Gregor and the New Race

Chapter 1

Gregor eyes shot open. He was shaking furiously as he quickly scrambled for his sword. It was pitch dark and Gregor could hear them coming for him. The rats. He tried to run but his body wouldn't move. He started to panic and the sounds of claws scratching on stone got louder. He started hearing voices too. Bat voices. Rat voices. Human voices.
"Why'd you tell me to dive, Gregor?"
"What's your plan, boy?"
"Why'd you leave me, Gregor?"
The last one stung his heart. He tried to answer but no words came out. The scratching and voices got louder and louder until it was too loud to bear. He started to yell. Suddenly the sounds stopped, and all he could hear was his own screams. He then, with the intense sounds of his screams, realized very quickly that he was in his room in Virginia. He was soaking wet from his sweat and his body was shaking violently. His breathing was quick and rapid, and he soon heard footsteps coming down the hall. It was his dad.
"Gregor, it's okay. You're home now. It was only a dream." His dad said, kneeling beside Gregor's bed. The words seemed to sooth him, and his breathing slowed, and the shaking subsided. Gregor hugged his dad and started to cry. His dad just hugged him back. When Gregor finally stopped, his dad asked,
"You okay?"
"...yeah... I think." Gregor said through sniffles. Gregor hated crying. He thought it made him look like a baby. Ever since he tripped and fell and scraped his knee at his old school in New York, he said he'd never let people see him cry again. Some kids laughed at him and made fun of him. But he had long since broken that rule. There had been many tears in the Underland, and many more when he left. Gregor shook his head to get it away from the Underland.
"Yeah. I'm okay dad. I'm just gonna sit here for a while."
"You sure?"
"Yeah you can go back to bed" he said still staring at the darkness, even though he could "see" the room perfectly with echolocation. His dad stood up and walked out of his room with a "goodnight" as he left. When his dad was out of earshot, he let himself cry again. "This is pathetic" he thought to himself. "Why can't I just move on?" Ever since he left, he was constantly plagued with nightmares. Nightmares about Ares, about being killed by vicious 8 foot rats, and most of all, about Luxa. She was the love of his life. She had been the last person he saw in the Underland and the vision of her was still vivid in his mind. Her almost-white-hair was short and her violet eyes sparkling. He had the picture of her always with him. He pulled it out from under his pillow and unfolded it. He looked at it for a few seconds and then quickly folded it and put it in his wallet. He couldn't afford to be thinking of her. It was the fourth time this week he had woken from a nightmare. Last night's had by far been the worst. He clicked his tongue a couple times to find his way to the closet. He changed into some warm clothes and went into the kitchen. It was empty, but the light was on. He figured Lizzie, his younger sister, had had a nightmare as well. He checked the old clock on the wall. It was 4:45. School started at 8:00, so he figured he would go on a run before getting ready for it. He put his running shoes on and started toward the road. It was still pretty dark but he had his echolocation to help him. As he ran his thoughts drifted back to the Underland. Roughly five years ago he first fell into the Underland. Since then, he had seen prophecies, and fought rats, spiders, ants, snakes and an assortment of others. But these were different from the Overland kind. They were about ten times bigger. The average Underland rat stood on its hind legs at 7 feet. Most all of them were vicious killers, except Ripred, a rat that had become a friend and a mentor. He and Gregor both shared a quality that made them fight like no others. They were ragers. It was something that allowed them to be lethal fighters and have lighting reflexes in the sight of danger. It was a useful tool in the Underland, where almost everything was trying to kill you. However, in the Overland, it was a burden. He had to resist the urge frequently to punch a bully in the throat. When it happened, the rager sensation, it was like a buzzing feeling in his veins and he could see his victims vital areas. And in situations where he felt threatened, it was all Gregor could do to stop himself from possibly killing them. It was a curse that he had to live with in the overland.
As Gregor got back from his run, he looked at his watch. 7:10. Good. Just enough time to get ready. He walked inside and went to his room. He took his clothes off and hopped in the shower. The warm water soothed his muscles. Warm water was a luxury that he now, after moving to Virginia with his uncle, got to enjoy. He dried himself off after the shower and got dressed for school. He went into the kitchen to see his whole family busy doing something. Margaret (Boots), and Lizzie were eating breakfast with uncle Nick. Gregor's mom was cleaning dishes and his dad was at the table on his computer. Gregor sat down and poured himself a bowl of cereal. As he ate, he heard Maggie say to his dad,
"Daddy, can I go for a ride?" She asked. She was 5 now but still loved to ride on things, especially people's backs. "Pleeeease!" She asked again.
"Okay. One ride." He said with a sigh. Gregor suppresses a smile as he watched his father get on all four and his little sister hop on his back. His dad then proceeded to crawl around the kitchen.
"Yay!" She squealed. They were all watching and laughing. She got off and said, "good job. But you're not as good as Temp." With that they all stopped laughing and smiling. Gregor's mom stopped doing the dishes and turned around to face them. Maggie didn't realize what she did and asked
"Mommy, can we go see Temp?"
"No." She said quietly. "We're never going down there again." And no one said another word all morning.