The World Below (ON BREAK)

Chapter 1

Monday, 7:49 am

Tanner awoke to the artificial light on the ceiling of Sanctuary city shining through the window onto his face. He tried getting out of bed, however, him still being exhausted and having a lower half of a snake made this more difficult than normal. After another ten minutes of procrastinating, he finally willed himself to exit the bed.

Yawning, he slithered to the kitchen and was met by a wave of smells. His mother always insisted on cooking food for her nearly adult son.

"Morning, mom," he said, still tired from his insufficient amount of sleep. "What're you making?"

"Pancakes. You'll need the sugar for school today."

Tanner helped himself to one. Like usual, his mother put in cinnamon. Part of her signature style, he guessed.

Once he had finished, he cleared his plate and in return received an announcement from his father. 

"Hey, kid! Make sure you check the storage while you're on your way to school!"

Tanner groaned. His father had him check the storage every Monday, even though it was near the entrance to Sanctuary city. Anyone could walk out into the sunlight, but there was always the risk of humans spotting and hunting you. Tanner's great-grandfather's life ended that way. No creature had set foot, tail, or claw outside since then.

Tanner was different from the other monsters. He had special interest in the upper world, and frequently sketched things he saw in pictures of up above. Trees were his specialty. He had filled an entire sketchbook with sketches of maple, redwood, birch, and other trees. He had to hide it, however, for if it was ever found, he would be placed in custody for endangering himself and others.

Donning his favorite gray sweater and filling his bag with the necessary books and utensils, Tanner left his home and slithered toward the storage center on his way to school. Despite the entrance being no more than ten feet away from him, he didn't intend to leave, lest he be seen and killed, like his great-grandfather.

Other monsters had it easy. They could blend in simply by hiding a tail, or wearing a headscarf, but Tanner's kind wasn't able to do that easily. You can't exactly hide the lower half of a snake in some pants.

Either way, Tanner had a task: to check storage. He went from aisle to aisle, looking for his family's assigned number. Once he had reached aisle 24, he slithered toward the rack with his family's wares.

He had a checklist in his bag. He went through each item to ensure everything was still there, item by item, box by box. Thieves were common in Sanctuary city. Not every monster liked it down here, and often tried to express their unhappiness by making others angry. Tanner was fortunate that no one had taken any of his family's stuff yet.

There was a bang at the hatch at the top of the stairwell that led to the upper world, and it made Tanner jump, as much as a person that was half snake could, anyway. He assumed he was just hearing things and resumed his work. Again, a bang.

This time Tanner was more curious than wary. What had made that noise? No monsters were permitted to leave Sanctuary city without special approval from their government. As far as he knew, no one had left for a couple of weeks.

Another bang. Tanner put his checklist back in his bag and slithered toward the disturbance, using the ramp that was to the left of the staircase. He knew the combination by spying on the workers in the storage center, and was able to crack it easily. He opened the hatch ever so slightly, and got hit in the face with a stick.

"Ow! What was that?" He exclaimed.

The hatch opened wider, this time by some other pair of hands.

Tanner practically flew down the ramp and hid behind a random shelf. A face looked into the dark storage center. A human face.

"Hello?" It called.