Chapter Two

Sending a Message

The gentle evening sky gently weighed itself lightly upon the usually bustling city. It was fairly late at night, thus very few cars were out, and the streets just lay there, practically abandoned except for the taxi here or there carrying someone who had been at a bar too long to drive home. The starless sky seemed peaceful to most people, that is, most people except Gregor.

His house was in complete chaos, his mother pacing around the kitchen firing questions at Gregor while she held her chin in her hand, staring at the ground with red-rimmed eyes, puffy from the tears that came easily to the strong woman in her extraordinarily stressful life. Gregor kept answering all of her questions gently with the same answers. He hated to see her like this and tried to comfort her, but it did nothing. Lizzie lay asleep two rooms away, her dreams troubled by the arguing going on in the real world.

"And how long ago did they leave?" Grace said in broken sobs for the umpteenth time.

"Mom, listen, it's going to be all right, okay? They only left about three to four and a half hours ago, they might have just gotten lost or something," Gregor tried to reassure her, but he knew that wouldn't be the case. His dad was a very smart man; he knew how to get around New York with ease. Plus the lot was only about five or so blocks away. Even in the off chance that something like that would happen, his dad wouldn't be one of those men with too much pride to ask for directions, but that only made Gregor feel worse. Thinking about what some of the millions of people in New York would do if a sickly man with his small daughter went up asking for directions.

"Did he look well enough to go out? Especially in this weather?" Grace continued, red in the face, her eyes puffy.

"Yeah, Mom, he looked like he was having one of his better days," Gregor replied. He was now regretting ever letting his dad leave now.

"That's it, we've already called the police, I'm going out looking for them!" Grace said decisively, trying to stop the sobs.

"Mom, I won't let you go without me; it's not safe out there!" Gregor beseeched his mother.

"But we can't leave Lizzie here alone!" Grace said, her voice barely controlled.

"No, Mom, there are people out there that are dangerous. You can't just go out late at night alone. Listen, you can stay here with Lizzie, and I can go out and look for Dad and Boots. I can take care of myself, I can defend myself after all that I've learned," Gregor told her while getting to his feet.

"But you can't go! Not without me!" Grace argued.

"Well…what if we got Mrs. Cormaci to watch Lizzie so we both can go?" Gregor suggested.

"She can't watch Lizzie," Grace said, trying to regain her composure, but failing. "She went to Nebraska to visit one of her sons." She began to sob again, the frustration of being helpless consuming her.

"But we could…" Gregor's voice trailed off. He had no idea of what to do. Realization of what happened started to hit him. He had already lost his dad once before and he didn't know what to do now that it happened again. He thought of Boots. She was one of the few joys left in Gregor's life and he couldn't bear to lose her. He started to feel the desperation and hopelessness he did when he thought Boots had gone when the Swag had flooded. He tried to talk again, but couldn't find his voice. He started to break down, now he knew the pain his mom felt whenever he was in the Underland, the abysmal feeling of not knowing what was happening to them. His legs were shaking, it felt like the whole room was spinning, he slid into a chair and decided to wait it out.

Luxa lay under the silken sheets of her bed, staring at the ceiling of her room, her body and mind completely and utterly exhausted from another full day of pre-queen training. There were history lessons, learning of the past wars, rulers, and governments of Regalia. Economics were horrible, always discussing trading with multitudes of other species in the Underland which tied in with the worst part yet, keeping strong alliances and watching out for enemies. Not to mention countless scrolls that she was expected to read and memorize.

But worse yet than the activities of her day, were the moments where there were none, the moments that she dreaded more than anything else in the world. She just lay there, as the thoughts of him finally enfolded her in their icy embraces. Each thought brought back more memories of the life she wished she could still have.

Finally, sleep made its way and cradled her tear-stained face in its blissful embrace. Sleep, the one and only escape she had left. Sleep, the only thing that took the pain away, if only for a moment.

Gregor sat in an old, partially broken rocking chair in his living room. He had been sitting there for about an hour and a half, watching Grace. She had been going frantic over Boots and his dad being missing, but she was still human, and eventually pure exhaustion finally took over, leaving her asleep on the ratty couch in the corner of the room. He had been awake the whole time, just waiting for her to fall asleep. Her breathing had slowed and she hadn't moved in the past twenty minutes, so Gregor decided that it was probably safe to get up. He slowly lifted himself from the chair, stopping every couple of inches as it made its loud moaning creaks as the weakened wood protested against the pressure. He finally got to his feet and stood there for a minute, watching his mom. He hated the fact that he was going against her will and sneaking out, but he couldn't just wait in that cramped apartment waiting for the police to take forever doing something about it. He had no choice, he had to go out and look for Boots and his dad or else the family would just fall apart again.

Gregor took each step he took with great care, because the hardwood floor of the apartment had to be at least fifty years old, but it sounded more like three hundred. Every step he took sounded like a squeaking roar in his ears. He had to just keep telling himself not to be so paranoid and take another step.

After what seemed like an eternity, he had finally made his way to the front door of his apartment. He took a quick glance at his watch, which was an old little kids' type digital watch. He felt a little childish wearing it, but it was practical and it was really useful sometimes. It was 3:30 am.

"Okay, I should probably be back no later than five, just in case Mom wakes up or something," Gregor thought to himself as he stepped outside the door.

He walked over to the elevator in his apartment and pressed the button. No power, just as usual—it always seemed to be out of order at the most in opportune moments. He let out a loose sigh and started down the stairs, taking three at a time.

Even small activities like going down several flights of stairs would bring back the pain in his chest, the ache from the scars created by the ferocious, white rat from the Underland called the Bane.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, he had to take a small break to help ease the pain in his chest.

After waiting a couple minutes, he headed out the door, starting the sidewalk and heading straight for the empty lot where Boots and his dad had supposedly been last. He stayed close to the sides of buildings, trying to blend in the best he could. The last thing he wanted was for cops to see him and take him home, or even worse, for someone else to see him. There were some real weirdoes out late at night in New York City.

After sneaking around about five blocks, Gregor found himself at the lot. The normally happy place seemed quite creepy late at night. The tree branches all seemed to be reaching out to grab him, and the shadows looked pretty scary. Gregor shook himself off, muttering sarcastically, "Wow, look at me, the great warrior scared by a bunch of dead trees and piles of leaves."

Gregor spent about forty minutes thoroughly searching the area, but came up with nothing. He decided it would be best to search the streets within about three blocks. He carefully made his commute in the shadows, luckily not spotting any other people around.

Gregor exhausted his search after about another hour. checked his watch again, grimacing as he saw the time. It was 5:30 in the morning, and it was getting brighter. He decided that he had to head home. As he started on his way, however, he realized how truly tired he really was. He had been up for almost twenty-four hours and had trouble staying awake on his way home. He found himself dozing as he walked. Gregor tried to keep focused but kept losing it. Before he knew it, the warrior found himself at the entrance to Central Park. He had subconsciously headed towards the direction. Being that he was here, he felt the need to go inside, and take a look at this place, a place that he thought about often, a place that was now forbidden for him to go near, a place where he had lost one of the most important people in his life.

The rager quickly and quietly made his way through the path leading to the rock. He was still very tired and clumsy, though, and found himself tripping over bushes left and right. He finally rounded one last tree and found it looming there, the rock that separated two entirely different worlds, the rock that separated him from those he loved and cared for, the rock that brought back painful memories every time he saw it.

He sat there on the dewing grass which ended leaving wet spots on his jeans. He ignored them at just stared at it deep in thought for a while. Finally, he pulled himself up and looked around. The sun was just rising and he had to hurry home before his mom or Lizzie would wake up. He took one step and tripped over a root, falling flat on his face. He mumbled some words he would usually not say if he wasn't so tired and stressed under his breath as he got back up again, but then he looked down where he had fallen. There, dug out in the dirt, was this:

Warrior, we have your family. If you wish to see them alive, you must head to Regalia, and from there you will receive more orders.

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Uh, heh heh heh, (awkward ashamed laughs). Sorry this chapter took forever to put out, hopefully you guys can forgive me. Sorry that the tree of transmission stuff was sloppy, it's hard to type all that out.

P.S. My birthday was January 26 and ya know what would be great? Some reviews as very belated birthday gifts!!!! = )… or not, whatever.