Page 82 of Poseidon's Trident
“I’m starving but are we sure this is safe?” I ask.
“Nothing about this entire mission is safe,” Jayden grumbles.
“True,” I say with a sigh. “I just don’t want to get swept away in a flash flood or tsunami.”
“That would be a disaster.” Raven shakes her head.
“Let’s go eat and see if we can figure out why the fates forced us to stop here. We know that they have their hands in this and that’s why we had to stop.” I flip the hood up on my sweatshirt and reach for the handle.
“Wait,” Jayden growls and hops out.
He jogs around the SUV and opens the door for me with a grin. I should be used to that by now, but it still shocks me after that first time I got in his car to go to the academy. We race from the vehicle to the little diner and wait to be seated by a hostess.
“Hello there,” the girl says with a grin that’s only for Jayden.
I step up next to him, looping my arm through his. “We need a table for six, please.”
“Right, well, this way.” She eyes my arm looped with Jayden’s before spinning on her heel.
A flash of something catches my attention above the wooden breakfast bar and I turn to a TV mounted there. In big red letters in the right corner it says MISSING. I nudge Jayden’s side and point to the screen. The clacking of silverware makes it near impossible to hear what the reporter is saying.
“Ten tourists have gone missing in the last week and sources close to each of them state that their last locations were the caverns on the beach just outside Half Moon Bay.”
“That’s strange,” I mumble. “I wonder what’s going on and why the humans haven’t sent out search parties for them.”
“I’m sure they have but just can’t see anything. Especially if there’s a sea monster in those caverns,” Jayden whispers.
“Guys, c’mon,” Raven calls us over to a table in the corner.
The seats against the wall are left open for us and I take the one next to Raven. Jayden grumbles something under his breath as he sits next to Thad but it’s too low for me to hear. I elbow him in the ribs and glare before picking up the menu.
“There have been strange disappearances here,” I say to the group.
“Where?” Raven asks and I point to the TV where the news is still discussing the disappearances.
A picture of a beautiful rock formation flashes on the screen. There’s a small entrance tall enough for a grown man to fit through but it’s thin. Only one person can walk through it at a time and the waves crash nearby almost to the entrance of the cave.
“In high tide, that whole cave would be flooded,” Thad says. “Why would humans go in there when they may not make it out?”
“They like to explore the world around them even when it’s dangerous.” I shrug.
The waitress strolls up with a pad of paper in her hand and takes our orders but before she can leave, I stop her. “Tourists have been going missing?”
“It’s just terrible, isn’t it? All the locals know that those caves fill up with water every couple days and don’t go in there, but tourists don’t really pay much attention to us. They just want to see all the sights.”
“Has this ever happened before?” I ask.
“No, occasionally someone will be trapped inside, but unless there’s a major storm and the tide is too high, they just have to wait for it to pass so they can get back to town. Having ten people go missing in the caverns in a week is extremely startling to the whole town.”
“I can imagine it would be frightening.” I nod.
She turns and hustles away to another table to take their order and I glance at my friends with wide eyes. “What do you think is in the caves?”
“It’s only been happening for a week and never happened before that. It’s gotta be a monster, right?” Jayden runs a hand down his face.
“Agreed, but what monster and why is it terrorizing tourists and not the locals?” I ask.
“She said the locals never go out there so maybe it’s a lack of options,” Raven says.
