Half-Blood High

XVI

                             Frank

"Frank," Hazel was whispering down the passage after me. "FRANK WAIT!"

I stopped. She caught up with me and bent over double, panting. "You... shouldn't-huff- go so fast." She stood up straight and eyed me angrily. "I am coming with you, not going back to school. I'm curious too."

That wasn't what I'd expected. "Uhh... Okay. Great. So, you're coming with me?"

"Yes. And please don't leave me behind again. I think there's spiders in here."

"Okay, deal."

We walked together in silence, our path lit by torches that sat in sconces on the walls. Our footsteps echoed against the dirt walls. Water dripped ominously somewhere in the dark.

It definitely wasn't creepy at all.

"How do you think these tunnels got here?" Hazel asked as she stepped over a crack in the floor.

"I don't really know. Maybe the school's founder dug them or something? Or maybe they're old mining tunnels!"

She shook her head. "Our school's founder, Rick Riordan, May have been a bit odd, but I highly doubt he had something to do with these tunnels. As for the mining theory, who knows? Although it sounds kind of unlikely that there would be abandoned mining tunnels under New York City."

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

We walked in silence. The torches began to get father and farther apart, making the shadows bigger and darker. Eventually, there were no more torches at all. The darkness was thick, but still we pressed on, feeling along the wall for support.

"Frank?" Hazels voice came out of the dark, worried. "Maybe we should turn back. I can't see my hands."

I glanced in her general direction. "Hazel, I can see you. Well, I can see your outline, I mean. We must be getting close to some light. Maybe it's the exit!"

After a few more yards, I was right.

Up ahead, a few pinpricks of light pierced the darkness. Oddly enough, they were coming from the ceiling. I felt alone until my hands banged into metal bars.

A ladder.

"Hazel, I think there's a trap door here! Or something akin to it."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I'm going to climb up and check it out."

"Be careful. Don't fall."

I put my hands on the bars and began climbing towards the light. My head bumped the ceiling. I'd reached the top.

"I'm going to open the trap door Hazel."

I reached up and pushed with all my might. The trap door gave way, and fresh sunlight poured into the hole, illuminating the tunnels, and a slightly dusty Hazel.

I could see blue sky and heard running water. Were we near a stream?

"Hazel come climb up! Let's see what's out here!"

Then I climbed out of the hole and into the light.

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                           Piper

When a stranger literally crawls out of the ground what would you do?

Call the police?

Ask if they're lost?