Atlantis by Lisa Graves Page B

to believe Elliott and his fantastic story, another part of me was warning of the tremendous danger I would be in if my delusion was starting to make up stories, being delusional himself. I knew that if something sounded too good to be true, it probably was. I sighed and hugged Elliott tighter, trying with all my might to will him into reality. I couldn’t remember ever feeling as happy as I was whenever he touched me and it saddened me to know I couldn’t let this go on forever.
    Elliott misunderstood my hug as encouragement and continued on with his story.
    “ You were completely immersed in the rain. When the bell tower clock started to chime, you jumped slightly as though startled, and that is when you noticed me staring at you from behind one of the columns. I am ashamed to say that I think it offended you that I was watching the intimate intercourse in which the rain seemed to connect with your soul, for you ran. Quite fast I might add, into the room off the cloister that lead to the catacombs. You have always had a strange fascination with death, mia amore.”
    Being tucked under his arm, I looked up at his face and noticed Elliott eyed me a furtive glance as he smiled and continued.
    “ I followed you down the steps into the grey stone chambers below. It was much cooler within the catacombs. The soft sound of the rain above was barely audible. The candlelight cast shadows along the walls, and I couldn’t see which direction you had gone. I wanted so badly to introduce myself and apologize for my rude behavior, but you were nowhere to be seen. I found myself holding perfectly still, barely breathing, trying to hear footsteps, anything that would tell me where to find you.” Elliott looked down at me and winked. “I got lucky.
    “ A loud clank came from the catacombs to my left, and I still remember how my heart jumped at the prospect of seeing you again. I ran flat out towards that sound. Past dozens of bodies and candles and flowers as I searched for what made the sound. As I searched for you.
    “ I came to the end of the hall and quickly glancing in the three remaining tombs, I was disheartened when you were not to be found hiding in any of them. But you couldn’t just disappear. I decided to look for a sign, any sign, of where you were hiding. I kept telling myself you couldn’t have gotten out of the catacombs without passing me. I knew you had to be somewhere, but where?
    “ I reexamined each of the chambers more closely, while of course keeping an ear out for any sound that would indicate your whereabouts. In the first, I found nothing but dead flowers and a handful of half spent candles on the wall. The second was much the same. But on my second glance into the third chamber, I noticed the source of the loud clank. A bronze vase was overturned in the back corner of the tomb. The water and flowers spilled out onto the stone floor. But you were nowhere to be found.
    “ I took one of the candles off the wall and looked more closely at the dirt of the stone floor for traces of fresh footprints. There were none, but I did notice how very peculiarly the water on the floor was somehow draining into the cracks around one of the stone tiles. Bringing the candlelight closer, I realized that there was no dust on this particular tile either.
    “ 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