Everyone stood up when Demeter screamed and barrelled their way down the hall. Poseidon turned into the room and fell to his knees. He whimpered. The window was open and all that lay on the floor was Demeter's wheat bracelet. Zeus walked over and picked it up, holding it as if it were a dangerous weapon that shouldn't be touched. "Don't worry, Demi, we'll find you!"

We all looked out the window, but made no move to go near it. "Um..." Poseidon muttered. "Who wants to go out and look for her?" Hera glared at him. "We should all go out and look! Splitting up at this time would be the worst thing to do!" Hades snuck up behind Poseidon and grinned. "Funny guys go second." Poseidon shrieked and turned around, then jumped into Hades' arms. "Hold me!"

I walked over to Zeus and tugged on his shirt to get his attention. "I see footsteps outside. In the snow." Zeus looked down at me and nodded gravely. "Good observation, Hestie." He looked back at the group. Hades had dropped Poseidon, who was now trying to get inside Hades' cloak. Hera was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "We're going to go out and look for Demeter." Zeus explained. Hades pushed Poseidon to the floor. "Fine. But I'm not being held responsible for this." Hades said. "You were the one who told her to check it out!" Hera cried. Hades shrugged innocently. "I didn't realize her brain was loaded with fiber."

I screamed as something grabbed my ankle. Then I realized Poseidon had crawled over. "That's not nice, Poseidon!" I yelled, "Say you're sorry!" Poseidon got up on his knees, making himself roughly the same size as me. "Sorry! I just wanted to say hi." He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. All at once, Zeus and Hades both grabbed Poseidon and threw him to the floor for the second time. "I'm just trying to be nice!" He cried. Zeus grabbed my hand and lead me out of the room, all of us heading back to the living room.

"We have a... well, a kidnapper on our hands. Someone took our sister and has potentially hurt her." Zeus said. Hades rolled his eyes. "We've established that, Blondie. Let's stop talking and actually go look for her!" Everyone made for the door when the fire went out. I screamed. "My fire! My baby!" I tried to run for the fireplace to restart it, but Zeus held me back. "We'll start it again once we find Demeter." He dragged me out the door, my eyes still focused on the darkened hearth. It seemed like bad luck, or a warning. Maybe because there was ash on the floor that spelled out 'You're next'.

Then I looked over at the remains of Demeter's trail mix. 'You're first' was written out in little grains of wheat. "Zeus! Zeus!" I yelled, clinging to his hand. Snow fell on my skin and instantly melted. That was one of the perks of being hot. "Zeus, there's warnings! We must listen to the trail mix and-" Zeus looked down at me, his expression hard. "Quiet, Hestia. Can't you see we are dealing with a serious problem?"

I looked over and saw Poseidon stuffing snow into Hades' cloak hood. Hera was trying to swat away the snow. "But, Zeus!" I pleaded. "No buts," Zeus warned, letting go of my hand. We all began to follow the footsteps left in the snow. They were too big to be Demeter's. From what I could tell, they were a man's. "Do ghosts leave footprints?" Poseidon asked casually. Everyone looked over at Hades. "Why are you looking at me? Oh. Uh, no." Poseidon nodded as if this confirmed his worst fears. "Then we're dealing with a real person."

"Really, Poseidon? I thought we were dealing with Big Foot." Hera said sarcastically. Poseidon nodded. "He was my next bet. But I've seen Big Foot. His feet are bigger than this." My eyes widened. "Oh my gods, you've seen Big Foot?!" I asked in amazement. Poseidon nodded and looped his arm through mine. "Yes! Man, was it awesome. He was, like, sixteen feet tall and had snowy white hair, and glowing green eyes." I gasped. Hades groaned. "Are you describing Big Foot or Danny Phantom?" Poseidon looked over at him, confused. "Who's Danny Phantom?"

"Danny Phantom was just fourteen-" Hades started, but Hera hit his arm. "Shut up!" Poseidon looked down at me and winked. "Maybe you and I could go to see Big Foot sometime." I nodded in excitement until Zeus shoved Poseidon away. "The footsteps end here," Zeus noted. The five of them were standing in front of an old wooden shed. The place was run down. "Looks like a good entrance to the Underworld." Hades said softly. Poseidon nodded his agreement. "Or a strip club."

"Should... should we go inside?" Hera asked nervously. I looked over at her and my eyes caught something in the woods. Two glowing red orbs. No, not orbs. Eyes! "Zeus! Zeus, look! There's something over there!" Zeus didn't look. No one did. The eyes seemed to taunt me as they faded into the distance. "There was something in the woods, guys! There's someone over there!" Hera placed two fingers on the bridge of her nose. "Hestia, please be quiet. Yelling isn't going to help."

Hades opened the shed and peered inside. "Nothing but some old newspapers and a rake." Poseidon screamed. Everyone looked at him. "Rakes." He whispered. I was about to ask if he had a history with rakes when I noticed the red eyes were back. A figure was standing on the edge of the forest, clearly that of a human. I couldn't make out any details, but I knew it was staring at me. Tears fell from my eyes. "I'm scared," I whimpered. I wanted Zeus to hold my hand, but he was too preoccupied with searching the shed. "H-Hera?" I asked, looking over at her. She ignored me and walked over to join the others.

I looked back over at the woods and saw the figure was gone. I took a deep breath and then something amazing happened. I had an Aha! moment. I realized that I shouldn't depend on everyone else for safety and comfort. If I believed something was to be done, I should do it. I walked over to the entrance of the shed and looked inside. Poseidon was staring at the rake in horror. Hades was looking at the newspapers. Zeus and Hera were kissing in the corner. Something written on one of the newspapers caught my eye.

"Play with fire, you'll get burned," I read aloud. "Or die." It was written in orange sharpie marker, signifying that someone had come here. Most likely recently. Suddenly there was a clang and Poseidon screamed. The rake had fallen in front of him. Hades was laughing. "Why are you so scared of rakes?" He asked. Poseidon crossed his arms in defiance. "You never know what garden appliances to trust, Hades. Rakes... not one of them." Hades continued to laugh. Zeus and Hera still have yet to come up for air.

I turned and started walking towards the woods. I could no longer see the glowing eyes, but I knew they were close. In the distance I could hear Hera yelling at Hades. I also heard something like a woodpecker, but that was not important. I continued to walk until I reached the edge of the woods. My confidence was leaving me. All I wanted to do was cry and run back to Zeus. I was frozen to the spot, scared beyond belief. What was I thinking, coming out here alone? I was as fiber-brained as Demeter!

Suddenly a branch cracked. I knew that was a bad sign, since every horror movie had cracking branches. It was the classic sign that you were about to die. Then I remembered I was a goddess. Goddesses don't die. I heard something coming towards me. "Hestia?" A familiar voice yelled. I recognized it as Hades'. The others were beginning to realize I was gone. "WHAT?" Zeus cried. "HESTIA, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

I was about to scream for help when a gloved hand covered my mouth. I could not even struggle as the stranger dragged me back into the woods, the only thing I could hear being Zeus's cries.