“Wow!” I breathed.

“Don’t get sentimental.” The girl warned.

“Why not?” I asked. She snorted.

“Why not? We’re in Atlantis. ANYTHING could happen. This isn’t a dream you know. We could get hurt.”

“Oh.” I said quietly. “By the way, what’s your name?” I asked.

“Serafina.” She answered.

“Wow. That’s a beautiful name.” I said. She cackled.

“There is nothing beautiful about me. There is nothing beautiful about Atlantis. It has become a terrible place.” She said.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Titan did.” She said bluntly. I waited for her to explain more, but she didn’t.

“ Care to tell me what you mean, Serafina? What are hiders? What are they hiding from? Who is Titan, and what did he do?” I ask. She takes a breath, and lets it out slowly. Then she starts talking, in a whisper so low I have to lean in to hear her.

“Atlantis was once a fair, just, and happy city. Then our ancestors got the notion to break every rule mean to help us in the Bible. They got drunk, committed adultery, and countless other things that are disgusting and should never be brought up. So, naturally, God was angry with them. He was so angry, he sank the city with a flood. No one knows for sure what exactly happened after that. But here we are, under the ocean, breathing without help of tech. The people of Atlantis realized what terrible people they’d been, and changed their ways immediately. God let them live, since they were doing what was right and pleasing him again. But as a lesson and a reminder of what had happened, no one could walk on land again.“ She paused and took a breath. “Atlantis was rebuilt, and became a just and right city again. But recently, our king died, of old age. His son Titan, took over the throne. We’d all heard about Jesus by now, and most of us had started believing in him. Titan didn’t. He has made it his mission to kill every Christian he can get his hands on. He is merciless, even to his own. The Christians who want to live hide. We are called the Hiders. Titan’s people are called the Seekers, or Titans. We know God will save us, but to ensure us even more, he has given us a prophecy that there will be a person who saves us from Titan.“ She stopped.

“What is the prophecy?” I prompted her.

“It is this,” she answered. “It includes John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him, shall not perish, but have eternal life. I shall send someone to help you, Before the anti-christ’s time, who will save your city from darkness. He will not know how he got there, and he will not always be himself. Yet when he calls upon me to help him, he shall succeed. The Titans will be overruled.“

When I woke-again!-I was tied to a tree, sitting down. I was on a tiny island, surrounded by swampy marsh. It was night, and there was no moon out. I had control of my body, and I was determined to keep control this time. The cloaked figure hadn’t noticed I was awake yet, and was sitting with their back to me, facing a fire they’d made. Their hood was down. I choked in surprised. “You’re….you’re a girl?!?” I asked incredulously. The girl spun around to face me.

“What did you think I was Liar?” She spat. “I’m not a liar!” I spat back. “Something keeps possessing me, and it had me possessed at that point.” She just glared at me. Like I’ll believe that. Was the message. “I don’t even know what a hider is!” I exclaimed. “How do I know if you aren’t possessed at this point, or if you’re just lying.” She growled. I paused for a moment to think. “What color where my eyes when you had me in a spotlight?” I asked her. She looked at her hands, as if they helped her remember. “Black.” She finally said. “What color are they now?” Grudgingly, the girl admitted “Brown.” “I guess you aren’t lying.” “So,  where are we?” I asked her. “And, can you untie me?” She started untying me, but hesitated to talk. Finally she said “we are in the realm of Atlantis.” I looked up, and saw, that far up, the sky was rolling, like waves.

When I come to, I’m tied up in a chair, and I swivel my head around to try and see my surroundings. It’s pitch black. Ironically, when I move my head, a bright spotlight flicks on and shines on me. Then a figure in a black cloak walks into the circle of light. They put out their fist. It makes me flinch, but then I realize they’re not going to punch me. On their hand is writing. It says “You aren’t a hider, LIAR.” Since I have control of my body now, I start to protest and explain, but then I don’t have control of my body anymore, AGAIN! “I” start struggling, and the hooded Figure’s hand says, “don’t.” I yell “Make me.” out loud. This extremely frightens the hooded figure, who then cowers into the shadows, and turns off the spotlight. I can still slightly see the figure, who puts on a mask and releases a gas from a gun. When it floats over to me, I gain control of myself again. But before I can think, I’ve breathed in the gas. Next thing I know, my body goes limp, but I’m still awake. The cloaked figure unties me, slugs me over their shoulder, and starts running. It starts to get hard to keep my eyes open. The last thing I see before I black out (AGAIN) is…. Darkness, and behind us, the faint sound of pounding footsteps.