Atlantis by Lisa Graves Page B

can’t talk here. This way.’ I held your hand tight and followed you into a windowless room somewhere in the back of the apartment. You closed the door behind us, though who you where keeping out was a mystery to me. The place was abandoned. ‘Down here,’ you opened a trap door in the floor and gestured me in. A faint light glowed from within the secret passage. I walked down the stone stairs quickly and waited while you closed the trap door behind you, concealing the esoteric space completely.
    “ What was that about?” I asked.
    “ Just making sure we’re alone.”
    “ Why such drastic measures? Besides, where are we anyway?”
    “ Sottosuolo, the underground.”
    “ There are underground caves below parts of the city?”
    “ Correction. There are caves and passages under all of the city, if you know where to go.” I swear you winked at me, but the lighting was too dim to be sure.
    “ I then reassessed my surroundings. Overhead were very old and ancient archways. The light I had seen was from a torch, stuck in a nook in the wall. I tried to strain my eyes in the limited light to see how far the tunnel went, but it seemed to continue on in the darkness. My hands grazed the rough, cool stone of the wall. I then turned my attention to the beautiful young woman next to me, you.
    “ Why are there caves under the city? And how do you know about them?”
    “ They’re not caves really, but an underground city. Ancient Rome actually. It was buried a long time ago, and the new city sprouted in its place.”
    “ This was Rome?” I said bewildered, taking in the surroundings in a new light. You took my hand.
    “ Let me show you around. We have a lot of catching up to do, Elliott.”
    “ I smiled. It felt great to be with you. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but something about you called to me. But with all these foreign feelings, I remember being more timid and quiet than usual, and you were more forward.
    “ We walked for hours in the maze of archways and passages hidden beneath the city. Under countless stone arches, over the timeworn stones beneath our feet, I followed you. The torch you carried illuminated barely three yards ahead, so everything I saw was new, to me at least.
    “ For the most part we were both quiet. I was busy taking in the unbelievable surroundings, and you were letting them sink in. Here and there I would break the silence with a question,
    “ Do you live down here?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ I remember thinking why , but that sounded rude. Instead I asked, “How long have you lived down here?”
    “ A long time Elliott,” you paused before continuing. “Can I show you something?”
    “ Sure.” You were already showing me a world I never new existed, what more could there be?
    “ A new sort of excitement seemed to fill you. You handed me the torch and quickened your pace. I was practically running to keep up.
    “ Where are we going?” I called to you.
    “ You turned to answer me. “You’ll see.” A smile spread across your face.
    “ Your bare feet made barely a patter on the asperous stones below. My boots were much noisier. And like I said before, you were fast. It wasn’t long before I couldn’t see you in the torchlight. I was in a solid tunnel with only one way to go, so I continued on as I tried to catch up to you.
    “ About fifty yards later, I was all alone in the darkness, and came to a fork. The tunnel split and I didn’t know where to go. I went a few feet down the left side first, but couldn’t see anything. I backed up and looked down the right side. Again, all that was down there was darkness.
    “ Lillianna,” I called out.
    “ Down here.”
    I placed the torch knee height as I tried to find where your voice was coming from. “I can’t see you.”
    “ Come over here. You’re on the wrong side of the tunnel.”
    “ I walked back to the fork and down the other side, keeping the torch low to figure out what you meant by ‘down here.’”
    “ Where