Welcome back The Puppet Monsters everyone I hope that you enjoy the chapter. Please remember to VOTE and COMMENT it means a lot to, plus I like chatting with you guys. Also please watch the video it goes with the chapter. ~XOXO BUTTERBALL~

The song is Crazy=Genius by Panic at the disco

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-Matthew-

I let out a huff as I walked out of the kitchen.

With those fucking detectives snooping around I have to be even more thorough about running the business.

I froze just as I was about to go into the wine cellar, I could hear a someone knocking the front door.

Oh, great who the world could that be. It's eight pm on a Sunday most normal people are in church.

Grumbling under my breath I stormed over to the door. I was hungry, tired and just plain irritated.

"I swear if it's those goddamn cops they're not leaving this house alive," I growled under my breath.

For a moment I just stood in front of the door taking a few deep breaths to compose myself before I opened the front door with a wide smile on my face. "Why hello there how may I help you?" I asked the man standing there.

The first thing I noticed was his red hair the color of dried blood. As his red eyes looked at me I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. As the man smiled back at me I couldn't help but see his sharp almost dog-like teeth.

He's not human!

"You-"

"Is Mikleo here?" He asked calmly cutting me off.

"M-Mikleo...you mean Taiga?" I whispered.

He smiled wider and nodded. "I forgot that he has a different name than in the underworld. Would you do me a favor and get him for me, I need to talk to him about something work-related."

As I stood there stunned he pushed past me entering the house. "Oh, by the way, you're not human are you kid?" He asked as he looked around his hands in his pockets.

"My name is not kid, it's Matthew and no," I growled between clenched teeth.

However, he looked over his shoulder at me. "Good thing you're a demon then kid or else I would've ripped out your heart when you opened the door." He told me the look in his eyes said that he was being completely serious.

I couldn't help but shudder as I closed the door.

I don't see any stitches so he's not a puppet, I don't think demons can be masters though. If he was going to do something he would've attacked the second I opened the door.

After a moment or two, I walked upstairs. "I bet he's in Corina's room," I mumbled as I navigated the hallways. I knocked on Corina's bedroom door and waited a minute before opening it. And I froze whether it was in shock or rage I didn't know.

"You deflowered my sister," I said slowly.

Taiga yawned as he looked over at me he glanced at the window then smirked. "Morin' or should I say night?"

"You fucked my sister!" I roared.

Despite my growling and snarling Taiga just smiled and stretched. "By the way, if you keep making all that noise you'll wake Corina up. Did you need something or did you just come to disrupt her sleep schedule?"

"I'll kill you!" I snarled only to freeze as Corina sat up.

She quickly looked around and when her eyes landed on me she let out a small shriek and ducked under the covers. "Fucking hell Matthew! W-why are you in here?" She asked.

"Someone came to the front door for Taiga but this I didn't expect to open the door to this travesty," I snapped.

Taiga frowned. "Was the person human?"

"Red hair, red eyes, hates humans apparently. Would you get out of my sister's bed?"

Taiga froze at my answer then his eyes went wide. "Holy shit he's here because of Zaveid," he groaned.

"Who is it?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Karno but humans know him as the horsemen of war, He's one of my bosses," Taiga said.

"The horsemen of the apocalypse are your bosses?" I asked slowly.

Taiga winced then nodded. "There Karno who is War, Ichthys which is Pestilence, Colette who is famine and finally there's Zyglavis otherwise known as death."

For a moment I just there the hair on the back of my arms and neck tingling, it felt as though I'd been dunked in ice-cold water. "I left him downstairs..." I mumbled slowly. A second later I ran out of the room, it felt like I was an animal trying to escape a cage.

When I reached the top of the staircase my body seemed to lock up against my own will, the red-haired man War was talking to three other people. A very feminine looking man who had blonde hair, deer antlers and wore a doctor's coat. An incredibly beautiful looking black haired woman with bat ears atop her head and glasses. And finally a black-haired man with ram-like horns and black crow-like wings, he seemed to give off an odd aura as he glanced up at me, for a moment he looked at me the same way a human looks at a bug before a strange smile came over his face.

In his arms, he held Opal gently petting him as he turned back to his companions.

Behind me, I heard two sets of footsteps as Taiga and Corina approached.

"There you are Taiga, I was looking for you by the way you have an adorable pet cat." The black-haired man said.

"Opal!" Corina gasped.

"It's not mine, master Zyglavis," Taiga informed him looking very uncomfortable.

The woman beside Zyglavis grinned at Corina. "Oh wow, Rose looks really cute this time around."

"Colette don't scare the poor girl," Zyglavis sighed.

Colette narrowed her eyes at him. "You're the only person who's scaring people you bastard. The only reason you can pet that cat is because it's literally too scared to move, hell it's not even blinking."

Beside her, the blonde man chuckled smirking at Zyglavis. "The only way anyone or anything could love you is if they are a corpse or are about to be one."

"So Ichthys, what your saying is for you to actually like me I need to poison your coffee. Got it," Zyglavis said smirking back instantly Ichthys frowned and began grumbling something under his breath.

Karno let out a loud sigh. "Ladies and gentlemen please shut the fuck we have important matters to attend to."

Colette crossed her arms and huffed, as she pouted slightly. Zyglavis set Opal down
surprisingly gently Corina ran over to Opal swiftly picking him up. Slowly Taiga and I followed her down the steps.

"I didn't hurt him, I think the poor little guy is just scared," Zyglavis told Corina as she turned Opal around in her hands inspecting him.

Colette chuckled. "Yeah, Zyglavis loves animals though they don't always like him," she said as she adjusted her skirt. As she spoke and moved I couldn't but stare at her, she was so beautiful it was almost inhuman there wasn't a single blemish or mark on her skin. It looked soft as silk.

She looked at me for a moment before she raised her hands and clapped them once in front of my face. I jumped slightly the haze over my mind disappearing.

"There we go, careful Matthew stare at me too much and I'll end up bringing you home with me," she chuckled smiling at me.

"Of course this idiot falls under Famine's spell," Taiga grumbled underneath his breath.

"We heard Zaveid stopped by Taiga, mind telling us what happened? We probably should go to the dining room I can tell this talk is gonna take a while." Zyglavis said as he began walking in the direction of the dining room.

"Wait how do you know where the dining room is?" I asked him quickly.

He let out a chuckle as he looked over his shoulder at me. "Oh Matthew, I've been here before remember?" He told me before he left. His other three companions followed closely behind him.

Once they were out of sight Taiga let out a loud sigh before turning to me and Corrina. "Okay, I need to tell you the basic rules of dealing with them. One don't challenge War on anything don't even think about doing it. Two don't stare at Colette, Matthew if you end up being drawn in by her spell for too long you won't be able to escape it. Three if she offers you food you have to take it, you don't have to eat it but just accept it from her," he explained. "And finally don't piss of Zyglavis it's hard to do but I know you'll try your hardest Matthew so just kill that line of thinking right there."

"What about the blonde one, Ichthys?" Corina asked softly gripping Opal to her chest she looked like she'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Oh, him, he's actually less volatile than the others so just ignore him I suppose. He and I don't really talk unless we have to, he's a man of few words." Taiga told her.

Normally I would have protested against anything Taiga had to say but when you have the four horsemen of the apocalypse in your home it makes you more willing to follow instructions.

When the three of us entered the dining room, Colette ran up to Corina grinning. "Rose, your name's Corina this time, right? That's such a cute name," she exclaimed.

Corina stared at her with wide eyes. "Thank you." She said slowly.

Colette chuckled before heading toward the kitchen door. "I'm gonna make some scones wearing that glamour for so long irritated my skin and made me hungry. Do you guys want anything?"

"Your always hungry Colette," Zyglavis pointed out.

"Bring me some water please," Ichthys said as he waved at her, that's when I noticed that he was wearing gloves on both hands.

I heard the click of a lighter next to me and glanced over to see Corina light a cigarette her hands trembling as she shoved the lighter back into her skirt pocket.

Taiga pulled out Corina's chair for her before sitting down next to her and I sat next to Taiga. Colette brought Ichthys his cup of water before rushing back into the kitchen.

"Zaveid came to visit a few days ago to tell me he's back in the competition," Taiga
told them.

Zyglavis sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fucking angel bastards, we tell them the rules and they find their own loopholes," he grumbled.

"You could just smite him off the face of the earth, you know?" War suggested.

Zyglavis clicked his tongue as he tipped his chair back. "And have those bastards and their sky monster accuse us of cheating. You know the moment I do that they'll make our previous win null and void. Which means we don't get the first move."

"Um, what exactly is this competition about? Taiga explained some of it but with the way you talk there's more to it," Corina asked softly.

For a brief moment, Zyglavis looked confused then he looked at Taiga. "You didn't tell her about the Angels and Hell?"

"I didn't think it was important," Taiga said instantly.

"Angels?" Corina squeaked.

"Heaven and Hell politics sweetheart. Basically, Hell has its contestants in this competition and Heaven has theirs, we run this competition to basically see who gets the first move in our war. Our side has racked up the most wins thanks to your previous iterations which means one more win and we'll be allowed to reveal the paranormal to the human world. The angels, however, are close behind with Zaveid as their reigning champion, and they say revealing paranormal creatures to humans will throw the world into a tailspin," Zyglavis explained slowly.

"Can't you just do it anyway, I mean you're the four horsemen you don't follow rules," I said.

War chuckle. "If only it were that easy, we get punished by our boss if we kick start the apocalypse ahead of schedule then everyone suffers. And truthfully we don't want that."

"Your boss..." I whisper. Then it suddenly hit me. "Lucifer!"

"Ding ding papa Lulu it is!" Zyglavis exclaimed as he snickered.

War rolled his eyes. "As I said we have to follow the schedule and if we don't things can get unpleasant."

How in the hell do you make the Four horsemen follow the schedule?

"Through promises of torture, and soul mutilation. I don't have a soul but torture can go fuck itself," Zyglavis told me seemingly knowing what I was wondering about.

"I bet you anything Gabriella and Michael voted for Zaveid to come back. Uriel is a sniveling bastard and Ezekiel is six feet under," Ichthys grumbled.

"Ugh, of course, it was that guttersnipe who else would it be!" Colette hissed as she brought out a tray of freshly baked scones. The ears on her head were twitching in a similar fashion to Opal's.

She set the tray down in the middle of the table, taking ten off the tray before sitting down between Zyglavis and Ichthys.

The four of them stayed and talked with us until about eleven-thirty pm willingly explaining anything we didn't understand about, the competition, the paranormal world and themselves.

When they left Corina practically collapsed her legs giving out underneath her. Taiga grabbed her arm steadying her before she could hit the floor. "That was as bad as having mother in the house."

I shook my head. "That was worse. At least with mother, you felt like a person, talking to them felt like an ant trying to communicate and appease a human. They're a lot different than normal demons like Taiga and I, it's like they're a completely different species."