Old Soul

Juliette

There was a few moments of darkness and gut swirling confusion. When they finally touched ground again, Juliette felt sick; she vomited on a broad marble step, and put a hand out to catch herself. She was leaning on a tall stone column, supporting a wide Roman arch. Around her, people walked to and fro, wearing what appeared to be ragged potato sacks. Some wore bedsheets tied into togas. She wanted to laugh at this ridiculous role play. But then someone step directly into her vomit.

Yuck, she thought, but the victim had no reaction at all. Either he hadn't noticed or this was just part of the sick game that that random guy was playing with her. She looked around for her annoying tag along and found him leaning casually on the column opposite.

He was hot, there was no denying. He had tanned, bronze skin and curly golden hair. His smile curved sideways leaving an adorable little dimple. His body was lean and muscular, like a dancer's. The unnerving thing about him though were his golden eyes, flecked with reddish orange. They looked like they were on fire, they weren't natural.

He was watching her carefully, so Juliette decided to ignore him, leaning casually on her own column, spitting out any remaining bile. The people around her didn't even seem to notice her or the mess she had left on the stairs. She might have thought of alerting a janitor or something, but she was too shocked by the elaborate and intricate workings of this Roman cosplay or whatever it was.

Their voices were melodious and flowing, and she could tell that they were speaking Latin. Her grade ten core Latin class had left her with enough knowledge that she could pick out specific words like cat and dog, or hello and goodbye. She was awed by what lengths the actors, if that's what they were, had gone to to make it appear real. She almost believed them until she saw a familiar strawberry blond with her back to her.

Juliette crept up behind the girl and jabbed her in the ribs. She didn't even flinch. She didn't squeal or turn around she just stayed in the exact same position.

"Allie?" Juliette asked carefully, not sure what the punchline of the joke would turn out to be. She didn't want to be the brunt of it.

Allie didn't react, didn't twitch, didn't cock her head. She didn't seem to notice Juliette at all.

Suddenly out of nowhere a girl cried, "Alliah!"

Both Juliette and Allie turned at the same time, and Juliette almost passed out. Descending the steps, wearing one of the potato sacks, was the girl she had stared at in the mirror for 17 years. It was herself!

This reflection ran straight through Juliette, and into Allie's arms.

"Julien!" cried Allie happily. And the two girls began walking together down the rutted road, narrowly avoiding wagons. Juliette stared after them in disbelief. Here was this doppleganger of her and her best friend. But how could that be?

She whirled around to face the blond hottie. He was smirking. "What's happening?" she exclaimed frustratedly. Again no one even noticed her outburst.

"You." he said smiling widely. "You are happening. Given this is 45BC."

"Okay cut the crap here Tour Guide guy," she exclaimed in frustration. "Who are you, where am I and who is that person who looks freakishly like me?"

He squinted at Juilette and said annoyingly, "I'm not allowed to tell you."

She rolles her eyes and pinned him with a stare, "Buddy, I'm dead. Who am I gonna tell?"

"Hmm," he murmurred, "that would be a fair point if you understood the Laws of Death."

Juliette decided on a different tactic, pleading. "C'mon, I'm so confused. It's killing me, no pun intended."

"Fine," he exclaimed,throwing up his hands and flopping down, "But you cannot tell my boss."

"Oh I promise," she said, making a big deal of crossing her heart."

He took a deep breath, his golden eyes becoming wider. Looking her honestly in the eyes, he began.

"My name is Praeses, and I am an Eternity Guide. That means I record your actions from birth, and I help you along the way if you ever run into trouble."

"Okay woah there," she said, holding up her hands, "you must suck as an eternity dude. Where were you when I just got hit by a truck? And died? Do you remember that? Did you record that in your little notebook?"

"I'm sensing you're a little ticked off by this, but let me assure you that this whole vehicle accident thing happens quite frequently. To you in particular."

"What do you mean to me in particular?" she squealed, "I don't recall being hit by a vehicle ever before in my life."

Praeses shrugged, "Maybe not in your last life but in your past lives."

"You keep saying this thing about past lives. What's that about?"

"I was assigned to you when you were concieved-"

"Nice, I really wanted to know that."

"-concieved in 45BC."

"Okay there bud, I think you may have gotten your math slightly wrong there. I was concieved sometime in 1998," Juliette wrinkled her nose, "I don't try to think about it too hard-"

"STOP!" Praeses yelled, and Juliette could swear she saw steam rise from his ears. She blinked, there actually was steam coming from his ears. "Please, stop interupting. I'm putting my job on the line telling you this stuff okay? So if you want to know, shut up please!"

"Fine Tour Guide," she pulled an imaginary zipper across her lips, "I'm listening."

"Alrighty," he said, taking a relaxed breath, "like I said, when you were concieved in 45BC I was assigned to your case.  Now up until the age of twelve, the job of an Eternity Guide is simple; you keep the kid alive and record everything they do. Some people however, it's just their job to lead their kids to the time and place where they die-"

"What? That's sick!" Juliette exclaimed, "I thought you said it was their jobs to keep the kid alive?"

"That is their job," Praeses said obviously, "until the Blueprint says it's their time."

"What's the Blueprint?" Juliette asked impulsively, but she shut up when Praeses gave her the death stare.

"I can't tell you that," he said mysteriously, "that subject is completely off limits. Just focus on what I'm telling you right now."

Juliette slumped deafeatedly and continued to watch the Roman people complete their daily tasks. She could tell now that they weren't actors. They were too real looking. They appeared as though they had spent years in the Italian sun, working to make a living. She was still confused about what was happening with her look alike and Alli, but Praeses seemed to know exactly what was going on.

"Anyway," he said, "when I was assigned to your case, I wasn't very invested in you. I just knew your Blueprint said you would live past twelve, so I tried my best to keep you alive. When you turned 13, I got to see the rest of your plan. By now I liked you alot as a kid. I had watched you grow up and was quite impressed by your intelligence and ability. So I was determined to make your life the happiest ever. You see, once a human turns 13, their life plan immediatly diverges so that they are always on the path towards their Soul Mate."

"I'm sorry, did you just say soul-mate?" Juliette scoffed, "how cheesy is that?"

"You're saying you don't believe in a one true love?"

"No,"she said practically, "I believe in different types of love. There are the short lived, burts of happiness, and there are the longer stretches of pain emdured and understood together. But if there is one thing I don't believe in, it's true love."

"I know that isn't true, you believe in true love deep down."

"How do you know that?" she asked, with a skeptical eyebrow raised.

"I can read your thoughts." he replied simply.

Juliette cocked her head and stared at Praeses, feeling violated. Her private thoughts, had been touched by someone else her entire life? She refused to believe it. "If that's the case what am I thinking right now?"