The Lotus Hotel

We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking.

The doorman smiled at us. “Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?

The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I’m not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines.

There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge.

There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns.

And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV.

Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.

“Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here’s your room key.”

I stammered, “Um, but…”

“No, no,” he said, laughing. “The bill’s taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides.”

He handed us each a green plastic credit card. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub.

“Oh, goodness,” Annabeth said. “This place is…”

“Sweet,” Grover said. “Absolutely sweet.”

There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had so much fun. I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, did the waterslide, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff.

I started talking to people, and I found it wasn’t easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who told me it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn’t been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn’t really know and they didn’t care. Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it?

I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld.

“Come on,” I told her. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days. We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.