by Lisa Graves
I couldn’t help but glance through it. The glancing turned to reading. There were so many different kinds of opals. And the legends that were linked with them made my jaw drop. One legend stated that opals helped the wearer find true love. Another, that they assisted in astral travel. I kept devouring the information, shocked at how it seemed to correlate perfectly with my own experiences. There was even a passage about opals helping the wearer to use the full potential of the brain.
I couldn’t put the book down.
It was there, sitting alone, reading by the light of the lamp on my bed stand that I read the words I’d inadvertently been craving. Words that brought some calm to the madness. It was one little passage that lifted a weight off my shoulders. It read:
The ancient greeks believed that opals held the key to past lives.
Opals did have something to do with my flashback. It must have happened, even though I was the only one that could remember it.
I wasn’t crazy.
Chapter 20. The Slave
My head was spinning. When I finished the book and turned out my light, I lay there in the darkness as my thoughts ran wild in my mind. It was in this frenzied state that I eventually fell asleep.
That night I had the most curious dream.
I dreamt that I was in an ancient place, a long, long time ago.
I was wearing clothes similar to what I wore in my flashback. I was walking along a sandy beach. It was early morning. The smell of the salt water filled the air and the thunderous crashing of the waves were the only sound breaking the silence of the sunrise.
I stopped and sat on a large stone, and just watched the water roll in. I stayed like that until the sun was a bright ball of fire in the sky. I stood up, stretched, and started to walk inland. The grasses and plants were soft on my bare feet.
“Where have you been?”
I turned to see a girl, a little older than me, walk towards me. It was so strange. She looked a lot like me. We both had the same shade of black hair and blue eyes. I didn’t answer but kept walking.
“You were with him again, weren’t you?”
“That’s none of your business, Hazel.”
“Lillian. I’m your sister. I don’t want to see you get hurt or in trouble.”
I shook my head as I walked forward, towards the mine.
“So, were you with him?”
“No,” I answered. “I just needed to think.”
“Good. You know what will happen if the two of you get caught.”
I tried to change the subject. “Let’s get to work.” I walked into the mine shaft, only pausing to take a torch from the wall.
Hazel followed me down into the darkness.
We must have been about fifty feet underground when I stopped and took some rudimentary tools from a bucket on the floor. Hazel did the same. Then silently we began to chisel away at the wall of the mine.
It was difficult to work by light of the flickering flames. And the air was heavy with dust and moisture. Plus it was chilly being so far underground.
After about an hour of fighting away at the limestone, I’d dislodged an egg-sized opal. I could feel the difference in texture between it and the chalky cave.
Hazel came to look at what I’d unearthed. “That’s a good sized one.”
“Have you got anything yet?”
“Yes, but nothing that big.”
We both went back to hunting for opals. It was only a few minutes before Hazel starting questioning me again. “Lillian?”
“Did you find something?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“Do you love him?”
My fingers were touching the soft stone, feeling for the harder texture of opal. It took me a moment to answer her. “Yes.” For some reason it was difficult to say that one little word.
“But Lillian.”
“I know.”
“He’s a slave.”
“I know.”
“They’ll kill him if anyone finds out. And the family will be shamed forever.”
I sat down on the soft dirt. My back resting on the wall I’d created. “I know.”
Hazel came and sat beside me. “I’ll admit Elliott is handsome, but it’s too dangerous for us. Worse for him.”
My head fell into my hands and I began to cry. I wiped the tears from my face with my dirty dress. Eyes glistening in the torch light, I asked, “You haven’t told anyone, have you?”
“Of course not. I love you. But it needs to end. End it today.”
I felt sick at her words. I loved Elliott. We had grown up together. His family was owned by my father. They worked the land and tended the animals. My sister and I were trusted with our family’s livelihood. We mined the precious stones that commanded such high prices with the nobles. But there were laws. Laws that were forbidden to be broken. All because of the stations we were born into, we weren’t allowed to be together. Water continued to pour from my eyes.
“We really should get at least a full bucket before we head back.”
She was trying to distract me. “Alright.” I returned to hunting for the lucrative stones.
We continued working in silence until the bucket was full. The only sound came from the torch fire burning, and the scrapping of our chisels against the walls of the mine. Once we had enough opals, Hazel took the bucket, and I the torch, and we walked out of the mine together.
Deep within the earth, it was difficult to tell how much time had passed. The sun was going down as we surfaced. We walked back towards our home by the way I’d come, following the shoreline. It was just past the same rock I had sat on this morning that I’d heard a whisper.
“Lillian,” the whisper repeated a little louder.
I turned to see Elliott hiding in the dark shadow of the massive stone. Hazel noticed him too.
“Elliott, you shouldn’t be here,” she scolded him.
“I need to talk to Lillian.”
I looked at Hazel. “Please just give us a minute.”
“What am I supposed to tell father?”
“Please,” I pleaded.
“You better do what I said.”
I gave a slight nod. A painful nod. It was enough to satisfy her. Hazel took the torch and left Elliott and me alone on the sandy beach.
I went and hid in the shadow of the rock with him. Even with the moon shining bright, the angle of the stone we’d taken shelter under, made this secret place seem pitch black. I couldn’t even see him within the shadows. But I could feel him. And I could feel the way he made my heart skip a beat when we touched.
I couldn’t resist the feel of his lips on my skin. I wasn’t under the cover of the stone three seconds before he had taken me up in his arms and lay me on the sandy bed. His mouth traced all contours of my body. Involuntarily, my body arched as he kissed down my neck, untying my dress to kiss down my exposed chest, and down my abdomen. I ached with desire for our bodies to become one.
My heart and my head were in a battle. Our relationship was wrong. It needed to stop. But my body craved his. My heart beat for him. And it was made all the worse , and more exhilarating, by how dangerous it was for us to be together. I worried for his life, but I needed him. Without him I had no reason to live.
If we were caught, he would surely die.
My heart won. I rolled on top of him and kissed him back the very same way he’d kissed me. My hands and lips traced the contours of his muscular body. As I reached his perfect chest, I worked my way back up slowly to his waiting mouth. Elliott rolled me onto my back again, and the waves crashed in the background as our bodies became one.
“Is that what you wanted to talk about?” I asked as I tied up my dress.
I still couldn’t see him in the dark place we were hidden, but he laughed at my question. “Actually there is something else I want to talk to you about, but now we don’t have time. You need to get home.”
“I know.” I felt for his face in the shadows. Once found, I k
issed his soft lips. “At least give me a hint what it’s about.”
“I think I know how we can be together.” There was a fire in his voice.
“How?”
“Lillian, you really need to get home. Can you meet me in the morning?”
“Where?”
“Meet me in the mine, around the second bend, before dawn.”
I kissed him again as I got up to leave. “I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you, too.”
The house was asleep when I got home. I was relieved Hazel hadn’t waited up for me. I hadn’t done what she’d said, besides, I didn’t want to. How could I tell my heart to quit beating?
I really hoped Elliott had found a legitimate way for us to be together. I tossed and turned all night, too anxious to sleep. When the sky began to lighten outside my window, I quietly got up, and snuck outside. I was tired since I’d hardly slept all night. But there was an excitement that drove me on. I ran to the mine. I ran to Elliott.
I slowed as I came within view of the mine. Making sure no one else was around, I crept into the shaft. I didn’t light a torch, but rather felt my way. My right hand grazed the earthen wall, feeling for the first turn-off. It came about five minutes in. My heart started to beat faster. Around the next bend would be Elliott.
My bare feet on the dirt floor made barely a sound. Up ahead I could see a flickering of light. No longer needing the wall to guide me, I ran faster. Rounding the second bend, I saw him sitting on the ground, his dark brown hair disheveled, but a glimmer was in his eyes when he saw me.
I kneeled down beside him and we fell into kissing our hellos. The passion that radiated between our bodies was intoxicating. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Our tongues twisted in perfect harmony, as our hands outlined the contours of the other’s body.
The atmosphere within the mine was magical. The rough opals glistened in the firelight. Dust swirled around as our bodies became one. Something about this place was special. I could feel it in my soul. Here, I could feel Elliott in my soul.
Our bodies rocked as one. His soft lips gave rough kisses down my neck. My body kept arching in ecstasy. A cry of pleasure broke free from my lips. His mouth tenderly kissed mine as our dance of passion came to an end.
I sat up and began to re-tie my dress. “Why do I always end up naked when we’re together?” I teased.
“I could ask the same thing of you.” Elliott was readjusting his own clothes. He leaned over and gave me another kiss.
I smiled. “So, did you really figure out how we can be together?”
“Yes.” His smile was glorious.
“How?”
“You know the war we are getting ready to fight against Athens?”
“Yes.”
“If I sign up as a soldier, when the war is over, I will no longer be a slave. I would be the same social status as you,” his eyes sparkled. “Then we can be together.”
I had never felt happier. Elliott’s plan could work. It would work. Yes, it was dangerous, but at least this plan had the option of happily ever after. Our other options were: to break up, or to stay together and wait for someone besides Hazel to find out about us and kill him for breaking the law. All in all, I liked his new plan better.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “This could work!”
“I know, but I need to leave today in order to be considered battle ready.”
I kissed his cheek. “The sooner you go, the sooner we can be together forever.”
He held my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes. “I love you Lillian. Forever. My heart belongs to you.” Elliott’s mouth traced the contours of mine in a brief and perfect kiss.
“I love you too.”
Elliott stood up and pulled me up with him. “Come on. Let’s go,” he smiled.
We left the torch and walked hand in hand out of the mine. I was so completely happy. Elliott had to go now, but he would come back to me. We were going to be together. I squeezed his hand.
It was as I saw the light of the opening up ahead that the overpowering feeling of deja vu overtook me. The earth started to shake, and the walls of the mine began to rain down.
Elliott pushed me up ahead of him. “Run, Lillian!”
We both ran for the opening. We ran for the light. We ran for our lives.
“Hurry!” I shouted.
“Run faster!”
My heart raced and my muscles ached as I pushed myself forward. As I willed myself towards the sunlight. I barely made it out. Dust from the cave-in clouded around me.
I couldn’t see Elliott.
I couldn’t see anything.
I looked down at the dirt covering my hands as the dust started to settle. That was when I saw it. I saw his hand. Elliott hadn’t made it out. As I threw myself forward to his hand, my body sat straight up.
I was back in my bed.
Tears were streaming down my cheeks. My heart ached so bad that I wrapped my arms around my chest to help hold myself together. Between choked-up sobs, I tried to breath.
My fingers played with my opal ring as I thought about the dream. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it really had happened. It was like my dreams of Italy, except that this dream had taken place long before that. Still trying to hold myself together, and breath normally, I remembered that in my dream Elliott had mentioned a war against Athens. I got up and turned on my computer.
Maybe I could figure out when the memory occurred.
I searched “war on Athens,” and the first thing that came up was something called the Peloponnesian War. There was no way that could have been the right war. It took place in 459 B.C.
I glanced through a handful of the other options, but nothing seemed right. They were all B.C. wars, or just barely over a century ago. Could I have met Elliott before Christ?
The thought blew my mind, but something in my soul told me it was possible. We had already found one another countless times. We were soul mates. There was no way to know for certain, but the feeling “yes” was overwhelming.
My flashback was of the very first time Elliott and I had been together. And something else I realized, was the way I’d felt on Halloween on our date. The sensation of happiness overflowing from my soul. That was the same feeling I’d had in the flashback. They were identical.
Maybe that’s what started the flashbacks?
I turned off my computer and crawled back into bed with my journal and camera. It was early. The dream had felt like forever, but it wasn’t even five in the morning.
I wanted to see what Elliott thought about my latest theory. I wrote:
Elliott? Are you there?
Click. View.
Elliott? Are you there?
Yes, Miele. Buongiorno. What can I do for you?
I thought for a moment before responding.
I think I know why I keep having the flashbacks.
Click. View.
I think I know why I keep having the flashbacks.
What did you find out, Lilly?
I turned to a clean and empty page in my journal. This was going to take some space.
I had a dream that happened the same time and place as the flashback. I don’t know when or where we were, but our people were about to go to war with Athens. You and I were in different classes and were forbidden to be together. But if you went and fought, you would come back a hero, which would raise your status, and we could be together.
We were in the mine when you told me your plan. I’ve only once felt that happy. I felt the same feeling of utter joy on our date on Halloween. I think that might be what has triggered the repressed memory. And my fear of losing you, comes from losing you then.
Click. View.
I had a dream that happened the same time and place as the flashback. I don’t know when or where we were, but our people were about to go to war with Athens. You and I were in different classes and were forbidden to be together. But if you went and fought, you would come back a her
o. which would raise your status, and we could be together.
We were in the mine when you told me your plan. I’ve only once felt that happy. I felt the same feeling of utter joy on our date on Halloween. I think the similar feelings are what triggered the repressed memory. And my fear of losing you, comes from losing you then.
That sounds very possible. I don’t remember us being together before 1719 in Napoli, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
If you are right, and you have figured out why you have been having the flashbacks, then they shouldn’t happen anymore.
The page was beyond full. I turned it over.
You really think they’ll stop now?
Click. View.
You really think they will stop now?
Yes. Let me know if they come back, but I would doubt they will. Your theory makes sense to me.
I felt a sense of release at Elliott’s words. For months now I’d been plagued with my vision. To go through the day without witnessing his death would be a relief.
I wrote one more message before trying to go back to sleep.
I miss you.
Click. View.
I miss you.
I miss you also, mia amore.
Chapter 21. Hot Water
The next day, I didn’t have a flashback. The day after that, again, no flashback. The day after that, no flashback. It felt too good to be true. I wasn’t as happy as when I was with Elliott, but I was happy. And I wasn’t on edge anymore. I no longer had to be on guard, not knowing when I’d have to fight back tears after witnessing him die, day after day.
The weight had been lifted. Now I could focus on Nicholas.
It was Thursday, five flashback-free days later, and Nicholas was driving us home from school as usual.
“Sorry I’ve been busy getting that paper written for Mr. Nelson’s class,” he said as we were stopped at a light. “Have you had much time to go over those books I checked out? I want you to be happy, hoe.”
I smiled. “I haven’t looked at them much.” I hadn’t looked at them at all since I’d had the dream and figured it out. They sat in a pile on the floor by my window.
It hadn’t occurred to me to tell him they’d stopped. Him asking about it kind of felt like it would jinx it. But to have to pretend to do research felt like it might jinx it too. I really didn’t want them to come back.