The witches issued commands to be completed by each of the boys, starting from the end of the line, with the exception of the witch who had already been eliminated. The first few commands were simple, and it sickened Taehyung to hear how they were treating the boys like mindless animals. The witches had made a game of it, it seemed; they laughed amongst themselves while instructing the humans to sit down, roll over.

"When are we going to get Hyungwon?" Taehyung whispered to Hoseok, who patted his thigh in reassurance.

"We can't do anything just yet," Hoseok said, looking on with worry. Besides the initial fatality, there hadn't been any other injuries as of yet, which only made him more nervous.

"Paw," one of the witches to Seungcheol's right said, sticking out a hand, and the other witches mimicked his position.

The human he was paired with, who looked to be some kind of insect with antennae sprouting from his hair, hesitated before extending a hand to his witch.

Each of the other boys copied him, some more reluctant than others, but they were all aware of the stakes should they fail.

The next witch to issue a command was tall and slim, his long hair falling over one shoulder. His voice was softer than the others, his eyes not lit up in amusement. His lips moved in a single syllable, and his human hesitated before bowing his head and putting his hands together. The others again copied him, and Taehyung looked over to Hoseok in confusion, as he hadn't been able to make the command out.

"What did he say?" Taehyung asked, looking back at the boys once more before looking over at Hoseok.

Hoseok's eyes were sad. "He said, Pray. He knows that most will not make it out alive. He's giving them the chances to send their last words to God or to their loved ones." Hoseok paused, sensing Taehyung's confusion. "That witch is named Jeonghan. He's one of the oldest members of the head coven, second only to Seungcheol himself. He's been Seungcheol's right hand man, so to speak, for centuries. But he and Seungcheol are very different."

Taehyung looked back at the witch Jeonghan and wondered what was in his mind as he stared down at the cowering human in front of him, his hands clasped together so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his eyes squeezed shut. "Even so. All they can really pray is that everybody else dies, right? Because that's the only way they'll live. What kind of a prayer is that?"

Hoseok sighed, his hands restless. "Not everybody plans on leaving alive. Most are already aware and are just waiting for the most painless opportunity to disappear."

Taehyung's lips twitched, but he didn't reply, as Seungcheol was directly next to Jeonghan, and he would be giving the next order. Taehyung's eyes dropped to Hyungwon, who had his hands clasped together like the other boys, but his eyes were open, blank.

"What is he doing?" Taehyung asked, nudging Hoseok's shoulder, but it was Kihyun who answered this time.

"Either he has no one to pray to or nothing to pray for," Kihyun answered in a voice empty of his usual derision.

"Of course he does," Taehyung said, somehow upset by Hyungwon's behavior. The whole time, he'd been silent, unaffected. Taehyung wanted him to look...well, it sounded awful to his own ears, but he wanted Hyungwon to look scared, to look panicked. Because fear, panic...those were human emotions.

Where had the humanity in Hyungwon gone?

"The Hyungwon you knew several weeks ago and the Hyungwon before you now are not the same," Kihyun answered.

Taehyung wanted to respond, but he was cut off by Seungcheol, who stepped forward with a small smile that made Taehyung's stomach drop. His following words only intensified the feeling of extreme dread that was making Taehyung's hair stand on end, his arms riddled with goosebumps. "Choose a finger," Seungcheol began before tilting his head, his smile widening, "and break it."

Taehyung let out a nervous sigh, licking his bottom lip. "That's impossible," he mumbled. "In school, we learned about this, how physically, it's not that hard to snap a finger, but there's a psychological block in your brain. You just can't do it. It's-"

He'd been about to say impossible once more when his words died in his throat as he watched Hyungwon calmly examine his hands before taking his first two fingers and thumb from his right hand and using them to snap his left ring finger.

Taehyung choked for a moment, horrified by the sight. He was too far away to hear the sound, but he could picture it in his brain, a sickening click as his finger was twisted in an abnormal way.

Hoseok's hands were white from the pressure he was exerting to keep them on his kneecaps, positive that if he wasn't physically holding himself down, that he would have already bolted forward. His eyes, too, were on Hyungwon, reading the wince that passed through his body but was quickly stilled as his arms fell to his sides, swaying limply.

The other boys either gawked at Hyungwon in overt horror or were currently staring at their own hands, terrified of the thought of harming themselves but equally terrified as to the consequences if they didn't.

Seungcheol, however, was not a very patient witch. "Since you're all taking so long and I can't just kill all of you so soon, I'll show you mercy and give you a bit of help," he announced, and with a snap of his fingers, eleven more snaps occurred instantly. There were several screams, and the mouse boy fell to the ground, clutching his hand and shrieking.

Hyungwon remained still, the only one to have successfully completed the challenge.

Jooheon, on Kihyun's right, watched in disgust as Seungcheol smiled at Hyungwon, stepping forward to put his hand on Hyungwon's head, which he bowed down slightly, and run his fingers through Hyungwon's hair. Without realizing it, a possessive growl had started in the back of Jooheon's throat, but Kihyun's hand on his arm made him come to, looking over in agitation.

"What?" Jooheon asked, his eyes narrowed and his voice rough.

"I know you're upset but stay focused," Kihyun said, his face serious and his eyes dark. "Hoseok here can heal that."

"It's not the broken finger that bothers me," Jooheon snarled. "It's the fact that he broke it. His own finger. Because Seungcheol told him to."

"And worse may yet happen," Kihyun said sharply. "But if you charge in now, you're going to get all of us killed, Hyungwon included."

Jooheon inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to settle back into his seat as he turned his gaze back to the arena.

But when he looked at Hyungwon, all he could see was the soft boy he'd helped raise, coming into the living room in one of Changkyun's oversized t-shirts, sweater paws used to rub at his sleepy eyes as he collapsed into his personal armchair and made needy sounds as a cue for Jooheon to come pet him. He wanted that Hyungwon back.

He didn't know if that would be the Hyungwon they were going to bring home.

Even so, he swallowed, trying to push back his anger for now at least. The only thing holding it back was the knowledge that Changkyun, sitting somewhere above them, had to be restraining even greater rage than Jooheon, as he hadn't yet attempted to burn down the entire realm. If Changkyun could stand it, so could Jooheon.

Even if it broke his heart a little, or a lot, to see his precious little kitten looking so dead inside.