Chapter Eight: Hiding Out in Style

"Over there!" Trent looked panicked he pointed in the direction we were heading.

My mom grabbed my free hand. "The hotel!" We darted back in the opposite direction.

The Trump International Hotel loamed ahead of us.

To my relief, the rest of our party ran behind us. The stomping in the distance sounded like it was following us, but I couldn't be sure. I looked over my shoulder and saw tiny blue blotches several blocks away.

We entered the lobby and dashed toward the elevators.

"Let's pray this works." My mother commented as she hit the button for the 59th floor.

The tower was so huge, that it would take a really long time for any monsters to find us. They would have to search floor by floor and I doubted that they had time for that. I also doubted those giants could fit into an elevator. They were definitely over the 2000 pound weight limit.

Once we exited the elevators Skylar quickly looped around the hallway to determine the largest room. He studied the door and then shoved his side into it.

"After you." He moved the door from its hinges and allowed for us to enter.

I took a good look around. Only one sleeping person was in there, and he was resting in one of the chairs. There was a coffee stain on the carpet where his cup fell from his hand when the city was put to sleep. Several suit cases were piled in each of the two bed rooms. But from what we could tell the family must have just gotten there. Who knows maybe they were still in the park or in the lobby? We will never know.

Trent raided the fridge with Skylar's help. He took out his dinner and split it with Zillah. I gave half of mine to Lyra, and mom shared hers with Skylar.

Mom sipped her black coffee while we drank cans of coke. "I want each of you to get some rest. We'll head out again around four."

"Let's wash up and get some fresh cloths while we're at it." Skylar suggested.

Each of us agreed.

Skylar broke into each of the rooms on our floor so that we could all shower and change without wasting any time. Unfortunately for the people who were staying on that floor, we raided their suit cases until we found cloths that fit us.

It wasn't until two in the morning when I finally fell asleep. The past couple of nights my dreams had been awfully weird. I dreamt about ancient heroes, and events surrounding a kid called Percy, his girlfriend Annabeth, and their friend Grover. The dreams only left me confused. This time was no different since it was a forgotten memory.

It was a bright, hot summer day, with very little humidity in the air.

It was our annual trip to Wildwood. Mom had taken three days off from work at the bridal boutique she does alterations at. We got there the day before and spent our evening going to the board walk. So, day two was the day we got to relax.

Our multi colored owl umbrella and towels were set up far from the surf. Mom wanted to stay out all day and didn't want to have to move because of the tides.

We were playing in the sand, and mom was keeping an eye on us from her towel as she soaked up the sun. I looked over my sand castle, and dug a crater for a lake. I looked over my shoulder, "Mom, can I go get some water?" I pointed toward the ocean. "I won't get lost, promise, we're right in front of that hotel, and the garbage cans are right there." I pointed to them to prove I knew how to find our towels. "And our umbrella is the only one on the beach with owls."

She tied her bikini top and sat up. I guessed she was looking at my brother through her sunglasses and was deciding if she should break his concentration. "Okay, Mermaid, to the water and back."

I squealed with joy. Being seven and having my mom show that she trusted me enough to do something for myself was huge. I picked up my bucket and ran past about a dozen other families that had set themselves up in front of us. Some had umbrellas; others had chairs, towels and a combination of all three, and I even past one guy who was just soaking up the sun in a single chair right at the surf.

I giggled as the waves hit my legs. The water felt great, and the smell was invigorating. I paused and took a deep breath.

"Not too cold, little one?"

My startle reflex kicked into full gear and I jumped at the sound of the man's voice. I turned sheepishly to look at him and relaxed. "Nope, it's perfect. The water is perfect, the breeze is perfect, the sand is perfect, even the sky is perfect." I giggled and spun around. "A perfect day!" I gave him a huge and partially toothless smile. "Is it too cold for you, sir?"

"It's just the way I like it." He commented with a warm smile and then turned his gaze back on the sea.

I took a good look at him. He had dark hair, with a moustache and a beard. He was wearing sunglasses and a dolphin printed shirt. There was a drink in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Propped up against his chair was a huge bronze fork. "Whoa, what's the huge fork for? Did you borrow that from a giant or something?" I moved a couple of steps closer to get a better look at it. "How do you make it glow like that?"

He tilted his head as if inspecting me with new interest. "It's called a trident. And no, I didn't borrow it from a giant. It's mine." He placed down his paper and took his sunglasses off. "Tell me, little one, what do you see when you look into my eyes."

I took my eyes off of the trident and lifted them to his face. There was no meanness there, no anger or anything that would make me feel worried. He had a warm smile, with a good set of teeth, and his eyes... whoa. I saw the open sea, wooden ships sailing along the waves, dolphins diving down below the surface. A palace emerged, one that would make Ariel's look like a cheap fish tank decoration. There were horses with fish tails and all different types of sea creatures. I could have stood there staring at his eyes for hours, but I was suddenly pulled away.

"Meredith! What were you thinking?" My mother scolded me and then quickly embraced me before holding me at arm's length to check to make sure I was still in one piece.

I was back on Wildwood beach. My mother had seen me talking to this stranger and ran over with my brother under her arm to get me.

Trent stood next to her with his arm wrapped around her leg. He was staring at the man's trident. "Pretty fork, Mama!"

Apparently she hadn't heard him. She turned toward the man in the beach chair and softened her voice. "I apologize for my daughter's inappropriate behavior." She took my hand into hers and looked into my eyes, "She should know better than to talk to strangers."

"The fault's all mine, Sophie." He said in a matter of fact manner.

Mother trembled. I never told him her name! How in the world did he know that? Startled, she took grey eyes off of mine and turned toward the man. The pulse in her hand went wild as their eyes locked.

After a few seconds she fell to her knees and bowed her head. "I...I'm sorry, my lord. Please forgive my impudence." She rushed her comments without taking a breath, "The children are innocent... I was such an emotional wreck back then... I know you don't want excuses. They are all I have left, I paid dearly for them already and I will suffer whatever punishment you deem necessary. I beg you, please, don't harm them." She held Trent close to her with one arm and pressed me against her body with the other arm.

I had no idea as to what was going on. Perhaps they knew each other or something like that? All I knew at that moment was that my mother was upset and that she was doing her best to stop her shaking. She looked really guilty too, like she did when she promised to take us to get ice-cream, but realized she didn't have enough money on her. I held onto her and whispered, "I'm sorry mama, please be happy again."

Trent followed suit, his little arms hugged her tightly. "Me too, I'm sorry too." He turned his face toward the man and gave him one of his pleading, 'can I have a cookie, too' looks.

I peered back at the man. He was rubbing his chin as if deciding what to do about us.

"I suppose, your mother is partially to blame for this. Sophie, did you ever spend any time at Camp Half-Blood?"

"No, sir, I did not."

"And the first time was an accident, but the second time was not..." He looked at me and then Trent his facial expression was unreadable.

"There was no one in my life that was like me when I was growing up. I couldn't imagine having that happen to my little girl as well..."

He held up his hand. "Regardless, you should have been warned a head of time about your innate gift. And Nemesis took your mortal parents away from you to set the balance right again." He frowned, "At the same time this does put me in a bit of a spot. I took an oath with my brothers not to sire any more children, and if my brothers found out about who you chose to be their sire, it would put them in grave danger."

What's a sire? I couldn't help but wonder.

Mother started to tremble more violently.

"The ancient laws forbade me from offering my direct protection, nor can I claim them at this time. It just isn't safe for any of us." He softened his tone, "You will have to continue to protect them and train them by yourself. It is my hope that this will eventually change. Keep them naive. The less they know the safer they will be."

"I...I understand."

He kept a mask of neutrality on his face. "It is not my intent to make you suffer Sophie. But..." He raised a brow, "you owe me." Mom's cheeks turned bright red as the tone in his voice made her blush.

"Yes... I would expect that. It's only fair." She stammered.

"Excellent." He nodded and then turned back to the surf as if dismissing us.

My mother stood and took both of our hands. She pulled us back toward our towels. I tried several times to look at the man again, but was unable to.

Finally when she let go of my hand I was able to get a good look at the direction we just came from. The man was gone. No trident, no chair, not even his newspaper. He had simply vanished.