7

Svätopluk barked impatiently as he walked forward and unlocked the back doors of the car.

Astrid hesitated a bit, but she finally gathered her wits and hurried to get out of the car. Once her feet touched the ground, she immediately felt cold. It was freezing! There was snow everywhere! A few flakes of snow fell from the sky as she watched Svätopluk start up the engine once again and drive away. Astrid glanced around in surprise; she couldn't believe how quiet the town was. Not a single animal was running around the place. It looked like the entire world around her was asleep, but she knew that wasn't the case. People were hiding wherever possible and waiting for the day to wake up. Maybe she was the only one awake.

The two of them traveled together towards the outskirts of town. After a couple of minutes, the highway opened into a vast area filled with trees. At first glance, it seemed deserted, but then they heard the roar of engines approaching. A large truck roared out of nowhere and drove directly towards them, its headlights illuminating their surroundings. Svätopluk pulled over hastily, almost hitting the trunk of an old oak tree. As soon as the truck had passed them and disappeared from view, he restarted the car and drove forward once more.

Svätopluk turned off of the highway and drove past the huge gate of a park located within the woods, heading deeper into the thick forest. Astrid stared out of the window, wondering what was ahead. Was this really going to be it? Would she be safe after all? What about the giant that was hunting her?

As they approached the last turn before the forest, she noticed another black car pulling over behind them. She saw the lights turning off. When the other car was gone, she turned to look at Svätopluk. He was frowning in concern, but he quickly turned to smile weakly at her, trying to ease her fears.

"Everything will be okay," he said soothingly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She nodded silently. Her grip tightened on the strap of her backpack.

Svätopluk slowly slowed down when they entered a clearing, parking the car in front of a small cottage. He stepped out of the car, carrying his backpack with him. Once they arrived at the entrance of the cabin, they both climbed up the wooden steps and entered the house. A short hallway greeted them along with a wooden staircase leading to the upper floor. As they continued following the staircase up, they reached the room that Svätopluk and Annabeth shared. After taking his bag off of his back, he put it down next to hers and took off his jacket.

"Can I get you something to eat?" he asked kindly.

"No. I'm fine, thank you," she replied quietly. She was surprised when he suddenly wrapped her in a hug.

"Goodnight," he muttered before letting go and heading back to his room.

Annabeth stayed there for a while, unsure whether she should follow him or not. It wasn't like she had much of an option anyway. Sighing heavily, she grabbed her backpack and followed him back to his room. She closed the door silently behind her and stood there quietly for a second, trying to make herself comfortable.

After spending some time thinking things through, her eyes started to feel heavy and she decided to head back to her own room so she could sleep. Just when she was about to walk out, she caught sight of a picture frame sitting on his nightstand, but before she could think twice about it, she picked it up and examined it carefully.

It contained several pictures of Svätopluk. They were all posed in different positions. She recognized him as the son of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena, but there was also some other man standing next to each of the photos. All of them were smiling brightly, which didn't seem right since they weren't really happy. Something seemed wrong with those smiles, as if something bad was going to happen. However, even though Annabeth didn't know what was going on, she could tell that these were people who loved and cared about him and that he loved them just as much. She found herself smiling slightly at the sight of these people. The most surprising thing though is why they were posing for these photographs. Did they even take these pictures themselves? Or… was someone taking pictures of them and passing them around?

Suddenly, the photo frame slipped from her fingers and landed against the hard surface on the floor with a loud thud. Annabeth winced in pain, expecting to hear glass breaking. Instead, nothing happened and when she looked down, she saw that the photo frame was completely intact. That could only mean one thing: the owner wasn't really alive anymore, meaning that he couldn't have taken these photographs. Which meant whoever was holding onto those photos must have given them to the photographer. Who would do something like that? Unless he wanted to show everyone how important he was. And judging by the picture, Svätopluk looked very important indeed.

Annabeth let out an irritated sigh. Of course.

"