Gregor
My sword slashed and connected with fur, tails, teeth, everything it could find. Yet I was way outnumbered. The rats had me backed against a high cliff. One more step and I would fall. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a furry paw knocked me backwards and I fell. The bottom was getting closer as I was falling with amazing speed. I was a few feet away and then…
I sat up in my bed quickly, heart pumping a mile a minute. Mrs. Cormaci was right because even at 22 those nightmares still haunted me. It's been 10 years since I left the Underland but every detail is still fresh in my head. I suppose it would be hard to forget through, with dreams of it coming to me every night. Some were good but most of the time they would be horrible. And of course, my thoughts wander there quite often, wondering what happened after I left.
"Gregor, wake up! We have to do chores." Boots' voice called as she rapped on the door to my bedroom.
"Okay," I called back as I grudgingly got out of bed. That was one of the joys to living on a farm, tons of chores. The thought made me want to stay in bed all day but instead I got dressed and ready. When I got outside I saw that Boots and Lizzie had already started.
"Hi Gregor ," Boots said cheerfully. God, she had grown up so fast. It seemed like one day she was a toddler and the next she was this 13 year old. Lizzie had grown up fast too, but she had always been very mature so it hadn't been much of a surprise. She had just graduated high school with a near perfect SAT score.
"There's my college grad." My dad said as he rumpled my already untidy hair. He had gotten over the illness that he caught in the Underland and had built up his strength. Maybe living in the countryside had something to do with it.
"Hey," I returned, as I started my long list of chores. Lizzie smiled at me but I could tell that she was preoccupied by something else. I gave her a questioning look that she ignored. Turning back to my work I decided to let it go. I heard my mom and aunt chatting away on the porch. They were such great sisters and they hardly ever bickered. After a while my uncle hollered that breakfast was ready.
After we had eaten and finished chores everyone had a bit of time to themselves. Lizzie went up to the room that she and Boots shared immediately and locked the door. She sure was acting strange. Boots meanwhile played with our uncle and aunt's cat Muffin and read a bit. I decided that I would take a walk. I went into a clearing in the woods bordering the house.
I think of it as my own special place, somewhere I go to clear out my head. My mind wandered to career choices. I was debating becoming a cop or agent or something where I could use my rager senses. I've only used them a couple of times in the ten years that have passed, only for self-defense or the occasional fight. I just feel like I want to put it to good use.
I mull over this a bit, considering my options and all of that. Before I know it I hear my name being called for dinner and am surprised by how my time passed. I walk back wondering how it can be hours when it feels like minutes.
Once again time passes quickly and soon I am in my bed unable to fall asleep. It's the middle of the night but I'm wide awake. I listen closely to the crickets when I suddenly hear the door to the room Boots and Lizzie share open. It's probably just Boots getting some water. Steps creak and someone swears under their breath. That isn't Boots. I get up and start treading lightly out my door and down the steps. A tall figure with a bag slung across their shoulders is at the door when I get down to the bottom of the stairs.
"Going somewhere?" I ask and Lizzie turns around with a look in her eyes like a deer caught in the headlights.
