Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the series the Underland Chronicles. Suzanne Collins owns them.
The only characters that are mine are those I created (they are not found in the books)
Disclaimer Two: I'd like everyone to know this story is my own creation and is not in any way based on Gregor and the Prophecy of Flight V2 by Seraphania, or any other similar fanfics. Any likeness between the two stories is entirely coincidential. I have not even read Seraphania's story, though she has suggested I do so to prevent too much similarity (and being flamed). I will read it ASAP, and attempt to deviate from its storyline as much as possible without ruining my own storyline. Thanks to Seraphania for pointing this out to me!
Chapter One
Chandra watched, disinterested, as the tall buildings flashed by her window.
New York? she thought to herself. Most kids my age would give anything to be here. She almost laughed, but refused to break the thick silence of the car.
Most aren't like me, she added, almost sad. In fact, no one's like me.
The driver, Mr. Hennison, glanced into the rear-view mirror.
"Cheer up," he said, his voice hard. "You're lucky to be living here."
"Until we move again," muttered Chandra.
The other inhabitant of the vehicle, a woman, Dr. Delinz, frowned at Chandra, then turned around and looked out her own window.
The apartment had six rooms. Kitchen, living room, bathroom and three bedrooms.
"You're in the second bedroom," said Dr. Delinz as she went into the first.
Chandra headed to the second, wincing at the loud creak of the floorboards outside the door. No way to sneak around. They'd thought of everything.
They always do, whispered part of her, the part that sometimes wanted to just give up.
No, she thought. I'm not going to become just a 'thing', an 'experiment'. I have feelings and thoughts the same as any normal human. She hitched up her backpack, which she always wore.
Chandra went to the kitchen, feeling hungry.
"I'm going to get some groceries," said Dr. Delinz, sounding disgusted. "They forgot to supply any food. Stay here." She left, locking the door behind her.
"I hate you," Chandra spat at the closed door. "Locks, orders, hidden cameras, you treat me as if I weren't human." She looked around, but could not find any of the cameras.
See? she told herself. She's just human, which is why she forgot to set up the cameras before leaving me alone! Serve her right if I ran away.
But she couldn't run away. No money, no food, not much knowledge of the outside world, only what she could glean from books and occasion sneak trips outside.
Sighing, she sat down at the table, resting her head in her hands.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
After hesitating a moment, Chandra shrugged and went to the door. Maybe it was a kidnapper.
I doubt it, said the annoying part.
Shut up, she told it.
"Hello? Who is it?" she asked. She tried the peephole but it was useless. Figures. Dr. Delinz and the others wouldn't want her to even see the hall. All the windows in the apartment had locked shutters.
"I'm Mrs. Cormaci. I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood. May I come in?"
"Grinning, Chandra opened the door. Served Dr. Delinz right; since she'd forgotten to set up the security cameras, she'd not know Chandra had let someone in.
Not to mention you said 'stay here', Chandra told the absent woman. I am here, I'm just letting someone in.
Mrs. Cormaci came in, carrying a covered plate, which she handed to Chandra.
"Is your mother home?" she asked.
"Um, no..."
"Well, then, I won't stay long. That's cake, by the way. You are?"
Chandra set the cake onto the table. "Have a seat. I'm Chandra."
"Nice to meet you, Chandra..."
The girl pretended not to hear the obvious question. "Have you lived here long?"
"Oh, yes, I have. How old are you?"
"Fourteen." Chandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This must be the nosy busybody of the apartment building.
"Ah! Another teenager, and so polite. Have you met Gregor yet?"
"No. We just got here today."
"Oh! You must be tired. Did you come far?"
"Not really." They'd come from Pennsylvania, but Chandra wasn't going to say so. That might lead to questions she couldn't answer, like Where in Pennsylvania? or Why did you move?.
"Well, I better let you rest, then. I'll introduce you to Gregor and his sisters some other day. Good-bye, Chandra! Welcome to New York!"
Blinking, Chandra locked the door again, then yawned. A long day it had been, and Mrs. Cormaci had been so energetic Chandra felt even more tired.
Maybe tomorrow I can go out, she thought, heading to her room for a nap.
The next day Chandra was again left by herself. She knew the routine. For a few days Dr. Delinz would be busy with paperwork and such, then Chandra would be stuck at home all day with her 'caretaker'.
Guard, more like, she thought to herself as she locked the apartment door. Oh, well. A few days of freedom will be nice. I wonder why she hasn't set up the cameras yet?
As she headed down the hall for the stairs - she was deathly afraid of elevators - Chandra met Mrs. Cormaci.
"Hello, Chandra," said the woman. "I was just going to get you. Gregor and his sisters are going to the park with me while their parents go out to eat, so I was wondering if you'd like to come?"
"Um, sure," said Chandra. She followed Mrs. Cormaci down the stairs, silently wishing that Dr. Delinz wouldn't be back for a long time.
They met the other three in the lobby, a tall boy about her age, perhaps a little older, with shaggy brown hair and a secretive look in his eyes, a thin girl with pale skin who looked about eleven or twelve, and a little girl, perhaps seven years old, wearing a yellow coat.
"This is Gregor," said Mrs. Cormaci, indicating the boy. "And Lizzie-" The older of the two girls "-and Margaret, well, Boots."
"It's a nickname," said Gregor for explanation.
"This is Chandra," said Mrs. Cormaci.
"Chandra?' asked Lizzie. "What does that mean?"
"Silver," said Boots, pointing at Chandra's hair. "She has pretty hair."
Chandra felt suddenly self-conscious about her long, light coloured hair and grey eyes.
"It means 'moon'," she said. "Lizzie, short for Elizabeth?"
Lizzie nodded.
"Elizabeth means 'my god is an oath'. Margaret means 'pearl', and Gregor means 'watchful' or 'alert'."
"How do you know all that?" asked Lizzie.
"I spend most of my time reading," replied Chandra. "Once I had nothing to read but a book on names, so I studied that for a while."
"Don't you go to school?" asked Lizzie in surprise.
"Lizzie, enough questions," said Gregor. "Come on, let's go before it gets dark."
"Sorry," said Lizzie to Chandra. "I didn't mean to be rude."
"It wasn't rude," replied Chandra. "I don't go to school. I don't even have textbooks."
"Then what do you do?"
"Read. Sometimes I'll write, but I'm not that good." Chandra looked at the concrete of the sidewalk they were walking along. She hated to lie already, but she couldn't tell the truth, about how she was an experiment, and was always moving, either because someone found out who she really was or to go some place where she was more 'accessible' for tests. "We move around a lot," she added, for lack of something better to say.
Mrs. Cormaci frowned. "But why would your parents do that?"
"I... I only have a mother," replied Chandra. "She... Her job requires a lot of moving around, and we don't have any relatives I can stay with..." A bird called above and she glanced up, watching it dip and soar through the air.
"That must be hard."
"Sometimes. Where's the park?"
"We're almost there," replied Mrs. Cormaci. "It's not very big, but we don't go to Central Park. It's not safe."
Chandra nodded, and returned her gaze to the sky.
"Here we are," said Mrs. Cormaci, leading the way between the wide open iron gates. Green grass and trees, fountains, paths and benches, even a small playground where some younger kids were playing. Margaret, or Boots, ran over to the playground and Mrs. Cormaci followed her rather hurriedly, Gregor and Lizzie not far behind.
Chandra followed them, looking around. She easily picked out the squirrels scampering around in the trees, or sitting, motionless, as a large bird flew overhead. Birds' nests were more well hidden, but she spotted several on the way. It was almost peaceful here, a slight hideaway from the bustle of the city.
Mrs. Cormaci sat down on a bench with a book.
"I'll watch Boots," she told them. "You three run along. Be back in an hour or so. Gregor, you make sure no one bothers the girls, all right? There were some hoodlums around a few days ago, but the police should have chased them off by now."
"Sure, Mrs. Cormaci," muttered Gregor.
"Can we go feed the swans?" asked Lizzie. "I brought some bread."
"Sounds like a plan," replied Gregor.
"Are you coming?" Lizzie asked Chandra.
"If you don't mind," replied Chandra. "I'd love to."
"Come on, then."
The pond wasn't far, and Lizzie handed Chandra a hunk of bread.
"Break off small pieces," she ordered. "And toss it to them. Watch how they bend their necks to pick it up!"
"They're beautiful," said Chandra as she tossed the bread. "Have you ever seen a black swan?"
"No, only pictures, but I'd like to, someday." Lizzie smiled shyly, then asked, "Have you seen one?"
"Once I saw two of them, flying overhead," replied Chandra. "They looked like living ebony."
"Wow." Lizzie was silent a moment. "Do you like bats?"
Chandra stiffened, noticing that Gregor did the same, and had a strange look on his face. She forced her tense face to relax into a smile. "Yes, I like bats. Especially the way they use echolocation. It's neat how they can find bugs even in the pitch black."
After giving her a strange look, Lizzie nodded. "Wouldn't it be cool of humans could do that?"
"Lizzie," said Gregor sharply. "Enough with the questions."
Lizzie flushed, and Chandra came to the girl's rescue.
"It's all right," she told Gregor. "I don't mind. Which do you mean, Lizzie? Echolocation or finding bugs?"
She was rewarded with a bright smile from the younger girl.
"Echolocation," answered Lizzie.
"Some people can," Chandra said thoughtfully. "Like blind people. I read it in a book once."
Lizzie nodded, then started to throw bread to the swans again.
Chandra glanced at Gregor. "I'll be back."
He nodded, and she turned, walking in the direction of the playground. Before she reached it, though, Chandra turned and headed into a small clump of trees.
The sounds of the playground became muted, and Chandra found a small bench where she sat down, closing her eyes and listening.
Birdsong, the chittering of squirrels, on occasional rustle of leaves when a small breeze passed by. After listening for a few moments, Chandra concentrated on blocking out each sound, focusing on her breathing. And as always, wonder of wonders, the world blossomed across her mind. Grey if rock or plants, grey tinged red if it was an animal.
Someone cleared their throat and she lost her focus, her eyes flying open. Chandra froze, for there was a group of five boys standing in front of her, wearing hooded sweatshirts that had the insignia 'Lightning Storm' on the front with a bolt of yellow lightning going through the words.
"What do you want?" she asked cautiously, standing, ready to run.
"What's a chick like you doing out in the park all by yourself?" asked the leader. He had a pierced ear from which dangled a silver ring. They all had spiked hair, and Chandra clenched her teeth, holding back the fear that was slowly approaching. Stay calm, she told herself, and managed to say, "Nothing."
"What's in the bag?" he dropped any pretenses of niceness. "Give it to us and we'll let you go unharmed."
"No!" Chandra stepped back and up, onto the bench. "You can't have it."
"What in the bag?" he demanded again, drawing out a jackknife, the edge serrated and stained brown.
Chandra fought to stay calm, feeling the panic rise. Not now, she begged herself. Don't do anything stupid.
"Nothing," she replied, and crouched slightly, raising her fists. "You're not getting it, anyway."
"Wanna bet?" asked the boy, leering.
"Want to bet?" asked another voice, coming from Chandra's right. Gregor was standing there, arms crossed. "Beat it, or the police will get you. Someone's calling them right now."
The other boys shifted, unsure, but the leader glared them into submission.
"Not without that bag I'm not. Two against five, you don't have a chance."
"I don't want to fight," said Gregor. "Leave or I'll have to."
"Give it your best shot," replied the leader gleefully. "My knife's ready."