Hello my friends. This is Chapter 1.

Oh, and to all you little monsters out there who haven't read the epilogue, READ IT BEFORE YOU READ THIS. Got it? Yeh, this won't make any sense to you if you haven't.

Bénéficier my brethren!

Gregor's plan was folding out in his mind. He'd sneak out of this bed without disturbing Boots or Lizzie. He then would slowly creep out of his room. Then he would be in his the living room where his uncle was asleep. Gregor learned the past couple of days here he's a really deep sleeper. Then he would creep out of the door in the living room. And go down the hole. He looked over at the clock on his bedside. 1:27 am. He had 3 minutes.

It soon was time. He slowly sat up, then his side of the mattress creaked out a mechanically springy sound, and he looked back at his sisters. Thankfully they were still asleep. He slowly shifted his body weight off the mattress and applied the same amount with his arms lifting himself up until he was fully standing in the dark gray room.

The door to the living room was on the other side of the room. He grabbed a high-power flashlight from his dresser. Then he walked quietly in a straight line towards the door. He almost tripped over one of Boots' toys. What was it? He squinted through the darkness and made out a plastic tube. It was full of plastic toy dart frogs. He looked back at Boots and remembered when she almost got killed by giant dart frogs the size of a dog.

He pushed that memory back and made his way to the door. He stood back to back with the wall beside the door. He reached his arm over to the handle. He clamped his hand onto it. Slowly he turned the doorknob. After a series of squeaks, he was able to crack open the door. He checked back to see if anyone woke up. Nope. He continued to slide the door open. It opened out into the living room, and he hid behind it at 90 degrees. He peeked his head out to see if his uncle was asleep.

Uncle Steve wasn't there.

Then he saw light under the crack of the bathroom door, and knew that his uncle was in the bathroom. He closed the door quietly back into place. He opened the door to the front porch. It was pretty quiet as he closed it. He had made it outside.

It almost scared him to be outside at night out here. He had been outside before in New York, but of course there is always light in New York City. The only source of light was the blue moon, exactly square with the valley. The bottom of the valley was flat, and out about half a mile was a spooky forest.

He was scared out of his mind, but in a few he'd be back in the Underland. Before he got out of his family's rental car a three days before while observing the area, he had seen a hole about 3 feet wide. Somehow he just knew that it led into the Underland.

It was so dark that if he looked away from the moonlight he could almost see nothing. He vaulted over the porch's railing. In front of him was a big green tractor parked in front of a rusty red slide. He noticed for the first time also a thin basketball hoop propped up by a log.

He dropped his body to the ground in front of the trailer. He thought he could roll under the trailer, but it wasn't quite that simple. If it was off the ground by about 2 inches more, he could do it. Come on he thought, trying to slide his body under the trailer. He had to tilt his head to the side and squeeze himself in harder than he ever had before.

I made it he thought. His torso was hanging over the huge hole. Crap. I can't reach my flashlight. No backing out now. There was no way he could get out. It was his only way. What if it doesn't lead to the Underland at all?

The only way he could go down was head first.

His bond was killed.

What if there was nothing to break his fall?

He slid his head down the dark damp hole, and let go of the ground with his hands.

He was falling.