THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES [J. GRACE]

TWENTY

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES ༉‧₊˚.[THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS]

C H A N D L E R
chapter twenty: leo, and i play batman & robin

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CHANDLER AND leo stopped at the doors and tried to control their breathing.

the voice of the earth woman still rang in her ears, reminding her of her older brother's death. the last thing chandler wanted to do was plunge into a dark warehouse, or lead her little brother along for a trap. suddenly, she felt small, and useless again. just like she was when she was on her first quest – the lightning thief. she felt as if whatever she did, the story would go on as if she wasn't there. she felt unimportant.

chandler counted to three on her fingers, and took a deep breath, and peered inside. nothing looked different. gray morning light filtered through the hole in the roof. a few lightbulbs flickered, but most of the factory floor was still lost in shadows. she could make out the catwalk above, the dim shapes of heavy machinery along the assembly line, but no movement. no sign of their friends.

leo almost called out, but a look from chandler, and from what she could tell, a gut feeling from his instincts stopped him in his tracks. leo gestured to his nose, causing chandler to take a slow, deep breath. he was right, something smelled off, like oil and morning breath. she racked her brain for what could possibly be hiding in the factory, because she could tell absolutely that it wasn't human.

somewhere on the factory floor, piper's voice cried out: "leo, chandler, help!" but chandler didn't reply, and neither did leo. how could piper have gotten off the catwalk with her broken ankle? they slipped inside, and ducked behind a cargo container. slowly, gripping her ax, and leo with his hammer, the pair worked their way toward the center of the room, hiding behind boxes, and hollow truck chassis.

finally, they reached the assembly line. the pair crouched behind the nearest piece of machinery – a crane with a robotic arm. piper's voice called out again: "leo? chandler?" less certain this time, but very close.

leo peeked around the machinery, then chandler to see what was going on. hanging directly above the assembly line, suspended by a chain from a crane on the opposite side, was a massive truck engine, just dangling thirty feet up, as if it had been left there when the factory was abandoned. below it on the conveyor belt sat a truck chassis, and clustered around it were three dark shapes the size of forklifts. nearby, dangling from chains on two other robotic arms, were two smaller shapes, maybe more engines, but one of them was twisting around as if it were alive.

then, one of the forklift shapes rose, and chandler realized exactly what they were dealing with. perfect mimicking of voices, run-down factory, they crashed into the home of a cyclops. "told you it was nothing," the thing rumbled. its voice was too deep, and feral to be human.

one of the other forklift-sized lumps shifted, and called out in piper's voice: "leo, help me! help—" then, the voice changed, becoming a masculine snarl. "bah, there's nobody out there. no demigods could be that quiet, eh?"

the first monster chuckled in response. "probably ran away, if they know what's good for them. or the girl was lying about a third, and fourth demigod. let's get cooking."

snap. a bright orange light sizzled to life, an emergency flare, and chandler was temporarily blinded. she ducked behind the crane until the spots cleared from her eyes. the two smaller things dangling from crane arms weren't engines. they were jason, and piper. both hung upside down, tied by their ankles, and cocooned with chains up to their necks. piper was flailing around, trying to free herself. her mouth was gagged, but at least she was alive. jason didn't look so good. he hung limply, his eyes rolled up in his head. a red welt the size of an apple had swollen over his left eyebrow.