With each step I take, My heart pounds faster and fater in my chest. I am worried that if we travel too far, if we get too close to the Inside, my heart will just stop from exhaustion. If so, Trace will learn too late that he can't push me into doing something against my will. I almost wish that something would happen to me, preferably not dying, but maybe fainting. That would prevent us from having to enter the Inside.

I'm not sure why, but I just have a bad feeling about heading back to the Inside. I think it probably has to do with the fact that we got so lucky the last time we went there, me having just evaded being recognized by Soren. Luck was on our side then, but you can never depend on luck when you most need it. Luck is like any normal person. It can never really be trusted, but sometimes you have to depend on it and hope for the best.

Trace is trudging ahead of me. I'm almost positive that he's upset with me, but he promised that he would always protect me. Going to get Cyrus is putting me in danger rather than protecting me. Cyrus got himself out of the mess with the kidnappers, so he can without a doubt fend for himself and not need us to go looking for him.

"What if Cyrus isn't in the farmhouse?" I ask, trying to figure out what Trace's plan is so I can undermine it. I want to make him change his mind.

"Well, then we'll just wait for him for a few hours. If he doesn't eventually come we will search throughout the town to find him." Trace seems to be adamant on meeting up with Cyrus. It is very unlikely that he will be convinced to just let Cyrus go and deal with his problems himself, but it's worth a try anyways.

"What if Cyrus has been kidnapped once again?" I don't think that it is very likely. There is no bounty over Cyrus's head, or at least none that I know of. Anyways, the farmhouse that Cyrus is supposed to be waiting for us at seemed to be totally abandoned at the time when we visited it before. It is highly unlikely that somebody will just randomly come across Cyrus there.

"Then we will just have to go after him!" I hadn't truly realized how much Trace cared about Cyrus until this instance. I mean, they had said they cared about each other, but I never quite knew to what extent. They have a brotherly relationship, but since I do not have a sibling, I guess it's hard for me to exactly understand what that means. I guess it means that you will go to Hell and back to try to save them if they are ever in danger. You will stop thinking about yourself and totally focus on them. You will have no regard for your own well-being until you are positive that they are safe. It would be nice to have that kind of a relationship with somebody.

"What if all of this is a trap? What if Cyrus didn't actually write that note for us?" I know that what I'm saying is unlikely, but I'm a pessimist and I want to make sure that Trace truly knows that nothing may be as he thinks.

"I highly doubt it is. From what I recall, it looks like Cyrus's handwriting." Of course, Trace is trying to be the voice of reason. He is trying to convince me of my point, and, admittedly, there is much more logic on his side. But I have more desperation.

"But still, what if it is?"

"Then I will do all that I can to keep you away from your husband. I will fight him myself if I have to!"

Trace stops in his tracks and turns around. His face is flushed red from frustration but he is smiling. "You are stubborn, aren't you? You just want to get your way no matter what. I'm sorry to tell you, but this time you have to go against your will. Just think of it as you doing a favor for me."

"So what will happen when we are done with this?" I ask Trace. I have had no plan whatsoever about what to do after escaping. I have been taken places that I hadn't expected and now I'm lost. The only thing that I know is that no matter what, I'm going to stay with Trace. He is what I need. He can protect me from the dangers that I may face.

Trace shakes his head. "I'm not quite sure. I've been pondering about that for a while now. I don't really want to go back to Lakeside. There are so many negative memories and feelings that it brings me. I think that we should just live in isolation, you and me. Maybe Cyrus too, I don't really know what he would want to do, though.

I could build us a cabin by a lake somewhere. We could just live there in peace and you would have your daughter there. What do you want her name to be, again?"

"Clarity." I said quietly. My tongue had almost slipped by saying Aprhodite. I didn't want my daughter's name to reflect what I had escaped, though.

"Clarity," Trace let the name sit on his tongue for a few seconds. He seemed to be cherishing it's sound. "I like that name. I think that it accurately represents this situation that you've been in. Anyways, we can raise Clarity all alone. She will have no knowledge of what a terrible life she had just escaped. She will grow up to rely on nobody but herself and her resourcefulness.

"Maybe one day after she is a young adult and has matured, we may tell her of the society's that we saved her from. She will be grateful to us for giving her such a wonderful life free of any worries that she may have faced had she grown up on the Inside or in Lakeside. She would not have to constantly worry about appearing suitable enough to find a spouse, no would she have to worry about her safety all of the time. Wouldn't that be wonderful?" A smile is starting to form on Trace's face as he gazes off into the distance. He's looking towards the future that we both hope we will have. I wish that I could be the idealist that Trace is, but I'm not positive that everything would be that perfect.

"But don't you think that she would sometime grow suspicious of her circumstances? Would she question why nobody else was living this kind of life, why we tended to avoid others? Would she somehow figure out that you were not her true father? What would we do then?"

"We would just have to tell her the truth. If we explain it all to her she would understand. Don't worry, honey." Trace quickly grabs my hand and squeezes it reassuringly. As he lets go, I try to grab his hand back, but he is too quick.

"But what if she wanted to meet her real father?" I don't know how Soren would ever deal with that. One day all of a sudden his daughter that was taken away from him appears on his doorstep. I'm not sure if he would hate her or still care about her. I'd like to think the latter, but the former seems more plausible. I try to assure myself of the latter by thinking that she didn't choose any of this. It's not her fault.

"Let her make the decision herself. She could go and try to find him if she wanted to. What harm could come from that? You wouldn't have to go see him and it would be good for Soren to see that she was doing well." Trace does well to assure me that no matter what happens, everything will work out fine. I almost think that there is no danger in me going with him, since I know that he will fight against the whole world just to protect me. Almost, but not quite. I still have the nagging feeling in me that something isn't right. I'm worried that we may just be setting ourselves up for danger.

The nagging in my head becomes more pronounced when we find ourselves standing in front of the farmhouse in the dead of the night. My eyes slowly graze over the features that now look so ominous. There are no lights to be seen on the inside. The only source of illumination allowing me to see its features is the moonlight.

The door is slightly open, as if tempting us to come inside. It is almost like a slight, sinister grin that the house is trying to hide from us. Many windows have shattered glass lining the edges. It's as if the main monster is made up of many little ones, all yearning with their teeth bared to have their next meal.

Trace must notice my trepidation. He grabs ahold of my hand gently and lifts it up with his towards his mouth. His lips longer over my hand for a second before they make contact. Shivers run up my spine. I am not quite used to this kind of true affection.

Trace's lips travel in the air, over my arm and over my neck, until they finally find their resting place on my lips. We share a sensational moment together. It is just us, alone in the night, expressing pure desperation and love. There is nothing that I would have rather been doing.

"Let's go meet Cyrus now. I will be right next to you," Trace whispers, so quiet that I can only faintly hear him. His hand remains glued to mine.

For a second, I think about resisting. I still do not want to do this. But, all of a sudden I realize that I need to do this for Trace, especially after all he has done for me. I need to repay him for all of the kindness and concern he's shown towards me.

Despite my original intentions, I walk along Trace's side into the farmhouse. The darkness engulfs us, but I just grab ahold of Trace's hand tighter. I trust his judgement in finding where to go.

"Stairs," Trace says a little stilted after I heard a bump. He must have ran into them without realizing that they were there. Climbing stairs is a lot harder than you would expect in the dark, especially on a staircase that you are not very familiar with. With the exception of a few minor stumbles, Trace and I make it up the stairs.

The whole house is eerily quiet. That makes it easy to hear the footsteps. I assume that they aren't those of Trace because if there are I would have heard them earlier. Trace stops ahead of me and I bump my face into his back. I am about to apologize when I feel Trace's hand ripped away from mine. The pounding of footsteps is all that I can hear in front of me. I try to follow them, but I just run into something hard. The smooth, wooden texture with the exception of one cold piece jutting out tells me that it is a door.

"Trace!" I scream. He wasn't supposed to leave me. He told me that he would protect me no matter what. How can he protect me if he's not by my side? My heart starts to pound so loud that I'm worried that somebody may hear it and come to get me.

The only response that I get is a muffled yelp. I can't even tell if it is Trace.

Desperate to save myself, I turn around and try to find my way to the stairs. As I start to run forward, I collide with a thick body. Strong arms find their way around my body.

~~~~~

Well, I think I will look over this tomorrow because I may want to improve some parts, but this is good enough for now. What did you think?