"I can't do anything," Kali says with a stone face after Trace and Cyrus head downstairs. Kali and I are in the bedroom, having left Avery in the study to himself. "I can't yell at the executioner to stop the murder before it happens. There is no way to convince him otherwise. Avery has made his orders and he is not turning back. If there is anything that I have learned about him since being brought here it is that he is dead-set on what he says. He will not take back anything." Kali picks at her nails as she speaks. She avoids my gaze as well as she can, instead focusing it on pieces of nail that are uneven or too long.

My ears catch something that she had briefly said. Something that I almost didn't even notice. "You said that you were brought here?" I ask incredulously.

"Yeah, why?" She takes this moment to look up from her nails at my face. She looks at me as if I am stupid, like I should have known this.

"I always thought, Soren and I always thought, that you had run away or been kidnapped. We didn't know anything about you being brought to the outside." I should have gotten used to finding out that things I previously assumed to be true aren't, but I just hadn't expected this.

"Yeah, well my father set up this marriage. He said something about it being good for me because I would never find one who is Enhanced that would truly care for me. It also was in his best interest so that he would have good relations with the elite of the Outside. I'm not quite sure why he wants it that way, but he has always told me that it is necessary for him."

So we were wrong about Kali's disappearance then. What surprises me the most isn't the fact that her father arranged it, but that Soren had been kept from knowing the truth of Kali's departure. Why would it need to be kept as such a secret? I have a strong feeling that Kali hasn't the slightest clue so I allow the question to be only for me to ponder on my own time.

Instead I focus on the present issue once more. Is there any way that we can save Xander? I find it somewhat strange that I am so desperate to save somebody that I don't even know. But I care about Trace and I don't want him to suffer any more, so I am willing to go to desperate measures.

"Are you absolutely positive that there is nothing that you can do?" I ask in deaperation. This is the most that I have pleaded in a long time, probably since I pleaded with Soren to delay our marriage and my pregnancy.

Kali shakes her head, an expression of genuine regret is on her face. "If I try to interfere, people will see it as a complication in the relationship that Avery and I have. They will thin that something is wrong between us which will ruin Avery's image. I can't do that to him. Anyways, just dissenting will not help your cause."

"So we just have to let all of Trace's effort in making sure that his brother is alive and safe go to waste?" I am conflicted with my emotions. I don't want Trace to be depressed, but I also don't want him to have to worry about the well-being of his brother rather than that of himself. Either result will end up causing him trouble, it's just that one will cause him trouble for a longer time.

Kali finally meets my eyes. Her clouded irises express her feelings clearly. She doesn't want this to happen any more than I do. "I'm sorry, Nyx. There truly is nothing that I can do. It has to end this way, as much as I hate to say it. Xander committed a terrible crime and he must be punished for it."

Kali breaks off from her apology and turns her head towards a small wooden clock on what appears to be her dresser. After a quick moment in which Kali reads the time, she moves past me to the door. Although she doesn't say anything, I can tell by her actions that it is time to go. The dreaded event will be experienced soon.

I follow Kali as she descends the stairs, one by one. She seems to be walking at the pace of a snail, but I assume that to just cause I am so anxious. I just want to get this situation over with, no matter what it may hold. Finally, I reach the last step and sigh in relief.

Cyrus and Trace are both waiting by the doorway. Cyrus is leaning up against one of the walls, his back and a foot prop his body against it. The expression on his face looks serene. He seems to have no apprehension, not even the slightest worry, about what will happen to Xander. He often confuses me with his mercurial behavior ranging from nonchalance to absolute enmity.

Trace has his head resting up against the opposite wall, as if it can somehow protect him from the reality of this situation. His long arms are folded back, his spidery fingers intertwined behind his neck, providing it some support. Once he seems to hear our footsteps, he turns towards us. His face is flushed with emotion. There is no question as to why.

"Where did Avery go?" Kali calmly asks. She doesn't address the question to anybody in particular, although Cyrus doesn't seem to be listening.

Trace looks incapable of speech. He just stands in front of us, looking at both of us like we are some predator cornering Trace in for the kill. Since Trace will not answer, Cyrus finally decides to speak up.

"He headed off to the execution a couple minutes ago. It is scheduled to start very soon now." He pushes his weight away from the wall and waltzes over to the door. "We'd better head over there now," Cyrus says as he opens the door for us.

----

We arrive at the town center, surrounded by a whole ocean of people. I have never been around so many Outcasts before. I don't think I have even been around this many people before! The people are forming a circle around an elevator platform. On this platform, the executioner is waiting. His muscles tense from the weight of the shotgun that is resting in his hands. The fingers of one hand tap the barrel of the gun. He is impatient. He is eager for the kill.

The crowd around us starts to part and a disapproving grumble begins. I do not realize what is happening, so I am roughly shoved to the side. I turn my back towards where I was pushed away from in time to see somebody with a bag tied over their head being led to the platform. I know that it is Xander.

A rush of emotion hits me like a bullet. It is unbearable to me, but I know that it is worse for Trace. I don't know how he can stand to be here.

As Xander is led up the steps to the platform, the crowd starts to shout something in unison. Although I try hard to understand them, blood pounding in my ears makes it near impossible. The only thing than I know is that it is an angry chant judging by the fuming faces all around me.

The chanting seems to get louder and louder until it elevates to a scream, but the scream is soon nullified by the pounding in my ears. I try my best to keep my focus on what is happening around me, to keep a grip on reality rather than this pounding sound and then-

Bang!

This sound doesn't come from inside my head. Rather, it comes from the shotgun that just shot a bullet into Xander's back. My eyes focus onto the platform where the body with the sack on its head slumps forward. Two men catch the rag doll body and drag it into a large box that is waiting at the base of the platform.

The crowd around us erupts into an applause, leaving me with a sickening taste in the back of my mouth. Why would so many people come out here to see somebody get murdered? And further, why would so many people be so happy about the death of one single person?

This world disgusts me.