Enhanced (first draft)

Chapter 17

Trace struggles to stand up. It looks as if his feet are not cooperating with him as they attempt to find their footing. His face is looking at the ground. He is trying to avoid my gaze. He must be mad at me.

Once he manages to get up, he starts to walk past me and Cyrus. I turn just as he exits my peripheral vision. He is heading towards the edge of a forest. The trees don't look welcoming in the least bit; I don't know why he would be heading towards them. Their branches are reaching towards their next victim and trying to lure it in. They seem to be succeeding, surprisingly.

Cyrus and I run to keep up with Trace. This action is all too familiar. I can't help but wonder where there is to go now. We sure as hell can't go back to the Inside, Trace knows that.

"What are we doing now? Running away from yet another one of your problems? There isn't anywhere else to go, Trace, unless you want to be a hermit in the woods from now on," Cyrus reprimands.

Trace stops so abruptly that I nearly run into him. He whips around with a terrifyingly furious look on his face. Tears are streaming down from his eyes. I almost regret the lie that I told Trace, but then I think of what I was protecting him from. The lie prevented him from learning that his brother was obsessed with superficiality like all who are Enhanced.

"Okay, then what are we going to do? You can take control if you want. Go ahead, lead us! Take us somewhere, then! If you're going to complain about what I decide to do for us, then go ahead and take the reins. I don't really care!"

I'm not sure what kind of response Trace was expecting to get from Cyrus, but he doesn't get one. Cyrus is just staring blankly at Trace as if he hadn't said anything in the first place. Trace is clearly frustrated. He is gnawing his teeth together and his forehead is wrinkling up.

Trace turns back around without a word to face where he was heading before. His face is beginning to lose it's red hue, but just barely. He leads us back to the forest that we came from before we entered Lakeside. We walk only for a little while, until the forest darkens as sunset approaches.

We make a little camp for us. Trace successfully makes a fire on the first attempt, while Cyrus and I find comfortable spots to rest.

I am just about to fall asleep when I am startled by the sound of scuffling nearby. I immediately sit up and try to make out my surroundings despite the lack of light around me. Heavy breathing and groaning is coming from my right. There seems to be some kind of struggle.

I quickly shake the shoulder right next to me, in attempt to wake Trace up. He speedily shoots up onto his feet and turns towards the noise. He grabs a stick with his left hand and puts it in the fire for a second. He points the flame over towards the noise.

The figures of Cyrus and two other men can just barely be made out, and once they see Trace and I, the one man grabs ahold of Cyrus tightly. Cyrus starts to struggle, but the man just tightens his grip until Cyrus finally gives up.

Trace pulls out a small dagger and points at the man with Cyrus in his grip. I already know that Trace's effort will be futile because there is one other man. "Let him go," Trace commands with authority.

The man with his grip on Cyrus lets out a laugh. He unsheathes a knife and rests it against Cyrus's throat. Cyrus tries to back away a little bit, but the man won't allow him any space. Cyrus tries to gulp down his fears, but a small trickle of blood comes running down his throat. His eyes look pleadingly at Trace.

"If you move, I will slit his throat immediately. Now, you will let us leave with him and you will be able to go on your merry way." The man was ready to end Cyrus's life in one swift movement. He wouldn't think twice.

I am startled by a hand on my shoulder. I whip around to see the other man standing right next to me with a large smile from ear to ear. He asks, "What about this one?"

Caked with dirt and what appears to be blood, his pointer finger traces the outline of my face. He lifts up my chin and looks me in the eyes. I know the expression on his face, I have seen it many times and I don't like it. It is lust. I can't help but think of the horrible things that he wants to do to me.

"Lay your hands off of her! She isn't yours!" Trace yells. He wants to come to me and save me from the man, I can tell it, but he also cares about Cyrus. He can't let a friend die.

The dirty man that is lusting for me looks over to the man threatening to kill Cyrus. The other man clearly has the authority. The other man adjusts his grip on Cyrus before saying, "We were only ordered to take this one. Don't bother her."

The man looks upset that he has to ignore his lust, but he still complies with the other's command. He slowly backs away from me, but he continuously keeps his eye on me. If I hadn't met Trace, I probably would have thought that all Outcast men are dirty, sex-craving creatures.

"Remember don't move at all. Don't come after us, or we will slaughter your friend," the first man warns.

Trace and I are forced to stand in place as Cyrus is taken away from us. I can tell that it is painful for Trace just to watch Cyrus be taken away. They have an almost brotherly relationship. It is obvious that Trace doesn't want this relationship to end the same way the relationship with his real brother ended.

We just stand in silence as the flame on Trace's stick dies down. He throws it into the fire.

"We need to go after them. Cyrus needs to be saved," he says quietly. His face looks different in the gleam of the firelight. His long nose is accentuated, while his left eye is hidden. The lighting makes him look more distinguished and commanding.

Despite the fact that he looks more authoritative, I am not inclined to agree with him. "Cyrus can take care of himself. If anybody can get out of the situation he's in, it would be him. We don't need to go after them." I don't want to potentially put us in any danger. I don't want Trace to get hurt. I have finally found somebody that I truly care about and I don't want anything to happen to him.

Trace moves to me so that are bodies are nearly touching. I can feel the beating of my heart intensify and pound on my ribcage. He leans his head right next to my face and whispers, "Please, Nyx. I just need to make sure that he will be okay. Please! Other than you, he's the only thing I have left and I don't want to leave him."

Trace moves his head so that his lips linger over mine. My mouth thirsts for his, but the desire is not met as he soon backs away from me. His eyes are pleading. I have seen them so much that I shouldn't be affected by them. I shouldn't give in, but I do.

~~~~~

I just wanted to let you know that Enhanced is in quite a few different competitions right now! Most of them are in my reading list titled "Competitions" (I'm so creative :P). Anyways, feel free to vote for it if you have been enjoying this story and have somehow made it this far!

Unfortunately, this story is nearing it's end. There are likely only going to be three chapters left. Luckily for you (if there is anybody reading this), this is only a first draft so I will probably start editing this later in the summer and may add or change different things (such as developing Nyx/Trace's relationship a bit more and cleaning up the whole Xander situation). Meanwhile, I can only tell you that the last few chapters will get crazy!

P.s. When I'm done with this story I may not be abandoning this world! You may see more!