When we arrive back at our "camp", Trace and I find that Cyrus has already disguised himself. I am impressed at his ability to use makeup, as it is something I would not have expected of him.

"Anything?" Cyrus asks, his eyes peering at Trace expectantly.

"We found a few possible hiding spots that we need to check out tonight. I also tried to find out if Xander has been disguising himself as Enhanced and they have no record of him." Trace plops down next to Cyrus. Cyrus pats Trace's back as if to comfort him.

"So what will we do if we don't find him here?"

Trace looks past me into the woods, as if there is some window to the truth that he can consult. His face is mixed with hope and fear. His eyes are searching for something, anything. I cannot imagine the pain that Trace is feeling, having one you love run away from you. Maybe Soren would be able to sympathize with him.

"I'm not sure. Maybe we will go back to Lakeside and see if they have any new news about Xander. I have no clue where Xander could have run off to."

Trace's task of finding his brother seems hopeless. He had to find somebody whose goal is to not be found or else he will die. It seems a if it would be an eternal task that would never go anywhere. No leads would come up, you would never be any closer to the truth.

We all rest for a while as the day begins to fade to night. Once it is past most people's curfews, we will go out to search the possible hiding places.

My eyes start to get heavy. It feels as if people are trying to force my eyes to close. Every so often they blink for an extended period of time, even though I don't want them to. Finally one time when I blink, my eyes stay closed. The invisible hands that were forcing my eyes closed win. A deep sleep encompasses me.

In what seems to only be a moment, I hear a voice. It sounds as if somebody is calling for me underwater. I can barely make out what is being said.

"Nyx, come on. We have to go back and explore the Inside now."

I struggle to open up my eyes against the force that is keeping them closed. As they open, blurry images take up my vision. There is something right up next to me, but I can't tell what. Gradually, my eyes adjust to the darkness and I can better make out my surroundings. Trace's face is what was right in front of me. There is a frown on his face and his forehead is wrinkled while he is looking at me. He seems to be disappointed that I fell asleep.

Once he acknowledges the fact that I am finally awake, he says, "Let's go."

All three of us head through the forest towards the Inside. Even though we don't necessarily need to, we enter on the same pathway as earlier. There is a stark contrast between the pathway's appearance during the day and in the middle of the night. During the day, although it is abandoned, it is very peaceful. The trees all around give it a calming effect. At night, it seems as if there are thousands of eyes watching you through the trees. The pathway is so silent that you start to imagine noises. Fortunately, we are not on that pathway for very long.

The town center looks depressing at night. A place that is usually bustling with people walking back and forth is abandoned. It is strange that it can go from being so lively to so dead within the same day. The marble buildings surrounding the town center almost look blue in the darkness, further adding to the eeriness.

First we start off by checking out the alleyways around the town center that we previously noted. We all decide to split up as to save some time. I get to check out the alleyway next to the library and the park.

After briskly treading the streets for less than a minute, I find myself in front of the library. The marble steps lead up to a grand entryway. I consider it to be the most beautiful building in the Inside. That may partly be because I used to spend a lot of my time there. I want to walk right up the polished steps, to enter the library and relive old memories. But that time has come to pass. I will be abandoning this library, this society for good once I am done here. Never again will I have to come here. Never again will I have to worry about encountering Soren or triggering old memories that will never be.

I overpower my desire and walk into the dimly lit alleyway. I've never really been down it, but I always knew that it leads to the storage room of the library.

My eyes scan back and forth, trying to make out some kind of shelter or indication that somebody has been staying here. Newspapers scatter the ground, but in a nondescript fashion. There is no method to the way they are placed, nobody has been using them as a bed. They are likely just litter from pedestrians. There is no sign of anybody trying to stay in this alleyway.

Frustrated that I couldn't help Trace, I head for the park. Maybe I will find something there. I do not want Trace to have to go on an eternal search for his brother. He doesn't deserve to be punished to look for somebody that can never be found.

The park looks almost ominous in the dark. The branches on te trees look like arms, reaching for me to take me away with them. As I walk down the main pathway, I make sure to keep watch on the sides where somebody can easily hide from others. Finally, I get to the statue in the middle of the park.

I stop in my tracks. Another memory comes rushing at me. Soren and I got married here, right next to the statue of Venus. It was almost fitting, but not quite so because the love we then had would wither away and die.

I quickly rush my checking for Xander. I do not want to be here any longer than I have to. I do not want to be reminded of what I will never have again.

Once again, I do not find any sign that Xander would be hiding here. I am starting to convince myself that this is futile. There is no way that Xander would ever try to hide here.

I quickly make my way back to the town center, hoping that Trace and Cyrus would have already finished looking at their assigned places. Luckily when I arrive, they are both sitting at the steps of the town hall. Trace looks dejected, while Cyrus looks emotionless.

"I didn't find anything either." I quietly say. I almost don't want Trace to hear it.

He gets up and lets out a big sigh. He looks as if he is trying to suppress some stronger emotion. I assume he is trying not to cry. "There is only one place left to look ... the farmhouse."

We all quickly make our way to the farmhouse, aware that our time before dawn is quickly drawing to a close. It looks even more dead than it did earlier. We enter through the side door that is ajar.

"Cyrus, you take the bottom floor. Nyx and I will look upstairs."

I slowly follow Trace's lead as he cautiously makes his way up the staircase onto the second floor. We are in a hallway with multiple rooms on each side.

"I'll take the right doors," I say. There are three of them.

The only room that serves any interest to me is the last one.

The first room was a dirty, tiny bathroom that would barely be able to fit a person in it.

The second room was a study. A desk lay ransacked on the floor. Everything that used to be inside of it is now strewn across the wood. Bookshelves line the walls, but all of the covers of the books are faded with age. They do not look as if they had been properly taken care of.

The final room appears to have been a bedroom. A tiny bed lies in the corner right next to a dirty, cracked window that peeks out at the forest. The sheets on the bed are made, although the colors on them are faded so much that I can barely make out the pink stripes. A warn out doll lies on the bed. She looks like she had been well cared for, but aging got the best of her.

I turn around to see toys littering all over the floor by a closet, ranging from dolls to coloring books. This used to be the room of a young girl. I wonder what happened to her. Did she learn to love the Inside? Or did she always have that doubt in her mind that things could be better? I desperately want to know about this girl. Maybe she didn't even make it any older than a child so she wouldn't have gotten to see the realities of this life. For some reason I think that she didn't make it past childhood. It pains me to think that.

This reminder of childhood brings me back to my daughter. She will not have to deal with this society. She will be free, unlike me, unlike this girl.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of footsteps. I quickly turn around, finding Trace standing in the doorway. His eyes look misty as they stare into mind, trying to find something good.

"I'm sorry," I quietly say to Trace.

A loud gasp. Then Trace collapses to the ground. Tears stream down his face. When I look at him so sad, I almost feel like crying myself.

I quickly make my way over to him and sit down right next to his scrunched up body. I wrap my arm around Trace's back, getting warmth from his body while trying to comfort him.

"Don't worry," I whisper in Trace's ear. "We won't give up. We will find him soon."