Gregor and the Prophecy of Fire
Chapter 1
It was Monday but he didn't have school today. He was suspended. Gregor sat up in his bed. The only good thing about Virginia is his room. It was nice. Real nice to him seeing as he was stuck here most of the time. He absently messed with the ring on his finger. He wondered if that guy he beat into the other day had an indention from the ring. He smiled a little at the thought. See if that guy mouths off again! Gregor climbed out of bed, headed to the kitchen. His Uncle Kyle was at the table, drinking coffee.
"Morning," he greeted his nephew.
Gregor said nothing, instead just putting bread in the toaster. His mother walked into the room.
"Good morning Gregor."
Still he said nothing. She rolled her eyes.
"On another silent binge?"
He ignored her, looking at the toaster. Grace shook her head, getting a cup of coffee. Once his toast popped up, Gregor took it, going back into his room. He was grounded from everything. So, the only thing to do was sleep all day. He hated it here. Everything was stupid. Those people at school were all worthless to him. The feeling of killing someone seemed to take over his thoughts daily. It was so hard to control himself. He couldn't stand it at times. That's when he got into fights. They relieved the feeling a little, but never completely. He was so afraid of not being able to hold back one day.
It was about an hour later and he was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Lizzie was a school and Boots was at pre-k. The fourteen year old was almost asleep again when he heard his parents voices.
"Grace it's for one week."
"I understand that you have to go but why would you take him? He's grounded."
"He needs to get away from here. Gregor can't stand it here and you know it." His father sighed. "Maybe going back will calm him down."
"And what happens when he runs away? Huh? He'll wait till you fall asleep and make a break for it. He'll be right back down there."
"He's over that. It's been almost a year."
"Over it? Over it? He still wears that stupid ring, everyday. He sleeps in it!"
"What do you want to do, Grace? Take it from him?"
She took a deep breath. "I just want him to be normal again."
His father sighed. "I know. But this is his normal now."
"What? Beating people up? What happens when that's not enough?"
Gregor's dad took a moment to answer. "I don't know, Grace. Just let me take him with me. Just for the week. I'll talk to him."
Grace gave in after a minute. "Fine. But watch him, the whole time. Don't let him run off."
"I won't. I promise."
It was early the next day when his dad woke him up. Around four in the morning.
"Gregor, are you ready?"
He opened his eyes. "Yeah."
After his father walked out of the room, Gregor stood up, smiling. He was going back to New York. God, how stupid are his parents? He grabbed his bag before going into the kitchen. His father was up, waiting for him.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
He smiled at his son. "Alright. Let's go."
They went out to the truck, climbing in.
"It's seven hours, you know," said his father, starting the car.
Gregor said nothing, instead focusing on his ring. As they pulled out onto the road, Gregor turned his attention to the dashboard. Would Luxa be happy to see him? Would Emmett be alright? What about Vikus?
"You know Gregor, when I was a kid, we moved my senior year. I had lived in the same town since I was a baby and then we just up and moved."
Great, here we go. His father didn't notice his eye roll.
"I had this girlfriend that I had been with since I was in seventh grade. We moved so far away though that there was no point in even trying to continue the relationship." His father sighed. "The point is, when we moved to New York, I met your mother."
Was that supposed to make him realize that he shouldn't be missing Luxa or any of the Underland? Gregor still didn't say anything.
"I know that you probably don't care what I say, that you probably think that I don't understand you, but Gregor, sometimes life sucks. You just have to move on."
Father of the year, right? Gregor ignored his father. This was going to be the longest seven hours of his life. But it would pay off. He'd get to the Underland, kill whatever it was he had to, and get to see Luxa. He wasn't sure what would happen after that but he knew that he wasn't going back to stupid Virginia. He hated it there.
It was late when they finally got to the hotel room. He had to go with his dad on a business meeting. His dad was no longer a teacher but was doing something else. Gregor wasn't sure and showed no interest in learning. Through out the whole meeting, he sat in the lobby, his headphones in. He had never had an MP3 player before. His aunt got it for him on his past birthday. It was then they he learned to find some amount of solace in music.
"So what do you want to do tomorrow?" His dad asked him, sitting on the edge of one of the beds. Gregor got into the other. "I have meetings in the morning but an free all afternoon and night."
Gregor just pulled off his shirt and pulled the covers over his head. His father didn't even sigh.
"Alright then. We'll decide tomorrow, okay?"
Still nothing. His father went to shower. After that, he turned on the news. It was about two hours later when his father finally fell asleep. Gregor laid there for a few minutes before getting up. He grabbed his new found love, his MP3 player, before walking out of the room and into the night.