Author:
M.J. Swenson has been writing stories since elementary school and earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota. Besides writing and reading, M.J. also enjoys playing music and video games.

I woke up feeling that something had changed.

I blinked twice, waiting for my eyes to adjust, and glanced at the clock beside my bed. It read 6:38, as it did every morning. I slid out of bed and moved to my dresser, where I opened the third drawer and pulled out a dark blue V-necked shirt with short sleeves and a dark blue pair of pants. I changed in front of the mirror and examined myself. I looked just as I had the last time I’d looked in the mirror: long, straight, dark brown hair; blue eyes; an absurdly straight and narrow nose; the slight scar at the edge of my eyebrow. The scar whose origin I still couldn’t remember.

Familiar Assassins

I followed Thane for several minutes, watching the landscape replay itself every few hundred feet. Neither of us spoke. After a while, we reached a cliff I recognized, but it wasn't the one that led to Tumultus. It was the one that led to Thane's apartment. We descended a short path that led to the door embedded in the rock and, before long, we were indoors again.


Thane hit the switch for the lights, illuminating the room. "So," he said, "what was it you needed to talk to me about?"


"Well, a few things." I stalled. "I've been thinking about them for a while."


"Yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "What things?"


"I . . ." I wasn't sure how to start, so I stalled again. "Tumultus, the rebellion . . . what are you trying to do? What's your ultimate goal?"


Thane looked at me sideways, squinting, like he could see through my distraction question. "Our ultimate goal is to take apart Incipio's current ruling system, and to make the people see the memories they've lost. What else?"


Chapter 33