The Attic (Completed)

Chapter 5

Beyond the threshold was a deep and vibrant room redolent of chlorine.

The walls were painted with swirling, fanciful designs in rich color—aqua blue, lemon, and violet. Three large alcoves, two on one side of the room, the third on the adjacent wall, housed marble statues of angels; flecks of gold in their wings. In their outstretched hands were gilded platters loaded with bathing supplies and towels. Narrow pillars surrounding the room supported a high ceiling covered with thousands of tiny white lights—like twinkling stars in a bright night sky. On the far end of the room were reclining chairs and several tropical plants in ornate pots. Lily guessed the room to be some forty meters deep and at least twenty meters wide.

It was difficult to process all she was seeing and when she sensed a shadow moving below her and away from her, she peeled her gaze from the walls and ceiling and glanced down at the floor—nearly losing her balance at the sight.

She was standing on a glass aquarium floor.

In the indigo waters beneath her feet a school of tropical fish swam by over pink coral. A couple of meters ahead of her was an empty tub built into the see-through glass; its sides and bottom as translucent as the floors.

She gasped as a small sand tiger shark moved through the waters ahead and curved around the tub—approaching her. With a yelp, she stepped backward and bumped into Mike, who laughed and gripped her shoulders. The shark turned direction and moved away from them.

"Incredible, isn't it?" he said. "I can't even begin to imagine how this thing was constructed in the first place." He didn't remove his warm hands from her shoulders and she made no attempt to nudge them off. She liked his closeness, especially after the shock of seeing a shark.

"How . . . I mean, I've never seen such a thing in my life," she stammered. "The detail and work put into this room . . . It's—I just can't believe there's an aquarium under the floor."

In slow motion, she imagined cracks forming in the glass like ice, the floor shattering beneath her feet, and both she and Mike plunging into the domain of the shark.

"Who feeds the fish and maintains the aquarium?"

Beyond the bathtub was a square swimming pool directly in the center of the room. It was filled to the brim with still water. She guessed the pool to be about fifteen feet in length and width, but because of the see-through floors, its beginnings and ends were difficult to discern.

Mike pulled his hands from her shoulders and moved away from her, folding his arms over his chest and leaning his shoulder against a pillar. "Ian takes care of all that," he said, glancing around. "Apparently there's a hired marine crew that comes in regularly, but I've never paid much mind."

A school of fish darted beneath her feet and she jumped. This was going to take some getting used to. Was she seriously expected to submerge herself in a see-through bathtub with little sharks swimming about? How thick was the glass?

"We really have nothing to do with them," Mike went on. "And they know to keep themselves out of sight. Ian likes his privacy."

She smiled distractedly. "Well, Mike, I really don't want to be late for breakfast, so I need to get a move on." She scanned the room. "There's, uh, no upright showers—?" She frowned, hugging her clothing bag to her chest.

He nodded, seeming to understand her discomfort. "You're worried about privacy."

"Yes, just slightly!" She laughed.

"No problem. Just keep the door locked till you're done and no one will be able to walk in on you."

She knit her brow. "There's only one door giving access?"