So did I shock you even more? I hope so! Anyway, not much I am going to ramble about so let's just get on with the story, shall we?
Chapter 21: Aunty Em's Emporium
The next day, after Luke had to shake me awake because I had been so tired from the night before, we left to head to the garden of the Hesperides. We hadn't been in the car for more than two hours before all of us were hungry.
"How about we stop for something to eat?" Derek suggested. Our stomachs rumbled in agreement so I grabbed a GPS that Luke had "borrowed without asking" from the camp gift store. I pressed food (I was riding shot gun. Suck it Jamie!) and scrolled down through the food places when the smell of greasy, delicious food struck us.
"Oh my gods, we're so stopping here!" Derek laughed. Luke parked the truck outside of a place called Aunty Em's Emporium. Thank the gods I'm not dyslexic because the red neon color was already murder on my eyes. I hate red neon signs! We knocked on the door and patiently waited. Footsteps came faintly from behind the door. Then the door opened and I think we all took a step back. A woman in a turban and sunglasses, dressed in black from head-to-toe answered the door.
"Um, hi, Madame. We were wandering if you served food here?" Luke spoke cautiously.
"Oh, hello, children. Yes, I do serve food here. Come in, come in and I will fix you a mighty good meal. I'm Aunty Em," Aunty Em introduced herself. We said hello and walked in, thanking her as we walked in.
"Follow me," She ordered kindly, swiftly moving to the back of the building. Statues of people were everywhere. They were very detailed and defined. Most of them had very pleasant faces, although a few looked like the people were screaming.
"The faces are the hardest part to get," Aunty Em murmured. She put a hand on my shoulder and I instantly wanted to pull away, but I didn't. Something wasn't right. She steered me to the back of the restaurant where Derek, Luke, and Jamie were already sitting down in a booth. I sat down next to Luke (much to Jamie's annoyance, haha!) and we watched Aunty Em cook. All her movements were graceful and I was afraid that the fabric of the cloth she was wearing was going to catch on fire a few times, but it never did.
"Here you go darlings," Aunty Em handed each of us a basket with a hamburger and a bunch of fries. I should've been suspicious since all of our hamburgers were exactly the way we liked them, but I didn't. We dug in ravenously. It was all delicious! We were all moaning in pain from eating too much… whoops. I was so tired that I barely heard Aunty Em ask Luke a question.
"So where are teenagers as young as you headed to Luke?" Aunty Em asked. That snapped me out of my little daze. We had never told her any of our names. There was no way she could've known our names.
"Hey, guys, we should get going. We have a long ride ahead of us," I urged, trying to Charmspeak them into listening to me.
"Oh, so soon? At least let me take your picture," Aunty Em purred.
"I'm sorry Aunty Em, but we really must be off. Thank you so much for the meal!" I said, desperately wanting to get out of there.
"Oh come on. What could one little picture hurt?" Jamie rolled her eyes at me. I wanted to slap that girl.
"Yes, Elizabeth, what could one picture hurt Elizabeth?" Aunty Em asked innocently.
"How do you know our names?" I inquired suspiciously. She seemed lost for words. Luke looked like he had been snapped out of a trace, so did Derek and Jamie.
"You shouldn't have said anything Elizabeth, it would've been much less terrifying," Aunty Em said.
"What would be a lot less terrifying?" Derek questioned with a look of suspicion on his face.
"Excuse me!" I yelled, getting out of my seat and barreling into Medusa.
"Elizabeth!" Jamie shrieked. "How the hell can you run into an old lady like that?"
"For the gods' sake Jamie! It's flipping Medusa!" I shouted at her. All the color from Jamie's face drained. "For the gods' sake! Run!"
We ran like bats out of hell. Unfortunately, we ran straight into her garden where there was no way out except back the way we came.
"Ah hell," I muttered. Aunty Em appeared and was in the process of unwrapping her turban. We scattered in different directions. I was running as quickly as I could but something made me trip and I crashed to the leave strewn dirt floor. I had had the wind knocked out of me and wasted precious time getting back up. By the time I was ready to get back up, it was too late. She was behind me and lifting me up. I shut my eyes tightly.
"Open your eyes, Elizabeth. Join me forever," Medusa purred.
"LUKE!" I screamed.
"Hush child! They can't hear you. They're already gone," Medusa said.
"No! They're not gone!" I declared fiercely.
"You're distraught child, I understand," Medusa told me calmly. The snakes that were her hair slithered into my hair and around my head. Some nipped at my face and I flinched, careful not to open my eyes.
Luke! Please help me! I whispered to Luke urgently in my head.
"Heads up!" Someone shouted. Something slammed into Medusa, making her let go of me.
"Elizabeth, it's okay now. You're safe," Luke's voice came with relief flushing over me. I opened my eyes. I was breathing heavily.
"Thank you," I whispered, hugging him. I let go before Jamie appeared, sheathing her sword.
"Why the hell didn't you warn us sooner about her?" Jamie demanded.
"Perhaps because you, Jamie, were falling for her little act. "Oh come on. What could one little picture hurt?" I mimicked Jamie in a baby voice.
"Why didn't you just drag us out of there?"
"I tried you dingbat."
"Okay, let's get out of here before she awakes," Luke interfered in our argument. I muttered something similarly close to "mortar forker" and I saw Derek repress a grin. We quickly got in the truck and sped off towards the West Coast.