Prologue: The Beginning
The town of Willow Creek used to be a peaceful place that housed the dreams of anyone who lived there, but one fateful day, that peacefulness was ripped out by the seams.
Gray clouds consumed the night sky, which made the town appear gloomier than it already was. Before long, a roar of thunder shattered the ominous silence that had been plaguing Willow Creek.
Plip, plop, plip, plop!
Tiny water droplets soon descended from the sky, echoing through the empty streets as they crashed against the concrete below. The rain stole the warmth from the air and slowly caused the temperature to drop.
Amidst the storm was an ominous figure, cloaked in darkness that stealthily made its way through the dreary streets of Willow Creek. It crawled around like a serpent stalking its prey, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Like a thief in the night, it stole the souls of numerous unsuspecting humans without a single ounce of care.
The townspeople soon started whispering to each other about something that came out every night and snatched someone precious from them. None of them wanted to believe that it could be something otherworldly; no, that was too much of a stretch for them.
After a week had passed, another rainstorm returned once again to shroud the town in a depressing atmosphere; the same shadowy figure had crawled out from the darkness like it did every other night, but this time was different. A man and a woman stood in the path of the beast before it could wreak havoc on the innocent people of Willow Creek. The creature unleashed a bloodcurdling screech before it lunged toward the man as it swept its massive claw at him, hoping to spill blood.
“Not so fast!” The man shouted before a captivating emerald light emitted from his right hand. The green light quickly encircled the beast, which caused it to let out a deafening screech as it did everything in its power to break out of the man's spell. The light surrounding the creature had a tight grip on its body, preventing it from attacking or escaping. At that moment, the beast released a desperate cry as it was slammed to the ground with a thunderous thud. The force of the impact caused the concrete to fracture beneath the monster's weight when it collided with the ground.
“Now!” The man shouted to the woman who was standing on his left. A sly smirk danced along her lips when she heard him give the signal since she knew everything was going according to plan.
"Oh, believe me, you don't have to tell me twice," she said as she bolted toward the monster. The creature struggled with all its might, but to no avail since it was being held down by the spell that the man had cast. A green glow enveloped the monster's body, preventing the beast from moving an inch. Without a single ounce of hesitation, she closed the distance between her and the beast with confidence in each step she took.
Once the woman was close enough, she raised her right arm, which soon emitted a beautiful dark pink glow. As soon she swung her arm, the color intensified within a matter of seconds. Dark pink sparks littered the air around her as her swing unleashed a powerful air current that ripped through the air and tore through the beast's neck. With a small thud, her attack sent the beast's head rolling off its shoulders into the rain-dampened concrete.
After the woman and the man had vanquished the beast, the dreary atmosphere looming over Willow Creek seemed to disappear. The ones responsible for getting rid of the monster came from two separate families. The woman was a descendant of the Celestica family, while the man was a descendant of the Brimwick family. The two families were only able to defeat the monster because they had dabbled into the unknown to find a method to get rid of the beast to prevent it from destroying any more of the town they called home, which gave birth to the first sorcerers.
The townspeople were relieved when the monster didn’t return to steal more of their loved ones away. However, they didn’t know who to thank for that and assumed it was good fortune that the beast didn't return. The Celestica and Brimwick families agreed that no one should know about the powers that they currently held. They decided to use these newfound powers to prevent any other tragic events like the beast that wreaked havoc on the town from ever happening again, even if no one recognized them as heroes, even if it meant that they had to operate from the shadows like the very monster that attacked the town.
The families dug deeper into the unknown, which would be later known as spells. With these spells, they created a house that was situated in the middle of the forest near Willow Creek. They wanted the house closest to the giant grey stone door they stumbled upon since they believed it was the bridge between the human world and the world from which the monster originated, which would later be known as the spirit world. The house was built in the forest to act as a gateway between both worlds. But things weren’t so simple.
Over time, the Celestica and Brimwick families argued and fought about who should be responsible for the gate that bridged the human and spirit world together. The bad blood between both families eventually turned violent, which ignited a war between them that left both sides bloody. The fight led the Brimwick family to bitterly cave in and give the honor of guarding the gate to the Celestica family while the Brimwick family kept watch over the town. However, the Brimwick family would never give up their hatred towards the Celestica family since the Brimwick family thought the Gatekeeper role was far beyond the Celestica family’s capabilities.
The Celestica family decided that the person in charge of the gate would be called the Gatekeeper, someone with immense power who would be responsible for monitoring both worlds. Eventually, as time passed, the Gatekeeper's rules soon changed. Based on the research the Celestica family collected, it was decided by the family that the newest Gatekeeper would be chosen once the particular individual turned eighteen years old, but this also meant that the previous Gatekeeper would give up the title and some of their power. The Brimwick family did not have the rule of electing someone new once they turned eighteen, and each family member was essential for their magical abilities. It was possible in the Brimwick family for each member to have varying levels of magical capabilities.
Both families soon started to call what they deemed monsters spirits, and they noticed that there could be good spirits. These very spirits were allowed to cross the gate, but they still needed to be monitored at all times despite their lack of malicious intent. Also, based on the spells placed on the gate, any evil spirit was prevented from crossing over and was forced to reside in the spirit world. However, the spells were only active on the gate due to the Gatekeeper's hard work maintaining them, and any slip-ups could result in the tragic event that happened years back. Two things that both families agreed upon was that neither family should ever venture into the spirit world since there was no telling what lurked inside there, and it was also the place that evil spirits called home. There was also no way of telling how their magical powers would work in that world or if they would even work at all. Another thing was that neither family should speak or trust any spirits, even if they were good, since spirits were tricky, and there was no way of telling what one of them was thinking at any given time.
After many years, Willow Creek's population grew, and the worry of spirits attacking the place soon became a distant memory, but that was only because the gate was in place. The hatred between both families also grew, with the Brimwick family just waiting like vultures for their prey to die so they could take over the role of Gatekeeper. But Lucia Celestica, who was the most recent Gatekeeper, would not let anything like that happen. If she was being honest, she enjoyed watching the misery on the faces of the Brimwick family every time they needed to speak to one another.
The new year that swept over the town also signified the time that a new owner of the gate would be selected, and this honor would be bestowed upon Lucia’s niece, Noelle. Even if it meant Lucia would no longer be the Gatekeeper and lose some of her powers, she didn’t mind. Lucia did everything in her power to teach her niece about the importance of the Gatekeeper and that it was an honor that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Once slip-up by the Gatekeeper could give birth to pure destruction; unfortunately, Noelle would often label the information her aunt told her as unimportant. Noelle wanted more than anything to be normal, even if her mother taught her about spells at a very young age. Even though Noelle knew about spells, it didn't mean she wanted the task of Gatekeeper next, resulting in her aunt scolding her numerous times. Eventually, Noelle gave in and began taking the job of Gatekeeper seriously while trying to maintain a normal life as much as she could. Nearly three years had passed since Noelle was elected as the new Gatekeeper, and so far, things had been going smoothly, even with her juggling college work.
But just as in the beginning, when the beast first attacked the town of Willow Creek, nothing was ever simple, even if something went smoothly. Noelle’s life was currently a giant mirror that constantly got small stones thrown at it, leaving behind tiny cracks in the glass's surface. But the last rock that was thrown at the mirror would shatter the entire thing, and when that happened, there was no turning back.
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