I find myself looking up at a white ceiling. There a a light shining just out of my line of sight, but I am still squinting from it.

Everything seems too bright. I can't still be in the farmhouse. I don't even know how I got here. One second somebody had ahold of me in the darkness, and the next second I was out.

I struggle to get up from the stiff table that I am laying on. My upper body barely gets an inch off of the ground before I feel that there are straps wrapped around me.

Now I am truly alerted that something must be wrong. Could I have gone crazy and not known it? I think it's unlikely that I'm in an insane asylum. Maybe I am just on a hospital and they are strapping me down because I just had some treatment done and can't get up or it will rupture the stitches or something.

Despite my assumption, I continue to struggle with the straps, shimmying my body around on the table and trying to make even the slightest amount of progress. My efforts seem to be futile, but I keep going. I am not going to just give up.

A low chuckle sounds near me. It is immediately followed by a familiar voice. "Just stop struggling, honey. You are safe now; you are home. Don't worry."

My blood runs cold. It seems to be freezing my veins on the way to my heart. Once my heart is frozen, it struggles to beat and shatters. I am broken; my life is ruined.

I strain my neck as my as I can, given my restrictions. I just barely get a glimpse of the person that I have been trying to avoid. Soren is sitting in a chair next to another Enhanced man that looks vaguely familiar. There is a smile on Soren's face. Strangely enough, it appears to be genuine.

I swallow a couple of times, trying to find my words while also trying to moisten my dry mouth. The first time I try to say somehing, I can barely hear anything but air escaping from my mouth.

After a second's hesitation, I try again asking, "How did you know that I would be coming back?"

Soren gets up and walks to my side. "Let's just say that I had somebody on the inside."

But who could it be? It couldn't be Trace! There is no way that he would return me to my oldie. I'm certain that what was in between us was real.

Could it have been Kali? I want to say that it was, becaus it makes so much sense. Soren could have just been pretending to me that he didn't know where Kali went years ago. Maybe he didn't want me to know that there was a whole other world out there.

I almost convince myself that it was Kali when I realize something. We left Kali before Cyrus was kidnapped. She had no clue where we were going after Xander's execution. How could she have told Soren where we were going to be heading if nobody told her? Anyways, it does seem unlikely that Soren was keeping that fact that he knew where Kali was away from me.

That leaves one person. All of a sudden, I truly notice the person that had been sitting next to Soren. He move so that he is standing right besid Soren and he gives a slight wave. That fiery red hair awakens something. Recognition finally dawns on me. Cyrus. Cyrus is the one that betrayed us. Cyrus is Enhanced now. His crooked nose is now straight and a few other features are more well-defined than they had been before. He looks beautifully evil.

"But why, Cyrus?" I barely whisper. Pain from being betrayed laces my voice. It is unmistakable to them that I'm hurt.

Cyrus look almost ashamed of himself. "I used to be Enhanced, Nyx, but they stripped my enhancements after I committed an infraction. Don't get me wrong, I loved Trace like a brother. I still do, but I love this life better. When I learned from Kali that Outcasts could now become Enhanced, I jumped on that opportunity. Once I escaped from my kidnappers, I got here as fast as I could and made a deal with Soren about it. I would give him you, and he would convince the Inside to let me back in and make me Enhanced again."

Despite the fact that Cyrus still claims that he cares for Trace. I have no clue where Trace is. From what I can see of this room, he isn't in here. I immediately assume the worst. They probably did something to hurt him so that he will never come back to the Inside and try to rescue me.

"Where is Trace?" I intend for the question to be directed towards Cyrus.

Soren's eyes lower. He must know what has happened between me and Trace. He is jealous. Soren spits the words out as if they are bitter lemons. "We are going to return your friend back to his hometown on the Outside in a little while. Don't worry, nothing bad has happened to him. We'll even let you say good-bye to him in a little while."

This seems almost in characteristic of what I would expect from the person that is my husband. Why would he allow me to talk to Trace before they take him away? It doesn't make any sense to me.

There is some palpable tension in the room, and the mention of Trace just makes it get worse. Soren and Cyrus just seem to be waiting for something. They both are standing, their muscles all tense, their bodies facing towards the door. A load appears to be lifted off of their shoulders when the doors open.

A doctor with a clipboard in his hand- the doctor that we had seen to find out about our child- meandered into the room, looking cautiously over at me. After a couple seconds of staring at me, the creases of concern on his face disappear.

"Good to see that your awake, Nyx," he says and then turns his attention to Soren. "The genetic enhancements have been implemented on Aphrodite."

This is it. I can't take it any longer. I let loose a scream of the highest pitch that I can muster. I keep it up until my throat is burning, but I even keep it up past that sensation. Soren's eyes widen in fear. He wasn't expecting this. Nobody was, not even myself. I hear pounding on the wall behind me the second after I finish.

"Nyx! Are you okay? Nyx, please let me know that you're fine. Please, Nyx!" I can just barely hear Trace's screams through the wall that separates us. At least I know that he is okay now. I open my mouth to reply to him when my mind is distracted. I can't find my words because the doctor plunges a needle into my arm. There is barely any pain, just a tiny prick, but everything goes numb afterwards. My mouth is left open, at a loss for words as my vision blurs into a sea of blackness.

~~~~~

My eyes quickly open back up, nearly making me blind due to how white the room is. I blink a few times, trying to get my eyes adjusted once again. Surprisingly, I feel calm and happy, as if some catharsis took place while I was unconscious. I don't recall why I was freaking out earlier. I am back home and my daughter will now be Enhanced.

I feel like I have finally found meaning in my life. I was selfish before. That was why I ran away. I was doing what I felt was best for myself, not for my daughter. I was stupid for doing what I did. Soren was right, our daughter would go through hell if she wasn't Enhanced like us. Intelligence is a faulty measure. It will get a person nowhere in life, and it always leads to depression. Beauty and happiness are what count. They will actually get you places.

I realize that straps are no longer holding me down. I sit up laboriously, my body having grown accustomed to laying flat on the table. Soren gets right next to the table and places his hand on my lap.

"I'm sorry," I tell him. "I was stupid. You were right, this society is wonderful. It's what everybody needs. You did change for the better when you learned the true meaning of everything. I have too. Now I see how ridiculous I was before." I know that an hour ago I would have never said this, but now I truly mean it. I honestly don't know what was wrong with me before. I must have been some defect before, but they fixed me. My perspective had been skewed from birth, but it is now where it should have been a long time ago.

"Nyx," Soren starts gently, looking down at me with concern on his face. "We are going to bring Trace in now. You can say farewell to him and we will give him the conditions of his release. Okay?"

I slightly nod, and grab ahold of Soren's hand. I squeeze it a little so that I am given some comfort. Honestly, I don't want to see Trace. I don't think I ever want to see him again. I was naive when I thought that I was in love with Trace. He has no redeeming qualities. He is and Outcast and he can't take care of himself. I have no desire for him anymore, having realized that Soren has always been the one for me.

"He's coming," Soren quietly says, directing my attention towards the door. He tries to take his hand out from under mine, but I put pressure on his hand so he just leaves it where it is. The door slowly opens and Trace is led inside by a tall, muscular man. Relief appears on Trace's face when he sees that I am okay.

"Nyx, I was worried about you..." His voice trails off as he sees my hand resting on Soren's. He must be unnerved by my uncharacteristic smile as well.

Confusion first flashes across his face, and then anger. "What the hell! Nyx! No! What did they do to you?" Trace's face is pained with anguish. His eyes look lost, he has gotten himself into something that he had never expected.

"They helped me," I say calmly, trying to express to Trace that there is nothing wrong with what happened to me. "I am finally happy, having learned the truth about how wonderful the Inside is."

"They have changed you, Nyx! They did what you feared the worst!" Desperation and pain are clear in Trace's voice. He can not handle what has happen, but that's okay. I don't expect him to understand. He is just an Outcast.

"They have changed me for the better, not that you would know though," I say, almost cruelly. I can't waste my time trying to explain this to Trace.

Tears start to form in Trace's eyes. I have seen this happen to him so much, that I finally have no concern whatsoever for him anymore. He is weak and there is no changing that.

"Nyx, please do not forget the person that you once were. You have to still be somewhere in there, I know it. As long as you don't give up on your old self, I won't give up on you as well."

I let out a brief, harsh laugh. "Well that's a little too late."

Trace collapses to the ground with a burst of sobs. Surprisingly, I still do not feel any sympathy for him. His chest heaves forward with each breath he struggles to take.

Soren motions at the man who brought Trace in. The man's muscles bulge as he bends down and lifts up Trace, carrying him as if he were a baby.

"You can never come back to the Inside again. If I see you around here, I promise that I will kill you," Soren warns.

Trace takes a break from his sobs and gives a laugh similar to mine. "It's not like I will. I never want to see her again." Trace practically spits out the word "her". He doesn't even use my name. That brings some pain to me. Just recently I was probably the only love of his life, and now he won't even say my name. It is amazing how somebody's view of others can change so quickly.

The muscular man takes Trace away as I am left to glare at nothing but empty space. Soren sits down on the edge of the table. He removes his hand from underneath mine and wraps it around my waist. I lean my body into his, absorbing the warmth that is emanating from him.

"I can't believe that I once loved him," I say, laughing it off. I nestle my head into the crook of Soren's arm.

"I can't believe it either," Soren says, but without any laughter. He doesn't seem to find it excusable.

"Anyways," I start, trying to get Soren's mind off of my major folly. "I promise to let nothing ever come between us again. I can finally be happy with you without any distractions. What do you say?"

"That sounds good," Soren says. I have no doubt that I will keep my promise, as now I am truly happy with Soren. There is nothing that I would change about my life right now.

~~~~~

Well that's it. So did you hate this ending? If so, I'm sorry but that's a good thing! Anyways, click over to my author's note on the next chapter if you want to see my justification or thoughts or if you have any questions.