"Gregor, how could you possibly come down here without telling us? Not even bothering to leave a note!" Gregor's dad half whispered, half yelled. Gregor knew he forgot something. A note. "I'm sorry but-" his dad cut him off, "And you brought your sisters down here? Gregor I don't know what to say!" "Dad, I wanted to come. I wanted to see Ripred." Lizzie interrupted. "Liz, don't defend me. This is my fault. I'm sorry I didn't tell you dad. I really am. I just missed everybody so much, and now there's something bad happening." Gregor whispered, "What's happening?" his dad asked, "So many people are dying. They just stop breathing." Gregor whispered 'dying' and 'stop breathing' barely audible, so his sisters couldn't hear it. "Go to sleep please. We can talk about it in the morning. And Gregor, I'm sorry for embarassing you tonight." His dad said sternly as he lay down in bed. Lizzie and Boot's got in their own beds, and drifted off. Gregor couldn't. Something didn't feel right. Gregor felt as if something bad would happen.
When Gregor woke up, he assumed it was morning. He was wrong. As Gregor slowly and quietly walked out into the hall, he saw two figures. He couldn't tell whose figures they were, but they were small and one of them had long hair. "Shhh! They will tell! They will know what happened!" a voice whispered, Gregor guessed it was a girl, since the voice was high-pitched. "They will never tell. They could not. They do not know. They know too much anyways, if they knew, it would not matter." a quiet boy's voice came from the other figure, the one with short hair. Gregor recognized one of the voices, not the other. The girl's voice was Sara's. "I will be punished! You selfish troll!" Sara whispered, "You will not, not as long as I am here." the boy's voice said, "I would, and still can, kill you in a minute." Sara's voice whispered, angered. The boy got up, and stomped quietly in Gregor's direction, Gregor ran into a room he was standing in front of. The boy was about Sara's size, a little bigger, and Gregor could tell the girl was Sara, since she was so small. Not much larger than Lizzie. "That independent follower. He will die before I reach him." Sara muttered, and mumbled something else, then walked right into the room Gregor was in. Gregor froze, and Sara had an amused look on her face. "Are you looking for something? A sword? A torch? Another blanket?Be careful of what rooms you go in. I would not do anything, but some might get offended." she smirked, went over to a pile of blankets next to a bed, and handed him one. Gregor could only mumble thanks and he exited the room, without another word.
When Gregor woke, it was actually time to wake up. Luxa was eating when Gregor got to the dining area, "Hello Gregor, take a seat. Lizzie and Boots should be dining soon. They are looking for Dulcet. I only know so much as to why they are."Luxa said, not bothering to look up. Something randomly struck Gregor. A random thought just occured. "Where's Howard?" Gregor blurted out. "He went back, to the Fount. His father, York, has become very ill." Luxa quietly whispered. "Oh." was all Gregor could manage.
Later, after he was done eating and bathing, he was looking for his dad. Who could only tell where he could be. "Talking to Vikus about the natural gases that power the torches" Gregor thought. Gregor sighed. He was so bored. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come back down. He was going to try to find Luxa, but she was probably busy with queen stuff.
Another hour or two passed. Then he saw Sara. She looked tired, but she walked over to him, confidently. "How much did you hear?" she asked, Gregor didn't know what she was talking about. Probably last night. "I only heard you saying they know or don't know or won't find out or something. Not much." Gregor said, "What's that about anyway?" "Uh, a secret. We both know. It is deadly, though it may not be true." she whispered, barely audible. Gregor heard something like a scream after that, he and Sara quickly turned, and ran to where the noise came from. It was a girl's voice, certainly, but Gregor didn't know whose. When they got to the source of the noise, Dulcet was there, crying. She must've been holding towels, but dropped them when she saw this.
The only thing there was a pale faced human, bleeding to death.
