Freak of Time, History's Game ( I Medici Masters Of Florence)

Chapter 4

Elena didn't feel hungry. Still she forced herself to feed a bit her tored body.

In front of her, Marco was using food to distract himself.
They were trying to forget that weird coincidence, but it was like a haunting presence.

People around them were enjoying their dinner. Some children were playing under the tables.

"If we'll find a portrait of Riccardo and he looks like me, I'm gonna die, I swear" Marco brought back the topic.
Elena didn't know what to think.
She started to doubt about her life and her choices. She always followed her heart and her instinct. And now a small voice inside her head was telling her that she was destined to it. She was following a path already written, just to reach that point, just to arrive face to face to a probably past version of her.

She remembered the portrait's face expression. Her mind made it seem like Vittoria was conscious she was gonna be back.

She imagined herself as Vittoria so many times. She thought it was normal, like any other girl would see herself as her idol.
Now she felt like a copy, like a clone. She was hating it.
And she never imagined Riccardo with the innocent physical features of Marco.

"It could be a proof of reincarnation" he suggested.
She felt a bitter taste in her mouth "Like the woman in The Mummy?".
"Exactly. Maybe you're destined to find again your true love and have your happy ending. Just stay away from the river. Personally I never felt like I could be Riccardo. But I imagined myself as Romeo! Isn't it the same?".

She forced a little smile to give him some hope "Could be. They both start by 'R'...".
He almost jumped from his chair "True! Wow, we're gonna live a dream. This is amazing".
"This is creepy" she corrected "I don't like this idea of reincarnation. It's like what those mad women in the streets claim.
All that stuff about past lives, destiny, predictions of future. We're going crazy if we go on like that. It was just a coincidence. Many people can look like me. Even a historical character like Vittoria de Medici".

Marco appreciated her point of view "I'm glad I don't look like Napoleon".
They both laughed. And she was grateful for that.

"Who do I look like?" He asked later, while they were walking to her flat.
She could think of no matches nor jokes to say. She simply replied "Like yourself".

Being alone in her room just brought back all those ghosts from that incredible discovery.
She phoned her family and  close friends but didn't mentioned that. It still sounded impossible to herself.

Next day she went to visit again the portrait in its new location, a safe laboratory full of lights.
And still the resemblance was remarkable, even at sunlight.
Elena had recurrent dreams on Vittoria, usually she wandered in a late medieval  world. Most of the times she didn't remember much when she woke up.

Medieval ages and reinassance were her favourite historical period. She claimed she was born in the wrong century. She always felt comfortable in places full of history. And she loved the Medici's family, extincted centuries before.

All these details that she always felt irrelevant, now seemed to confirm something impossible. And Elena hated herself for that.
Those dreams started becoming more vivid and haunting.