Page 27 (1/2)

Chapter 27

It was late Two-fifteen by the clock on the taxi's dashboard The driver was tired, unco hanging out in Central Park at that hour

When they got to their building, the elevator was broken, so they took the stairs up to their aparthts His dad finally gave hior opened the door to his apartment, he couldn't believe how small and cramped the place looked He and Lizzie slumped back on the couch while Boots i and arranged theotten last Halloween she held it up happily "Look! Ares!" Gregor could think of nothing to say as she flew the bat around her head

His parents cah she was dropping frorandor realized she didn't know that Grandot home to break the news "It's her heart, Grace She's in the hospital We'll go see her first thing toht to bed Gregor didn't even bother with pajamas He just stripped down to his Underland briefs and crawled between his blankets They had a dusty, familiar smell A siren went by Music from a car radio blared then faded A toilet flushed The old coor to sleep

The tunnel was dark The flashlights long dead Gregor was relying solely on echolocation It had been stupid to go this way Ripred had told him that but he hadn't listened Now they had found hi so he turned and swung, slashing open several faces, splattering hi happened to his sword It becaain but the floor was cru, falling into a black pit He screamed for Ares but there was no Ares and he could see the sharp rocks as they rushed up to ony as they pierced his chest!

Gregor bolted up in bed, heart pounding, sweat-soaked, his right hand clutching his throbbing chest Had his own voice woken hi in No one called his name The screaht up had stopped when he'd had Ares Now they were back again, filled with rats and blood

Daas just breaking over the city He'd been in bed only a few hours He knew he should go back to sleep But the nightmare had been too real He sank back on his pillow and watched the sunlight brighten until it stung his eyes

Gregor cracked open hisand took a deep breath of the exhaust-scented air What day was it? What month was it? He had no idea He hadn't been home since Hazard's birthday That had been in the dead of suent need to kno round himself in some kind of reality The calendar in the kitchen would be worthless, but he could turn on the TV No, that would wake everybody He could go down to the corner and check the date on a newspaper He flung off his blanket and froze as he got his first look at his body in sunlight

"Oh, geez," he said He knew he'd gotten beat up pretty bad in the Underland, but things healed up and you moved on Only he hadn't accounted for the accumulation of scars that dated all the way back to his earliest visits Marks left by squid suckers, vines, pinchers, teeth, claws Then there were the wounds he'd made on his hands when he'd broken Sandwich's sword less than a day ago His skin was like a s that had happened

The Underlanders had given him more of that fish oints like the five clawnowhere fast They were part of him forever How could he ever explain thelass ? Wrestled a pack of tigers? If he couldn't explain they to the doctor unless he was on death's doorstep A doctor wouldn't accept some laor in a -sleeved shirt and pants, both of which see inin however long he'd been gone He put on his socks and his only Overland footwear, a pair of dress shoes he'd gotten for the spring concert His toes felt crareat sneakers Mrs Cormaci had sent him but they'd been ruined in the war

He left quietly, but as he passed Mrs Cormaci's apartment, the door opened She had always been an early riser "So You stayed in one piece," she said, looking him up and down critically "Your pants are too short Want soor followed her into the kitchen and sat at the table while she randor' She's in intensive care If your inia, well, that just isn't going to happen" She piled the thick slices of challah bread fried in egg batter on Gregor's plate and placed a platter of bacon in front of hi syrup on the toast "Maybe she'll just take us kids" It would be awful breaking up the faether

"Maybe So, what's been going on with you, ht about all that had happened since he'd last been home All he'd seen and done He couldn't forue?" asked Mrs Cormaci "It's okay You don't need to tell me or anyone else about it unless you feel like it" She dipped a piece of bacon in his syrup and chewed it thoughtfully "You know, Mr Corht in a war He didn't want to talk about it, either I knew there'd been soh That man had bad dreams until the day he died"

"One woke or

"It won't be the last," said Mrs Corlass without waiting for him to answer "It's like this You spend your whole childhood hearing about being nice to other people and how hurting someone's a crime, and then they ship you off to so to do to your head, huh?"

"Nothing good," Gregor said

"You'll be all right, though, Gregor," said Mrs Cormaci

"I don't know In or "I used to have falling dreams before, but this was the first time I hit bottom"

"Don't worry If you hit bottom, there's a whole lot of people here to help you up," said Mrs Corht "Wipeleft to help once you hit those rocks" And even if people wanted to help, Gregor was alone in his dreams No one could help him there

While he ate, Mrs Cored to one of her sons about twenty years ago They weren't exactly in style but they fit pretty well and looked better than the dress shoes,

"You're going to need new clothes for school," she said

"Has it started already?" he asked

"Weeks ago," she said "We're halfway through October, Gregor"

"I didn't know," he said

Thehis sisters while his parents and Mrs Cormaci went to the hospital While Lizzie and Boots ate breakfast, Gregor stood at the kitchen atching the neighborhood kids go off to school He thought of his friends Larry and Angelina and wondered what they must make of his disappearance Did they think he had moved? Was sick? Part of him wanted to see theain He had been through soout with the was back to norot back around lunch The visit had been a shock to his randmother would be able to leave the hospital, and even then she'd probably have to go to so home with full-tior

"Not now, son Maybe when she's stronger," said his dad