The Seeker and the Annihilation of the Underland: A Gregor the Overlander Fanfic

Chapter 6

Previously...

Stella smiled. It was a genuine one. Her first real smile since Nora had died. That moment, she realised that maybe things wouldn't turn out so bad for her after all.

"Oh, and by the way," said Blake. "Happy birthday."

.

.

.

Stella wrapped her arms around her knees and leaned back on her bed frame. She had no idea why Leo had locked her up in her own bedroom. What had she done? Leo had just appeared after Blake had said 'Happy Birthday,' giving Stella no chance to process what Blake had just said, and had dragged her into his car, took her home, and locked her up in her bedroom, taking the key away. Some jerk.

Although, Stella found it funny that it had looked like Leo had been kidnapping her. When Leo had dragged her to his car, he had been wearing what he had worn to the funeral: his black suit and a pair of black leather shoes. He had slicked back his hair — and Stella had to admit — he looked like one of those guys straight out of some secret agent blockbuster movie.

Still, Stella couldn't believe it was her birthday. Well, it was Leo's birthday as well. She just couldn't believe that it was on the same day as Nora's funeral. She hadn't remembered it because of all the confusion and grief of Nora's death. It was nice of Blake to remember. 

Stella sighed and turned on her phone, looking through all the notifications she had. She replied to some texts, and left others since they didn't really need a reply. After clearing her notifications, she put on her ear pods and decided to listen to some music. The sun had almost set outside, leaving an orange glow through the blinds that lit up her bedroom walls. It felt nice to relax for once. To push aside your worries and just chill with music.

She hadn't even realised she had fallen asleep, or maybe it hadn't been sleep because she felt like she'd been half-awake. Whatever it had been, she found herself being shaken awake.

"Wake up sis." It was Leo.

Annoyed, Stella rubbed her eyes and took off her ear pods. "What? Why?" It was dark outside, and inside as well.

"Just get up." He nearly pulled her off the bed. "I need to show you something." Stella couldn't help but notice the excitement in his voice.

"What? Stella was sure he could hear the annoyance in her tone. "Can't you just let me chill for some time. And why'd you lock me up?"

"Can't tell you," Leo remarked. "Fix your hair and follow me."

Groaning, Stella tied her hair up and followed Leo upstairs, towards the rooftop. As Leo opened the door to the rooftop, Stella instinctively drew her hand over her eyes at the stream of red, yellow and green lights that flooded her eyes.

"Happy Birthday!" Came a round of cheerful voices from in front of her.

When Stella's eyes had adjusted to the light, she realised the whole rooftop was transformed. Strings of multicoloured LED lights hung from all four sides of the rooftop; helium balloons had been blown up and weighed down by bases to keep them from flying away; there were multiple tables of different drinks and snack-sized food; and right in the centre of the rooftop, was the most unique birthday cake Stella had ever seen.

It was in the shape of the Yin and Yang but the two were separated so they each had an individual shape. Stella had the Yin; her part was yellow and the small circle was replaced by a star. Leo had the Yang; his part was dark-blue and the small circle was replaced by a perfectly-shaped moon. If the two parts of the cake were to be connected, the Gemini constellation could be formed in the centre. 'Stella' and 'Leo' were written in white icing in an elegant handwriting on each part. There were two candles on the cake; one said '2' and the other said '1,' and if the two separate parts of the cake were to be connected, it would form the number '21.'