Atlantis (11 page)

“
I don’t know what made me do it, curiosity maybe, but I pried up that tile. It wasn’t easy either. The tile was three feet squared and at least two inches thick. But something inside told me I was close to finding you.” Again, Elliott squeezed me tight.

I was fighting back the part of my brain that told me to put this beautiful lie to an end. Instead, I hugged him tighter, drinking in the sensation of energy that emitted from him, the mouth watering floral scent of his skin, and the way his muscular arms held me tight. It frightened me, because I knew deep down I was falling in love with him.

Elliott continued, “Once I had the stone pried up a bit, I noticed that there was a secret passageway hidden beneath it. After I had succeeded in moving the stone, I cautiously took the candle in my hand and tried to see how deep the hole went. The candlelight, however, was not very bright, and I couldn’t see anything at all. I let the candle drop. To my surprise the candle fell only about ten feet and stayed lit. I peered into the hole and could barely make out what appeared to be a few columns in the dim light.

“
It was probably not the smartest thing to do, but I dropped myself down into the hole.

“
I noticed as I got to my feet that there was a very ancient feel to the place that was only augmented by the appearance. I felt the cool hard marble column nearest me. It was magnificent. I couldn’t see clearly, but there were obviously many other columns around me. I could tell that whatever that chamber was, it was much larger than the little bit I could see in the dim flickering light. But why would someone build something so massive underground? Only when I finally looked around my surroundings again did I see you.

“
You were standing, mostly hidden in shadow, by the column nearest me. You seemed offended by my presence. I had obviously insulted you, yet again,” Elliott rolled his eyes, “by following you.

“
I gave a bow, and offered you the white gardenia from my breast pocket. You hesitated, but slowly came out of the shadows and accepted it.

“‘
I’m Elliott Falcone,’ I said.

“
You probably don’t remember, but you weren’t very nice to me. I figured you were just being cautious, and nervous, since some stranger followed you into a hole. You kept asking me to leave. But I persisted. There was something about you. I wasn’t going to leave without at least your name, and hopefully a promise to see you again. Finally, you told me you were called Lillianna. Looking back on that day, I think I really frightened you.” Elliott gave me a squeeze, “Sorry about that. I can be a little obsessive.”

I was confused by his pausing. He really seemed to exude an apologetic aura. “Apology accepted?” I replied. After another pause and squeeze, he went on.

“
You were very quiet, except when you were asking me to leave.” Only because I was examining his face did I notice his eyebrows raise and his eyes roll. “I only agreed to leave when you promised to let me see you again within the fortnight. I think near the end of that meeting you were just being shy. I am quite sure I saw you blush in the dim light as I told you how beautiful I found you to be.

“
And you added to your mystery, because instead of giving me a time and place to meet you, you gave me half of a small bean-sized stone and told me that you had the other half, and that somehow it would communicate when we would meet again. I didn’t understand how it could, but I figured I could come back down here and find you again if need be. I finally felt confident in my quest. I conceded to leave, and bowed once more. I found the niches in the wall that allowed me to crawl out and leave.”

When Elliott finished, silence fell like a blanket on top of us. The only sound I could hear was a gentle rustling of the nearby leaves being pushed around in the midnight breeze. I didn’t know what to say.

My mind couldn’t come near any sort of reality where what he had just described could happen. Let alone, happen to me nearly three hundred years ago. At the same time, I didn’t think my imagination was nearly creative enough to come up with a story that elaborate either. I was not sure what to do or say, so I contented myself with enjoying the shelter of his arms and looking at the opal.

I couldn’t look into his eyes yet. His eyes always seemed to penetrate my soul and know what I was thinking even if I hadn’t figured it out yet myself. I wanted to understand what I was going to believe before he thought he did.

At that moment, his hand gently caressed under my chin and tilted my head up to his. I shut my eyes.

“
Can’t I look into your baby blues?” He purred.

“
Nope.”

“
Please Miele?” His accent was making me melt.

I could feel his thumb stroking my chin as I continued to protest. A new sensation flowed through me an instant later. There was a warm and energy-filled pressure on my lips. I opened my eyes in shock. Elliott was kissing me.

He smiled down at me, still kissing me softly, and gazed into my soul.
Damn
. But for some reason I couldn’t feel mad that he tricked me. I was enjoying how everything around us seemed to blur. The only two things that existed in that moment were the two of us.

Elliott must have found what he was looking for in my eyes, because he stopped kissing me with one last gentle nibble on my bottom lip and pulled his face back. He looked up at the sky. I resumed my place, tucked in the crook of his arm, and breathed him in again. My thoughts were a blur.

I felt his arms tighten around me once more in the most amazing magnetic hug in history as he whispered, “That’s enough for tonight, Miele. Time for bed.”

I hadn’t even sat up yet when a strange feeling consumed me, as though my soul was free falling through space. I couldn’t make anything out as the shapes before my eyes blurred by the speed of the fall.

Suddenly, there was no light. Only darkness. It took me a moment to realize my eyes were shut. I opened them to see the familiar shapes of my room slowly come into focus.

Chapter 6. The Triangle

I lay on my bed blinking my eyes. I was still trying to recover from the free falling sensation I just experienced. The fall felt like one of those dreams where you wake up moments before you hit the ground. My head continued to spin and my heart raced.

As my eyes finally adjusted to the familiarity of my blue walls, I felt a soft breeze blow across my face. Out of habit, my eyes made their way to my alarm clock on my desk - 4:02 A.M.

The breeze still streamed in my window, blowing warm, summer night smells into my room, when it dawned on me that my window was cracked open. I felt strangely exposed, and frightened. I was certain I had locked all doors and windows right after Charlotte left here last night. But then again, how did I get to the meadow and back without any memory of it?

I wasn’t sure of much these days, and even less at this very moment, but the window being open felt all wrong. I practically threw myself off of my bed in an effort to close it as quickly as possible.

That wasn’t the best idea.

I landed right on top of a pile of blankets and pillows that had somehow materialized there since I could last remember. They were warm. Then a grumble of a voice made its way from under the sea of fabric.

“
Hey! What the- Lilly!”

I fell off the lumpy blanket pile and onto the floor, and watched Nicholas trying to free himself from the mess. “Nicholas?”

“
Yeah?” His head broke free.

“
What are you doing here?”

His head dropped as though I caught him doing something wrong. He whispered his answer. “Protecting you, hoe.”

“
Huh?”

“
I was worried about you. Charlotte called me and said you were home alone and that you were acting really strange. But she wouldn’t tell me what’s up, and I was worried. So I came by to check on you, and you were
actually
sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you so I made myself a bed.” He spoke so fast my brimming mind was having trouble keeping up.

My eyes were swimming with emotion. I tried to casually blink back tears. It seemed I was never able to get a second to catch my breath before something else popped up and knocked it out of me again.

“
Are you okay, Lil?”

All I could do was faintly nod. I was certain if I tried to talk it would trigger my tear ducts.
Wait a minute!
“When did you get here?”

“
I’m not sure. Around midnight.” He shrugged, obviously confused by the intensity of my question. “I came over as soon as I got Charlotte off the phone. Do you realize how annoying it is to have her call you and barely talk? Ugh. And yet it’s near impossible to get her off the phone.”

I could only imagine Charlotte and her speech paralysis with Nicholas, but I didn’t have time to think about that now. I realized something most disturbing, and I needed to find out the answer while I still had control of myself. I was a breath away from drowning in my emotions.

I could barely whisper the words. “Did you see me leave since you got here?” I had to ask even though I knew the answer before Nicholas said anything.

“
No,” he replied shaking his head, confusion clouding his brown eyes. His shaggy blond hair tickled his nose as he brushed it aside. “You couldn’t have, not without me knowing.”

I couldn’t speak. My eyes spilled over and I started to sob.

Nicholas pulled me back onto my bed and wrapped his big arms around me. I could feel his concern in the careful way he touched me. He rubbed my arms in a way that made me feel like he was handling a porcelain doll. I couldn’t contain it any longer, and I proceeded to fall to pieces, for the second time that evening. I couldn’t even talk. I buried my head in his chest as the tears continued to stream from my eyes.

Was the whole meadow with Elliott tonight a dream? How could I have gotten there, or back, without knowing and without waking Nicholas?
I couldn’t see how it could have been a dream. The smells, the sensations, the sweet texture of
his
voice were much too vivid for a dream. But they were too fantastic to be real, either.

“
What is it Lilly?” Nicholas sounded scared and concerned for the broken girl he currently held in his arms.