Page 108 of Don't Let Me Go
I look at Riley in confusion, then back at Jocasta. “But you look exactly like her.”
“The women in my family have always borne a striking resemblance to each other.”
“But you recognized us,” Riley insists.
“I did. But only from the stories passed on from generation to generation by the women in my family. A story of two boys, alwaystogether, one with eyes bluer than the sea and hair like polished bronze and the other with hair like midnight and eyes as sharp and green as glass.”
Riley stares at her in awe. “Who are you?”
“I come from a long line of seeresses,” Jocasta explains. “My lineage stretches all the way back to the Oracle of Delphi. No one knows how or why the women in my family acquired our particular gifts, but we’ve always had a special relationship with the universe. We can see the direction in which it wants to move. And we help steer it from time to time when things go off course. Though what its ultimate goal is, if indeed there is a goal, I couldn’t begin to speculate. Nor could the women who came before me. But we serve the universe when we’re called upon. And when we’re not, we’re free to do as we like.”
Jocasta smiles like that’s the end of her story. But I have more questions than ever.
“You said your ancestors—the women in your family—they’ve met Riley and me before?”
She grins. “Quite a few times. You’re rather infamous in certain circles. Of course, it’s been a while since any of my lineage have run into you. Almost a century, in fact. To tell you the truth, I was starting to think you two were just an old wives’ tale. But here you are.”
“Wait—how many times have your ancestors met us?” Riley asks. “Jackson and I only remember meeting Ulfhild in Greenland. Are you saying we’ve met your ancestors in other past lives? That we’ve had other encounters with your family?”
“Oh, yes. Ulfhild was just one of many. The two of you have crossed paths with the women of my lineage on several occasions. At least a dozen, if our family records are to be believed. Though there may have been more encounters that we don’t know about.”
This conversation is making me dizzy. It’s hard enough wrappingmy brain around the idea that I might’ve had three past lives. The fact that I might’ve had a dozen or more makes my head swim.
“So past livesarereal, then?” Riley asks. “Reincarnation is real?”
“Yes. Very rare and very unusual, but real.”
“What do you mean, ‘unusual’?”
Jocasta sighs, and for a second, I’d swear she looks disappointed. “I mean it’s not supposed to happen. And if it does happen, you’re certainly not supposed to remember it. None of the versions of you boys that my ancestors encountered ever recalled their previous lives. As far as I know, you two are the first.”
Something about the way she says that last part sends a shiver down my spine.
“If reincarnation isn’t supposed to happen, why is it happening to Jackson and me?”
Jocasta considers. “Do you recall any of your past lives other than your time in Greenland with Ulfhild?”
“Jackson remembers us living in London during World War Two. And I remember living in Pompeii right before Mount Vesuvius erupted.”
“But nothing earlier than Pompeii?”
“No.”
“Interesting.” Jocasta sips her tea. “I had an ancestor in Pompeii. A high priestess of the Sibylline Oracle. She died in the destruction of the city, and her death has always been one of the great mysteries of my family.”
“You mean because she didn’t see the volcano coming?” I ask.
Jocasta shakes her head. “Because shedid. She sent her daughter and all her handmaidens out of Pompeii a day before the eruption. Yet for some reason, she stayed behind. I’ve always wondered why.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Riley color and stare down at his lap.
“I think...” He hesitates. “I think?.?.?.?we met her.”
I look at Riley in surprise. In our discussions about our dreams, he never mentioned any high priestess. But then, I haven’t really pumped him for information about Pompeii. I’ve been more focused on Greenland since that’s the only past life we both remember.
“Tell me,” Jocasta says eagerly, leaning forward in her chair. “Tell me what happened in Pompeii.”
“There’s not much to tell,” Riley answers defensively. “Jackson and I were—a couple. When the volcano erupted, we ran from our families to find each other. We couldn’t make it out of the city, so we took shelter in a temple. That’s where we found the high priestess. She was trapped under a column and dying. But right before she passed away, she told Jackson and me that we had to die. She was pretty insistent about it. Then the temple collapsed, and that was it. We died.”
