Chasing the Monsters: 58

By the time he landed and found himself on the shores of Greece, Todd had rehearsed, in his mind, what he would do.  Finding Zeus was not going to be difficult; he would end the impostor's life once and for all.  

I should have done this back when I first met the guy.  He took my life, he took my family, and now, he's trying to take my son.  

Somehow, the words played in his head, but in his soul, he felt something else.  He knew there was something else there, something permeating his whole body, but he was bent on pushing it away.

Images of Sam, trapped in the trunk by Zeus, who he envisioned outside, sneering, gripped him as he walked down the road toward Zeus' home.  They alternated, as much as he resisted, with a dark prevailing sense of dread as he could almost feel the walls of the crypt around him, and then, without his approval, Peter's secret room.  He struggled to turn his attention, as he strolled, to the turquoise sea to the right of him, and tried, tried, to think of Blair and their time in the outdoor hot tub at the Melian Hotel . . . and couldn't keep the other thoughts at bay.  

Greece.  This was the place where you first remembered there was more to Peter Manning than your typical monster of a father . . .

He turned his gaze straight ahead and kept walking.  His pace picked up; the wind made his hair flutter, but he focused ahead, so much so, that when a car came a little too quickly around the bend, and nearly missed him, zooming off with a blaring horn lingering behind, he barely flinched.

He turned a corner, and set up on a hill, rather removed from the road, was a palatial home, white stucco, as most were, with a domed top, and a great deal of glass facing the water.  

Bought with my goddamn money.

Not that he gave the money to Zeus or even that Zeus stolen it outright, but the fact that it was his money that enabled Zeus to have the things he had, for eight years, and beyond, never bothered him.  That was until now.  

You're messing with the wrong motherfucker.  You put your hands on my son and scared him, so much he couldn't sleep. . .

He stood, still a distance from the home, and caught his breath a moment, taking a bottle of water from his bag, and drinking it down.  He'd been walking most of the day and was ready to make good on his promise to himself.

Kill the bastard.

***

"Sister, good morning," Bitsy said into the phone.

"Ah, My Dear Bea.  Good morning to ya," the nun said in response.

"Hello, Sister.  I called, well, for your help."

"Certainly, Dear, what is it?"

"Todd, he . . . well he is going through something, Sister.  Something bad.  He ran out of here yesterday, determined to kill Sam's real father.  I'm not sure what it was about, but Sam told us all he could."

"My goodness, and what do ya need my help with?"

"Blair went after him; she seemed to know where he was going and wanted to stop him.  She left me with the children, and I don't mind at all, but . . ."

"I know where this is headed, and of course, I'd be glad to come and help ya."

"I'm afraid I'm not in the right mind right now to be completely responsible.  I'm so distracted with worry about my son.  I  . . . Sister, I feel so guilty, all the time.  I could really use your support."

"This is no problem.  I'll arrange things here and be there soon.  Just hold tight, Bea, and I'll be along."

"I have Jack here for another hour, then he has to go to school.  I love Jewel and Ray, but . . . I'm just not feeling myself right now."

"Not another word.  I'll be there, oh, probably before Jack is gone, at this rate," and she hung up.  Tempted to call Timothy, she took her phone and then realized her brother was out of state involved with the Chicago situation, and hung up, quickly.  "Bridgette can handle this, she can," she reassured herself and made sure her driver was notified and got ready to head to Unforgettable.

***

Sam, waiting in his room for school time, took his laptop and opened it.  He knew how to get to Skype and how to contact his real Dad.  And he wanted to, find him on Skype and tell him everything.

He did what he knew would work, and found himself waiting for a response from "Houdini."  In the past, his biological father would have to wait for him and would initiate a chat, but this time was different.  

Zeus responded immediately, in video chat, and started talking on screen to Sam.  "Hey, Sam, you called me.  That's great."

"Yeah, I called you.  I wanted to tell you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

"I don't want to talk to you anymore."

Zeus' face was crinkled with doubt.  "Why?"

"A lot of reasons.  I . . . love my Dad, and my Mom."

"So?  You can love more than two people."

"Yeah, but they care about me.  They don't hurt me, and they don't scare me.  Mom says people who scare you are not your friend."

"Well, I'm sorry I scared you."

"Okay, but I don't want to talk to you anymore.  For a long while."

"I thought, well, that you might want to visit me, or come and stay with Tea and me, and meet your new sister, and spend some time?  Like we talked about."

He thought a moment.  "I'm sure they're nice, but no.  I have a new sister, here.  My Dad is my Dad now.  He loves me.  He takes care of us.  He dug me out of the snowpile and saved me.  I want to be with my family, here."

"Who told you to tell me this?"

"No one.  I just thought of it myself.  Today me and my Dad were looking in an old trunk when he was a kid.  Someone hurt him bad when he was little, and it made me think of something."

Zeus' throat was working.  "What, Sam?"

"Of when you closed me in the magic trunk when you were mad."

Zeus squinted.  He could barely remember the trunk Sam spoke of, never mind doing anything like that.  "I did?"

"Yeah.  You did, and you were mad.  You said it would teach me a lesson."

He swallowed, and a long pause ensued.  He finally said, "Sam, you're right.  You should be with your family, there.  I . . . don't want to ruin that.  I just hope that someday, when you're older . . . you can forgive me for those things I did."

"Yeah, probly."

He sighed, "Okay, Sam, you take care now."

"I will.  But one more thing . . ."

Zeus sat forward and adjusted the screen toward him.  "Sure, anything?"

Sam said, "When my Dad gets there, tell him to call home first before he says or does anything.  Can you?"

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