Chapter 10- Fourth Day: Choice

Taylor slowly opened her eyes to the morning sun and sat up to look out of the window. She held her hand up to the sky while looking at the back of her hand. Taylor let out a soft sigh before something suddenly snatched her wrist, wrenching her out of the window with ease. Taylor clenched her teeth from the suddenness as she was hanging over the ground. She turned her head to see a person wearing camouflage with an orange pair of goggles over his eyes standing on the ledge beside Taylor's window.

"What the hell are you doing?" Taylor snapped angrily and the man paused while staring at Taylor from behind his goggles. He slowly let Taylor down next to him on the ledge. Taylor glared at the man until he removed his goggles with a soft sigh.

"I thought you were summoning something." Taylor flinched as she saw that it was Shadow. She eased up a bit before noticing that Shadow was staring down onto the street below. He opened his mouth to say something until Taylor's COMP suddenly beeped loudly. Shadow rubbed his ear in mock hurt while Taylor flipped her COMP open.

GOOOOOOOOO OOOOOd m rning!

At 1 :00 thE deMons S aLl sWarm FRom M dIsOn SQuAre Gar En. DEm n tAmErs ARe lAter rE Ort d aS The cAus .

T E cAfé CinDe eLl WILl Be bU nEd doWn bY rIo s dEMa dIng fR dOm aT 16:00. VIct m: Kit Gat

D MOns wiLl APp ar iN WAs InGt n S uAre aRk aNd ATtaCk in oCEnt pEopl At 16:00. Vi tiM: Rose Coldhart

H vE nI e De Th!

"Well, ain't that cheery. What the hell is it?" Shadow asked cautiously but Taylor didn't answer as stared at the mail in shock. Shadow stared at her for a second before sighing loudly. "Those COMPs are sure weird…"

"Don't you have one?" Taylor asked and Shadow chuckled before sliding his hands into his jean pockets. The collar of his jacket crackled with static from the transmitter on it, but Shadow ignored it.

"Of course not. Now what is that mail going on about?" he asked and Taylor looked at the mail and gulped nervously.

"The first thing… it's so hard to read…" Taylor muttered and Shadow huffed before taking Taylor's COMP away from her and looking at the mail himself while using his free hand to keep Taylor back. He read it quickly and then handed it back to Taylor who snatched it out of his hand.

"Madison Square Garden, then Café Cinderella at 16:00, and at the same time Washington Square Park. Seeing as demons aren't my thing, I'll head to Cinderella," Shadow said calmly before jumping down from the ledge onto the street. Shadow looked back up at Taylor while placing his orange goggles over his eyes. "Better get started with your tasks."

With that he was gone down the street and Taylor stayed on the ledge until she heard frantic knocking on her door inside. She climbed through the window and went to the door. The moment she unlocked it, the door swung in hitting her hard in the head. Howl and Chow rushed into the room while Taylor cradled her head in pain.

"Did you see the Laplace Mail, Taylor?" Howl asked frightened and Taylor nodded shakingly. Chow angrily punched Taylor's wall, making Taylor glare at him for a split second until the door swung open again hitting Taylor in the head. Kevin looked at the three hurriedly.

"What are you three doing?" he asked before dragging Chow and Howl out of the room while Taylor followed close behind. They rushed out into the street while Kevin scanned the map he had of the area. "Washington Square Park… Where the hell is it?!"

"Calm down, Kevin. It's not 4 o'clock yet," Taylor said, but Kevin didn't calm down as he continued to scan the map. He kept staring at it as he answered Taylor.

"Rose is in danger! I don't care what time it is!" he snapped and Howl grimaced sadly.

"Kit is also in danger!" she said and Taylor smiled softly to Howl.

"Kit will be fine. Shadow said he'd head over there," Taylor said and Chow raised an eyebrow at Taylor in suspicion.

"And how might Shadow know about the Laplace Mail?"

"Details. We should first find out what time the first event will happen at. So far all the mails have been in chronic order, so whatever this swarm of demons is it'll happen before 4 o'clock," Taylor stated and before Chow, Howl, or Kevin could respond, a happy chuckle reached their ears from above.

"Now, do you think it'll be so easy? Humans after all are filled with anger. Such a tough decision you have! I feel bad for you, so I'll give you a little hint. Someone is going to die today. Can you guess who?" a voice asked playfully with a cheerful chuckle at the end. Taylor looked around but didn't see anyone around them. Another chuckle reached their ears after Taylor had looked around. "Come on, guess who. This game's no fun if you don't play along!"

Chow clenched his fists tightly as he glared around him for the source of the voice. Howl looked around worriedly while Taylor looked straight ahead. Kevin scanned the map more as the voice laughed. Taylor gritted her teeth before looking up.

"You think this is a game?!"

"Yes, I do. You all are just fun little pieces moving a board. Now one piece is going to have to die for this game to continue. Hehehe… I hope Big Sister is in the mood to play too! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" With that the voice disappeared and the eerie silence after was broken by Taylor's COMP beeping again. She quickly flipped it open and her eyes widened in shock at the message.

Get here. NOW. We need help… a LOT OF HELP.

Taylor showed the other three the message and Howl raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Who sent it?" she asked curiously as Taylor snapped her COMP shut and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Shadow. Something's happening at Cinderella!" Taylor said before running off. Chow and Howl quickly ran after her while Kevin took off in the opposite direction. Taylor, Chow, and Howl didn't notice he wasn't with them until they reached the street Cinderella was on. There was a towering flame coming from the building the café owned.

"There you are!" Taylor looked up to see Shadow standing on the roof of a building near Cinderella as he stared down at them. "Hurry up and get rid of this thing!"

"What thing?" Howl shouted back up right before a large red foot smashed onto the street down from the three. Taylor, Chow, and Howl slowly stared at the foot and then lifted their heads up to see a towering red giant with six arms staring back at them. The giant placed its front two palms together before a growling noise rose from the giant. The street shattered and broke apart from the giant's very presence as it continued to stare down at the three. Shadow gritted his teeth angrily as he glared at the giant.

"That thing suddenly appeared across the street and everything started falling apart! I don't care if it's a demon or not! Get rid of it!" Shadow snapped and Taylor nodded before glaring up at the giant's face. The giant opened its mouth slowly letting out a low moan.

"By orders of our divine Lord Diagabel, the human with the blood of Bel shall be destroyed by Asura's wrath," Asura said deeply before rising three fists and smashed them down onto the street.