Annabeth Chase and the Sea of Monsters

Chapter 21 - We are unfortunately rescued

"This is bad," I muttered.

There was a doughnut shop settled among the trees about 20 metres from where we were hiding behind a tree, a parking lot and an adjoining road attached to the store. The windows were brightly lit and behind them at the cash register sat a man reading a newspaper. Above the store were the words:

MONSTER DOUGHNUT

in huge black letters, and with a cartoon ogre biting the O in MONSTER.

"This shouldn't be here," I whispered, ignoring how the smell of fresh-baked doughnuts was making my stomach growl. "It's wrong."

"What?" Percy asked, crouched beside me with Tyson a few metres away. "It's a doughnut shop."

"Shhh!" I hissed, fancying that I saw the employee twitch.

"Why are we whispering? Tyson went in and bought a dozen. Nothing happened to him."

"He's a monster."

"Aw, c'mon, Annabeth. Monster Doughnut doesn't mean monsters! It's a chain. We've got them in New York."

"A chain," I agreed. "And don't you think it's strange that one appeared immediately after you told Tyson to get doughnuts? Right here in the middle of the woods?"

The thought seemed to just hit Percy. Tyson whimpered and buried his face into the doughnut box. Already, he'd eaten over half of them, and had powder all over his face.

"It could be a nest," I added.

"A nest for what?" Percy asked, studying the shop, an intense look on his face.

"Haven't you ever wondered how franchise stores pop up so fast? One day there's nothing and then the next day - boom, there's a new burger place or a coffee shop or whatever? First a single store, then two, then four - exact replicas spreading across the country?"

"Um, no. Never thought about it."

I sighed. "Percy, some of the chains multiply so fast because all their locations are magically linked to the life force of a monster. Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it back in the 1950s. They breed -"

A scraping noise interrupted me. I froze, praying that I was wrong, but then I heard it again - something big moving through the undergrowth.

Oh, Styx. Why did stuff like that always happen to us? Was Percy some sort of bad luck charm?

He didn't seem to have heard the noise, or if he did, then didn't release its significance. Probably because I hadn't finished explaining about the Hydras and how they always moved with the new store.

"What?" he demanded. "They breed what?"

"No - sudden - moves," I said slowly, praying to whatever god or goddess that was listening. Please don't let us be eaten. "Very slowly, turn around."

It felt like some sort of horror movie as we painstakingly swiveled our shoulders around to see a Hydra creeping up on us. It was bigger than a rhino and had leathery skin like a reptile. Its seven heads were shaped like rattlesnakes and with a bib hanging off each neck that read: I'M A MONSTER DOUGHNUT KID! The heads were swiveling around, scenting the air and hissing and occasionally pushing their bibs out of their way.