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 apart at 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 since the sun went down.

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 caused the temperature to slowly drop.

Amidst the storm, an ominous figure cloaked in darkness 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 that 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 came to shroud the town in a depressing atmosphere. The same shadowy figure 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, sweeping 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. A green glow enveloped the monster's body, preventing the beast from moving an inch. Without a single ounce of hesitation, the woman closed the distance between her and the beast with confidence in each step she took.

Once she was close enough, she raised her right arm, which soon emitted a beautiful dark-pink glow. As 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 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 and onto 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 in the unknown to find a method to get rid of the beast and prevent it from destroying any more of the town they called home. This was the birth of the first sorcerers.

The townspeople were relieved when the monster didn’t return to steal more of their loved ones away, but they didn’t know who to thank for that, and assumed it was simply 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 from happening.

Even if no one recognized the Celestica and Brimwick families as heroes, even if it meant operating from the shadows like the monster that attacked the town, it didn't matter to them in the end.

The families dug deeper into the unknown, unlocking new powers that 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 had stumbled upon. 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 worlds. The bad blood between the families eventually turned violent, igniting a war 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 Brimwicks kept watch over the town.

However, the Brimwick family would never give up their hatred towards the Celestica family, nor their belief that 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 rules that governed the Gatekeeper changed. Based on the research the Celestica family collected, it was decided that the newest Gatekeeper would be chosen once the particular individual turned eighteen years old.

However, this also meant that the previous Gatekeeper would give up the title and some of their power.

The Brimwick family did not have any sort of selection process for their descendents, 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 kind of tragic event that happened years back.

Two things that both families agreed upon was that neither ever venture into the spirit world, since there was no telling what lurked inside there. 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. And neither family would speak to 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 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.

When the new year swept over the town, it signified 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. One 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, that didn't mean she wanted the task of Gatekeeper next. This reticence resulted 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 passed after Noelle was elected as the new Gatekeeper, and seemed to go 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.

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.