Gregor was peacefully swinging on the new hammock his dad built for him, looking up at the warm summer sky. Too warm, in fact. The heat was unusual in New York, but again, he was not in New York. Last year he had moved to his uncle's farm in Virginia. Gregor and Lizzie seemed to be the only people in their family who had a problem with that. Lizzie had wanted to stay, but if Gregor was against that, he was definitely not showing it at that time. He was not showing that he wanted to move, nor was he showing that he wanted to stay. In truth he couldn't even decide. So, there he was, waiting for his dad to come back with food. That was uncommon, for his dad only visited the market for bread and meat because they lived on a vegetable farm, and they already stocked up on bread and meat. This time he knew he was getting something special. Maybe it was something big, like an air hockey table! No, then they will have to store it in the basement. The basement was strictly off-limits. Why? Gregor did not know. His mom went down there once, quickly came up, and said they were not allowed down there. Gregor was dying to see what was in there. Maybe there was a secret tunnel? A secret room? Some weird animal that has not encountered human kind? That was a worthy mystery. Gregor's mom was at the hospital with his sick Grandmother, his dad was away with Lizzie, and what could Boots do? She was only three and still spoke like a toddler.
"Might as well just take one peak, what bad could it do?" Thought Gregor.
But he knew it was bad, he didn't know how, but he knew it would be bad. The curious side of him took control. He hopped along to the basement door gingerly, and something caught his attention. The letters rior were scratched into the side of the wall next to door. Gregor was not good at spelling, but even a baby would know that that was not a word. He opened the door and found the beginning of the word. It was warrior.