Prisoners

SIXTEEN

In hindsight, I should have seen this coming.

There was no escape from them, no matter how hard we ever tried. There was no escape from prison, either. After all, it is a small world, and I could never be able to hide.

In hindsight, I really wouldn't have seen this coming, no matter how hard I tried.

This twist — a 'plot twist,' if you will — no one saw it coming. You probably didn't either. This journal I'm writing, to document my days in prison, probably couldn't see it coming.

No one did, and that's what scares me the most — that no matter how fast, or how smart we were, they were always one step ahead.

Who am I talking about?

Why, only Management Of National and State Terrorism and Earth's Regulation Society, a.k.a. MONSTERS.

***

I woke up in a strange place. I'm used to waking up in strange places — it's the occupational hazard of being a criminal.

But this wasn't a ditch, or an FBI interrogation room; this was — a hospital?

I raised my head and glanced around the room, feeling a sharp pain in my side as I tried to sit up.

Everything was white — the ceilings, the walls, the table, the bed sheets. It scared me. White people in white lab coats with white caps covering their heads bustled around me, wearing white cloths over their mouths and pushing white carts carrying white bins filled with white surgical utensils.

I looked down and realized that I, too, was wearing white — a hospital gown. The fluorescent lights over my head cast everything in a harsh light. No windows.

"Annabeth Chase."

I turned toward the voice; a woman who looked identical to every other doctor (were they doctors?) in the room. She held a white syringe in her left hand and a white cup of water in the other. I suddenly realized how dry my mouth was and eagerly took the glass of water as it was offered to me.

"Who are you?" I asked rudely in between gulps of sweet, precious tap water.

"I am Alecto. Alecto Fury. I'm here to take care of you." She gave me smile, her eyes flashing red for a moment — but only a moment. She watched me drink the rest of the water, waiting for my next question.

"Why?" I handed the water back to her, the white cup empty. She took it and clutched it in her right hand once again.

"I'm here on behalf of MONSTERS, or the Management Of National and State Terrorism and Earth's Regulation Society."

An acronym. What a mouthful. I straightened, beginning to panic. I didn't belong in this white room with all these people. I needed my friends. My side hurt... why did it hurt? I couldn't remember what had happened. That scared me most of all.

There was a ringing in my ears. Where was that coming from? Suddenly my vision became blurry.

"Where — where are my friends?" I managed to choke out.

"Don't worry," Alecto Fury said. "It will be all right soon."

A silver needle flashed and then disappeared into my arm. Then I was falling, falling into darkness.

***

The ringing in my ears was back.

I sat up and noticed that the pain in my side was gone. I was still wearing a white hospital gown — but this time, I was in a different room. This one had a window.