Okay, I'm gonna say this before you read the chapter (if you guys even read this part). This chapter is really weird and I don't like it. I was just so out of idea this was (sadly) the best I could come up with. So please don't be too harsh with me on this chapter. T_T

ICECREAMROCKS don't dis me- I honestly have no idea, as I'm not Annabeth (although she's awesome), and I sometimes write characters a bit OOC. XD

hermes child awesomness- Thanks for your support. :)

"Do I have to go to the girls' dorms?" I complained as she dragged me along.

"Sush!" she scolded.

We positioned ourselves in front of Nancy's room. We heard her crying in there, and she must've invited her friends in there, because I heard her crying and saying things about how people who go to detention never come back or go mad.

I gave Annabeth a questioning glance, and she shrugged.

"Annabeth, you realize that we can get caught here when the staff comes, right?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "You are so annoying sometimes."

"Like when I'm right?" I smirked.

"We'll go to my room," she said and dragged me to Room 06G.

"Annabeth, what if I get caught in here too?" I asked and she shut the door.

"We only have one room per person. Duh," she said.

"Why? Isn't it a waste of space?"

"But they don't trust criminals to room with each other," she said.

She pressed her ear to her door and looked at her clock which said 5:27. I felt awkward in a girl's room, other than the fact that I wasn't supposed be here in the first place.

Annabeth's room was clean, unlike mine. Her walls were gray, with white furniture. She even had a couch. She had a shelf full of books on the other side of the wall. Her bed was made with a nightstand next to it. I noticed that she had a spider-repellant bug spray next to her lamp.

"They're here," Annabeth hissed.

We waited for a moment until Annabeth dragged me out.

"Be careful, and don't make any noise," she warned.

She followed the staff from the distance, but still keeping them in sight. I was relieved when we were out of the girls' dorms. We ducked behind the trashcans.

"Up," one of the staff said.

"What are you talking about? This building only has two floors!" Nancy said. She seemed to be back to her own self.

"A third floor?" Annabeth muttered.

The staff pushed away some boxes that separated the two wings. They revealed the old rickety stairs leading up. Annabeth gripped my arm.

Nancy's eyes widened as they pushed her up the stairs. Once their footsteps were gone, we followed.

"I'll go first. They won't give me detention no matter what," Annabeth said.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked.

"You're the one who wanted to help," she said. "You can go back if you want."

I gulped and shook my head.

At the top there was a small room filled with computer screens. There was a seat like the ones you see at the dentists' and some wacky looking tools, but that wasn't the weird part. There were weird creatures in cages, tackling their cells. There were things that looked like mutated dogs and a flying pig.

"Daedalus, she's here," the staff said, and got ready to come down the stairs.

"Oh, no," Annabeth said.

She pushed me against the wall, but the staff was too busy rushing down the stairs to even notice us. Annabeth's body was pressed against mine with her face against my neck. I could feel her breath until she waited for the guy to leave.

"Is that Daedalus guy that scary?" I asked, pulling away.

"I don't know," she said. "I've heard his name here and there, but I don't know what he does."

She instructed me to crouch down as we peeked over the stairs on our knees.

"Please sit," a voice, probably Daedalus, said.

We saw Nancy sit and a man with short gray hair and a clipped beard.

"Who are you?" Nancy asked. For once, she sounded a bit scared. She looked fearfully at the caged creatures.

"I'm Daedalus," he said. "I'm really sorry that you are here and that I have to do this to you."

"What are you going to do?" she said firmly.

Daedalus mixed some things together and put it in a test tube.

"What are those?" I asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth said. "But he's a genius. That, I can tell."

We watched as he poured it in a needle, like the shots you get at the hospital. I winced at the thought.

"Tranquilizer or no?" he asked.

"Sorry?"

"Then no it is," he said.

He brought the needle over and gave her a shot on the arm. Her reaction was nothing like I'd expected.

She started screaming and kicking. Pretty intense for a person getting a shot. Her eyes were open wide, and she froze.

Daedalus looked at the computer screens and cursed. He got another needle and pulled out some blood from her forearm. Nancy came back to normal and promptly fainted.

"I told them," he muttered.

"Let's get out of here," I whispered, and she nodded.

We ran down the stairs and kicked away the boxes blocking the stairs.

"You pleased with what you saw?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I still don't understand. I'm going to sneak back up here to see another detention." I opened my mouth to ask if I can help, but she cut me off. "You need to catch yourself up on what's happening before helping me."

"And how do I do that?"

She started to say something, but was stopped by Dr. Thorn. "What do you think you two are doing up there?"

"Um…" Annabeth said. For once she seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Run!" I hissed.

I grabbed her hand and I pushed Dr. Thorn away. We ran down the stairs.

"Daedalus!" he yelled. "Open Cell 001!"

"What's that?" Annabeth asked.

"I think it's one of those things in the cells," I gulped.

"Keep on running," she said, and there was a loud bark.

The bark echoed throughout the building.

"He's not planning on killing us, is he?" I asked.

"Can't say," Annabeth said. "Remember, there are students that didn't come back after detention."

"I definitely needed you to remind me of that. Thanks," I said. "Does that mean the teachers here kill students."

"I don't know it all yet," she said. "But it's definitely not safe for us."

The ground shook and we turned around. We saw a huge dog, whose back almost touched the ceiling. It was all black with red eyes. Saliva was dripping out of its mouth. Its murderous gaze was focused on us.

"That-that looks like a hellhound," Annabeth said, backing up.

"Like from Greek mythology?" I asked. "That's impossible!"

"Forget about that for right now," she said.

We turned and made a run for it, the dog right behind our backs. Annabeth picked up a pencil and threw it at the dog. Her aim was perfect. It nailed the dog in the eye.

Annabeth led me into a random room. We started panting. Why did this school have to be so big?

"You know we didn't get rid of the dog for good, right?" I asked.

She nodded. "Just give me some time to get my mind straight."

She leaned against the wall with her eyes closed.

"It makes no sense," Annabeth said. "Those things don't exist in this world."

"I know," I said. "But if you want to research that more, we have to survive the dog attack. Come on."

We exited the room, the dog nowhere in sight.

"Where?" I asked.

"We want to go to an open space," she muttered. "The cafeteria. Most of the other students should be in their dorms or at their club activities."

I nodded and we ran to the cafeteria.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

The dog growled at us from the doorway. It charged, knocking over some tables and breaking some chairs. We rolled to the right.

"I don't know," she said. "Kill it?"

"How?"

"Any weapons?" she asked.

"No," I said. "But that doesn't mean we can let the other students and teachers get hurt."

Annabeth sighed. "Fine. Distract it for a while."

"What?"

Annabeth already slipped into the kitchen.

The dog was about to chase after her, but I threw a broken chair piece at it. It completely missed, but it got its attention. "Hey, Mutt-Face! Over here!"

The dog snarled at me. It ran toward me, breaking a few more tables and chairs. I ducked as it jumped over me and banged its head on the wall. A big crater appeared in the wall and I winced.

I moved away from the wall, afraid that it might break.

"Percy, I got it!" Annabeth said, bringing a kitchen knife.

"A kitchen knife?" I said.

"It works," she said. She threw the knife into the dog's rump. It let a pitiful bark, but it seemed pretty much alive. "And by the way, your insults suck."

"Gee, thanks."

"Watch out!" Annabeth yelled.

The dog seemed angrier than before. It jumped, and Annabeth tried to protect me, but the dog landed on top of me, tearing my shirt.

"Percy!"

I saw multiple arrows shoot the dog and it fell limp and fell to the floor.

"Now, what are you two doing here?" Chiron asked wheeling in.

I was about to ask if he shot the arrows, but there was no bow in sight.

"Nothing," I groaned. Annabeth helped me up.

"Well, you two did cause a mess here," Chiron said.

"But that dog did it," I murmured.

I felt something warm on my chest. I had the feeling it was my blood. I looked down and felt dizzy. Annabeth steadied me.

"Yes," Chiron said. "That isn't to be told to anyone. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Chiron," Annabeth said. "What are we going to do about the cafeteria? And the dog?"

"It's a big mess. You two will have a consequence for that," he said. "You'll have detention with me for the next week or so. As for the dog, leave it here. One of our sponsors are visiting soon. We'll leave it up to them." Slight anger showed in his eyes.

"But for detention…" I said. "Do we have to do it with Daedalus?"

Annabeth glared at me, but Chiron just shook his head. "I'll get you when it's time for your detention. Don't cause anymore trouble."

He winked and wheeled himself away.

"What was that about?" I said, stumbling again.

"I'll take you to the nurse," she said. "Come on, Percy."

She slowly took me to the nurse's office, passing by the main office on the way.

"Wait," I murmured. "Voices."

"Percy, you're hurt," Annabeth said.

"No. Listen," I said.

She gave me a worried glance but listened in.

"We're not criminals. We didn't steal from the bank. The banker gave the money to us!" someone said. "And we had to survive."

"Nonsense," Mr. D said. "You don't have any guardians to get you out of here anyway."

"We have our father."

"But he's not claiming you. I don't blame him. You guys are really stupid children. Especially you," Mr. D said.

"Don't talk to my sister that way!" another younger voice said. His voice trembled, but I liked how he stood up for his sister, especially front of Mr. D.

"Shut up, both of you," Mr. D snapped. "Here's your keys, Room G13 for both of you. Boys' dorm second floor, west wing, girls' dorms second floor, east wing. You're responsible for learning the rules around here. Now get out of my sight!"

"Let's go now," Annabeth said. "You're gonna collapse."

"Or you can just get Michael or Lee," I mumbled.

She rolled her eyes and dragged me to the nurse's office while the brother and sister came out. They stared at us with wide eyes. They both had midnight black hair and olive skin with dark eyes. The girl had a green floppy cap over her face.

"You didn't see anything here," Annabeth said. "Don't tell anyone."

She finally got me to the nurse's office.

"You again?" she asked.

"Sorry, Panacea," Annabeth said. "You know boys."

Panacea laughed. "Yes I do. Come on to the back."

Annabeth dragged me over to the back and put me on a bed.

"I'm going to go to the library and do some reading," she said. "I'll visit you right after dinner."

"Bring me some junk food," I said.

She smiled. "Sure thing."