Mystery Hunt (Complete - Under Major Editing)

11. Similarities

Past Characters –

1) Dylan as King Rufus

2) James as King Walter

3) Clive as Prince Percy

4) Noah as King Samuel

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Knock! Knock!

"Hey, it's James. Can I come in?"

He opens the door once he hears a small 'Yeah' from the other side. He enters the room and is greeted with the same Dylan's smell. It was attracting James towards him like a moth drawn to a flame. He sits on the chair and looks at Dylan's disheveled hair indicating he was asleep.

"Uhm... I am sorry if I woke you up. I'll come later..." he gets up to leave but Dylan stops him by catching his wrist in a swift movement. Once he realizes it, he lets his hand go.

"No...no...I was awake before you came in anyways. Tell me, what's up?" Dylan had guessed that it might have been about the portraits that James was acting weird the whole day. He knew that Dylan's ancestors were one of them.

"No sleep?" James asks him in response.

"Yeah. Kind of." He also woke up from his dream. Feeling the same he felt a few nights before. The feeling of being deeply loved.

"Nightmare?" James asks again. Dylan looks at him with wide eyes but before he could say anything James interrupts,

"Clive told me you have experience in this so...." He fiddles with his fingers looking down.

"Yeah...I mean... I used to get nightmares. But what's it to do with you?" Dylan asks confused. He was gonna bash on Clive for telling his secret to him but it seems James must have needed it.

"Actually, he sent me here. He said you could help me."

"Help you with what?"

"I had a nightmare yesterday." He looks at Dylan.

"You get them too?" Dylan looks back at him shocked. The similarities were now getting creepy.

"Not before. Recently....like only yesterday night. Clive saw me and he was the one who pacified me."

"What...what did you see?" Dylan couldn't resist himself from asking this.

"This might be a bit embarrassing but.....I saw you." He looks at Dylan looking at him with wide eyes, "I mean not you. The portrait you. King Rufus. Before seeing the portrait today, I thought I saw you but later the portrait baffled me." he looks at him and clarifies, "I am not a creep I swear!"

"I don't think you are a creep. Tell me more about the nightmare." Dylan was more than interested to know. It seems like he was watching his younger self talking about 'his' nightmares.

"It was weird. Like I saw everyone who was in those three portraits."

"Describe the place. Like was it the Castle?" Dylan questions further.

"I think so... I mean... I don't know." He buries his head in his hand.

"Hey...hey...chill....what do you mean by that?" Dylan consoles the younger.

"Again it might be embarrassing but I don't remember anything. I didn't even remember about the faces until I saw those portraits and I just got a quick flashback." He looks at Dylan who looks at him with sympathetic eyes, "I know it is weird. I am hyping over a nightmare I don't even remember. I knew it was a bad idea to come to talk to you."

Dylan hugs him slightly and pats his back. "Hey...don't beat yourself over it. To be honest..." he pulls away from the hug, "I myself don't remember any of my nightmares."

"But I could feel those emotions. Those emotions made it like a nightmare. Like....like....."

"Like as if my heart has been torn into pieces, ripped out of my body and then forced me to smile through the pain." Dylan completes his sentence.

"Exactly! That's how I felt." He shows his goosebumps to Dylan, "Look at this!"

"I know the feeling James. I have been having these nightmares since I was ten. I came to know about the Castle of Nale through them. The people I saw in my nightmares were exactly the same in the portraits but I just know how to handle it better because of the experience."

James nods and holds his hands to show empathy. He was happy to know he wasn't just freaking out for nothing.

"But lately I have been....." Dylan starts to speak but gets a lump in his throat.

"What?"

Dylan looks at his eyes. That gaze! Should he tell him?

"I have been having....dreams..."

"You mean to say happy dreams? What kind of?"

"I don't remember." Dylan lies. He doesn't want to freak him out more.

James thinks hard and then it clicks!

"Is it because of our ancestors? We could be their direct heirs' right? I mean I couldn't find much from our family trees."

"But if you saw everyone else too in your nightmare, does that mean they have some connection to this castle too?" and then it suddenly clicks Dylan. "Wait! You said 'our'. How do you know about the family charts?" Dylan looks at him with disbelief. He fucking spied on them!

James got a little flustered but Noah came into the room and he was saved.

"Uh....I should go now. Good night!" he dashes out of the room. Noah looks at him suspiciously and then returns his gaze towards Dylan.

"What was he doing here?" Noah asks.

"Nothing. He just apologized for his behavior." Dylan lied. Noah didn't know about his nightmares.

"Oh!" he looks at his bed, "I just came to check up on you. It's pretty late. You should sleep."

"Yeah. I was just about to." He lied again. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight baby bear! Sleep well!" he closes the door behind him.

But Dylan couldn't sleep a wink. What could those dreams mean? Why is James having them too?

Were King Rufus and King Walter really lovers?