A/N: All right, well, here's the second chapter for M&M. I hope you guys like it! Also, if you DO like it, please review! This story got twenty-five hits last ccchapter; so technically it could've gotten twenty-three more reviews…Grrrhhhh, you people are so lucky I'm updating! Oh, and a big THANK-YOU to the two people who did review!

Murder and Mythology

By WordsxOfxWisdom

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HOO

Chapter 2:

I eventually decided to stop crying and dry my tears. I ran through the forest, since physical activity has always made me feel better. Sure enough, it worked this time. I felt ready to face whatever Teresa, Dad and the Kids would throw at me.

I walked quickly through the woods on the way back; I wasn't quite sure why, but something didn't feel right. Almost like someone was watching me or something….

My eyes nervously darted around. There was nobody else in the woods; I was completely alone. So why-

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted when I heard a low, deep growl coming from behind a nearby tree. My heart pounded-what was going on?

"W-Who's there?" I sputtered, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach. The growl emitted from the bushes again and I heard myself make a noise between choke and a sob. Whatever was in there certainly didn't sound friendly…

I glanced around, looking for something I could use as a weapon. I finally just decided to use a stick that I'd snapped off of a nearby tree. When I looked back at the tree where the growl had some from, I couldn't help but stare, because a pair of smoldering red eyes glared back at me. So naturally, I just had to go and do something stupid…

"Come and get me!" I shouted, waving the stick around and sounding much more confident than I felt.

Big mistake.

Because whatever those red eyes belonged to certainly 'came and got me'. The next thing I knew, I was racing through the woods, a huge, shadowy black dog, easily the size of a small car, on my heels. Now, I'm a pretty good runner; fast and strong, with a long endurance. But this…thing, dog, whatever, had me out of breathe. My knees started to buckle and…Blam! I tripped over a stupid tree root with that sinister…dog-thing catching up with me.

It let out a roar that was loud as an artillery gun. I scrambled to get up, but my legs kept getting caught in some nearby vines. My heart was racing so fast I seriously thought it would explode!

"Dad!" I screamed, "Dad! Help!"

The dog began prowling around me in a circle, like a vulture circling its prey. I finally managed to get my leg free, and then began sprinting towards the edge of the forest. The dog let out another loud bark and bounded after me. The whole time I could hear it just behind me, panting heavily. That was probably a good sign, since this thing was finally getting tired of chasing me. But I wasn't sure how much longer I would be able to keep things up…

This is it, I thought bluntly, I'm gonna die…

Suddenly, I burst out of the woods and saw Dad tearing towards me, his eyes wide with fear. I don't know what he saw, but whatever it was scared him a lot. I was relieved though that, for some reason, the dog didn't follow me out of the forest. I rushed across the Gardner's yard and threw my arms around Dad.

"Oh my god….I forgot my meds….Oh god, my ADHD is, like, going haywire…I seriously am going crazy, WHAT the hell just happened?" I muttered incoherent things between raspy breathes as Dad held me and stroked my hair.

"Ssh, its okay, Liv," Dad murmured, "Oh Sweetie, everything's gonna be okay…Now, Honey, we're going to go inside, 'kay?"

I gave a small, whimpering, nod and Dad and I walked inside. As soon as we stepped in, the entire Gardner family bombarded me.

"Oh, oh, you poor sweetheart!" Teresa gushed, patting my cheek. I shrank back a little bit and gave her an irritated look. Why did adults always do things like that? I mean, it's not like kids liked it when they did…

"I can't believe a stray dog was chasing you," Thyme said, stepping forward and putting a hand on my shoulder, as though she were her mom's age and not just a couple years older than me.

"What kind-of dog was it?" Forrest asked, giving me an odd look. I was sure I looked like a huge freak to the Gardners now, getting chased by a 'stray dog' (it was anything but).

I shook my head, "I-I don't know…"

"Puppy!" Lilly and Laurel shrieked going over to the window and peering out.

Dad turned to Teresa, "Titi, listen, I think it would be best if Olivia and I went home. I know we haven't even gotten to eat dinner, but…" Titi? Where did he get THAT?

"Its fine, Baby," Teresa assured him, nodding, "I understand. Olivia is probably a bit shocked right now." I glared at her. I almost wished Teresa had made a big deal out of Dad and me leaving. Then he could have a permissible reason to break-up with her. But I was actually GLAD to be leaving.

xXxXx

During the drive home, I kept thinking about what had happened to me. Just what WAS that thing that had been chasing me? It obviously wasn't some random stray dog, like the Gardners seemed to think…But if it wasn't that, then what was it? I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I had this strange feeling that what happened had something to do with my mom. I wasn't sure how Dad would react to me asking if Mom had anything to do with it…But it was worth a try.

I cleared my throat as Dad pulled onto the highway, "Dad…Um, I was just wondering…Like, does Mom have anything to do with what happened at the Gardner's house?"

In the driver's seat, Dad noticeably tensed, "Well, uh, see Olivia, I'm sure it was just your imagination. I don't think you should worry about it, really."

I scowled. Dad may be many things, but he is definitely not a good liar.

"Oh come on Dad!" I pleaded, "You're hiding something, and I know it. You can trust me; I thought we weren't allowed to keep secrets from each other."

"I know," Dad said, sighing deeply, "But Olivia, this is something I can't really explain. Your mom was an amazing woman, Liv, but there were so many things about her I didn't understand."

"I don't get it," I snapped, "What couldn't you get about her?"

"…She wanted you to go…" I heard him mumble under his breath, "….to a camp….a dangerous place…couldn't let you leave..."

I figured I wasn't supposed to have heard that, so I politely pretended I didn't. But it confused me more than anything. Mom hadn't even bothered to stick around for my first birthday, yet she'd picked out a summer camp for me? And a dangerous one, as it would be. So naturally, Dad didn't want me to go.

"Dad," I said, repeating the question, "What couldn't you get about Mom?"

Dad kept his gaze fixated ahead on the road, "It's nothing, Olivia. You shouldn't be too worried, but I wouldn't go outside much if I were you. That's all."

I grunted in acknowledgement but didn't say anything for the rest of the ride. That definitely wasn't all Dad had to say, although if he wasn't gonna tell me, then there was nothing I could do to convince him to talk.

xXxXx

The next day, I went back to school. Since the previous day had been Memorial Day Monday, the school week started on a Tuesday, which meant it was only four days instead of five. So that was nice. But still, it was the very last week of school and I was antsy for summer to arrive.

This was especially true as I sat in sixth period Science with Mr. Cortina. Mr. C was a tall, skinny man with oily black hair and pale skin. His dark beady eyes always seemed to be lingering on me, like he was angry or something. Which Mr. Cortina usually was, since he seemed to hate me for no reason whatsoever.

"Now, children," Mr. Cortina said coolly, striding into the room with his head held high, "Settle down. I would like you all to pass up your homework from Friday, please."

My gut twisted. Oh crap, I'd forgotten all about my homework! It really was unfair that Mr. C had given us homework over Memorial Day weekend, but the man WAS pure evil.

"Skata," I muttered under my breath. I frowned then, confused by my words; what did skata mean? It was obviously another language, but aside from my French class on Saturday mornings (which was more for fun than actually learning the language), I wasn't bilingual...

I glanced up and noticed Mr. Cortina looking straight at me, which oddly seemed to happen a lot. And…I could've sworn he was…licking his chops. A shudder passed down my spine. God, things were just getting too weird.

"Miss Lancaster," Mr. Cortina said in that icy way of his, "If you would please join me at my desk…"

I gulped, slowly got out of my desk and walked up to his.

"Y-Yes, Mr. C?" I stammered.

Mr. Cortina glared at me, "You don't have your homework today, do you?"

I shook my head, "No…I don't, but-"

"But nothing! Excuses, excuses, excuses! Sixty minute detention to be served after school!" Mr. Cortina pulled out a pink detention slip and quickly filled it out. I grimaced as I watched him. Admittedly, my grades weren't impressive, but I wasn't exactly a bad kid or a troublemaker….What would Dad think?

"M-May I call my dad to let him know I'll be staying after school?" I asked sheepishly.

Mr. Cortina rolled his eyes and smirked, as if he knew something I didn't, "Sure, just don't take long."

I walked over to the phone sitting on the edge of Mr. C's desk and quickly dialed my dad's number. I wasn't sure if he would pick up or not, but surprisingly he did.

"Hello, this is Ethan Lancaster," he answered.

"Hi Dad," I replied, "Hey…um…I have to serve a detention after school, so…"

Dad snorted, "A detention? What for Sweetie?"

"Forgot my science homework," I mumbled, feeling dumber than ever.

I heard Dad sigh.

"Well, personally I'm surprised your Science teacher had the nerve to give you guys homework on Memorial Day weekend, what with this being your last week of school and all. I'll pick you up at 3:30 Hon, 'kay?"

"'Kay. Bye Dad, love 'ya," I said, then hung up.

xXxXx

After school let out at 2:30, I went immediately to the cafeteria, which is where all detentions were served. I was actually a bit surprised to see four other kids had detentions too. A couple other eighth graders, a sixth grader and a seventh grader, to be exact.

I knew the eighth graders somewhat well. Seth Porter was in my P.E. and Health class. He was arguably one of the biggest kids in our grade, being about 5"7 and rather stocky. Not fat, just…big. Seth had pale ashy blond hair, fair skin and icy blue eyes. I'd always found his appearance rather interesting, since his hair is so light and his eyes are so blue. I didn't quite know much about his family, but apparently, his mom was some model who became anorexic. The other eighth grader was Autumn Li, who was in my Reading class. She was a tiny Asian girl with dark hair and eyes. Someone in her family must've owned Li's Lilies, a flower shop a few blocks from our school, because I often saw her walking there after school. I assumed Autumn was big into environmental things, since that seemed to be the case with her whole family.

According to Seth, the seventh grader was Neil Reed, a tall, lanky boy with pinkish freckled skin, spiky reddish-blond hair and emerald green eyes that shone with mischief. His features were slightly Elvin and he had this look to him like he would steal your wallet at any time. Which seemed appropriate, as I often saw Neil in the cafeteria after school, so I figured he got in trouble a lot. I guess he probably deserved his detention for doing something stupid.

Kaleigh Valentine was the name of the sixth grader…..And let's just say she had a bit of a reputation. Gossip about that girl flew faster than spitballs at our school. She had a new boyfriend every week, or something like that…It might've had something to do with her physical appearance, though. Kaleigh WAS extremely beautiful, with clean blond hair, flawless tanned skin and sparkling blue eyes. Her apparent fondness for makeup and designer clothing were probably why she was in detention though. At the moment, Kaleigh wore a white denim mini skirt on this side of appropriate and a lacey pink spaghetti strap tank top.

Mr. Cortina sauntered into the cafeteria at exactly 2:30, a smug grin on his face. He surveyed us then, again, licked his chops. I winced. The guy crept me out on an ordinary day, but today he just flat out scared me.

Suddenly, just as Mr. C was about to take his seat, another girl flew in. Neil jumped up and waved to her, so I figured she was a seventh grader. She had chestnut brown hair the color of bark on a tree and leaf green eyes. For a brief second, her skin seemed almost green. The first thing that passed my mind was that she obviously wasn't in detention. But sure enough, she jogged right on up to Mr. Cortina.

"My name's May Evergreen," the girl said, giving him a smile, "Sorry I'm late, sir."

Mr. C glanced up and sneered, "Of course, GIRL, take your seat."

May gave him a quick nod, then rushed and took a seat across from me. She mouthed 'hi' and I smiled and nodded.

In the front of the room, Mr. Cortina cleared his throat, so that we all looked at him. Kaleigh put her phone away, Autumn slid her piece of sketch paper into her binder, Neil put whatever he'd been holding away and Seth even took his headphones off.

Then, something really freaky happened. Mr. Cortina's whole body began to change into that of a lion. His face became oddly distorted, but it still retained its basic features. The result made me shudder in fear.

"Its snack time, half-bloods," he snarled, licking his chops for a third time.

A/N: Okay, well, there you have it! Another chapter down! Hope you guys liked it, and please remember to REVIEW! Thanks for reading!