Heir of a Titan - Book 2 PJO

Chapter 17: Boho Hippy Grandma 2.O

"Luke!" the old lady cried happily.

She looked like someone who enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets. Her white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head. Her pink housedress was covered in scorch marks and smears of ash. When she smiled, her face looked unnaturally stretched, and the high-voltage light in her eyes made me wonder if she was blind.

I took a step backwards. My heart rate had accelerated. I instantly felt sick to my stomach, and an itching tingle in the palms of my hands. The longer I stared at her, the heavier my chest felt.

"Something's wrong! I can feel it! We need to leave!"

"No! We need answers. Come on Nora, this is for Percy!"

I looked at him, my eyes huge in fear. I could feel the panic right at the surface. There was something more to this than just a crazy old lady. I had a bad taste in my mouth.

"Oh, my dear boy!" She hugged Nico.

I was trying to figure out why she thought Nico was Luke (they looked absolutely nothing alike), when she smiled at Percy and said, "Luke!"

She forgot all about Nico and gave Percy a hug.

"And you brought your little friend along! How nice!" She cried letting go of Percy and pulling me into a bone crushing hug. She smelled like burned cookies. She was as thin as a scarecrow, but that didn't stop her from almost crushing me.

"Come in!" she insisted. "I have your lunch ready!"

She ushered us inside. The living room was even weirder than the front lawn. Mirrors and candles filled every available space. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing my own reflection. Above the mantel, a little bronze Hermes flew around the second hand of a ticking clock. I tried to imagine the god of messengers ever falling in love with this old woman, but the idea was too bizarre. I expected to also see hoards of cats. She struck me as a crazy cat lady. But the house was cat free. (Probably a good thing- Miss O'Leary would have ripped the house apart looking for them to chase.)

Then I noticed the framed picture on the mantel making my blood run cold and I froze for a moment staring at it. I smacked Percy's shoulder a few times getting his attention. I indicated with my head to the picture on the mantle. Percy just about tripped, and landed on his face. He lost all colour in his face. His eyes went wide and we glanced at each other and then back to the mantle.

The picture was exactly like Rachel's sketch- Luke around nine years old, with blond hair and a big smile and two missing teeth. The lack of a scar on his face made him look like a different person—carefree and happy. Like a child he was. How could Rachel have known about that picture?

"This way, my dear!" Ms. Castellan steered Percy toward the back of the house. "Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!"

Nico and I followed. She sat us down at the kitchen table. Stacked on the counter were hundreds- I mean hundreds- of Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside. The ones on the bottom were green and fuzzy, like they'd been there for a long time. The smell reminded me of boys in sixth grade, their lockers had a similar smell- and that's not a good thing. I wrinkled my nose. I knew Tyson wouldn't appreciate the wasted Peanut butter.

On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each one had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers. A beanbag Medusa sat by the faucet like she was guarding the mess.

Ms. Castellan started humming as she got out peanut butter and jelly and started making a new sandwich. Something was burning in the oven. I got the feeling more cookies were on the way.