𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑫 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 [2]

VII

[TW: brief mentions of blood]









The good news: the left tunnel was straight with no side exits, twists, or turns. The bad news; it was a dead end.

After sprinting a hundred yards, the group ran into an enormous boulder that completely blocked their path. Behind them, the sounds of dragging footsteps and heavy breathing echoed down the corridor. Something—definitely not human—was on their tail.

"Tyson," Percy said, "can you—"

"Yes!" He slammed his shoulder against the rock so hard the whole tunnel shook. Dust trickled from the stone ceiling.

"Hurry!" Grover said. "Don't bring the roof down, but hurry!"

The boulder finally gave way with a horrible grinding noise. Tyson pushed it into a small room and they dashed behind it.

"Close the entrance!" Annabeth said.

They all got on the other side of the boulder and pushed. Whatever was chasing them wailed in frustration as they heaved the rock back into placed and sealed the corridor.

"We trapped it," Elaine said victoriously.

"Or trapped ourselves," Grover said.

She turned. They were in a twenty-foot-square cement room and the opposite wall was covered with metal bars. They'd tunneled straight into a cell.

***

"What in Hades?" Annabeth tugged on the bars. They didn't budge. Through the bars Elaine could see rows of cells in a ring around a dark courtyard—at least three stories of metal doors and metal catwalks.

"Where are we now?" Elaine asked.

"A prison," Percy said. "Maybe Tyson can break—"

"Shh," said Grover. "Listen."

Somewhere above them, deep sobbing echoed through the building. There was another sound, too—a raspy voice muttering something that Elaine couldn't make out. The words were strange, and definitely not in any language she recognized.

"What's that language?" Percy whispered.

Tyson's eye widened. "Can't be."

"What?" He asked.

He grabbed two bars on the cell door and bent them wide enough for him to slip through.

"Wait!" Grover called.

Evidently, Tyson didn't want to wait. They ran after him. The prison was dark, only a few dim fluorescent lights flickering above.

"I know this place," Annabeth told them. "This is Alcatraz."

"You mean the island near San Francisco?" Elaine asked.

She nodded. "My school took a field trip here. It's like a museum."