Everything was going moderately well until the trail mix exploded.

Alright, it'd be better to start from the beginning. There are six siblings by the names of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter. Zeus and Hera hooked up and eventually got married, but the other four either married someone else or didn't marry at all. Not that anyone blamed Demeter and Hestia for not getting married. Well, okay, Poseidon blamed them. He wanted both of them at some point or the other.

You get the point. The family is pretty dysfunctional. Because of the problems they've faced, they hardly talk to each other. Though one day long ago, one of the siblings suggested they get together once a year to have 'family time'. Three guesses who suggested that. It starts with H and ends in ESTIA. But everyone agreed that it might be good to spend quality time together. They'd find a big house and the sibling-of-the-year would choose what they were to do. This year, it was Hades' turn.

Now, I never had anything against Hades. And if you knew my name, you'd know that I just told the biggest lie of existence. My name is Demeter. My most precious daughter, Persephone, got kidnapped by the loser and forced to marry him. She claims she doesn't mind, but I know she does. Even if she's always excited to see him again. A mother knows when her daughter is actually miserable.

Anyway! The five of us, besides Hades, all sat in the living room. The house we borrowed was fairly nice. It was a two-story cabin-style home near the mountains. Outside it was snowing and bitter, but inside a warm fire was going in the fireplace and the place smelled of burning wood. Hestia sat by the fireplace, a warm glow illuminating her face. Of all of us, Hestia was the most normal. She was also the sweetest. Most of the time she appeared as a twelve year old girl with long chocolate-brown hair.

Poseidon was taking up the whole couch. His body was sprawled across it while Hera yelled at him for being immature. Poseidon only laughed and threw popcorn at her. Zeus was sitting in the recliner chair as if it were a throne. Personally, I thought he looked ridiculous. The guy couldn't go five minutes without reminding everyone he was ruler of the universe. Not that I cared. I was much too busy to be a ruler. Tending to tomato plants was more time consuming than it looked! I myself sat on the floor, leaning against the coffee table. I had a bowl full of trail mix to myself, since no one else seemed to like it.

"Where is he?" Zeus asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Poseidon and Hera immediately stopped bickering. "Maybe he got caught in traffic. The roads are horrendous." Poseidon offered. Hera gave him a look. "He's a god, Poseidon. He can just as easily teleport himself here!" The two continued to argue. Zeus groaned and put his face in his hands. Hestia poked at the fire with her bare hands and spoke to it in Ancient Greek.

Then Hades popped up in front of them all, a smirk on his face. I was automatically tempted to slap him. The god of the Underworld held up a movie, his eyes skirting around the room. "We're going to watch this." Poseidon squinted and tried read the title. "Am... Ami... Amity-" Hera cut him off. "For goodness sake, it's called Amityville Horror!" Zeus blinked a couple times. "You expect us to watch this?" Hades looked over at his brother with a sly grin. "Not if you admit you're scared." Zeus quickly shook his head. "Me? Scared? Never."

Hestia was now backed into the fireplace. It looked as though she were being eaten by flame. "What if I admit I'm scared!" She squeaked out. Poseidon hopped off the couch so fast, the bowl of popcorn landed on Hera's head. "You can sit with me, Hestie! I'll protect you!" Hera punched Poseidon's arm. He took a piece of popcorn from her hair and ate it.

Zeus scowled and got up from his chair. "I told you a million times to stay away from Hestia." Poseidon pouted. "But I just want to sit with her." Hestia crawled out from the fire and ran over to Zeus's chair, curling up in it. I sighed. I wanted that chair. Zeus walked back over and lifted Hestia up, sat down, then placed her on his lap. Hera was a jealous woman when it came to Zeus and other ladies, but Hestia was not a threat. She was actually a sworn virgin. Now, if I had sat on Zeus's lap, there would have been a fight.

Trust me. Last get together, Poseidon sat on Zeus's lap and chaos erupted. Poseidon ended up crying in a dog house and Hestia went missing for a week.

After cleaning herself off, Hera came and sat down next to me. We got along now, for the most part. As long as I kept away from Zeus. Poseidon went back to lounging on the couch. "Well? Come on, bro, put the movie on!" He called. Hades rolled his eyes and turned on the TV, which was a good size. It was nothing compared to Hephaestus' set though. Hades put the movie in and pressed play, and soon enough the only sound inside the house was that of the movie.

Five minutes in, Hestia was already sobbing. Ten minutes in, Poseidon was too. The only two seemingly unaffected by this movie was Hera and I. Even Hades looked paler than usual. Any paler and the loser would turn transparent. Zeus was holding Hestia, though he was clearly just as scared. It wasn't until about thirty minutes in when things got weird. Down the narrow hallway of the house came a creaking noise. Everyone heard it. Hestia let out a gasp and buried her face into Zeus's shoulder. Poseidon peeked out from his pillow-fort.

"Probably just the foundation of the house." Hades said smoothly. "Newer houses tend to make noises like that." Everyone seemed to calm down until Hera said, "Hades, this house is over a hundred years old." I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Great, now they're not going to shut up. This house isn't haunted, okay? It was just one noise. You're all paranoid because we're watching a horror movie."

Then things got worse. My bowl of trail mix flew into the wall and shattered, delicious snacks flying everywhere. Hestia screamed while Zeus tried to calm her down, obviously freaked out himself. Poseidon went back to hiding in his pillow fort while Hera dove into Hades' lap. "Hey!" Zeus yelled. Then he remembered that Hera was faithful and went back to some sort of deep breathing exercise. "This place is haunted!" Hera cried, clinging to Hades. He was trying to pry her off. "Someone turn the movie off!" Hestia screamed. "If I see one more monster, I'll scream!" She looked over at Hades and screamed.

I got up and turned the TV off. Another creak came from down the hall. This time it sounded like someone taking a step. Everyone was silent. That alone made me nervous. "Demeter, how are you not scared?" Hera asked. She looked at me with a mixture of respect and confusion. I shrugged and said, "We're gods. I don't think we have anything to worry about." Hades finally managed to get Hera off of him. "If you're so brave," Hades said, "Go check it out."

"NO!" Poseidon cried. He burst out of his fort and jumped on me. "Do not make her do such a thing! We can't risk my beautiful- I mean, our beautiful sister getting hurt!"

"Relax, Poseidon! And get off of me!" I yelled. Poseidon pouted and let go. He sat back down beside his broken fort. "Maybe there's an animal in here that we did not know about. I'll go check it out." I headed down the hallway, feeling my siblings eyes watch me. The last door on the left lead into a room, an open window catching my eye. "Aha!" I called, to let my siblings know I found the problem. The ripped curtains framing the window flapped chaotically due to the wind. Snow had already left a puddle on the old carpet.

"Guess the previous owners never cared about shutting the windows." I walked over and paused. Outside in the dark were a pair of glowing red eyes. For a moment I was mesmerized, then I noticed the eyes coming closer. I turned and took one step to run, but hands grabbed my waist. I screamed.