Elena looked at outstretched hand, and after a few seconds of thought, agreed to his polite gesture."What?" The unusual expression on the man"s face caused her strange a.s.sumptions, his lips were tightly closed as if he was trying to hold back a smile or a laugh.
"Don"t be offended, but you look terrible," Marcus showed his snow-white smile, not embarra.s.sed by his tart comments regarding Elena.
He did not have to say it out loud, she herself could have a.s.sumed that after all that had happened her appearance was far from ideal. The clothes were wet and stuck to the body, the hair was in a mess, the mascara on the eyelashes flowed down and was rubbed on the cheeks.
It was only in films and music videos that girls in wet clothes looked seductive heartbreakers with a languid look. Expectation and reality, as always, did not coincide.
"Look at yourself," the woman muttered, but nevertheless wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. It"s not that she had a lot of makeup, and she put mascara on her eyelashes quite a bit to protect them from the sun, but now she would not refuse to check her appearance in the mirror.
"What about me? I"m magnificent as always," Marcus smirked, and Elena had no desire to argue with him, especially when he was right. Tsk, and why was it often enough for men to simply wash up, and voila, you are irresistible?
Elena noticed how the emotions on Marcus"s" face suddenly changed, he looked at his hand, and then began to shine a flashlight all over the floor, as if trying to find something.
"What happened? Have you lost something?"
Marcus carefully examined every inch of the place where he was lying before, studied the s.p.a.ce around, but everything was in vain. His bracelet was gone. Most likely, he lost it while they were still in the water, and the bracelet was carried away by the stream further down the tunnel.
"Maybe it"s in the water?" suggested Elena, never having received the man"s answer to her question and not knowing what the object of his search was.
They were on a slight rise, and along the opposite wall, a stream of water was flowing. It was not as stormy as the one that was under the failed floor, but fast enough to pull along. The depth of the channel through which the water was flowing was also at least one meter.
Marcus went to the edge and lighted on the water, under the glare of a flashlight its surface shone, but he could not see anything under it. Even his eyesight was useless. This thing was too small and inconspicuous; to notice it in such a situation would be like a miracle.
"Let"s go," the man gave his phone to Elena and went ahead of the woman. He saw well and without additional lighting, but now he did not want to show her his face and his condition.
From the inside, his whole body was filled with st.i.tching pain, his muscles were reducing, the heat in his throat was becoming stronger and stronger. The presence of Elena nearby only exacerbated the situation. That bracelet was the last thread that kept his sanity, but now he had nothing left to restrain his inner monster, ready to break free at any moment.
Elena walked behind, unaware of the condition of her companion, the woman was immersed in her own thoughts.
The path was narrow and a little slippery, she went as close to the wall as possible so as not to slip back into the water. Gradually, small white dots began to appear in the water, and the further they went, the more dots they could see. The dots also were growing bigger in their size.
Elena leaned the flashlight against her chest, the light went out, but the old darkness was replaced by a dull yellow-white glow coming from the water.
"What it is?" Elena looked at the stones glowing under the water, laid out along the bottom of the ca.n.a.l.
"It looks like phosphorus. It"s good that they"re under water, otherwise, we could have problems," Marcus slowly continued to move forward. Phosphorus was not only poisonous, but also flammable. If it were not for the flow of cold water, covering the surface of these stones with a thick layer, they could easily be poisoned as in a chemical attack.
An underwater path made of phosphorus elements created the illusion of magic and mystery, bordering on danger and death. Elena knew that if she got into this water and touched at least one of these stones which were similar to twinkling stars in the night sky, then at best she would get off with serious burns.
At worst, the outcome was clear.
"How could they create something like that? This pyramid is several hundred years old," the woman whispered, still not believing her eyes.
"And this is said by the lady who remembers her past life, and whose husband and son can move objects and teleport with the power of thought?"
"Um, well," Elena did not know what to answer to Marcus"s remark. If you look at the situation from this perspective, then she was clearly not the person who should have asked such questions.
"There is a lot of unknown in this world, there are such things that you cannot even imagine. And we ourselves are a confirmation of this. What can we say about ordinary people who are unaware of these subtleties?
Once upon a time, when I was once in Madagascar, I met an old man. The inhabitants of his village considered the man crazy since he claimed to have seen people plunging into the sea and turning into dolphins. He told me a story that once he nearly drowned in childhood, and he was saved by a huge mechanical fish, like a monster from an old legend. Since then, he brought gifts to the sea every year in grat.i.tude for his salvation."
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"It looks like another legend of some small ethnic group," Elena smiled, she had loved such stories since childhood and Sean often asked her to tell one of them before going to bed.
"Who knows. Ahnenerbe"s expedition also went to Tibet in the footsteps of old legends, and as you can see, you and I are very real confirmation of its existence," Marcus turned his head back and winked.
Elena felt the atmosphere between them become a little warmer. No matter how much she thought, Marcus Taubert remained a mystery to her.
His behavior and words were like the ocean. He hid his true thoughts and intentions somewhere in the depths, demonstrating his indifference and restraint, like the calm expanse of water. But at the same time, he could at any moment turn into a storm, sweeping away everything in its path, without thinking about the consequences. What secrets did the depths of his eyes keep? What did he hide at the bottom of his soul?
Elena could not give up the desire to find it out.
She looked at his broad back, straightened shoulders and head held high. Something pulled her towards this man; there was something in him that did not release her attention, no matter how hard she tried.
"Marcus?"
"Mmm?"
"Do you know who my father is?"
The man stopped walking, feeling completely taken aback, Elena"s question was a complete surprise for him. At that moment he expected anything from her, but not that.
Elena saw how the muscles on his back tensed; he clenched his hands into fists but did not answer. The man quickened his pace and went forward.
"You know, right? Please tell me," Elena hastened a step after Marcus, completely forgetting how slippery the floor was. After a couple of steps, her leg stumbled and she fell to the ground along with the phone.
But before she could kneel, a pair of strong male hands grabbed her like a feather and put her on her feet. Marcus picked up the phone and put it back in Elena"s hands,
"Your father is dead. Do not ask me more about this," he answered in a quiet tone, turned around and went on as if this conversation had never happened.