“Fixing the world.” He sits down in the dirt. “That has to mean finding a cure against the vampire disease. Or eliminating all of the vampires? But even if you did, it wouldn’t change anything.”

“How so?” I ask. “I mean, if there is a cure, why wouldn’t it save the world? All the vampires would be gone. We’d all be free.”

“Free from what?” he asks. “All of the Adepti’s in The Colony thinks their lives are perfect, so they wouldn’t leave and the Highers would still have the control.”

I can’t help but think of Tristan when he says this: happy, perfect Tristan. “They don’t think it’s perfect,” I tell him. “They’re just afraid.”

“No, that’s not the only reason.” He takes my face in his hands. “Think about it. Why would The Colony ever be built to begin with?” I start to speak, but he cuts me off. “And don’t say for shelter against the vampires, because if that was true, then how did the Highers end up being the ones in charge? All they are are vampires, only better looking and smarter. But they love to kill just as much, yet everyone lets them do whatever they want, no matter who gets hurt.”

I think about the Higher that I killed. “Do you know anything about experiments?”

His expression falls. “Experiments?”

“Yeah, one’s going on inside The Colony?”

His eyebrows knit together. “I don’t know, what kind of experiments are you talking about?”

“I’m not completely sure,” I admit. “But perhaps something to change a Higher back into human form.”

He’s even more confused. “That’s not possible. The Highers were never human to begin with.”

“You know, a week ago I probably would have agreed with you,” I say. “But now, I’m not so sure. I mean, the vampires were humans once, so why couldn’t the Highers be? And besides, they had to come from somewhere.”

He digs his knife in the dirt. “Everything comes from somewhere, Kayla. It doesn’t mean they were created from an experiment.”

“Didn’t you ever ask anyone where they came from?” I ask. “I mean, you’re out here, where you’re supposedly free. Didn’t you want to ask questions?”

He gives me a dirty look. “This place isn’t like The Colony, Kayla. I don’t have to ask questions, because everything is the truth.” Again, he touches the white line.

I sigh, getting to my feet. “Can you just show me where my damn watch is? Please.”

He jumps in front of me. “Okay, let’s say I think you’re right. Let’s say I think someone created the Highers—that it was all done intentionally and let’s say there’s a cure. So what?” He takes me by the shoulder, looking me in the eyes. “You can’t erase everything that’s been done.”