Gregor the Overlander and the Ghost of War

Chapter 2

Gregor woke what felt like several days later, and it took him a couple minutes to recognize the nurse's office.

He was lying on a cool bed in one of the "sick rooms", which turned out to be a bed and small table with a mint curtain drawn around it. He lay there for a few seconds, blinking hard, trying to recollect what had happened before he blacked out. The blood... the rats... tears filled his eyes at the painful resurface of the memory of Ares.

He was accustomed to the recurring nightmares now. Now, Instead of a sobbing mess, they only left him shaken, but the memory of Ares... that was enough to make him cry.

He began to shake with silent sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks. Someone pulled back the curtain and sat down next to Gregor. A small hand rubbed circles on his back, and a comforting voice reassured him that he was safe. Gregor recognized his sister Lizzie by her soft voice and small form. He leaned into her touch, and the steady tears ebbed after a few minutes.

Gregor cleared his throat awkwardly after wiping the tear tracks from his cheeks. He smiled weakly at Lizzie, and she hugged him, sniffing a little bit herself. When she pulled back, she looked at him with the concerned expression that was ever present on her twelve-year-old face, regardless of the circumstances. She had always been an anxious kid, and her experiences in the Underland certainly hadn't helped with that.

"What happened Gregor?" she asked softly. He shook his head, beginning to breath in shallow breaths again as he recalled the experience.

"Y-you can't imagine... Liz, it w-was... Ares was... b-blood and rats were... like a n-nightmare..."

Lizzie rubbed his back again.

"Shhh... Gregor, it wasn't real. It was another hallucination. The doctor said they were one of the symptoms of PTSD, remember?" Gregor took a deep breath and nodded. He tried to recall the other symptoms, but the only ones that appeared in his mind straight away were nightmares, depression, and withdrawal. And I've definitely had my fair share of those, he thought numbly.

"You ok to come talk to the nurse?" Lizzie asked. "Dad's here too, he came when he heard you'd fainted." Gregor's dad had begun working as a history teacher again at Gregor's high school three years ago, one year after their family had returned from the war in the Underland.

Gregor nodded. He swung his feet around to stand on shaky legs and made his way to where his dad was worriedly talking to the nurse.

"I think Gregor should take some time off school," she was saying quietly. "That terrorist attack must have really shaken him up, he's been acting strange ever since he returned. Five years is a long time, you should get him to speak to a psychologist." Gregor's dad nodded and thanked the nurse, turning to Gregor and Lizzie.

Gregor's family had agreed on their cover-up story, concealing the traumatic truth. The story was that Gregor's family had taken a month-long visit to their family's farm in Virginia. However, while they were visiting, a terrorist attack was launched on the local town, and Gregor, while hanging out with his friends, had been shot and forced into hiding in a shop for a week before the police got it under control. It was a reasonable enough excuse; it could explain the PTSD and overprotectiveness of his parents. One thing that no cover story could ever conceal, however, was the intricate map of scars, varying in all shapes and sizes, patterned across Gregor's body. How could his family explain to the school that he had battled mutant sea monsters, ants, rats, and snakes in another world, miles below the earth's surface? The only way they could hide the scars that invited nosy conversations was for Gregor to wear long-sleeved clothing. This was a problem in summer, especially in New York. His family's only option was for Gregor to be home-schooled every summer. It wasn't perfect, but it was all they could do.

"Hey Gregor..." His dad said softly. "How's my little guy?" Gregor smiled slightly at the comforting title his dad had called him by ever since he was little.

"I'm alright, Dad, just... got confused." His dad's eyes looked over him sadly, and he turned to Lizzie after a moment. "Liz, why don't you go back to class? I'm going to take Gregor home. You alright to walk Boots home after school?" Lizzie nodded, smiled at Gregor, and left the room.

Gregor walked with his dad to their car, and once he had shut the door his dad turned to him worriedly.

"Gregor, what happened in there?"