowl felt his nostrils flare. He reared his head back.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. âHey!â He turns his head and sees Jazz. The sunglasses fell down his nose, exposing his eyes. Despite their uncanny new nature, Prowl could tell Jazz was worried.
âCops come by a lot here, right?â Jazz said gently.
Prowl nodded.
âTheyâre probably just here to talk to your coworker. Iâll drive us back.â Jazzâs hand was still tight on his shoulder.
Prowl switched seats with Jazz.
Prowl knew it was the same cop car. The one that had been following him around had been in a poor state. It was dirty, and parts of it almost seemed scuffed. This car had the same wear and tear. It had been following him around for days now. If it were a fake cop car, the driver would have been arrested by now.
He kept his eyes locked onto the car. He could faintly see a driver beyond the heavily tinted glass. The figure was barely visible. But as the car left the parking lot, Prowl could see the head turn to follow their car.
Jazz drove slowly. He swore as soon as they were on the main road. âYour car needs gas.â
Prowl peered over at Jazz, surprised, âI had half a tank left yesterday.â
âMaybe someone siphoned it last night?â Blaster suggested.
Prowl sighed. Even if that was the case, there was nothing they could really do about it besides get more gas.
âIâll pull into the next station,â Jazz said.
Prowl sank into his seat. He didnât like this unplanned detour. He didnât even have his wallet on him.
Jazz slowed the car down and pulled off into a station. He pulled up to the nearest pump and stopped the car. âCan you go in and have them put,â Jazz paused as he dug around his pocket, he pulled out a crumpled Twenty-dollar bill, âTwenty on the pump?â
Prowl nodded, Jazz handed him the money, and he started to head inside. He heard the car door open.
âIâm going to run in with you, Iâll pick up a few things while weâre here,â Blaster said.
Prowl nodded, and they walked inside. The inside of the store was unorganized and had a small selection of food. Prowl would not be surprised if most of it had expired. Blaster immediately headed off to wander the few aisles the store had. Prowl had a brief conversation with the attendant and handed off his money.
The employee looked uninterested as he handed Prowl a receipt. He shoved it into his pocket and mumbled a thanks to the man before heading off in search of Blaster. Prowl ran into Blaster fairly quickly.
He had his hood pulled up over his head. âThat weird guy from the store is here,â Blaster whispered urgently. âThe one Jazz and I saw. I think heâs following me.â
Prowl swore under his breath.
Prowl followed Blaster toward the front of the store. He could hear the sound of footsteps in the next aisle over. The footsteps matched their own pace almost exactly. Prowl slowed down experimentally, and he heard the footsteps in the next aisle do the same. Prowl stopped in his walk.
 Blaster turned back and looked at him. He looked nervous. Prowl jerked his head back and subtly pointed a finger toward the front door of the store. Prowl grabbed Blaster's hand and dragged him out of the store in a dead sprint. He wanted to get out of there and in the car as fast as possible.
Prowl didnât believe seeing this man again was a coincidence.
He pushed the glass doors open with his shoulder.
Jazz was sitting in the front seat of the car. Prowl let go of Blaster's hand, and the two of them got back in. Jazz looked over to him with a questioning stare.
âThat man you saw at the grocery store was inside,â Prowl said.
Jazzâs eyebrows poked out from behind his sunglasses.
Prowl startled in his seat as he heard someone knock on the passenger's side window. He slowly turned his head toward the noise.
It was Mirage. The strange man stared down at him with a cold expression. He leaned down, and Prowls' only thought was how off he looked up close. Not just in the fact that he was wearing thick ski gear when it was fall. There was something wrong with his face. His mouth was too wide, and the tone of his skin was practically grey. He almost looked like a corpse.
âThis is your last chance. You need to leave while you still can,â Mirage urged. With his short warning, he turned around and started to leave.
Prowl pushed the car door open. âWhy?â Prowl shouted. He got out of the car and took a few steps toward the man.
Mirage stopped. He turned around. âJust a friendly warning.â
To Prowlâs frustration, Mirage walked into the store. As he opened the door, the other man ran into Mirageâs chest. He heard them break into a conversation. The man who was following them inside snapped his head toward Prowl. His eyes seemed to brighten as he waved toward them. Mirage placed a hand on his chest and whispered something into his ear.
Jazz started the engine of the car. âProwl! Come on!â
Prowl clenched his hands at his sides. He glared in Mirageâs direction as he got back into the car. Jazz took off from the parking lot. As he looked back, he couldnât help but feel like Mirage and the stranger both seemed familiar in a way.
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