Chapter 1: Prologue

                                    

                                          
Today was like any other.
The same garden,
The same scenery,
The same routine...
Nothing in my life was ever interesting, I wasn't interesting...
Ever since the day I died, decades ago... I haven't regained a single memory of what my life used to be like. From reading whatever books and journals I could find littered around, I had only found out little bits about myself.
My name was Y/N Collimore, and this is my home.
Was, my home...
I don't know how much time has passed, or why my spirit continues to carry on.
But all I know is that this manor, my home, is all I have left. As a ghost I couldn't touch anything, feel anything... I couldn't interact with this world at all.
I'm well aware that I have magical abilities within me, and I've been slowly learning my magic through a book of spells I found in my library some time ago.
Over time I have learnt how to do many things with my magic. I've learnt to alter my appearance in minor ways, I've learnt how to levitate items, and solidify myself for short periods of time.
While my abilities do not last very long and are draining, it makes me feel more important to know that in some ways I can still be a part of this society.
My manor was my safe space, it was my little piece of this town that I got all to myself.
When I had first awakened it was nice to be met with silence instead of something more unpleasant. But as time passed on, I started to dread the silence.
I was left mostly uninterrupted by the community besides a few adolescents who came to look around, suspecting my manor to be haunted by a poltergeist or something far more horrifying than I...
Over time, I had become something of a rumour. People would look at my home and see nothing but a haunted mansion, a dark place nobody would dare enter for something undesirable might happen to them.
My manor was nothing to be feared, yet people feared it nevertheless.
People would pass by less and less, believing whatever lies they had been told. and eventually, no one came by for weeks, months.. possibly years.
that was until today.
I had no way of tracking the time or date, but all I knew was that we were entering spring. I could tell when my garden had sprung back to life, and the snow had melted. My bushes heliotropes were blooming wonderfully, attracting butterflies from all directions. Same with my Geraniums that hung over my stone brick pathing which leads to the front gate.
I tried my hardest to keep this garden in as healthy a condition as possible. It gave me something to do and made my life seem a little brighter.
Somewhere in a gardening book, I read that plants can hear every word you say and that it can benefit their growth and health. So every day when I went to water the plants, I would speak with them, sing to them, in hopes that maybe they'd be able to hear me unlike everyone else.
And once again as I made my way through the garden with my rusty watering can in hand, I felt something. Something unfamiliar, yet familiar. There was magic in the area and a lot of it. It was similar to the magic I felt within myself, yet somehow different.
I lashed my head around to face the front gate, my hair floating over my shoulders as if it defied gravity itself. Placing the watering can on the ground with a satisfying clink, I floated over to where the magic was coming from.
resting my arms on top of the brick wall that surrounded my land, I peered over top to see something which I thought had been impossible. Monsters... Skeletons to be exact. They were a lot of books not only in the library but in the bedrooms as well. They were all history books, some handwritten, they each described the story of how monsters were sealed underground Mount Ebott.
I panicked at the sight of them, quickly ducking behind the wall and into a bush. I wasn't quite sure why I hid considering I was an unseeable spirit, I had nothing to hide from yet I'm cowering in fear inside of a bush?
I hadn't felt fear since the time I first awoke after death. Was it their magical presence? was it the fact that they were monsters? I was unsure...
I could sense them coming closer, and as I backed out from my hiding place I noticed them peering through the gates. The group of five looked similar to each other in some ways while each of them had their own identifying attributes.
As much as I wanted to inspect them further, I was still in fear that somehow I would be seen. But that was impossible, even though we all have magic, they wouldn't be able to see me.
I kept telling myself those things as I slowly floated towards them. Each of them was lined up across the gate looking past the metal bars. The two black skeletons in the centre, the hooded skeleton on their right, the black-eyed one on their left, and the one with the cracked skull closest to me.
They were an interesting yet ominous bunch. All seemed fine with them until I caught eyes with the skeleton closest to me. His single bright red eye piercing through my ghost-like body. I jumped and swiftly flew back inside my manor, landing in the lobby.
If I had a functioning heart I'm sure it would be racing, my blood would be running cold and my entire body would shake just from the way he looked at me with that crooked smile. 
There's no way he actually saw me right..?
barely poking my eyes over the edge of the window, each of the skeletons was still stationed outside the gates. 
Do not worry Y/N... It's not possible for them to be able to open those gates, they're locked. I thought, keeping a close eye on them.
Just as I took a deep breath to calm myself, once I returned my gaze back to the gate, they had all disappeared. A hard slow knock bellowed from the dark wood doors. Its sound echoing down the hallways as light specks of previously untouched dust floated softly to the floor.
My soul sank even further.
Not wanting to waste any time, I bounced up from my place and locked the doors in any way I could. The clanking of all the metal had already been a dead giveaway that someone was inside. The knocking had only continued louder than before.
My fear was skyrocketing. I had no idea why this was happening or why they could see me. How are monsters even here in the first place, how were they not noticed?
Pushing those thoughts to the side, I swiftly phased through a wall. I landed in the spare space under the double staircase. Spider webs clung to the wooden structural beams that held the stairs in place.
A few seconds later I heard voices, angry and loud. I was too panicked to listen to what they were saying, but all I could understand was that they were angry. Minutes later, loud thumping footsteps passed me.
Who were these skeletons?