When Gregor awoke the next morning, it took him a few minutes to remember why he wasn't in his bed at home in New York, and also why he was feeling so tense and worried. He rubbed his eyes and stretched. He was immediately hit by a sudden wave of anxiety. Angelina! His dad! He abruptly sat up in bed. Was his dad okay? He had to know. But how? It hit him. It was so simple, so obvious, that he was amazed he hadn't thought of it before now. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He could call his mom. Ask her if his dad was alright. Let her know he was okay... But was he? Angelina missing, his dad... Oh, he hoped his dad was okay.
Why had that man attacked them? They'd done nothing to provoke him. Suddenly Gregor couldn't wait another minute—he had to know if his dad was alright. His mom insisted he always had his phone on him, in case anything like—well—this ever happened.
He pressed the on button, and looked at the power indicator— it was half full (or half-empty, depending on your viewpoint). Perfect. Gregor dialed his home number. He pressed enter. He waited. Nothing happened. He looked at the signal indicator—zero bars; he had no reception.
"Of, course," he muttered, angrily pummeling his pillow. He would just have to find somewhere with service. Maybe somewhere near one of the entrances to the overland? Now that he thought about it, what was stopping him from returning to the overland temporarily to check in on his family. Gregor almost cried with relief. He could go see his family and then return to the underland to hear news of Angelina.
Gregor wondered how he would be greeted at home. Would his mom be angry with him for returning to the underland? He'd only done it to protect Angelina (though that hadn't gone so well) and that was something she could understand. And with this all in mind, Gregor went off in search of Vikus. The old man could arrange for a bat to fly him to the overland. He walked through the nearly empty hallways (most of the people inside the castle were still sleeping).
When he reached the museum, he found his clothing, along with a pile of other items that must have recently fallen— watches, wallets, keys, flashlights, smartphones... The next order of business was finding Vikus. He wasn't sure where to find the old man but eventually tracked him down in the prophecy room. This room contained hundreds of prophecies written carved in stone by a man named Sandwich. Sandwich was the one who had brought the first humans to the underland centuries ago. Gregor thought Sandwich quite crazy, but almost all of the underlanders respected, if not revered him.
Vikus must have risen early today because judging by the large pool of melted wax on the dish holding his candle, he had been here for several hours. He flashed Gregor a brief smile when he entered. Gregor returned it.
"What do you require, overlander?" said Vikus, pleasantly.
"Can you arrange for me to be sent home for a few hours?" said Gregor. Vikus looked taken back for a few seconds, then quickly recomposed himself.
"You wish to return to New York City?" asked Vikus.
"Yeah," said Gregor. "I just thought I should check in with my family."Vikus nodded understandingly.
"You are to return?" said Vikus, raising a silvery eyebrow at Gregor. Gregor nodded. "I can arrange for a bat to drop you off for—will two hours be sufficient?
"Sure," said Gregor.
"A bat will drop you there, and then hang around to take you back to Regalia." Gregor nodded, thanked Vikus, and left the prophecy room. He had no desire to talk about all the prophecies in there, and Vikus had a habit of trying to draw him into conversations whenever he was in there.

It was a small fluffy gray bat that ended up taking Gregor home. He didn't even bother to ask for the bat's name; he would probably never see it again. The bat dropped Gregor off under the entrance to central park where Gregor and Angelina had both fallen. When Gregor made it to the top of the stairs that led to the secret entrance to the park, he pressed his ear hard against the stone that concealed the opening, listening for any sign of sound. He didn't want to attract any attention. All was silent above, so Gregor pushed the rock up off the ground. He groaned with exertion, but the rock moved without too much trouble. He stuck his head through. Then his shoulders. He got a good grip on the edges of the grass around the rock and pulled the rest of his body out. He had arrived at night. It was almost completely dark except for a few stars scattered across the sky. Gregor wondered what time it was. Gregor managed to hail a taxi that happened to be driving by the park at that moment. He gave the driver his address and the man took off down the street. When they reached his building, Gregor hopped out of the cab and reached into his pockets, looking for money to pay the man. He did a double-take. His pockets were, of course, empty. The driver reached out his hand.
"Uh," muttered Gregor, his hands still searching his pockets, even though he knew they were empty. "Hang on a sec."
"I haven't got all night, kid," barked the driver.
"Just let me make a call," said Gregor. He pulled out his phone and called his apartment. His mom picked up.
"Who is it?" she said, sounding tired and worn.
"It's Gregor," said Gregor.
"Gregor, honey—!" began his mom. He cut her off.
"Listen, mom, I'm standing outside the building, I need money to pay the cab."
"Doesn't your father have money?" she said. He hated to tell her, but someone had to, "Mom, dad's not with me," said Gregor. He heard his mom exhale sharply and then silence. "Mom?" he said. There was another second's silence then—
"Okay," said his mom, seemingly pulling herself back together. "I'll bring money down."
Gregor stood on the pavement waiting for his mom. The driver kept shooting him increasingly sour looks as time progressed. Gregor was relieved when his mom finally showed up. She paid the driver and Gregor had her add a large tip for the wait. The man thanked them and drove away into the darkness.
"Where's your father," was the first thing she asked. "All he said was he needed to help you find Angelina. He told me he'd call me, but I haven't heard from him since he left."
"Well, I tried to call but there was no service, so that doesn't mean he's—well there is nothing to suggest everything's not perfectly fine," said Gregor, trying to convince himself as much as his mom. As they stood in silence, the familiar sounds and smells of New York City washed over him: there was the smell of fast food, the sound of sirens, cigarette smoke, a car horn honking, the distant chatter of people, and the smell of diesel and the rumble of traffic far away.
"I—" said Gregor. He then stopped. There was so much he needed to talk about but he didn't know where to begin. He tried again. "Mom..."
"Listen, Gregor," she said suddenly serious. "You've got to go! Angelina's parents are here, and"—she glanced furtively around—"the police are on their way."
The police? wondered Gregor. Why were they here? Had they come to arrest him. His stomach tightened at the thought.
"But... I'm mean—" stammered Gregor. "Why are the police here? Are they looking for me?" "No," said his mom. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why would the police be looking for you." Gregor's insides now seemed to shrivel under her questioning gaze.
"I—Uh—I don't know. I just thought—I mean you said..."
"You have to leave," she said again, cutting coolly through his gibberish.
"Okay," said Gregor. He nodded. "Bye, I guess. See you soon?" he said hugging her. "Wait, what about the police, what are you going to tell them?" asked Gregor. She couldn't tell them the truth. The police would never survive in the underland They couldn't even get there. You had to free-fall several hundred feet before you got caught by a bat. But now that he thought about it, how had Angelina gotten down there? If a bat had somehow managed to catch her, they would have flown her to Regalia. So... how? Gregor shook himself.
"Okay," he muttered to himself. He cast one last look around and set off running. And just in time too. As he was rounding the block, he saw in the distance the flashing of two police cars. He stood stock-still for a few moments, debating whether or not to run back and explain everything to the police. But he didn't. His mom was right. The best thing to do was for him to find Angelina as quickly as possible. Then he could come back with her and everything could go back to normal. Or something to that effect. He would have to come up with a good cover story for where he and Angelina had been. That would be tricky but he'd have to worry about that later; right now he needed to get back to the underland, and as quickly as possible. The police would almost certainly search the park; after all, that was where they had both disappeared.
Gregor glanced back over his shoulder as he ran. He was alone. For the entire trip to the park, he kept thinking he heard sounds of people chasing after him, but nothing. When he reached the park he ran as fast as he could to the rock. He hoisted it off the ground, leaving an opening large enough for him to climb through. He climbed down under the rock and carefully re-positioned it above his head. If the police found this, they were in big trouble. But they were looking for two missing teenagers so they probably would be focused on something like a rock.
Gregor sat still under the ground. He was shaken by his meeting with his mom. It had been abrupt, to say the least. And she had been surprisingly willing to let him go back to the underland.
Gregor lit his phone so he could see. The tunnel he was standing in was quiet and completely empty. Using his phone light to guide him, he began walking down the concrete steps. After about five minutes, he reached the end of the tunnel. He was standing on the edge of a cliff looking out above the massive river that flowed underneath him. The river! It all made perfect sense; why he hadn't been able to find Angelina, why Hades hadn't been able to. He thought back to the morning when Angelina had fallen. He had heard a cry, and then silence. Which meant she must have...
"Oh, no!" moaned Gregor. She must have fallen into the waterway. There was no way she would have been able to fight the current she would have been swept away like a twig. Which meant she must be... dead. Drowned by the current. Gregor felt a wave of pain sweep over his body. This was too awful to even think about. He slumped onto the ground, his hands covering his face. But as he hit the ground, he noticed something: a stout rope was knotted tightly to a thick metal pole that was driven into the ground. Gregor followed the rope with his fingers. It seemed to disappear into the great abyss below him.
Gregor walked right to the edge of the cliff. By the light of his flashlight, he could see a rope ladder made from the same stout rope descending the cliff. He couldn't tell how far it went on for, but if he had to make a guess he would end up reaching all the way to the underland. Why hadn't he noticed this before? He had been there only a few days earlier. But, Gregor argued with himself, he had been running away from the man so he was rather distracted. The man! Was he somehow connected to this? Had he perhaps discovered the underland? And if so, was he there now? Gregor's mind was reeling with these questions and many more. What interest did the man have in the underland? Maybe he hoped to drill it for resources? Oil? Coal? Diamonds even? It would make sense in a way. Why the man had been so violent towards Gregor and his father; the man wouldn't want anyone else to discover this place, and apparently he had no issues harming innocent people to achieve this.
"Are you ready to return?" asked a sudden voice, causing Gregor to jump up in fright. The bat. The one who was waiting to return him.
"Wha—uh, yeah, okay," said Gregor distractedly. He made sure all his clothes were tightly fitted to his body, then he jumped off the cliff into open space. The bat had him in seconds and they were soaring through the air, back to Regalia.