I Loved Him In Every Lifetime

Chapter Three: Memories in the Mist

The haze rolled in after school, moving through the streets like fingers searching for something. Ava tightened her jacket around her and tried to focus on her homework, but her mind kept drifting.

She couldn’t shake out Luca from her thoughts. Every glance, every small smile, every word he had spoken earlier replayed in her mind. Her chest ached with a longing she didn’t fully understand. It wasn’t just attraction. It was deeper, older, like her soul remembered him from another time.

Then it started.

A wave of heat, followed by a piercing chill, ran through her body. The room grew thickened, and the shadows seemed to quake. Ava became panicked and stumbled back from her desk, knocking over her pencil cup.

“What is going on?” she whispered, her voice cracking.

The shadows moved around her, not like normal darkness, but alive, almost watching her, warning her. She could feel them getting closer, her heartbeat echoing in the silence.

A sudden flash of memory struck her like lightning, a castle tower, a man kneeling over her, golden eyes full of grief, a promise whispered before death. She fell to her knees, clutching her head.

“Stop… stop!” she cried.

And then, in the stillness, a voice echoed not a real voice, but a pull, deep in her chest: He’s coming. Be ready.

The next day at school, Ava moved through the halls with more awareness than usual. Every shadow seemed to linger longer than it should, every whisper in the hallway caught her ear.

Luca was waiting at her locker, leaning casually against it. But this time, there was a tension in his shoulders, a flicker of worry in his golden eyes.

“You feel it too,” he said quietly.

Ava nodded, trying to sound calm, but her chest tightened. “Yes. Something… is happening.”

He studied her for a long moment, then reached out, lightly brushing a strand of hair from her face. The contact made her shiver. It was brief, subtle, but it set her heart racing.

“You need to be careful,” he said again. “Whatever this is… it’s stronger than you think.”

Ava swallowed, her throat dry. “Stronger… than me?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “And it’s looking for you.”

Her mind raced. “Why me?”

“Because you are…” His gaze softened, almost unbearably, “…more than you realize. More than anyone knows.”

Ava’s pulse quickened, not just from the danger, but from the intensity of his eyes, the warmth in his presence, the pull she could no longer deny.

During lunch, Ava tried to focus on her friends, on Iris, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Luca. The thought of him standing outside in the mist, golden eyes watching her, waiting. Her stomach twisted with longing. She tried to push the thought away, but the force inside her chest only grew stronger.

Then Iris leaned close, whispering urgently. “You have to stop thinking about him so much. It’s obvious to everyone. People are starting to notice.”

“I can’t,” Ava whispered back, her voice almost a moan. “It’s like… I can’t help it.”

Iris gave her a look that was equal parts exasperation and concern. “Be careful, Ava. People notice feelings like that. And some feelings… aren’t just feelings.”

Ava didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She felt it, the force, the connection, the strange mix of fear and longing. Something ancient had stirred inside her, something powerful and irresistible.

Later that day, Ava tried focusing on her homework, but the visions returned. Moonlight towers, distant voices, shadows moving in impossible ways, and eyes that seemed to know her soul.

She realized something terrifying, she wasn’t just dreaming. She was remembering.

Past-life memories, hidden and forgotten, were clawing their way back. And they weren’t kind memories. They were full of love, betrayal, fear, and death.

Her fingers trembled over her notebook. She could feel Luca’s presence even when he wasn’t there, a pull that made her heart ache.

“I don’t understand any of this,” she whispered to herself. “Why me? Why now?”

And as the shadows in her room stretched toward her, Ava knew one thing for certain, her life had changed forever. The pull of destiny, of history repeating itself, was already shaping her path.

And Luca… she realized with a shiver that was part fear, part longing… Luca was at the center of it.