Soulmates - The Last Line

The touch of reality

Byul was sitting on the floor, her eyes filled with tears. She looked almost too calm. The only thing giving her away was her breathing. It came in short breaths combined with heart-pounding that could be noticed on her neck. It was almost as if she was in a trance-like state, looking at the floor but not focused on anything in particular.

Seulgi was sitting opposed to her, holding a glass of whiskey, sipping slowly while observing her friend.

"So, it was pretty bad, huh? ... Sounds like a horrible nightmare." She said and looked at her friend.

"It wasn't a dream Seul. It felt so... I could feel everything. I was walking on those planks, I was touching doors and walls, I could feel the sun on my face, and the rope in my hand... I can still feel her lips on mine like she didn't just drown in front of me... " She said and the tears rolled down her face. "I promised I'd keep her safe, but I couldn't. I couldn't save her..."

"Unnie, it was just a dream-"

"You don't get it Seulgi... She said she was scared of the water and I let her drown. She was scared..."

Seulgi realized that her friend was still in shock and she didn't know what to do. Who could she call? Her father? Right. Because he'd come right away to help. She could call Joohyun or Wendy, but she didn't know how Byul would feel sharing with them; she called only her to be fair. So maybe she wanted this to stay under wraps. Seulgi decided to try another approach.

"Okay, so what if it wasn't just a nightmare? Maybe you dreamt of someone else's life? Someone who died a long time ago. Maybe there's a hidden message, or ... i don't know, something you need to learn from this? Why don't we google? Like, see if we can find anything online? Maybe it was a famous ship? Maybe you watched a movie and your brain decided to do something ... weird."

"I don't remember much. I just know her name was Anna. That bastard who wanted her was Wellington, and my name... was Cassia. I was a pirate. She was ...British I think." Byul said and wiped her tears, "My ship...the name of my ship, it was the "White flower".

"Okay well, if we google, like the combination of-," Seulgi said and stopped mid-sentence.

"What? Did something pop up?" Byul asked and finally stood up, sitting next to her best friend.

"Dude ... I-, shit... The bastard - Wellington, Tomas Wellington, he's real. He lived till 1634. Born in 1566, in London, Moved to Bombay. Had connections with the East India company. Involved in a ship battle with Pirates. He got a freaking medal for it..."

Byul pulled away and held her head in her hands. "This can't be happening.... How is that possible?"

"Not only this, he got rewarded for catching the notorious ship "White Flower". Killed most of the crew, and took the others as prisoners. Couldn't reach the ca-"

"It was me, wasn't it..."

"Cassia Yadav... shit."

"How on Earth is that possible..." Byul stood up astonished. "These people cannot be real, Seulgi ... This is fucked up... How did I dream of their lives?"

"There's actually more. It says the captain drowned trying to save someone from the crew-"

"Someone from the crew," Byul repeated with a bitter smile.

"There's an exhibition with whatever they managed to salvage from the ship. It says here that most of the relics are being kept in the Museum of naval-"

"I have to go ..." said Byul and turned around.

"What do you mean, you have to go?" Asked Seulgi.

"I need to see it... I need to know I'm not losing my mind completely. I need to go see it, Seulgi..."