Mother of the Transformers

Play-date of Peril

"The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world."
― Edgar Allan Poe

It had been years since Lenore had seen real live human children.

She was starting to wonder if anyone would ever visit her young mistresses ever again after that fatal accident many years ago. The immortal maid had just given up hope of ever finding proper playmates for the young ladies. That is until she noticed what terrible rain had befallen upon the town, causing dreariness and gothic beauty to descend once more. The rain also brought potential children to wander about the neighborhood in their colorful boots and coats. She would smile from the windows of the tallest room and watch them play below. When nightfall came and the rain came harder, she was sad to watch them go inside. As she was about to close the windows, a group of children caught her eyes. They were cold, wet, and looked around the age of the mistresses! What wonderful luck she had!

Hastily, she ran down the stairs to break the locks that the city had put on the house. Those awful locks was what kept them away from the living world after all. Without any warning, she tore them off, allowing the children to pile inside. Her happiness returned to see the amount of children that had come in from the storm. Determined not to let them leave, she shut and bolted the door to prevent any means of escape this time.

She was going to make them stay, if not forever. And she knew that her mistresses would approve.

Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

With such name as "Nevermore."

"Welcome to the Lee Mansion, I am Lenore, the head maid of the household."

Onyx gave her a wary glance while standing in front of the group of children. "Hello Miss Lenore, I'm sorry if we invaded your household. We were just trying to get out the rain."

"Yes, isn't it lovely this time of year?" Lenore had a far off look on her face. "It's calming and gives everything a chilling feeling."

"Too cold if you ask me." Violet sniffled, Bulkhead handing her a tissue to wipe her nose with.

"Well you kids are in luck. My mistresses were just talking about having some friends over." The maid eyed them up and down. "You all seem to be their ages."

"Miss Lenore," Optimus interrupted, feeling a bit alert around her. "Who are you working for?"

"I am the maid for the twin sisters Anne and Belle Lee. Such wonderful girls they are! They make my day whole."

"Are they the girls on the wall?" Arcee looked at the family portrait. "Is that their father too?"

"All your questions will be answered in time. For now, you must all be hungry! And your soaked to the bone." Lenore tsked at this, seeing the damp goodies the bots wore. "You simply must bathe and allow me to dry your clothes."

"B-B-Bathe?" Smokescreen stuttered, now feeling a bit scared. Normally Penny would give them all baths, but being in a spooky house with a crazy maid didn't sound appealing.

"Would that be a problem? I hope you don't mind me asking you to get clean."

Ratchet shook his helm and sighed. "No ma'am, It's just that we aren't used to other people bathing us."

Lenore leaned down and wiped his face with her apron, making Ratchet blush. "I promise to be gentle."

And with that, they found themselves walking up the stairs. Bee turned around to ask her for something else, but to his surprise, she was gone.

"What are you so happy about Lenore?"

Lenore looked up from the laundry basket to see a black bird staring down at her. The bird's eyes were narrowed and red, its claws clamped down to the shelf above. The woman merely smiled as she placed her fingers under its chin, making it coo with delight.

"Wonderful news Edgar! We have children in the household!" She told the bird, picking up the white linen towels. "Not only is there a whole group, but there are boys too!"

"Boys you say?" Edgar ruffled his feathers. "Any of them you think are good for the girls?"

"I will have to see how they act at dinner to make sure. The eldest girl is suspicious of my behavior."

"And she has every right to be!" The raven cawed. "You never allow the children to leave! And when they attempt escape, you just end up killing them!"

Lenore now gave the bird an icy glare. "I kept you didn't I? Poor little Edgar Allens, trying to leap out the windows of the second floor. Well I fixed that problem right then and there! Turning you into a raven was practically a given."

The raven lowered his head sadly. "Promise me that you will not harm these children. After all, you're the reason the girls cannot pass over into the afterlife."

Lenore hmphed and fixed hwe arms to hold the towels. "Not my fault, I made a deal with Temptress. She didn't want spoiled brats in her master's mansion so I was granted the ability to keep them here forever." She glared at the bird once more. "Nd if you know what's good for you Edgar, you will never see those kids or speak a word to them. There are far worse punishments than being a bird."

She left the laundry room with a smirk on her face. Edgar sighed and flew out the window. He landed on the branch on the old gnarled tree to see the silver barrier covering the house. Would he ever pass on or would they all be trapped forever?

Sorry for the short chapter, but tomorrow I promise a ton of chapters that will satisfy a crossover with the two stories!