James Linniad and the Golden City - Caleb Baker (the two towers ebook .TXT) 📗

complicate things even more than they already were. Bringing his dream into the equation would just confuse the everything even more.    

"JAMES!" 

The shriek resonated throughout the entire library. It sounded like Alice, and she was all the way across the room. James quickly let go of Juliet and together they raced through the bookcases and shelves until they reached her.    

She was standing next to Lucas, who had plainly ran to her too, his chest heaving up and down. They were now standing on the Persian rug of the history section. A table was set before them and Alice had both of her hands resting on it examining the same blueprint from the office. 

"What? What happened?!" James said wildly. 

"Well, nothing exactly happened," Juliet huffed, Alice continued, "I just found something. I can't believe I was so stupid not to see it before."

"Well, get on with it, will you," Lucas said flustered. 

"It's the blueprint," she muttered, "this schematic was made five hundred years ago."

"Impossible," Lucas said simply, "they probably didn't even know how to write back then."

"Well, evidently they did," Alice said now staring intensely at Lucas, "look here, the original date."

Sure enough, where Alice pointed was written the date in which the blueprint was made. In swirly letters and numbers it read; year 1508 A.D. 

"That's an old piece of paper," James said blankly, "but what's so important about it?"

Alice turned to stare at James, she looked tired and exhausted. 

"This blueprint, is five hundred years old."

"Yes," Juliet said, "go on."

Alice had a thing for suspense. She thought it went well hand in hand with mystery. 

"An addition was made to this castle in the year 1508."

"An addition? Like a new room?" Lucas asked. 

"Yes," Alice answered, returning to the paper, "it's a basement. Well, not really a basement, it's more like a cave."

"Where is it?" said Juliet. 

James already had an idea. He was staring at a painting. It was hanging on the wall on the far side of the library, a burning hearth underneath it. There it was, hovering over a oaken desk much like the one from his fathers study. However, the only thing that stood upon its surface was a small stone slab.    

He sauntered slowly to it, ignoring all prior thought. He was in a trance. His friends merely watched him as he made his way to it, unknowing of what was happening. Until Juliet gasped. 

"It's the-" "City . . ." 

James whipped around, his red hair flying into his face. Nathan stood behind Lucas, Alice and Juliet, gripping the shirt over his chest. His raven colored hair was disheveled and jumbled in itself. 

"Nathan," James murmured.

Alice released a great sigh, Juliet collapsed to her knees and Lucas clapped his hand to his mouth. James stood thunderstruck, a groan of relief bubbling up inside him. 

"What's wrong with you lot? You look like you've all seen a ghost," he said smiling. 

James ran to him. He embraced him with such a force that Nathan almost snapped under the pressure. 

"Let go!" He cried, his eyes beginning to bulge. 

James set him down, but not until after he gave him one last squeeze. He was so happy that his brother was okay. Alice and Juliet were next to give him a hug, while Lucas only gave him a look of great understanding. 

"You've finally woken up!" James exclaimed. 

Nathan nodded solemnly after the girls released him, "Yes, but I don't remember sleeping, only dreaming."   

Alice stepped forward. 

"How's your chest?" she asked. 

Nathan looked at her as if she were joking. Then, without saying anything he lifted his shirt. 

"What . . . There's nothing there . . ." Lucas stammered. 

He was right. His chest was bare, not even a hair could be spotted. The strange burn mark from before was gone. Not a trace of it was left. It was like whatever happened an hour ago was just a dream and James would awake from this twisted nightmare in the cozy fittings of his bed. 

"Was something supposed to be there?" Nathan asked seriously. 

"Nathan," James began, his tone low and serious, "you were . . . You were burned in your sleep. It left a mark on your chest in the shape of your necklace."

"Well, I don't feel like I was burnt, in fact, I feel cold. Did anyone bring an extra jacket?"

"Nathan, this isn't a joke. Something happened to you in your sleep, and I have reason to believe it was connected to James's dream," Juliet said putting a hand on Nathan's shoulder. 

"James's dream? Why would you think that?" Lucas asked completely confused. 

James gave Juliet a stern look. She returned it but after a second she switched to a saddened expression. Nathan turned to his brother, expecting an explanation to the situation.    

"You said something about a city," James said lowly.

"Yes," Nathan replied, "I dreamt about it. It's actually kind of strange that there is a painting of what I saw in the dream. I don't think I've ever seen this painting before."

"Neither have I. But, I dreamt about this city too."

"What?!" Alice yelped. 

"Did you really?" Nathan asked, "and now Juliet thinks we had the same dream?"

"Just connected in some way," she corrected. 

"I think so too," James reasoned, "after everything that has happened tonight, this seems to make the most sense."

"Especially because you two are twins. I've heard loads of stories about twins sharing the same thoughts and dreams," Lucas said. 

"That's all speculation," Alice said matter-of-factly, "there's no way to tell what a person really thinks about."

Nathan moved closer in the direction of the painting, beckoning James to follow him. In turn, that brought the others along as well. 

"It does look a lot like the city from the dream, doesn't it James?" Nathan said, his hand on his chin. "Yes, I reckon it looks exactly like it."

"I feel really left out," Juliet whispered to Lucas. 

"Hang on!" Alice exclaimed from the side of the painting. 

Her hand was surveying the edge of the painting. She moved closer to the wall and nearly choked on the lack of air in her system. 

"There's a spot here!" she continued, "I feel air coming out from behind the painting."

"Maybe it's just a draft from one of the windows," Lucas countered. 

James looked around. All the windows were on the far side of the room, next to one of the fireplaces. They were tall and elegantly tapestried, but closed. 

"Well, that solves that dilemma," Alice chuckled. 

Lucas crossed his arms and frowned. He stalked his way over next to James and whispered into his ear. 

"She's just a know-it-all."James sniggered as Alice tried to lift the painting almost off the wall. 

"Hey what are you doing?!" he bellowed. 

"I'm trying to get a better look," Alice said casually. 

Juliet hoped up on the desk and tried to help Alice remove the work of art. 

"What good will this do?" Nathan demanded, "if anything, your just going to ruin it."   

The painting made a thud after it crashed to the floor. James let out a groan of dismay as he literally watched his dream fall to the ground. Juliet clambered down from the desk and promptly shook the dust off her shoulders that came with the portrait of the city. A dusty outline was left from where the frame hung. The pale moonlight from one of the windows far to the left showed the particles floating around in front of the kids, dancing and encircling each other. 

"Do you feel that?" Alice asked as she still stood on the bureau.

A lifeless whoosh of air gently ruffled James's hair. It was odorless from where he stood. 

"Yes," he said slowly, "what does it mean?"

"It means something is behind the wall," Nathan interjected, "it's hollow."   

Lucas lifted the painting to an upright position. He gazed upon the skyline, taking in all the colors and structures. James noted how the colors reflected onto his skin, sending trails of scarlets and blues across his face. 

"This doesn't look like any place I've ever seen," Lucas remarked loudly. 

"Yes you're right," Juliet complied coming to his side, "it doesn't even look like it belongs on this Earth. The architecture looks too advanced."

"And yet, old," James mumbled, unheard. 

Alice was perusing the wall, as if looking for some secret latch or knob that would open it. She looked like she was giving the facade a very wide embrace. Nathan was beneath her looking at the stone slab on the desk. He was grazing his hand over it so carefully that he was barely touching it. He then lifted his shirt and looked at his chest. 

"What is it, Nathan?" James asked, catching the attention of everyone else. 

The painting made another thud as it hit the floor again. 

"You said that in my dream I was burned, and it left a mark on my chest in the shape of my necklace," Nathan said trancelike. 

"Yes," Alice said quickly from overhead. 

"I think I know how to open the wall . . ." his voice trailed off as he reached for his neck. 

Nathan's eyes widened. He looked at the floor, in his shirt, on the desk, frantically. 

"Where is it?" he cried. 

"I have it right here," James said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving Nathan's necklace. 

The red ruby dangled in the twilight of the moon. James tossed it to his brother, who caught it with both hands. 

"Thanks," he offered.    

Nathan seized the pendant in one sweaty hand. He held it so tight as he looked at the slab. An empty crevice was carved into its face, just big enough for the ruby to fit. James had a feeling it was a perfect match. Evidently, so did Nathan, for he forced the jewel into the slot.    

Click!    

The library began to shake. Bookcases started to rattle, jittering on their hinges. The wall where the painting used to be was shaking so violently that it looked on the verge to burst open. The dust covering it came flying off all at once. The group of detectives stood in awe as the rectangle of wall slowly started to open. A horrible grinding noise began to emit from the sliding of the mass. More and more particles of dirt came exploding out of the wall, swirling like smoke, and smelling like smog.     

No one said a word as the slab of rock finally came to a stop. The wall was now sitting dead in the middle of the gaping hole, or door as it seemed. Alice had jumped off the desk so she wouldn't be harmed when the wall was turning. A horrific odor immediately washed over the kids. It was like five hundred years of filth had finally been released. The castle would never smell the same, James thought. 

"Well, that was dramatic," Juliet breathed. 

For a moment James forget he had company. He was so mesmerized by the opening of the wall that he forgot he wasn't alone. 

"Where do you think it leads?" Lucas asked solemnly. 

"If I had to guess, Lucas," James began thoughtfully, "I'd say, right to the Prophecy."

Somewhere in the castle a clock chimed midnight. It was Christmas.

Chapter Four: The Secret of the Castle

It smelled even worse inside the wall. The group found themselves plunged into such a darkness that it was impossible to see anything, even the hands in front of their faces. The only thing that kept them going was fact