Chapter 9: The Cell

Despite the fact that a giant monster was chasing us wanting nothing more than to eat both Thalia and me, I didn't want to move. Partly because I really didn't want to split up and leave Thalia by herself, and partly because I wished the kiss would never end.

Thalia wrapped her arms around me, and I did the same to her. She hugged me as if I was the last person on the planet. When her lips met mine time seemed to stop. This kiss felt different than our first one at camp Half-blood. Where our first kiss felt out of character, confusing, and somewhat forced by some magic love charm, this kiss felt real. It felt more than real. Thalia and I had bonded like never before the past few days. Despite our bickering we had quickly grown to rely on and trust each other more than any one we've ever known. And that was saying a lot considering our past experiences. The feelings I would have when I kiss Annabeth seemed almost childish compared to these feelings when kissing Thalia.

Thalia broke off. "Try not to get yourself killed without me." She gave a little smirk, but I could tell she was serious and worried that it might actually happen. She then turned to her left and started running as if her life depended on it. Which it did. It pretty much always does.

And just like that I was by myself. My legs turned to jelly as I heard the monster's roar just a few blocks away. I started running the exact opposite way as Thalia. I felt vulnerable. I felt more than vulnerable. I felt weak and scared. What if Chimera were to catch up to me? Thalia wouldn't be there to help me and fight with me. And what if Chimera catches up to Thalia? I wouldn't be there to protect her and make sure she was okay. Out of all the plans that I have came up in my entire life, this one had to be in at least the top three for stupid and irrational. I stopped running and turned to chase after Thalia.

There weren't any cars on the road, but there were quite a bit of pedestrians on the sidewalks. I saw a group of friends walking into a clothing store. I saw an elderly couple holding hands, carelessly strolling down the avenue. On the other side of the street, I saw a young family getting into their car. I choked up a little when I realized that I would probably never get the type of life that these people had. To be able to go about my day without worrying about being killed. I was reminded again that I could never have a normal life with Thalia. Annabeth. A normal life with Annabeth.

I didn't have time to worry about my future plans to be with Thalia over Annabeth because Chimera was looking right at me. I was so focused on all the small things going on and getting back to Thalia that I didn't realize that I was going back straight to the monster.

He was only a few yards from me. He had just rounded a corner and had stopped when he saw me. He looked a little confused, probably because he was expecting to chase me a bit longer. His confused lion face quickly turned back to an angry lion face. I pulled out Riptide. Chimera roared when he saw the sword and lunged at me. I didn't think I would be able to outrun him, but I couldn't think of a better idea. All I knew was that I didn't want to get anywhere near his giant snake tail, who at the moment was looking right at me, as if it knew what I had done to the gorgons and Python.

It took Chimera a few moments to start running after me, but once he started it seemed like there would be nothing that could stop him. I weaved in and out of the trees that were planted on the sidewalk. Chimera completely disregarded them and ran through them, knocking them over in the process. I tried to do the same thing with the cars parked on the side of the road, but he ran through those as well.

I knew I had the right idea. I was more mobile than that giant monster so using that as an advantage would be the only thing that would keep me alive. But the smaller trees and cars weren't cutting it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another alley way. It was still wide enough for Chimera to fit in between the two buildings but it was way better than running out on the street with no cover. I hooked a sharp left, almost slipping because of the quick turn. I had already made a few steps when I realized that there was a dead end at the end of the alley.

My heart sank and a wave of fear came over me when I turned around and saw the giant lion monster blocking the only way out of the alley. Chimera was taking his time approaching me. He knew that he had me cornered. I frantically looked around for any way to escape. I couldn't find anything to climb up other than a couple small trash cans which would be no help at all. I slowly stepped back as the monster slowly stepped forward. Chimera was only a few yards away from me. He was growling and showing his huge, sharp teeth. The snake tail was waving around with its fang's bearing. I was about ready to lung at the Chimera and try to catch him off guard when I saw a back door just a couple footsteps behind me. I turned around and ran for the door as fast as I could. Chimera knew he wouldn't be able to follow me once he was inside, so he leaped at me with his ferocious mouth wide open. I opened the door as fast as I could and slammed it shut just as Chimera reached it. I slowly walked away from the door, thinking he would be able to bust it down as if it was made of paper. But I waited and waited with Riptide out, and he never came.

I forced myself to turn away from the door, expecting to find myself in the back of a store or restaurant. I quickly realized that wasn't the case. I was in a dark room. The walls seemed to be made of concrete, the floor too. It felt cold and musty. The only light came from a dim light bulb attached to the ceiling. I had a terrible feeling come over me. I turned back around, wanting to leave this place and fight Chimera but when I turned back around, the door wasn't there. Instead, there was a long, narrow hallway covered with the same cold concrete walls and floor. I couldn't explain it, but it felt as if I was underground. I began to slowly walk forward in an attempt to find an exit.

My footsteps echoed throughout the long, empty hallway. I felt as if I was being watched. I looked back around but could only see the single light bulb becoming dimmer and dimmer with each hallow step I took. With each loud echo of my steps I thought I heard whispering as well, angry whispering, coming from right behind me. But every time I stopped walking it would become eerily silent. I wanted to run. I wanted to get out of this hallway. After a few moments of walking, I came across a metal door to my left. I stood in front of it, unsure of what to do. I stood there until I heard the angry whispering from down the hallway grow louder and louder. A wave of fear and dread rushed over me as I flung the large metal door open. I was bracing for a fight or to sprint for my life.

"Percy? Oh my gods Percy you're here!"

"Annabeth?" I said both relieved and shocked. The room I had walked into was small. Same cold concrete. I was looking at Annabeth through bars; she was being held in a prison cell. My heart dropped when I saw the condition she was in. Annabeth looked beat up and worn down through the dim light the room had to offer. She also looked surprisingly skinnier since the last time I had saw her a few days ago. Her hair was frizzy. She had cuts and bruises all over her arms. I went to go hug her through the bars, or at least hold her hands. When I tried to do so my hands went right through hers, as if I was a ghost or as if I wasn't actually there. Annabeth screamed.

"Are you dead?! How on earth did you get here? How did you find me?"

"I have no idea. One moment I was running away from Chimera and the next I found myself here."

Annabeth took a moment to take in what was happening. I needed that moment too. So much was happening. We gazed into each other's eyes. Her eyes looked tired.

"Chimera? He's one of the greatest monsters in Greek mythology!" She paused and furrowed her eyebrows. "There probably have been more monsters, haven't there?"

"You have no idea. We've been attacked by the gorgons and Python too. We haven't gone a day without fighting for our lives and almost dying."

"Who's we? Were you able to get a group together?"

"Actually, it's just Thalia and I." I tried to say that as casually as I could. I was worried Annabeth would read into it more.

"Oh good, you two are a great team. I wouldn't want to be rescued by anyone else." She forced a weary smirk. I relaxed just a bit realizing that Annabeth had more pressing things on her mind that even thinking about a romantic relationship developing between Thalia and I.

"How do we get to you? Where are you exactly?"

"I have no idea, Percy. I'm having a hard time remembering it all. I know I've been stuck in this room for at least a day and a half. It's been awful Percy. It's been torture. Every couple of hours spiders will come crawling from under the door and come into my cell. Its only when I'm screaming at the top of my lungs that they go away and disappear. There's always whispering coming from the other side of the door too, angry evil whispering. Sometimes the dim light flickers on and off. I hear my friends scream and yell in danger, but I can't do anything about it." She started to tear up. I noticed that her eyes were red and irritated as if she had been crying a lot.

"Don't worry Annabeth, we're coming for you. Your mom came to me and told me you were in Richmond. She said -"

"Richmond Ironworks!" She interrupted.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"If my mom said I was in Richmond, I have to be close by to Richmond Ironworks. That's where Luke and Thalia first found me. It can't be a coincidence."

I paused for a second. "How do you even remember that?"

"It was a really traumatizing time. I just… remember."

"It's a long shot but I don't know where else to look. We're about a few hours away from the city. We could find you in just a couple hours."

I saw a spark of hope through the Annabeth's teary red eyes. I wanted nothing more than to be able to hug her and comfort her. I wanted to be there with her for real. Regardless of how creepy the place was. I was about to tell Annabeth how much I had missed her when I heard the angry whispering coming from the other side of the door. Annabeth tensed up. I saw the sliver of hope in her eyes disappear in an instant and instead could only see dread.

"This is about the time when the spiders show up." She said staring blankly at the door at the opposite end of the room. She slowly turned her head to look at me. "You need to go Percy. You don't want to be here when it gets horrifying." I was going to protest and say that I would stay here and never leave her again. But Annabeth gave me one of her looks that's able to say everything without saying anything at all.

"There's nothing you can do for me here right now. The best thing you can do is go back and come here for real." She sounded defeated. She was bracing herself for another round of horror.

I remembered the ambrosia that Athena had left when she had transfigured and teleported herself away from me. I didn't think it would work if I tried giving the rest of it to Annabeth, but I at least wanted to try. I reached into my pocket and gently placed it at her feet. She looked at me quizzically as she bent down to pick it up. We both felt relieved as she grasped the ambrosia and ate it without a second thought.

"Thanks, Percy."

"No problem Wisegirl."

The whispering was getting louder, I worried that if I didn't leave now, I would get cornered and trapped in the room with Annabeth and wouldn't be able to escape, even if I was just in this weird, random ghost form.

"I love you. Please hurry."

"I love you too. I will."

It took almost all the willpower in me to walk away from Annabeth when she was so vulnerable and helpless. I honestly had to fight back a tear or two. I swore I could already hear Annabeth breathing heavy as she braced for what would come after I left. Just as I got to the door, I heard what seemed to be a thousand furry arachnid legs crawling across the floor. I pushed through the door prepared to step on a lot of spiders but to my surprise I found myself in a different alley. The temperature outside was cold, though not nearly as cold as where I had just come from. It was night outside. To my left I saw an avenue lit with yellow streetlights. I could hear the occasional car drive by. I was in a narrow alley between two large, brick buildings. Aluminum cans and litter were scattered throughout the alley.

"Percy!? Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you! Do you know how worried I was?" I heard a shouting voice off to my right. It was Thalia. She was approaching me with a face filled with a mix of anger and relief. She was about to go off on me when she saw my condition.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt? What happened?"

"I... I.." I tried to make words come out of my mouth, but nothing came out. Thalia's eyes quickly darted around my face as she tried to pick up on anything that could explain what had just taken place.

"It's been a couple hours since we split up." Thalia started, trying to bring me back to earth. "When I got back to this alley you weren't here. I waited for almost an hour. I started thinking the worst. I got so worried and then so angry. I looked around trying to find you, or even Chimera. But there was nothing. I thought the worst. I've been here for about two hours." She hugged me tight. "Probably the longest two hours of my life. What did you see?"

"I um… ended up getting cornered in an alleyway by Chimera. I thought I was a goner. I was backing up and at the last second I saw a door. When I opened it up I was somewhere underground. It was dark and scary. I heard these angry whispers that sounded like they were right behind you and yet nowhere at all. I found another door and Annabeth was in there in some sort of cell. She told me how scared she was and how spiders come out to terrify her. It sounded awful."

Thalia's facial expressions showed mix emotions. I couldn't tell if she was happy I was able to find out that Annabeth was at least alive, or if she was sad that Annabeth was in such an awful situation as she was, or if she was sad I was alone with Annabeth. A million things could have probably been going around in her head, just like how they were in min. "Does Richmond Ironworks sound familiar?" I asked.

Thalia furrowed her eyebrows. She closed her eyes in an attempt to concentrate more. She shook her head.

"Annabeth said it was where you and Luke first found her. She sounded so sure that was where she was being kept."

"I don't remember seeing that sign, but I can remember where we were when we first saw her. It's hard to forget that day. Luke and I had just had a nasty, life-threatening run-in with some monsters. If we get to the city I feel confident I'll be able to get there."

"Let's get going then. I feel awful knowing she's trapped where she is."

"Me too. I think we should avoid public transportation." Thalia said as we started walking towards the street. "It's too slow and we're too much of a target. We could try hitchhiking?"

"That might take too long. What if no one picks us up? We'll just be walking for hours. And it's already dark, I don't think the average person would pick up a couple of teens walking alone on a road."

We walked in silence. I felt like it was mostly because none of us felt comfortable talking about Annabeth. Seeing Annabeth had thrown me off again, and I found myself questioning who I really wanted to be with. Thoughts like those flew in and out of my mind when we came across a gas station about a mile from the alley.

"Do you see what I'm seeing?" Thalia asked me.

"Is that a..."

"Yup. That can't be a coincidence."

We found ourselves in front of a medium sized gas station. There were a handful of cars stopped getting gas. We saw the drivers standing outside their cars huddled in their winter jackets. A family of five were walking into the store. Christmas music was playing over the loudspeakers. About 50 feet away there was a separate gas station made for semi-trucks. On the last gas pump there was a parked semi-truck. The trailer that the truck pulled was plain white. But near the bottom right of the trailer we saw a large golden decal of a caduceus.

"You're crazy if you think that gods aren't involved in all of this." I told Thalia. We were half walking half jogging over to the trailer. When we got near the back of the truck we noticed another decal that said Richmond Shipping.

"This is too easy." Thalia said.

"Maybe not." I responded.

We stood around for a few moments trying to look as normal as possible. We noticed an older gentleman approaching us. He looked like a stereotypical grandpa.

"Are you the driver of this truck?" I asked enthusiastically.

He looked taken off guard and suspicious. "Well, yes. What of it?"

"Are you going to Richmond? Thalia asked.

"Well, yes. But why are you asking?" He looked at us with distrust. As if he knew he shouldn't have told us where he was heading.

"You know Hermes!" I exclaimed.

"What are you smoking young man? I don't know anyone named Hermes. You two are making me nervous. Now get out of here before I call the authorities."

"Excuse my friend," Thalia jumped in. "He uh... he likes trucks?"

The old man grunted. He eyed us wearily as he walked past us. We walked in the opposite direction until we were out of his sight. We saw him go to the gas pump and start filling up his truck. Once the nozzle was in the vehicle, he climbed back up into the truck.

"You are an idiot, Percy." She didn't need to say more. We avoided the streetlights as we crouch ran back to the truck. We both knew what the plan was without saying anything. I checked to make sure the man was still in the truck. I gave the signal to Thalia and she took out her spear and hit the trailer lock with precision. I silently opened up the trailer just enough so that Thalia and I could climb up in. I silently shut the trailer. It was pitch black. I took out riptide; the celestial bronze cast a dim light. Nothing but large cardboard boxes. Thalia had already lied down on the floor when we heard the truck engine come to life and the felt the trailer lurched forward.

I knew Hermes had marked for us the vehicle that would go to Richmond. I knew we would be there in just a couple hours. I knew I would see Annabeth and rescue her from whatever was in that dark, cold place. But then what? I asked myself. I was really getting attached to Thalia. Annabeth would have to see that. What if she found out? What if she left me? How would Thalia handle everything after the life-or-death encounters we shared together? I didn't know the answers to any of those questions and that really bothered me.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?" I was expecting, and maybe even hoping, for some romantic heart felt expression of her feelings towards me. And maybe some reassurance about where our relationship stood.

"You should try to get some rest. I feel like we're going to have a rough day tomorrow."

I didn't know if she was referring to our physical safety or our emotions. I guess it was probably both. I lied down a few feet from Thalia and closed my eyes in a futile attempt to get some sleep.

School is done with for a bit which is such a great feeling! I hope to work on this story a bit more over Christmas break. Thank you for reading! Just a quick note, I decided to merge the original chapter 3 and chapter 4 together because both of them were pretty short. I really appreciate it that you've gotten this far in the story, and I really appreciate all the support! Let me know what you think about it or what you think will happen. Until next time!