I'm really sorry that I haven't posted! So sorry!
JASON'S POV
I landed on Long Island Sound after a few minutes with Piper safely wrapped in my arms. It felt nice, having Piper wrapped in my arms. I had the urge to protect her, like we were in danger. When were we not in danger, though? She pulled out of my arms and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards a shop.
When Piper opened the door, a bell jingled. The young woman behind the counter smiled and Piper gasped. She took one look around the shop and a huge smile broke out on her face. The entire store looked like it could be Piper's bedroom. There were colorful curtains on the windows that seemed to catch the sunlight in all the right ways. There were old vinyl albums on a bookshelf, all of Pipers favorite bands, current bands too, that were turned into older looking albums. Piper went over to the bookshelf and started looking.
"Florence and the Machine... Secondhand Serenade... All American Rejects! Jason, I'm in heaven!" She exclaimed. I smiled and started walking around. There were vests, jeans, sneakers, and clothes everywhere. A faded orange shirt with burns and stains on it in hanging out of a box caught my eye. I walked over and saw that there weren't just burns and stains on it, but holes in it too. Why would they sell something like this? I picked it up. The back of the shirt had the most burns. I had experience with burns like these. It looked like someone got splashed with lava. There wasn't a tag or anything, so I turned it to the front. Maybe there was a logo or something.
Camp Half- Blood the shirt read. When I read that, my heart seemed to drop and my stomach felt like it was in knots. Something was very wrong. I looked towards the bottom and saw dark stains that looked like soda. Then I recognized it. It was Piper's shirt. The lava burns were from the lava wall at camp. The stain on the front was from the food fight that went down last month. Travis and Connor Stoll had snuck up on her in the middle of it and splashed her with soda. And the slash marks, they were from sword fighting practice.
"Piper!" I called. She was still over by the bookshelf, skimming through album after album. She even had some of them tucked under her arm, saved for later. She might've heard me, but she didn't show it. She didn't even turn her head when I called her name again... and again and again.
"Piper!" I said, pulling her so she faced me. Something seemed off in her eyes.
"What is wrong Jason?" She asked.
"We've got to get out of here. Something's not right." I told her, trying to get through to her brain.
"I do not know what you're talking about. This is the nicest place I've been. I could stay here forever." She said. Her eyes turned a dull blue and she turned away from me to face the bookshelf once more. I had no choice. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't want to know. All I knew was that my girlfriend was in some sort of trance and she wasn't coming out of it any time soon. So, I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. I made a bee-line for the door when I heard a clicking noise and saw movement out of the corner of my eye.
The door, I thought, somebody just locked it.
I laughed nervously. "Can somebody let us out? We really have to get somewhere."
"You're not going anywhere!" A voice hissed. The woman from behind the counter, Melinda her name tag read, was standing between us and the door. There was a popping and a hissing sound, and young woman that I believed to be Melinda began to melt. In her place was a woman, much older than Melinda, with the tail of a serpent below her waist. Lamia, my instincts whispered to me, she became a child eating daemon. That's when I noticed something. Lamia's eyes were closed. Could she still see? With Piper still slung over my shoulder out cold, I began tip-toeing towards the other side of the shop. I could tell that there was only one way out and Lamia was blocking it, but I had to get Piper out of the way. I got lucky, Lamia didn't notice I had gone to the other side. I set Piper down behind the counter and fumbled in my pocket for my gladius. I smirked as I drew it and charged at Lamia.
"Foolish boy." Lamia said as she stepped out of the way when I charged at her. "I may not be able to see. I can still hear very well, though." She turned to look at me. Only, she couldn't. Could she?
I had an idea. It might've been crazy, and this was probably the fastest I've thought of a plan, but I had to get out of here fast. if she could hear really well...
My eyes scanned the room for something that made a noise. There were the records... not really the sound I was looking for though. If only Leo were there. He could just whip something out of his magic tool belt. He could just take out a magic shoe that tapped itself, or use his quick thinking to make something out of what's in this room. That's when I thought of something. I felt kind of stupid too, I was looking right at something I could use. It was an electric keyboard. Yes! I knew from hanging around some of the Apollo kids play on their electric keyboards that there was this button that you press that makes this ticking noise. It was perfect!
I looked back at Lamia. She was still looking straight at me, but I didn't think she could actually see me. I took a step closer to the keyboard. "I can hear your footsteps child!" She shreaked. A smile played out on her lips while I took another step. Only like three more steps and I would be within arm distance of the keyboard. "You can't escape me!" Lymia shreaked again. I didn't think I could risk making her angry, so I took a deep breath and dove for the keyboard.
I guess you can say it was a pretty soft landing. If you consider a wall soft. My head hit the wall and I bounced back, lading to the right of the keyboard. I took one look at it. Yes! It was the same model the Apollo cabin had! I pressed the button quickly and a loud ticking filled the room.
"Don't try and- Wait? What's this?" Lamia said, confused. Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick. The machine just kept ticking. I ran behind the counter and grabbed Piper. I flung her over my shoulder again and began looking for an exit. My eyes scanned the room until I came to the spot where Lamia was standing. She began walking towards the keyboard, and started to try and find the off switch so she could hear where I was. That was my chance. I steadies Piper on my shoulder, checked to make sure I had my gladius Hera had given me, and charged for the door. When I got to it, I opened it as slowly as possible and put Piper down, so people wouldn't think something was up. When I was finally out of that freak shop and in the sunlight, I closed the door behind me and locked it.
I turned my attention to Piper. She was slowly regaining conciousness. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "Jason? Wh-What happened in there? I remember being by a bookshelf and then everything went blank." She said. I recounted the whole story; how I realized something was up when I saw her Camp Half-Blood shirt in the box, how I charged at Lamia and missed, how I figured out a plan, and how I went through with the stupidest plan in the world, only for it to work.
"That's why you're my superman, Jason." She said into my shirt while hugging me.
"Well, we're going to be late by four or five hours if we don't move. Like now." I said. I helped Piper up and she giggled. Together, we walked ten miles to her house.
That's where I am now. I'm standing at Piper's door with her by my side. The door's locked and she doesn't have a key. So I knock. I knock and knock until...
