𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 - jason grace ¹

xii. fire won't burn

XII. VIOLET !
⋆ ★
fire won't burn

Violet was so scared she had to stop at the doors to try and control her breathing. The voice of the earth woman still rang in her ears. So bad she felt as if a migraine was forming. Violet knew the dirt lady was just trying to make her scared, but that didn't mean she wasn't. Leo wasn't exactly brave either. Both of them were equally terrified.

Leo and Violet both took deep breaths 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. He could make out the catwalk above, the dim shapes of heavy machinery along the assembly line, but no movement. No sign of his friends.

Leo almost called out, but Violet stopped him as she felt a sense she couldn't identify. Then he realized it was the smell. Something smelled wrong—like burning motor oil and sour breath. Something not human was inside the factory. Violet was certain.

Somewhere on the factory floor, Piper's voice cried out: "Leo, Violet, help!"

How could Piper have gotten off the catwalk with her broken ankle? Leo slipped inside and ducked behind a cargo container, which meant Violet had no choice but to follow.

Slowly, gripping her sword, Violet and Leo worked her way toward the center of the room, hiding behind boxes and hollow truck chassis. Finally they reached the assembly line. They crouched behind the nearest piece of machinery—a crane with a robotic arm.

Piper's voice called out again: "Leo? Violet" Less certain this time, but very close.

Leo and Violet's heads peeked around the machinery. 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 Violet realized it was a humanoid of massive size. "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, Violet, 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. "Probably ran away, if they know what's good for 'em. Or the girl was lying about two other demigods. Let's get cooking."

Snap. A bright orange light sizzled to life—an emergency flare-—and Violet was temporarily blinded. She ducked behind the crane until the spots cleared from her eyes. Then he took another peep and saw a nightmare scene.

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.

On the conveyor belt, the bed of the unfinished pickup truck was being used as a fire pit. The emergency flare had ignited a mixture of tires and wood, which, from the smell of it, had been doused in kerosene. A big metal pole was suspended over the flames—a spit, Violet realized, which meant this was a cooking fire.