Chapter 1
Gregor's POV:
Running.
He knew that he was running, but from what? He turned his head around to see Underlanders of all shapes and sizes- spinners, humans, nibblers, crawlers, even gnawers- running beside him, behind him, pushing to get in front of him. They were all together, scared of not each other, but of something much more ominous, threatening.
He heard a small shriek and stopped running, turning his whole body around to seek out whoever needed his help. His eyes rapidly darted around him, but all that they saw were desperate creatures, literally climbing over each other to move faster. In the distance there were no rocky caves, no smooth palace walls; just darkness. And then he spotted them.
Hazard, Ripred, Vikus, Howard, and the love of his life, Luxa. All struggling behind everyone else. They were so far behind. So out of reach. He pushed his way through the frantic crowd, shouting their names. After what felt like hours of manoeuvring and shoving, he finally was close enough to see them clearly and reach out to touch them.
And then the darkness swallowed them.
"Gregor! Are you even paying attention?" Gregor was snapped back into reality by his mother and teachers' concerned faces.
He breathed a sigh of relief. He was just dreaming. Or, rather, day dreaming. Ever since he had gotten back from the Underland, an odd world far beneath New York City, six months ago he had been having nightmares about Ares (his old bond who had died in battle), the wars, and all the creatures he'd killed every night. He hardly got any sleep. But now, it had become even worse. The dreams had started clogging his mind during the day, making him fall far behind in school. Apparently it was so bad that the teachers had to set up a meeting and his mother had dragged him along, saying, "Gregor, you need to face the facts and take responsibility for your education." He hadn't really been paying much attention; then again, he never really did these days.
"Gregor," His mother repeated sternly. "Your teachers would like to know the reason for your bad grades."
Gregor just shrugged, avoiding the teachers' and his mother's eyes. What was he supposed to say? I'm failing in school because I can't keep my mind off a secret world underground that's home to giant talking animals and a race of violet eyed, translucent skinned people, one of whom I'm in love with. Oh, ya, and I used to be their 'warrior'. Meaning I basically saved them all by fighting in a bunch of wars. Ha! Like that's going to happen.
They all gave him frustrated looks but didn't question me about it anymore. His mom huffed and announced that this meeting was getting them nowhere. She then stood up abruptly and marched out of the room, motioning for Gregor to follow.
Gregor's mom didn't bug him about the interview for the rest of the night. But she was still frustrated with him, and worried. He felt bad about not explaining anything or letting her help him, but she didn't understand. She has always hated the Underland. For dragging Gregor into wars, for trapping Gregor's dad in a pit, and for kidnapping his baby sister, Boots. He admitted she had some good points, but her point of view of the Underland was very different from the rest of the family's. And now, since she hated it down there so much, the family was forbidden to return.
He wished that he would get some opportunity to return, without feeling guilty for leaving his family. Little did Gregor know, that opportunity would come sooner than he expected.