Another two days passed without any disappearances, each of the families in the village locking up their homes at night and never straying out alone. Hakyeon felt a bit like an anomaly since he lived alone, and not for the first time he almost wished that he had someone living with him. He was used to the silence but now it seemed that it stretched too long, too ominous, and he found himself bolting his windows and wondering how much good that would do. There was still the skeptical side of him saying that they were all over-reacting, that the boys had just run off on their own, but then the strange behavior with the starlings would come back to mind and he would have to fight down a chill.

Two days, and on the evening of the third day there came a loud cry from the village. Hakyeon had been heading in from the field, Wonshik beside him and chatting like his normal self, but when they heard it they dropped their conversation and ran toward the cry. There was such anguish in it that there could be no pretense of what it was: another must have gone missing.

Yet when they arrived on the village green, panting and out of breath, it was to the sight of a large crowd gathered around Sanghyuk's mother. The shrieks were coming from as her hands clutched at her boy's face, and for brief moment Hakyeon felt relief that the boy was back and seemingly unharmed. Then he realized that the sounds coming from her were not of joy but of terrible loss, and he caught a closer glimpse of Sanghyuk's face.

He stood there, his mother's hands grasping his face and her anguish directly in front of him, but there was no recognition in his eyes. No emotion in his face whatsoever, actually, as he stared unfocused in front of him. When he was a young child Hakyeon had seen a man kicked in the head by a horse, and the blank expression on Sanghyuk's face brought the comparison to mind. 

The boy's mother pulled him close to hold him to her, her sobs wracking her body, but still, there was no change to Sanghyuk's expression: he didn't even lift his arms to hold her in return. 

'He's like a shell,' Hakyeon thought in horror, and didn't realize he'd spoken it out loud until Wonshik gave him a sharp glare to silence him. Dongwoo was standing near the two and must have heard him too, because he turned to give them both a dark look. Hakyeon caught his arm and pulled him a few steps back, lowering his voice for only the two of them to hear. "What happened?" 

The older man shook his head and looked back at Sanghyuk and his mother, the mayor's arm now wrapped around the woman's shoulders as he tried to lead her and her son toward their home. The once-mischievous boy now followed his mother's tug on his wrist like an obedient lamb; the thought made Hakyeon feel sick. "He came out of the woods, just like that. Walked right up to the green and stopped."

"Did he say anything?" Wonshik asked, but before Dongwoo could answer, Sunggyu did.

"He said only one word: Taekwoon." Sunggyu's voice was terse and angry, but Hakyeon's mind immediately started to whirl with questions. Why would the boy say Taekwoon's name? Did it have anything to do with the starlings? Wonshik shook his head though and gave Hakyeon a warning look to keep his mouth shut before he turned to the other man.

"Why would he say Taekwoon's name?" Wonshik asked slowly, and Sunggyu gave him an incredulous glare.

"You're kidding, right? It's only obvious! Taekwoon is the only person who goes into those woods, he must have stolen Sanghyuk and the others away and is doing some sort of dark magic on them. Before Mr. Jung died, the mayor was certain that there was dark magic going on with that man... he must have passed whatever he knew on to his son and now Taekwoon is carrying it out." Sunggyu motioned around them, at the small crowd of angry faces that had grown with his every word. "We need to go put a stop to this!"

That sounded too far-fetched and like hear-say for Hakyeon, but as he opened his mouth to disagree, Wonshik slapped a hand over it and pulled him away. "We'll join you in a second, let us get our bows!" he called over his shoulder, doggedly pushing Hakyeon in the direction of his home. There was no response from behind them, though, everyone too caught up in pointing fingers at the Jung's to bother with the two of them.

Wonshik waited until they were out of earshot before removing his hand from Hakyeon's mouth, wiping the saliva off onto his pants and giving his friend a glare. "Can't you keep your mouth shut?" he asked, but Hakyeon had alrea