WARNING: This chapter may have some potentially disturbing content.

 

There was no response when Noah finally knocked on the office door. He shrugged it off and apologized to Cadence, suggesting they just leave. But then they heard a voice from directly behind them.

 

“yOu HaVe BuGs????!!!!!????”

 

The children were so startled that they dropped the jars containing the bugs, but Mr. Bartholomew’s beastman instincts kicked in at just the right moment to catch them. As such, Cadence watched awkwardly as her teacher crouched to the floor, admiring a large spider while his tail twitched in excitement.

 

“Oh yes… Oh very good… A prime specimen indeed…. Hehehehehehehe….”

 

The atmosphere was starting to get weird, so Cadence jumped in before she saw something she didn’t need to.

 

“Um.. Sir… Why do you need the bugs, exactly?”

 

“Are you interested!?”

 

Mr. Bartholomew was clearly very excited to share with his students and eagerly led them into his office.

 

Cadence felt chills when she saw that the whole room was lined with shelves containing jars of various live bugs. There were several that clearly intended to escape, much like the three that she had brought in with Noah. But there were also many that didn’t seem to struggle at all.

 

And Cadence knew that those bugs had been in captivity for a very long time. So long that they abandoned all hope of freedom.

 

There were other things in the office as well. A very messy desk paired with a disorganized bookshelf in one corner, a set of poorly cared for couches in the other….

 

And in the very center of the room, there was a large glass tank resting on a table. It was completely empty. Despite being empty, it had various magical items for recording sight and sound surrounding it on all sides.

 

Cadence had no idea what it could possibly be used for, but her teacher began to speak before she could ask.

 

“This is where the magic happens…. Hehe…. Let’s see… We’ll use this new one… And… This one here? Wait! First, let me turn on the recording equipment….”

 

Mr. Bartholomew rambled along, holding the spider he just got, and pulling an older scorpion off of the shelf. He set them down, and began fiddling with the various magical devices. Cadence was desperately trying to figure out what was happening, but Noah was absorbed in identifying Mr. Bartholomew’s collection. There was no way she would get help there.

 

When Mr. Bartholomew finished running about, he called Noah’s attention before releasing both the spider and the scorpion into the tank.

 

The spider started running for the sides of the glass, struggling to get the right moment and escape.

 

The scorpion slowly stalked towards the clumsy spider.

 

Then it all happened in only an instant.

 

The scorpion pounced on the spider, and the two tumbled around the glass “arena” faster than Cadence’s eyes could register.

 

Before she knew anything at all, the spider was backed into the corner. It desperately dragged its long legs against the smooth glass, looking for any foothold it could grasp.

 

It knew it would die.

 

But the scorpion had pinned down one of its legs. It wasn’t going anywhere.

 

The scorpion shot its tail into the spider’s abdomen as fast as lightning. One time. Two times.

 

It went in for a third.

 

But the spider was behind it, already sinking its fangs deep into its body.

 

The scorpion became motionless, still pinning down the leg that the spider had willingly torn off.

 

And the seven-legged spider scurried as far away from its victim as it could.

 

Cadence wanted to cry. She felt sick to her stomach. Terror spread its way through each limb, not stopping even after her whole body trembled. But her teacher seemed unaffected.

 

“Amazing! To give up its own leg… What a fascinating survival tactic… My new favorite indeed!”

 

Saying such, Mr. Bartholomew scooped the spider back into the jar, along with the “prey” it had just killed. And then he placed the new victor back on the shelf which once held a proud scorpion.

 

It took a few seconds before Cadence could speak. Her mouth was that dry.

 

“... I mean no disrespect, but… Is this okay? Forcing them to kill each other…”

 

Mr. Bartholomew’s eyes which were just glittering in excitement turned dubious as if he had no idea why Cadence might ask such a thing.

 

“What do you mean? We can’t learn their behaviors without recreating them in a lab setting.”

 

“And that makes this fine…?”

 

Noah placed his hand on Cadence’s shoulder, obviously worried.

 

“Hey… What are you so concerned about? They’re just specimens…”

 

In other words, a specimen isn’t granted the right to live?

---

That night, Cadence rolled around in her bed. She had an open book in front of her, but couldn’t turn the page. Every time she relaxed enough to read, she pictured the spider, sparing no efforts to find any sort of salvation. Searching and reaching for help, only to fall to such desperation as to lose a limb to survive.

 

Maybe others would say that it was just a spider. But she couldn’t get it out of her mind. 

 

A brother who slowly drifted away. 

 

A prince who mocked her lack of abilities while pretending to be kind. 

 

A merchant who sought to use her for financial gain.

 

A baron who saw her as nothing more than a subject for experimenting.

 

Even her teacher would go as far as to use torture in an experiment.

 

If any of these people were to become a predator, would Cadence become the prey? One day, would she learn of that desperation and turn the tides at her own expense? How long would she have to scream to be saved before that moment would come for her?

 

If she had to become the predator to escape being the prey, how little color would there be in the world?

Cadence knew that these thoughts were pointless, but that doesn’t mean she stopped thinking them.

 

It was nearing the middle of the night, far too late to be leaving her room, but Cadence just couldn’t bring herself to read. So, she decided to go for a walk. The academy had a lovely garden just outside her dorm building, and though she wouldn’t have the light to see any flowers, perhaps she could still find some sort of relief.

 

The air held a bitter cold, but the girl didn’t have the motivation to go all the way back to her room for a jacket. She simply did her best to ignore the shivers as the icy temperature bit her skin. This was a different cold than what she felt from the dress. This cold burned her. From her bare arms, to her nose, and even the inside of her lungs, they all bore a frozen heat. 

 

It was painful, but it distracted her.

 

As she continued to walk towards the garden, she thought she could hear the sound of quick feet racing towards her. She didn’t register the sound all that much, but she didn’t need to. Her pursuer grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace, wrapping a woolen blanket around her.

 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

 

Cadence raised her head to see Caleb gasping for air through an enraged face. It was clear that he had been running for quite awhile, and she could only think of how difficult it must be for him to catch his breath in the cold.

 

“Coming outside with no coat or blanket… Do you want to get sick? It’s freezing!”

 

Caleb forcefully pulled Cadence back into the dorm building and sat her down in front of the nearest lit fireplace. The twins have had plenty of fights and thrown more than their fair share of tantrums, but Caleb had never been this upset.

 

“Cadence… Did something happen?”

 

“Not particularly… Maybe I should say that there are a lot of things I have to think about?”

 

“Don’t think too hard, okay? It’s not good for you.”

 

Cadence gave a sharp exhale through her nose at her brother’s playful attempt at comfort. She would have retorted, but she didn’t have anything to say. She simply didn’t want to talk at all. 

 

So the twins sat in silence as they watched the fire burn.