Chapter Thirty Six
Annabeth
The veil peels away with sickening grace, and as the silky fabric slides off her, Aunty Em's face becomes visible. I try to keep a poker face, but my stomach rebels. Her face looks more like raw hamburger meat than a person. Most of it is scarred, looking like patchwork slabs of skin. Some of the skin shines, other parts are three shades darker than her hands. I feel sick and my stomach makes a flipping motion clearly not meant for an organ containing a double cheese burger and a large extra-heavy milkshake.
"I know it's hard to look at, but repulsion could get you killed." Aunty Em's cold voice breaks through the horrified silence. "Perseus had the same reaction, you know. He pitied me, but we still saw each other until he moved away." She mutters something to herself and strides over to another statue. This one is a little girl, wearing a cape and carrying a basket like Little Red Riding Hood. The girl's hand covers her mouth and her eyes are wide. "Do you know who this is supposed to be?" Percy just shakes his head, and Grover whimpers nervously.
"It's you, before the accident." I answer, the pieces falling into place. "The old women are Athena, and the muscled guys are Perseus." Em cackles again, and stalks over to our table.
"I see you've finally figured it out, your mother thought she was smart too." I want to throw up, scream, or run; I want to do something to get away from the implications of her story. "I can only imagine what she would say if she learned her daughter was traveling with the son of Perseus James, especially since they share the same name." She stares right at me, with cold eyes drowning in unadulterated hatred. "You did miss one small detail though, I can't seem to carve happiness, no, the only expressions I seem to be able to capture correctly are the reactions to seeing my face for the first time. You three will make amazing statues, don't you agree?" I shake my head frantically, and stand up, backing away from the insane woman in front of me. Grover and Percy stand at the same time.
"Oh, but children, you must stay until I get it just right. I may even have to make molds of your lovely faces."
"No thank you ma'am, we really should be going." Percy looks at the two of, his eyes flicking pointedly to the door behind of Aunty Em.
"But not Annabeth, oh no, I'm sure I'll be able to carve up her face just fine." She continues, as if she hadn't heard him. I tr not to here the double meaning her words.
"We'd love to help, but we don't have very much time. So we're just going to be off." Grover squeaks, and Aunty Em tilts her head, her eyes going wide with malice. It's hard to look at her face directly, so I try to focus on her hands.
"Oh no, that just won't do." He voice is still mockingly sweet, and when she pulls out a knife from the folds of her dress, I start shaking. Grover makes a startled noise, and Percy steps in front of us. Idiot. "You see, it's not really your choice whether or not you leave here. It never has been your choice. The same as it wasn't my choice to get burned!" She cackles, and I grab Percy's arm, trying to yank him back, but he ignores me.
"What happened to you was horrible, but keeping us hostage won't change anything, it will only make it worse." Percy tries to make her see reason, but Aunt Em has her own ideas.
"How? No one will miss a bunch of runaway kids, and by the time that they do… well, it will be too late, and I will have had my revenge on the spawn of Athena." She says my mother's name as if it's the worst word she's ever heard, as if it's worse than any swear.
"Annabeth had nothing to do with this, and you said it yourself, my father was kind to you. You owe it to him to let us all go-" Percy tries again but Aunty Em cuts him off with harsh shrieks.
"He left me! He left me alone to fight off those witches!" Her eyes start to water, and her grip on the knife tightens. She stalks towards us, and while that leaves the door open, we'll never get to it. She walks right up to Percy and raises her hand as if to stroke his face. I want to throw up. "Just like your father," She whispers, and Percy's hands ball into fists at his sides. "You should be my son, you know. Mine!" Her whisper turns into a hiss, and in her moment of distraction, Percy shoves her away from him.
"Run!" I shout, and I take off, weaving through the maze of statues, ignoring the shrieking behind me. I pause, my back against a buff man with a girl in his arms. My breath shakes, and I listen, trying to gather my wits. The room is silent, but the air buzzes with an intensity meant for the moment before lightning strikes. I can't wait any longer, so I dart off, bearing right, so I can hopefully flank Aunty Em, who most definitely went for the door the moment she could. A hard body collides into mine, and we both groan. I spin, turning to face Aunty Em with my fists up by my face, but it's just Percy. He nods at me, and our heavy breathing fills the air for a minute before I finally whisper to him.
"We have to try to catch her off guard, then we can get the hell out of here, and hopefully get word to the cops." I breathe and Percy nods, but as we creep forward, he reminds me of a very important detail.
"We need to find Grover." He hisses, and I resist the urge to bang my head against the elderly couple sculpted before me.
"Crap," I peek around the statue, and the clearing in front of the door appears to be empty, but that doesn't mean Aunty Em isn't lying in wait like some deranged panther. A very disturbing image of the woman dragging me up into a tree by my neck with her teeth hits me, and I shake that thought away. Percy looks at me, as if trying to read m mind, and I see a marble on the ground to his left, probably left by some horrified boy who wandered into Aunty Em's workshop,.When I pick it up, it has some heft to it, and when I hurl it in the direction of the tiled food court, it clicks loudly and the noise echoes.
I wait a moment, giving Aunty Em enough time to fall for the trap, before I step into the clearing, eyeing the door.
"Should we go find Grover, or give him time to find us?" Percy asks, quietly, and I shake my head, wishing I had the answer. On one hand, we're sitting ducks out in the open, but on the other, we might not get another chance at the door.
"You should probably just turn around." A cold voice suggests, and when we whip around, there stands Aunty Em, with the marble in her hand. She sneers, and the contortion makes her skin do horrifying things. "How clever of you, and just like your mother, to think you could deceive me with such a juvenile tactic."
"Please" Percy begins, but Aunty Em cuts him off quickly now.
"I see it now, the ultimate betrayal; you side with the woman who did this to me. How could you, Perseus?" It takes a moment for her words to sink in, but their implication is nauseating. She thinks Percy is his father. "I'll have no choice now, both of you must face the music for what you've done, and now I just have to decide how exactly I am to punish you."
"I'm sorry, I am so sorry for what happened to you but please, don't do this, please." I break, begging; tears run down my cheeks, leaving cool tracks.
"How pathetic, you're-" She doesn't finish the word, because, suddenly, she's crumpling to the ground. Behind her stands Grover, whose eyes are closed, but he's holding a slightly dented lunch tray up in the air, the dent an impression of the top of Aunty Em's head.
A/N: This chapter sent me over the 50,000 word mark, so I'm going to take the time to thank everyone who has helped me over the past year and a half of writing this crazy story. Thank you to my betas, especially HopelessDove, who puts up with my insanity and excessive comma use. Thank you to my very first reviewer, gallifreyfalls, and everyone who has reviewed since then. Thank you to all of my followers, to those who have favorited this story, and to anyone who has taken the time to read it. You have all got me through some rough times over the course of writing this story, and I'm thankful. Here's to the next 50,000 words!