I checked the map again, thankful that Simon and Lewis had brought one. I assumed I would know the way, but everything looked completely foreign to me. I had vague memories of the streets and even some dream-like recollections of neighbors, but nothing important stirred in my mind as we slunk along privacy fences. It was a residential suburb, so there weren't many places to hide if something came up. I didn't realize how long it had been since I was in this type of area; Allsport was all brick and concrete with plenty of alleys and bridges for hiding, but the four of us had to use the sidewalks and could only cut through yards.

On the train, I had brought up the possibility that there would be neighborhood watch or local police patrolling the area, but Lewis had assured me that he could handle any officers who might bother us. I didn't ask how, but we didn't run into anyone as we rounded the corner and found a car parked on the street to hide behind.

It was definitely my house. I didn't know what to expect, but I felt my chest squeeze as I saw the change in color, a completely new porch, and, most importantly, a car in the driveway. I swallowed down my disappointment; of course someone was living there. In rich neighborhoods like this, they didn't just abandon things to rot - Not houses, anyway.

"Um, Atlas. . ." Alexandre said after a moment, but I shushed him.

"There's a storm door to the basement in the back," I explained, having already thought this through, "As long as I'm right and there really is something down there, then we just have to be quiet and not wake anyone."

"How can you be sure no one is down there?" asked Simon, suddenly looking nervous. I had broken into houses before, but I surprised myself as I calmly worked through my plan B.

"I want you three to stay here," I whispered, hearing the silt crunch under my boots as I twisted to look at them. Lewis and Simon both nodded their heads, trusting me that I knew what I was doing. Alexandre, however, spoke up.

"I'll go with you," he offered, shifting his weight onto his other knee.

I was about to tell him all the reasons why I thought that was a terrible idea, but then thought better of it. He could at least be my lookout, and by now I knew he was too stubborn to take no for an answer. We didn't have all night.

I grabbed the collar of his sweatshirt with one hand. "You do exactly what I say," I hissed, "I don't want you jeopardizing all the work we've done so far."

"I will Atlas," he said, surprisingly passive.

I took a deep breath. "Alright, if we're not out in 10 minutes, come get us," I told the two guards as I peaked over the hood of the car. They would be fine if they huddled low between this car and a newspaper stand that stood next to it.

Without another word I took off, running as quickly and as carefully as I could across the street, looking left and right to make sure no one was outside. Alex wasn't as graceful and I could hear the scrape of his shoes against the pavement, but I decided it wouldn't be enough to alarm anyone.

"I'll boost you," the prince said as we rounded the side of the house and reached the tall wood gate to the backyard. I furrowed my eyebrows at him, shaking my head and giving him a silent, incredulous look. I wasn't about to trust that he somehow knew how to boost someone over a fence or that he could even support my full weight like that.

This hadn't been here when I was little, but I've climbed enough fences that I wasn't intimidated. Alexandre could probably just pull himself up there, but instead I took two long steps back and went for a running jump for the small section of fence where it connected to the house. Using my foot to push myself off the siding, I gave myself plenty of air to throw my arms over the top of the fence and hang there for a moment. The detailed cut on the top made my armpits slide in between the slats painfully, and my foot scrapped off the side too loudly as I tried to free myself.

As I went to push myself up so that I could swing my legs over, my arms and shoulders shook with the effort. I was getting weaker, but I at least landed gracefully as I entered the backyard. I was gentle with the latch as I unlocked the gate so Alex could get in. My face flushed red in embarrassment; I probably shouldn't have tried to show off like that, but the prince just nodded at me.

I shrugged the bag off my shoulders and stuck my hand in as we located the entrance to the basement. Pulling out a makeshift lock pick I had made from two forks, I quietly told Alex, "Start counting, silently."

It was a small padlock, so it didn't take long for me to jam the two pieces of metal in and feel the lock pop under my hand. "Time?" I asked, standing up and brushing the dirt off my knees.

"Uh, you mean. . ." he muttered, "24, I think."

"Not bad," I breathed, shrugging my shoulders as I turned back to the door and leaned over for the handle. A small part of me hoped he was impressed, but I felt stupid as soon as I thought it and I shook my head to focus. My arms were still sore, but Alexandre recovered quickly and went for the other door to help me. We both gingerly swung them open to rest on either side and I didn't waste time as I crouched back down and swung my leg over onto the first step.

"Should we close it?" the prince asked quietly as he followed me down. I hesitated for a moment, but then nodded and let him handle it as I dug into the bag again for a flashlight.

I felt my confidence falter as the light swept over old furniture, lawn tools, and dusty looking boxes. I had expected to just find something down here, or have a memory suddenly strike me and I would know what to do, but I felt my heart start to race as nothing came to me.

Alex took the initiative and went for the stairs on the left wall, grabbing a 2x4 on the way and quietly tried to jam it under the door handle. It didn't look very secure, but I appreciated the effort anyway.

I remembered the key, which I had put on a chain and hung around my neck. Reaching for the clasp, I pulled it out from under my jacket and shone the light on it again. I had stared at it for hours in my bedroom, but still couldn't think of where and how I recognized it. I jumped as Alexandre appeared and touched my elbow lightly.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, the flashlight just barely illuminating his face. I could see the concern in his eyes, and finally noticed that I was hyperventilating.

I swallowed hard, but that didn't help stop the rising panic in my chest. "I don't know," I moaned, starting to pace the room, "I should recognize this place, but I don't. I really don't remember." I pressed on my temples hard, as if that would help me think more clearly. There was nothing. Just four walls and a lot of junk.

Alex approached me, reaching out to grab my arm, but then thought better of it. "It's okay Atlas," he whispered, trying to comfort me, "We'll figure it out."

The beam of light quivered as my hands started to shake. My eyes prickled with tears as I tried to squeeze my way between some of the boxes to check behind them. The prince shuffled around awkwardly in the dark, unable to help.

"No," I muttered to myself, running my hands over the walls looking for some kind of keyhole or fake wall or anything different, "no, no, no . . . What if I was wrong? What if we aren't in the right place and . . ." I kept rubbing my hands on my pants, even though they were dry.

Alexandre stepped up in front of me, stopping my pacing. "It's okay. Do you remember anything?" he asked quietly, "anything at all?" I aimed the flashlight up between us so that the light illuminated our faces. I wracked my brain, feeling like it was fogging up the more I searched. I gazed up at the ceiling, sighing in frustration as I looked up at the light bulb and its fixture screwed into the concrete.

Something stirred in the back of my brain, but after thinking for a moment, all I remembered was that my father used to mess with the lights all the time. I couldn't picture his face, not that I had been able to for the past 10 years, but an image half formed of him looking down at me as he dropped the screws into my hands. I always wanted to help, and he would always let me.

I didn't want to think about my father right now. I swung the flashlight back down again but stopped when I noticed a second, identical light bulb halfway between the back wall and where I stood in the middle of the room. Shining my flashlight around, I couldn't find anything else on the ceiling that would give reason as to why there was a second bulb.

"Alex," I said suddenly, swinging the flashlight around to find him running his hands along a wall. His head whipped over to look at me and then squeeze his eyes shut as he glanced right into the beam of light. I motioned upward with my flashlight, resting on the second bulb. "Do you think we could take that down?" I wouldn't be able to reach it, but he probably wouldn't even need a chair.

He walked over to stand under it. "I mean, I guess," he shrugged, reaching up to tug on it, "it's missing a couple screws so I could probably-" The base and bulb both came off easily, causing Alexandre to fumble it in his hands and nearly drop it in surprise.

I saw the prince look over at me in my periphery, but I kept my eyes glued on the faded spot where the fixture was. There were a couple of wires that didn't attach to anything and a metal plate that the screws went into, but right in the middle was a hole.

A six-pointed star shaped hole.

Alexandre's gaze slowly rose to see what I was looking at. His eyebrows furrowed and he stared up at it, perplexed, as I slowly walked over to join him. Wordlessly, I handed him the key and his eyes lit up as he realized what we had just found. Cautiously, he reached up and had to stand on his toes as the odd star shape fit seamlessly into the hole.

As he turned it, there was a click somewhere else in the room. A rake fell over with a bang as a section of the back wall separated and lazily swung open. We both paused and held our breath, listening for any movement upstairs in case we had woken someone.

After a moment, we relaxed and approached the door slowly.

"Woah," the prince exclaimed, handing the key back to me, "You were right, Atlas, there's a secret door." I took a step forward, holding my breath as I reached my hand towards the crack. "We have a bunch of these in the castle," Prince Alexandre prattled on, seemingly forgetting that we were breaking and entering right now, "Is this common in regular houses too?"

I didn't answer him as I tugged on the heavy concrete door enough that I could squeeze inside. Instinctively, I reached for a light switch that I couldn't see just inside the room and a dim yellow tube light flickered to life. I was startled that I knew where it was.

In front of us was a small room with two bookshelves and a wooden table with chairs. The smell of musty books hit me like a wave, and suddenly memories came flooding back to me. It was as if I had been unlocked too.

"I thought this was at the university," I said quietly, more to myself than the prince. I couldn't guess how long it's been since that door had been opened, so I made sure to choose my steps carefully, as if the slightest breeze could make it all turn to dust in an instant. "I can't believe this was in my. . ." I muttered, trailing off as I noticed a small podium in the corner of the cramped room.

"Hey," I said quietly as Alexandre pulled the door back in so it was just cracked open, "Do you think you could look at some of these books? See what they titles are? I'm going to check that one out." I nodded my head towards the back corner.

"Yes, of course," the prince answered, rummaging around in his pockets, "I don't have anything to write them down on. . ."

I squeeze into the space between the table and podium. "Just get the gist of them," I said dismissively, running my fingers gently over the book. I turned the flashlight back on so I could see better, but I was only met with a blank cover. Gingerly, I pulled the cover open, wincing as I heard the spine creak.

I felt my stomach flip and I turned away, convinced for a moment that I was actually going to throw up. I could walk away now, not look at it again, go back to being an orphaned eight.

Taking a few deep breaths, I shined the light back on the inside cover and blinked hard, making sure I was reading it right. In large letters, the title read:

The Restructuring of American Society Post World War III:

Absolute Monarchy, Coercion, and Disillusionment.

A collection of essays by,

J. Avery PhD, M. Avery PhD

I slapped my hand over my mouth as I felt a sob escape my throat. Sticking the flashlight into the crook between my shoulder and neck, I flipped through the first few pages carefully. I could barely read the small, dense print in the harsh beam of light, so I started looking for essay titles.

"Complex inequality: Gender, class, and race in the new economy."

"Propaganda and public opinion."

"Mobility in the New American Caste System."

Farther into the book, it started to evolve into more philosophical essays, but as I was making my way through the essays Prince Alexandre dragged me out of my thoughts. I suddenly remembered where I was.

"Uh, Atlas," he muttered, "What is this?"

I quickly shoved the book into my backpack, unsure that I wanted him to see it. He was bent over, looking into an empty shelf, and holding a thin, translucent wire limply in his hand. I ran over, pushing a chair out of my way in my haste to see what he was talking about.

I had no idea what we were looking at, but I was instantly uncomfortable. It was a metal box hidden on the back wall of a shelf, with buttons and exposed wires and something that looked like an antenna. One end of the string Alex was holding knotted on a small, metal hook in the downward position.

Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Sudden realization hit me as I shot up straight, and my blood going cold. "How long have we been down here?" I asked quietly, my eyes shifting over to look at him, paralyzed with fear.

"Lewis and Simon haven't come down yet," he muttered, his eyes growing wide.

"Go," I commanded forcefully, "We need to get out of here quickly." My heart was hammering in my chest – I hadn't felt fear like this in years. I would be hunted down and killed if anything happened to the prince.

I lingered behind just long enough to push the chair back in and hit the light switch, making sure to grab the ceiling light where Alex had placed it on one of the tables. I thought that we would be okay if we replaced everything where we found it, but then I heard a short yelp cut off from right outside the room. I didn't think, hearing the lightbulb shatter as I lurched towards the door and threw it open.

As soon as I returned to the dark basement, my chest hit something hard. Arms appeared out of the darkness and wrapped around me, knocking the flashlight out of my hands. I was quick enough to wiggle my way out of the hold before he could find his footing, but he managed to get a hold of my wrist. I kicked blindly, only making contact with a box before I felt a length a cloth wrap around my face and tighten hard between my teeth.

I muttered expletives around it, but fear was taking over and I lashed out, throwing my body around desperately and without any plan or coordination. The cloth muffled my scream as a rope was tied deftly around my wrists and someone managed to grasp my ankle as I kicked the air. I was no match for them, and I was tired from the effort. I went limp as someone grabbed my other leg and hoisted me in the air, allowing a rope to be tightened around my ankles. All at once, the dusty basement bulb flickered to life, my legs were dropped hard on the ground, and a heavy black canvas bag was thrown over my head. From what I was able to glimpse, there were a lot of people down here.

I was forced onto my knees and an excessive amount of ropes was tied around my arms and chest, binding me stiffly and only allowing enough room for hands to squeeze under my arms and lift me back to standing. I briefly considered vomiting or urinating or doing something gross enough to surprise them, but then thought better of it; if someone could tie ropes so quickly, they probably wouldn't fall for something like that, and then I'd be very uncomfortable.

There was no way out of this. I was gruffly pulled up the stairs and my knees scrapped painfully on the concrete. I was disoriented with the sounds of clothes and low mumbling and footsteps; I had no idea how many people were surrounding me, but I started trying to work the knots on my wrists discretely.

"Will you walk on your own or do we have to carry you, Atlas?" someone in front of me asked. I balked as I heard my name, but my feet were lowered to the ground and the hands on my arms helped me balance. I felt the fight leave me completely as my temper cooled off, and my thoughts raced as I tried to piece together what was going on.

I nodded my head, knowing I was in no position to be hurling insults around, but I knew I could decently fight if my legs were unbound. I flinched as I felt the ropes around my ankles loosen and pull away. They were made of plastic and rubbed my skin raw; the shirt I was wearing didn't add any padding.

"It's precautionary," the same voice said, now to my left.

I tried to talk around the muzzle, but it came out muffled and incoherent.

"His majesty," he drawled, his tone suddenly venomous, "is fine as well."

I tried to say something else, but they started marching me through the yard and around the house. My feet scraped on the pavement as we reached the driveway, and a new, icy fear filled my chest. We were being transported somewhere, and it was a big country. I heard a car door open and started struggling again as I was spun and forced downward. I felt a hand placed on my head to help me avoid hitting my head out of courtesy, but I quickly slammed my head to the side, crushing their fingers into the door frame.

They ripped their hand away as the man yelled out in surprise. "Fucu," I mumbled, righting myself just before a swift kick to my ribs shoved me the rest of the way into the car, knocking the air out of me. I fell back awkwardly on my arms that were still bound behind me painfully and I heard the car door slam shut.

I had been shoved onto another person, who groaned as my elbow pressed hard into their stomach as I tried to wiggle my way into a seat position. Even muffled, I recognized Alex as he tried to say my name. I just gave him a listless "mhm," in return as I awkwardly swung my knees around to right me. I relaxed, trying to clear my head and form some semblance of plan.

But I was really tired.

The car vibrated as the engine started and we pulled out of the driveway.

Alexandre was next to me, but when I had fallen onto him, I felt that he hadn't been wrapped up as much as I was. If only I could communicate with him, we could form a plan to escape. He leaned up against me gently, and I felt myself relax a little more. I tried to keep track of the turns we made, but the counting lulled me to sleep, no matter how hard I fought it.

It felt like only a moment before the door was opening and light filtered in through the sack on my head. My ribs smarted as someone dragged me back across the seats and let me stumble out of the car to fall onto the ground before helping me back up. I swore at them, but I was still groggy, and the muzzle was still keeping me quiet.

I was marched to a door, tripping on the lip of it and causing the grip on my arms to tighten painfully. This continued as I stumbled and struggled down two flights of stairs and through a couple hallways. I started to feel claustrophobic, my chest squeezing tight as I grew more hopeless that I would ever be able to get out of here. I tried fighting again, thinking I could shoulder check one of them into the wall, but it was a feeble attempt and didn't even through them off balance.

There was a final door and one last shove before the hands on my arms loosened and someone started unraveling the rope binding me. Someone pulled the hood off and another person released the final rope around my wrists. I shook out my hands as the binding fell away. They hurt, but not enough to stop me from punching the person next to me squarely in the nose as they went to take off the muzzle.

He roared with anger. I tugged the cloth out of my mouth as the man stumbled away, holding his nose as blood dripped down the front of his shirt. "You bitch," he spat, finding his balance, "I'll- "

"Leave us," a woman's voice said from across the room. I tried to find the speaker.

My eyes scanned my surroundings for the first time. There were four people surrounding a table with a large map of Illea spread across it, but I still struggled to get a good look at them in the dim light. They all wore dark, mercenary type clothing with leather reinforcements. The three men and one woman didn't look like evil torturers, but the way they held themselves so tall and strong made me feel suddenly very small and intimidated. I regretted punching him now.

"But she-" he started, but was cut off again as the woman stepped forward.

"That will be all, Conner."

Her voice sounded familiar, and I backed away cautiously with every step she took closer. She was tall and thin, with broad shoulders and a six-pointed star emblem on her chest. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at her face. There was a long scar that pulled the left side of her mouth downward, but that didn't make me any less sure of who she was.

She had blue eyes.

Deep, blue eyes with golden sunbursts in the center. Eyes that I saw every time I looked at my reflection. Aristotle was the only other person I'd ever met with those eyes. 

My lower lip trembled.

"Mom?"