1

Gregor woke in the car with a start. After a few quick looks over his shoulder to see if anyone saw, he took some deep breaths and calmed down. Another nightmare. Well a bad dream at least, because it was not night at the moment. He had not realized he fell asleep in the car, or that his cousin, whom he was traveling with, stopped at a gas station.

He was going to live with her at her home in Pennsylvania. It took a lot of convincing to get his mother to agree to let him go with her as she was over protective after everything that happened four years ago. She had the family move to Virginia, forbade any contact with the Underland, and rarely let Gregor be independent. Wynnora, Gregor's cousin, finally convinced his mom to let her take him with her a week ahead of when the rest of his family would come up. His family would come up when his sister, Lizzie, finished up a Mathlete competition, and his other sister, Maggie (Boots went by Maggie now that she was a big six year old), finished her swimming lessons. This was the first time Gregor was away from his family since he was 12.

Gregor saw Wynnora walking to the car, and quickly tried to look calm. How long was he asleep for? Though she was still wearing the purple dress, Wynnora took off her makeup and heels at some point, and pulled her hair up sloppily. She picked him up for the drive after she left a formal brunch for something about an internship, but it appeared she was back to her usual self. She hopped in the car with a smile.

"Hey there, sleepy head," she greeted him. "I got you something to snack on. You feeling ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Gregor lied. He saw she did not believe him.

"You sure? If you need to talk or something, I'm a pretty good listener. Not that I'm bragging or anything," she said with a playful smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Gregor knew he could never talk to anyone about what happened in the Underland, or what currently haunted him in his dreams. He often times wished he could talk to someone, but his family rarely brought it up and a doctor would put him in the looney bin.

"If you say so, but the offer is still there," she replied. "Hey. You want to drive?" she asked excitedly. Gregor looked at her surprised.

"Uh, that's illegal, Wynn."

"You said you got your permit."

"Yeah. I did, but I can only drive with a parent or someone over 21," he explained. She had to know this already. Wynnora just waved her hand, as if that brushed away all the rules.

"It's fine. We're in a pretty rural area. No one is going to stop us, and it's a great place to practice. Come on," she said, getting out of the divers seat, "better you mess up with me, than with your mom. She would probably freak out."

Gregor agreed, and switched places with his cousin. He was actually pretty excited to drive. He just recently got his permit, and both his parents were reluctant to let him drive. Wynnora directed him out of the parking lot and back onto the small highway. It was called a highway, but Gregor was used to a lot bigger. "Maybe they just call it that because you have to drive so far on it out here," he thought.

"Gregor," Wynnora said.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell your mom. Ok?"

Gregor could not help but laugh a little. "Ok."

Wynnora told him that he would drive on this road for a while, so he turned on some music while she read a book. They did not talk much, and his thoughts went to his dream. It was about the Underland again, and he was trying to save the people he once knew there, but was unable. He thought about them now. Vikus must be pretty old. Howard would be around twenty by now, and probably working out to be a great doctor. How was Mareth doing with his prosthetic leg? How was Nike and Aurora?

Then Gregor's mind turned to Luxa. He always tried not to think about her. He had become such close friends (he would never admit to more) with her, and it was very difficult saying goodbye. She must be sixteen by now. Officially the Queen of Regalia.

"Gregor, pay attention," Wynnora interrupted his thoughts. He had been lost in his thoughts after driving for so long, and did not notice that he let the car drift into the oncoming traffic lane. Gregor took note that driving required more concentration than he expected. It was a good thing there were hardly any other cars out here.

"Sorry," he told his cousin, "I got distracted."

She shrugged, "It happens. I guess I should expect a teenage boy's thoughts to drift away," she said with a coy smile. "No doubt, he's thinking about some girl." It was almost a question.

"Real mature, Wynnie," Gregor replied. He was not amused. Wynnora laughed, and told him to turn. Twenty minutes later he told him to turn onto a dirt path that hardly looked like it could pass for a road

"I'm taking you in through the back of the property. If you keep going up that road you can avoid this path and get to the front, but I want to show you something," Wynnora explained.

Gregor slowed way down as he entered the woods. The path was just big enough for the car, and the trees made everything shady. He had to go slow to avoid hitting the bumps too hard. As they continued, Gregor noticed a cave up ahead, and Wynnora instructed him to pull up in front of it. She immediately hopped out of the car with her bag and grabbed two flashlights from the back seat. Gregor turned off the car and sent his mom a quick text that they had arrived safely. He did not want to forget later and get in trouble with her.

"Are we going in there?" he asked. Gregor already knew the answer. Of course they were. Wynnora loved archeology, and had actually just graduated with a degree in it. Gregor suspected she found something interesting in there.

"Yep," she replied, and took a deep breath. After getting trapped in a cave collapse when she was younger, she hated small places and the dark. After all his experience in the Underland, this did not really bother Gregor at all. He did not even need the flashlights, because he was still able to use echolocation. "I found some weird cave paintings in there, and I thought you might like to see them. I can't tell if they're real or some kind of elaborate hoax," she explained. "Not to mention, if I allow my fear of enclosed spaces to continue, it could turn into a phobia," she said jokingly dramatic. "We don't want that now do we?" she gave Gregor a big smile, and started walking in.

Gregor wondered if a dress and sneakers were good for cave exploring, but figured this would not be that adventurous. He followed his cousin into the cave, which declined at a slight angle. They turned on the flashlights when the cave entrance left their sight, and Wynnora mostly kept checking the ceiling with hers. They soon came to the back of the cave, which opened up into a sort of circular room. It was about 25 feet in diameter, and eight feet high. Gregor shined his light onto the walls, and saw that they were covered in cave paintings. Seeing cave paintings would have been enough to impress him, but these scared him.

"Isn't it amazing?" his cousin asked. "They look old. I researched what Native American tribes lived in this area, and the style matches. But I think it's fake, because look here," she said pointing to one painting. It was of large rat, with a human next to it for scale. "This rat is clearly bigger than the person, but the tribes would have known proper proportion by this time."

Wynnora continued talking about the paintings (she could really rattle on just like her uncle, Gregor's father), but Gregor just stared at the paintings. They clearly depicted the creatures of the Underland and people interacting with them. "Is this an entrance?" Gregor wondered. If it was then he had to lead his cousin out of there. He could not let her learn about the Underland.

"Uh, Wynn. Maybe we should go. I don't know how safe it is to wander into random caves." It was the best excuse he had. His cousin just frowned.

"You weren't worried before. Besides, it's not that far underground."

"Yeah, but you know. It could still collapse or something."

"Ugh. Why did you have to say that, Gregor?" She shivered and shined the light to the ceiling again. "Alright, now I need some air. Let's go." She took a step toward the exit, then froze. There was a low sound, as if something cracked beneath them. Gregor felt his stomach drop.

"Oh no," Wynn whispered. She started breathing heavy, and Gregor saw panic spread across her face. "Gregor, you need to leave."

"Calm down, Wynn. I'm not going anywhere. Just try to take another step," he said as nonchalantly as possible. Wynnora took another step, and a louder crack echoed through the cave.

"Gregor go," she said firmly.

"No!" Gregor did not mean to say it so loudly. With that, the floor broke away first under his cousin's feet, then shattered under his own. They were falling.