Grover's POV

I bit down on my lip. "It's got to be this way."

Luke still looked uneasy. "Grover, are you sure? It's been a long night. The last turn was into a horde of hellhounds. Are you sure you want to keep going? I think we should get some sleep and pick up tomorrow."

I shook my head. "No. Acorns don't lie. It's got to be this way."

Thalia looked like she was going to pass out. She was a tough girl, no doubt, but we'd been trying to make it to camp for forty-six hours now, with no sleep. Annabeth wasn't any better, and she was only seven.

In front of us was a run-down tin building. It was rusty and it smelled really bad, like worn gym socks dipped in the sewer. I didn't want to go in there, but the acorns said that this was the right way, and I didn't want to fail Chiron or Mr. D or the council.

Thalia tapped her chains and Aegis came out to play. "Let's go."

We all started to walk forward. Luke pushed open the door and a rat scampered through the dark room. It looked so...deserted. Like nobody had visited for decades. There was a catwalk leading across the room to reach the other side.

None of us were anxious to actually reach the other side. "On second thought, let's stay here the night. I'm in the mood for enchiladas. Luke, do you think you could steal from that Los Tres Amigos down the street? I heard there enchiladas are great."

He stood to his feet and looked at us as if to make sure we would be okay. "Sure, Grover." He flipped around and headed in the opposite direction.

Thalia yawned. "I'm going to see if I can find some logs to burn. I'll be right back." With that she, too, walked away into the darkness.

Annabeth was the only one left for me to watch. "You're not going anywhere too, are you?" I asked, though I wouldn't let her go anywhere anyway.

"No," she responded.

I smiled at her and laid back to relax. My head wasn't back for very long before I heard a noise, like metal hitting metal. Annabeth hadn't heard it, but she was a demigod. I was a satyr. "Look, Annabeth," I told her. "I need you to stay here for a minute. I need to go check something out."

She stared at me funny, and maybe a little scared, but she okayed it. I jumped off of the catwalk. I was exploring the area I heard the sound again: clang! Only this time it was about ten times as close. Something evil was nearby.

I trotted back and was starting to jump onto the catwalk to rescue Annabeth when I just about had a heart attack. She was gone. No, no, no, I thought. "A-Annabeth?" No response. I trotted down the catwalk, calling her name. Still no response.

Then out of nowhere, she was behind me. "Here."

"Oh my gods," I said turning around, "Annabeth, you scared the crap-YOU'RE NOT ANNABETH!"

ΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠ

Luke's POV

I ran back into the rusty tin building before anybody could notice my doings. The catwalk was empty. Okay, so they moved. "Hello..?" I called. "I'm back! Where did y'all move to?"

Silence. Then, it was Annabeth's terrified seven-year-old voice. "HELP ME! LUKE! PLEASE! SOMEBODY-" it was cut off. My heart hammered through my chest. I dropped the enchiladas in shock. "No. NO. ANNABETH! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"LUKE! PLEASE! HURRY!"

I ran down to the other side of the room like it was all I was worth. Sons of Hermes are supposed to be fast, I thought. Got to get there faster. I was tearing up the catwalk screaming, "ANNABETH!" but she had stopped responding. Then behind me, Annabeth said, "Glad you can make it. Let's eat."

It was too calm to be her. I flipped around slowly and found myself facing something that definitely was not Annabeth.

ΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠ

Thalia's POV

I was walking back up to the top of the catwalk with a heavy load in my arms. I had splinters under my nails and they were being pushed in deeper. When I reached the top I looked around. They were gone. Grover had never been my favorite person, but now that he'd taken Annabeth somewhere...

"Grover?" I called. "Annabeth?"

I took another look across the catwalk and my heart officially stopped beating. There was a brown paper bag flat on the ground with a sombrero and Los Tres Amigos on the front. Luke had been back. How long was I gone?

"LUKE?"

No response. "LUKE!"

Silence. Complete silence. Then there was a noise, like muffled up metal, and Luke screamed like something was terribly wrong. "THALIA! HELP! IT'S HERE!"

My heart started to work again. It was pounding out of my chest. "LUKE! WHERE ARE YOU?"

He stopped responding. I took off down the catwalk, the air tearing by. A tear traced down my cheek. "LUKE?" I screamed. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't take losing somebody else, much less two people who I had always called my family.

It seemed like a thousand days had passed, but I eventually reached the end of the catwalk. With no luck. I pushed away the curtain and saw a pile of logs. There were bones spread all across the floor. And beyond that were Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, their eyes wide. Their eyes kept shifting behind me, and I understood too late. They were trying to warn me of something. Before I could completely make out the message, I was lifted into the air.

ΨΩΠΨΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠ

Annabeth's POV.

I ran as fast as I could down the catwalk. Grover had just jumped off to check something and then I heard something that sounded like metal being muffled with. I didn't stay to find out. About halfway across, I jumped off. I dashed along the side and ran to the corner of the gigantic room.

I was huddling against the wall when I saw Grover climbing back onto the catwalk, calling my name. He looked terrified, and I felt bad for that, but I couldn't reveal myself because there was obviously something else here. He ran down the catwalk, and at the end, something horrible stepped on the behind him. It was about ten feet tall and it had one eye right in the middle of its forehead. I stood up to go kill it, and then I fell backwards and tumbled into darkness.

I couldn't find where I had come from. It was pitch black. I did the natural thing-I looked for an exit. I spent the next ten minutes feeling around in the darkness. I kept hearing screams for me or Luke or Thalia or Grover. I tripped on something, but I didn't fall to the ground. I hit something about halfway to the floor-stairs. I rubbed my pained chin and cautiously headed up the exit. At the top I saw something that scared me so badly that I wished I could be home again, which I would never just wish for.

There were bones- everywhere. Apparently it wasn't a neat freak. I took a look around. There was the monster. He was prodding a bonfire with a stick and chatting with himself about dinner. Behind him were my friends. They were tied up with gags across their mouths and were hanging from the ceiling like a bunch of smoked hams. The whole picture made me want to throw up, but I hadn't eaten in so long that there wasn't anything to throw up.

I took a step closer and quietly unsheathed my knife. The monster's ugly head shot up. He-He smiled in the creepiest way. He had about two frizzy black hairs on his head, pulled back in a ponytail, and teeth the same color.

"Now Annabeth," He said, but it wasn't the part that he knew my name that freaked me out. It was that he was talking in my daddy's voice. I wanted to cry and run into his cozy arms, but his appearance was the only thing that kept me away. And my dad never cared for me. "Don't you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever."

I came up with a quick plan. I started walking toward him as if I were convinced he was my dad, my knife still unsheathed. Thalia was the only one who was still conscious, and she was muffling gagged words at the top of her lungs, warning me not to trust him or to run away. The monster smiled at me and I nearly barfed up nothing. But I didn't let that show. I continued walking toward him. Ten steps away, he held out his arms and I broke into a run.

I jammed my knife into his foot and he howled. He started jumping around and holding his foot, like the idiot he was.

I ran over to Thalia and struck my knife against the rope she was tied up with. She fell and hit her head, but it didn't even faze her. In seconds, she was back up on her feet and she raced over to the unconscious Luke, then Grover. After cutting them loose, she didn't bother checking if they were okay. She tapped her wrist and Aegis came alive. She slashed the tip of her spear against the Cyclops's calf and his foot hit the floor, but his top half landed elsewhere.

"Food," Grover moaned. I felt like smacking him. Luke was starting to come back to Earth. The Cyclops was groaning in pain. I wanted to jab it through the heart just to make sure it died, but I knew better. We needed to get out of there. We ran the curtain through, Luke dragging Grover behind him. We reached the end of the catwalk and busted out into the streets of New York.

ΨΩΠΨΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠΨΩΠ

(A/N.2)- Look people, I know. Annabeth sounds way more advanced than a seven year old. But hey, she's a daughter of Athena. Now follow the arrow and type up your opinion! Luvs ya!

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

V