Helga and I had returned to the mansion in silence. I didn’t speak much to her or grandfather at dinner. My mind was on that man…Lyle Tiberius Rourke. There was something about him that made me uneasy. I sat in my room with my notebook in front of me. How could Helga just let him crush that flower like that? I knew that she was strong and independent…so why hadn’t she stood up against him. I sighed. It must be that army philosophy. I never quite understood that. Rourke’s position was obviously higher than Helga’s, so that made her subordinate to him. But did it have to be in everything? I remember asking father about it once. When I was about ten years old, I had seen the army marching or something like that. Father told me that they were drilling. I was in awe. All of the soldiers were in perfect order. Nobody dared to make a mistake.
When I asked father about it he replied, “Adrienne, you must understand that when you’re a soldier, you follow orders. You cannot question. You cannot talk back. You must listen to your superior officer.”
“But what if you have a different opinion?” I had asked.
“That does not matter when you’re in the army. You must shut your own personal feelings away.”
“Like a body without a soul?” Father had looked at me strangely at that point.
Finally he answered, “Like a programmed machine.” I had been silent after that. Even now I still couldn’t understand how someone could just give up their life to be a soldier. It didn’t make sense to me. I flipped through my notebook. There was that Atlantis drawing. I stared at it. Was there really such a lovely place like that? I wondered…

There was shouting everywhere. Loud explosions…the sound of machine-guns. I gasped and realized that I was on a huge red balloon. “What is this place?” I muttered. Then I saw Helga running frantically about the balloon, throwing things off. “Helga!” I tried to stand in front of her. She obviously couldn’t hear or see me. Then I saw him…Rourke. “That’s it,” she told him. “Unless someone wants to jump.” What happened next was terrible. I didn’t even see it coming. And neither had she. “Ladies first,” he said sarcastically and threw her over the side. I was in shock. Had that really just happened? But then she flipped back up with her catlike reflexes. She kicked Rourke and he fell backwards. “You said we were in this together!” she shouted. Another kick. “You promised me a percentage!” He grabbed her foot and twisted it. “Next time get it in writing!” then he flipped her over the side again. “Rouuuurke!” she screamed. “Nothing personal!” he called…

I sat up, drenched in cold sweat. A dream? It had all been a dream? But it seemed so real. Too real for my liking. I picked up my drawing. “Atlantis…” I muttered. I had that bad feeling again. Maybe that dream wasn’t a dream at all. Maybe it was a vision. After all…I shuddered. I had a vision right before my parents died too. It was of a terrible car crash. Then, a few months later, my dream had become reality. “It’s not true,” I told myself firmly. “It can’t be true.” My head told me that it wasn’t true, but my heart kept telling me otherwise. I decided to change and go to bed. Perhaps a good nights sleep would clear my mind. Things would be better in the morning.