I am doing the "Chasing Echoes" quest where you and Serena have sneak in the tunnel under the Castle. She tells me and I quote "Well, I don't just take anyone into the secret parts of the place I grew up. Get rid of this interloper and you and I can be on our way. I'll wait for you by the docks." The ENTIRE time I have been playing Dawnguard, I have not had one follower I decided to take with me. Now this has been going on for months. Everbody I ask to follow me says that I already have somebody with me. I can't continue the questline. So I may as well have just put $20 down the [censored]ter. I have tried clearing my system cache, didn't work, deleting the title update, didn't work. Technical support, everytime I call tells me to do the same thing, and I have told I already tried that. I am NOT going to start a new character because I've logged 250+ hours and my character is level 59, almost 60. If anyone has a way to fix this please tell me. I know I already said this, but I CAN"T CONTINUE THE DG QUESTLINE!! Bethesda, please fix your game.
I was having the same problem. Luckily I was able to get around it by following these steps:
So after a few hours of searching I came across a way to fix the bug: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/xbox_360_games/t_z/elder_scrolls_v_skyrim/f/1733/p/274144/1436598.aspx Thanks to XxSt3althKill96 for the info!
So, if you're having the same bug (every follower will refuse to follow you, saying something along the lines of "Looks like you've already got someone." Even if you have no follower) you need to:
Spoiler
Head to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary in Dawnstar. (not sure if there is a fix if you haven't done the DB quest) Attack an Initiate. Wait for them to attack you. Leave and re-enter. Talk to Nazir and pay the 300 gold to clear your name.
Viola! You can have followers again!
I'm not sure how he came up with that, but I thank him.
I also had this happen when you do the companions quest where , I think, Farkas is your shield brother. You can't have a follower until you complete the quest IIRC.