Free Someone to Remember Me: The Anniversary Edition by Brendan Mancilla Page A

beside one of the golden pillars. Except that the pillar was a statue, a fairly realistic one, of a prominent individual whose name he did not know. Its polished surface was effulgent in the sparkling light coming from the surrounding towers. Haven, basking in a tenuous peace, reflected a fatigued beauty upon the statues. Though her southern streets had been forcibly evacuated, leaving two armies to peacefully intimidate one another, the city gladly accepted the truce.
    If only for a time, as Ninety-Nine was apt at remarking. His skin tingled with the chill of the evening air and he rejected the notion of putting on the jacket that was slung over his shoulder. The location and the time of the clandestine meeting served to keep them out of sight and away from any recording devices. Bold, yet simple.
    “Someone you know?” Twenty joked, the first to arrive.
    “Nope. Just admiring the craftsmanship,” Seven answered.
    “Sure you are. These things still creep me out. You know there’s a cult that comes out here and prays to the statues once a month? I watched it happen two months ago. There’s an elaborate ceremony with a torch and a history book,” he droned, staring up at the statue alongside Seven.
    “You sound disappointed.”
    “Obviously. It’s the most theatrical nonsense I’ve ever seen and I’m not involved? A travesty is what it is.” As tired as he was, Seven managed to laugh. His lack of sleep held his humor hostage but Twenty’s particular brand of comedy always got through. “I know Eight doesn’t enjoy being around you but that doesn’t mean you should avoid the rest of us,” Seven’s friend added, uncharacteristically serious.
    “I’m not avoiding any of you.”
    Twenty glared, forcing Seven to relent.
    “I’m not trying to, at least. It’s hard for me,” Seven shook his head. “I feel like there are two of me in my head. And one of me—the one that says we knew each other in a past life—that half is unhappy with where things stand with Eight and I. That part of me wants to do terrible things to Tobias, to Haven, to everything that’s getting between us.” He left the confession linger in the air between them. “How is this possible? It shouldn’t be. It can’t be but it is, because I remember things that never happened, information nobody’s told me...” Seven, embittered by the topic rambled on. “I don’t need anyone to coddle me or to tell me things are going to be fine.”
    “Seven...have you bothered to explain any of this to her?”
    Alarmed that Twenty would even mention Eight, Seven scrambled to reply. “The day Eight gives half a care about me is the day the world ends,” Seven drawled. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to talk to me if I was her. I know for a fact that I first met Eight a few years ago, but ever since the memories started...” he exhaled, thoroughly beaten, “I feel as if I knew her once before. I feel like I was supposed to protect her, supposed to free her, and back then I think I did...”
    “...but?” Twenty asked, hearing his friend stop short of saying it.
    “That’s not the truth anymore. Is it?”
    “You’re getting into some dangerous territory, my friend,” Twenty warned Seven. “To compare our situation to Haven’s rebels is extremely inaccurate.” Seven knew that Twenty would reject his perspective, his life being as inebriated by Haven’s high society as it was. “I think what you need is to relax a bit. Let the truce you helped to negotiate calm things down and take a break. Take a vacation.”
    “Are vacations an option? If so, sign me up,” Null announced herself to Seven and Twenty, stepping into view. “For what it’s worth, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I agree with Twenty.”
    “You should come to the exhibition next week. At the gallery! You could post some of your photos,” Twenty nudged him. “I told you about the exhibition, didn’t I?”
    “If he hasn’t then you’re about to get bludgeoned