Chapter I
It was a fairly pleasant day, blue sky sprawled open over head. It was slightly humid, which was common for Virginia. Gregor looked at his family and smiled. They all looked so well. So much better than they had been just 6 years earlier, since moving here.
His dad had made an almost complete recovery from his times spent as a prisoner to giant 6 foot tall rats, and had begun teaching science again at the nearby high school. His mom had made a similar recovery, but she still tended to have coughing fits on windy or chill days. The scars from the deadly disease she had survived remained, but you had to look hard to notice them. Lizzie had grown quite a bit since their family moved. She was 14 now, and was attending the middle school just down the street from the high school were Gregor's dad worked. She was top of the class in everything, and was expected by just about everyone, including herself, to graduate from high school early, most likely as valedictorian. Of them all however, Boots had changed the most. She was 9 now, and planned on growing up and getting a job that involved animals. She was never able to pin down what job she wanted exactly, and it tended to change depending on the day you asked her. Some days it was veterinarian, some days a zookeeper, sometimes an animal rescue specialist. She had grown up spending most of her life on the farm, and couldn't remember much about New York city. And despite the abundance of them, Gregor had never once seen her injure a cockroach. She had always removed them from the house and told them to stay out. Typically they did.
The thought made Gregor smile, and he realized how much he was going to miss his family. Gregor had changed too, over the last 6 years. He had grown a lot and now stood at an impressive 5'10'', with a fit build about him. He had joined the track team in high school and excelled at the sport. After seeing the things he had, it was easy for him to push himself to run just a bit faster and just a bit farther. He had begun playing the saxophone again, but only outside of school. He liked to save the activity for when he was playing with his dad. And by some miracle he had convinced his mom to let him continue training himself to use a sword and hone his echolocation abilities. The need had mostly stemmed from a fear that if he didn't learn to control his rager tendencies more completely, he may end up accidentally killing someone with them. It was hard for him to tell if he had made any marked improvement in his sword skills as he had never fought against anyone since moving, but his rager abilities had been mastered a few years ago. He had even gained extra awareness of his surroundings from his new mastery over the ability, which when paired with his echolocation, made him keenly aware of everything going on around him, no matter where he was.
Gregor's reminiscing on the past few years and everything that had happened were cut off suddenly, when Boots hugged him in a way that almost felt more like a tackle. Recovering from the unexpected force of the hug, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. So much for always knowing what was going on around him, he thought mockingly of himself.
"Gregor I don't want you to leave" Boots said in a muffled voice, her head being buried in Gregor's coat.
"It won't be that bad boot's. I'm only a short drive away. Really it could be worse."
"But you still won't be here" Lizzie chimed in. "Now all the chores you took care of are gonna be on my plate" she said in a sarcastic voice. Gregor couldn't help but smile at the comment.
"That will just help to get you out of those books you constantly have your nose in. Honestly Liz, I don't know how your head hasn't blown up to the size of a beach ball yet." Lizzie gave him a glare but couldn't help to smile despite it. Coming over to him she gave him a hug along with Boots, who had now started to sniffle against Gregor's shirt.
"I'm going to miss you Gregor." Liz said
"I'm going to miss you too, Liz" Gregor replied, suddenly getting a catch in his throat. Lizzie and Boots peeled away for a moment, and Gregor's parents stepped closer.
"We're so proud of you son" said Gregor's dad.
"And we're going to miss having you around all the time" his mom said, tears already forming at the corners of her eyes.
"I'll miss you guys too" Gregor replied, embracing them both. Lizzie and Boots joined in the embrace, and they all shared in a family hug before saying their final goodbyes. His dad cracked a couple of jokes, and his mom reminded him of all the things he needed to do once he got there for the 50th time. Finally, Gregor climbed into the used car his parents had bought him for his sixteenth birthday. He had all of his things packed inside. His clothes, some decorations he had in his room, his saxophone, and his practice sword. He doubted he would have much time to continue practicing with it, but he brought it along just in case he somehow found the time. He was heading back to New York city, where he would live with Mrs. Cormaci, who had recently fallen ill, and take care of her while working a part time job to help pay rent. Starting up the engine, Gregor drove up the dirt road connecting the farm where his family had lived for the last six years to a county road that would eventually take him to New York. He saw his family waving at him in the rear-view mirror, and then took a turn and they were gone.