บท 20: Hazy Dream
"Nate?" I asked in concerned as I placed a hand on his shoulder. The looked at the ghost. He was still in front of us. His eyes looked hurt when he saw Nate looking at him with fear and disbelief.
"Rose, he just said son!" Nate was breathing heavily now.
"Are you sure he was talking about you and not me?" I didn't know why I said that. All I was just thinking about was to comfort Nate. But it did work, in a stupid sort of way, because Nate looked down at me like I was stupid.
"Rose, he said son. Not daughter."
I pouted. At least he was not shivering anymore. "I knew that." I replied with a grumbled and crossed my arms over my chest. But the moment that Nate and I lost contact with each other, Nate suddenly vanished. I briefly panicked and looked around the hazy and foggy area around us. No Nate. Only the ghost. I whimpered and shakily gave a wave to the ghost man. "N-Nate?" I whimpered while still keeping an eye on the ghost. It didn't move. It just stood there and stared at me. I gulped. "NATHANIEL!" I screamed with more urgency this time.
"Rose!" Nate suddenly appeared behind me with his hand on one of my shoulder.
"Don't just appear behind me and scare me like that!" I growled and flick his hand away. The instant I did, Nate suddenly disappeared again. "Nathaniel!" I yelled again.
"What!?" Nate snapped. His hand on my arm this time. "Stop yelling!"
"Don't yell at me!" I retorted and pulled my arm back angrily that he lost contact. Great. He disappeared again. But this time, he reappeared in an instant while holding my arm.
"No no no! Stop." He immediately said when he saw that I was about to draw my arm back again. "If I lose contact with you then I go back."
"Go back where?"
"The garden." He said. "Back there you're..." He hesitated. "You're starring at an empty space."
I looked at Nate and tilted my head to the side. "I'm what?"
"Nevermind." Nate sighed. "Look, if you want me to stay then I have to hold you. Otherwise, you're stuck here. And I do not know how to wake you up either. So do you want me to stay or not? I mean I recommend that I stay until we can figure out how to wake you. Do you remember how you got here?"
I thought about it. "The last thing I remembered was seeing the picture and..." I dragged on and made sure I stayed close to Nate as I pointed at the ghost in front of us. "That man touched my arm. And then we're here."
Nate followed to were I was pointing and frowned at the man. "Who are you?" He hissed. The man didn't answer and only smiled sadly at Nate. Suddenly, the fog started to lift and the ghost man vanished from our sight. Nate drew me close as we did a 360 view around us. The fog was starting to clear and it was starting to solidify into a familiar setting. Nate and I held hands to keep him with me in this weird dream. "Nate, this is..." I trailed off. Unsure if we're where I think we are.
Fortunately, Nate confirmed it. "Yeah." He nodded. "My home." He whispered as we were now standing in front of their castle. Though I notice that the exterior placement of statues and plants were different. Nate must of noticed it too because he was looking confused as I was.
"This is-" He started to say but was cut off.
"Terrence, come on!" A young kid about 7 years old with red hair laughed and started to run 'through' us. Nate followed the kid and his eyes widened. "Father?" He whispered. Now that he said it, the child does look like the younger version of the king of Denver. Red hair and a sort of round face.
"Rafael, wait up!" A second kid followed. This one with a darker shade of red hair. He looked younger and I saw his mouth lift up in a beam as he followed the younger kid - Rafael. They ran into the woods, tagging and laughing. As soon as they entered the woods, the scenery started to shift.
"What's going on?" Nate whispered.
"We're in the past. At least a flashback of the past." I said with certainty. "This is how I saw those dreams back in Atla."
Nate looked surprised as he looked at me. "Wow. You're started to become helpful." He joked. I stomped on his foot.
We were now in an office room inside the palace - at least I assume that it is an office room. The two kids were now teenagers. Rafael slouched on a couch with his head on his fist. The younger one was sitting and reading a book. A man in his 40's was sitting behind the table. He was wearing a white fitted coat with gold detailing. His long red hair was tied into a ponytail with a few strands brushing the sides of his face as he read some files on his table. "Father, why should I even care about studying!? I will be king someday. We can just hire a smart advisor like Terrence."
"Brother, I want to be a knight." Terrence said as he briefly looked up from his book.
"Rafael, enough!" The man, the current king in this timeline I assume, bellowed. "You are lazy! You are not fit to become king. Maybe I should hand over the throne to Terrence!"
The young prince, Terrence, gave his father a horrified look as he set down the book. "Father, I-"
"I'm the eldest! You can't just hand over the throne to him!" Rafael was now on his feet. "You're just saying that because you favor Terrence more than me!!" He screamed and ran for the door at an incredible speed that reminded me again that they are a family of vampires. The only evidence that Rafael left the room was because of the loud bang coming from the door.
The scene shifted and we were now watching a girl with a blonde hair walking in the library. She was looking through the books when she happen to bump into Prince Terrence making him drop a book. They both looked at each other - startled. "Sorry!" The blonde haired girl bent down and picked up the dropped book. "Here." She said as she handed the book to Prince Terrence. Then she saw the book cover. Her eyes immediately brightens. "Is that Nick Michael's 'Legend of the Faes'?!" She gasped and suddenly stopped herself. Her face flushed with embarrassment.
The prince looked baffled at first, but then he started to respond. "Yes, it is. I also read 'The Queen's Knight'. Same Author." He smiled.
The girl's face brightened. Whatever she was embarrassed about earlier seemed to vanish. "I love that! But the ending seems too sad. I would have liked it if the two of them lived happily."
"Well, a knight's duty is to protect their liege. It couldn't be helped." Prince Terrence shrugged and brushed the stands of hair from his eyes. It was getting longer this time. Kind of like Nate's.
The girl pouted. Her green eyes spark with life as she readied herself with the disagreement. "Still, the author could have given them a happy life."
"Maybe the author is just realistic. It did focus on young adults."
"Jeez! Just because you're a knight doesn't mean that you have to be this sour puss!" She huffed angrily. Prince Terrence seemed to be taken aback by the girl's behavior that he looked at her curiously.
"Brother!"
The two were suddenly interrupted when Crown Prince Rafael appeared behind the blonde girl making her gasp in surprise. She whirled around and came face to face with Rafael. Her mouth gaping with embarrassment as she blushed furiously. "P-Prince Rafael." She finally says.
Rafael regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "Who are you?"
The lady did a curtsy as she introduced herself. "Lady Anya Grey, your majesty." I heard Nathaniel gasped in surprise beside me as soon as we realize that the lady in front of us is his mother. We could barely recognize her as she has a joyful personality in this version.
"Ah, I see. One of the ladies my father chose as my potential bride." Rafael said. His tone implying that he doesn't care about the arrangement. He looked at his brother and nodded. "Father wants to see us." He said and immediately left. Prince Terrence was looking at Anya's dazed look as she starred at the crown prince's back. There was no expression on his face as he followed his brother out of the library.
The scene change and we saw Anya walking around in the garden with a few maids. In this scene, she and prince Terrence were facing each other. "I'm sorry!" Anya bowed to Prince Terrence. "I did not know you were the second prince!" She says.
Prince Terrence looked baffled at the sighed of the lady in front of him. "It's fine. I prefer to be a knight more than a prince." He offered a hand to Anya and she took it as she lifted her head. The prince smiled warmly at her.
Change of scenery again. It showed Lady Anya locked in some sort of closet. She was crying and knocking frantically on the door. Suddenly, it burst open. It was prince Terrence. His hair was a mess and he was panting heavily. The scene kept shifting as showing how prince Terrence kept glancing at Anya while the lady herself always focus her attention to Rafael. And then we saw how Rafael was seemingly becoming jealous of his younger brother.
"Why can't you be more like Terrence?"
"If only Terrence was the eldest."
"Can our kingdom prosper with Prince Rafael leading?"
The more prince Rafael heard this words, the more jealous he becomes of his brother. Jealousy become anger and anger turning into hate. One scene showed Rafael sparing with Terrence. The younger prince seemed poised and confident while the older prince was furrowing his brows in anger. Terrence would merely block and parry his older brother's attacks, but he slipped the moment something caught his gaze. Rafael took this brief opportunity as he swung his sword and knocked Terrence's sword off of his hands. Terrence dropped back and looked at his older brother in surprise, but then his gaze shifted to his right. Rafael followed his gaze to see Lady Anya looking at him, Prince Rafael, standing over his younger brother with love-struck eyes. The older prince glanced at his younger brother as saw a look of hurt in them. From that moment, Rafael grinned evilly since he now knows how to take revenge on his younger brother. He will make sure that he will take one thing that his brother cared about the most.
Another scene showed Prince Rafael standing in front of a crowed. Several girls stood on the side with Lady Anya. It was a ball of some sort since all the people were dressed very nicely. Prince Terrence was wearing a red and white coat as a uniform of a knight. He was standing beside his older brother as Rafael took the attention of the crowd. "I, Prince Rafael, choose Lady Anya as my future queen." He announced. There was a round of applause. Lady Anya was teary eyed with happiness and delight. Terrence flinched for a bit but it was immediately gone. Unfortunately, Rafael caught it and grinned evilly.
"Your father is evil. Marrying Lady Anya for revenge." I mumbled.
"He's a terrible father. I am not surprise of all the things that I'm seeing right now." Nate says and even as he said it, I could feel his hands trembling.
Fast forward and we were now seeing Queen Anya carrying a toddler and crying as Terrence cradled her swollen cheek. "This is enough, Anya. Just leave him."
"Adam needs his father. And I love him, Terrence. I can't leave him." She whispered. The child, Adam, simply hugged his mother for comfort.
Terrence furrowed his brows. "What do you even see in him? Is he really worth it?" It was a short nod, but it was her answer. Terrence patted Adam's head and gave him a sad smile before turning around. "I love you, Anya. And I mean it. If you ever change your mind about leaving him, I will be waiting." And then he left. Something about this is giving me the chills since one could only guess what happens next.
The fog showed us the future of the two, Terrence and Anya, living in a small cot. Adam was jumping on his heels as he tried to see the other baby in Anya's hands. Terrence chuckled and carried to boy to meet his brother. "His name is Nathaniel. He's your brother, Adam."
I knew it. But hearing those words still made me gasp. Nate was trembling beside me and I tightened my grip on his hand for comfort.
It changed again and again. We saw how happy Terrence and Anya were. Reading bedtime stories to the kids. Eating together. Terrence kissing Nate's forehead...
Then the time came when Rafael and his soldiers burned the cot. Anya and the kids were captured and Terrence bloodied and battered as he tried to fight off the other knights. Baby Nathaniel cried and it became a momentarily distraction for Terrence as a knight plunged the blade into his stomach. He coughed out blood and was glaring at his older brother. "Why do you do this?" He said weakly.
"They are my wife and children! They belong to me." Rafael growled and took the child, Nate, from Anya's arms. "Except for this abomination."
"Rafael, don't! He's just a child!" Anya screamed and tried to lunge to get Nate, but the guards stopped her. My hands were trembling as I watched Rafael getting a blade as he readied himself to kill the baby. Adam was able to slip through and bite his father's arm. He dropped Nate, but Adam was able to catch him.
"Don't hurt my brother!" Adam was crying as he covered Nate with his body. There was a brief emotion shown in the king's eyes because he suddenly gritted his teeth. "The child will live." He said darkly. "I will claim him as mine to avoid this scandal, but he will be raised like a bastard. Anya, if I see you dotting on him, I will cut off one of his fingers." Then he turned around to order his men to leave and take his children and wife away. He gave Terrence one last glance. "I will make your child suffer like how you made me suffer. If you live and if I ever see you around, I will kill him." And then they were gone, leaving Terrence to bleed out on the ground as the cot continued to burn.
I was getting dizzy and when I touched my nose it was wet. I looked at my hand to see blood. I was probably using my magic to project the past in front of us. I could only guess that I was already at my limit, but I chose to hide it from Nate. Unfortunately, you can't hide blood from a vampire, because the moment that I tried to wipe it off Nate suddenly grabbed my hand and tilt my chin towards him. His is widened for a moment. "Turn it off." He commanded with a frown.
"But it's not-"
"Do it now." He said urgently. When I looked up at him, his eyes were red. He must have cried earlier and I think that he was about to cry again. "Do it now before I lose you too."
"I don't know how." I admitted.
Nate cursed and looked at the scene. "Father," Chocked like the words tasted differently from his mouth. "If...if you're there, please release us. We have seen enough."
No response. The cot still flickered and while Nate was busy calling for the ghost of his father, I saw a shadow loom over Terrence from the vision. "Nate wait-"
"If you really are my father then release us now!" He yelled loudly this time. I was able to catch a glimpse of the shadow before it was gone and we were back in the garden. I blinked to shake off the daze from my eyes. I was feeling pretty light headed and I couldn't seem to focus. I looked at Nate to see that he was wiping off tears as he looked at the torn up portrait of his father. He sniffed one last time before he turned to face me. His eyes were red and glinting but he smiled anyway. "What an adventure, huh?" He chuckled bitterly. I nodded silently and gave Nate a hug since I couldn't find the right words to say. I felt him tensed up, but he returned the embrace. "Thank you. I'm glad you came with me." He says.
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