Mystery Adopt - Ghosts

Ghosts, were something that had always plagued them. So there was never a option to not believe they were not real.

Their village had resided close to that of a mad sorcerer's home and they had never known peace. Vaida did not remember a time she did not see spectres floating through the forest that bordered their home. They've tried many things over the years to keep the entire village safe. But nothing ever seemed to last. Their people continued to disappear and new ghosts were added to the trees. Every time moving the entire village was brought up, the past events when they tried were remembered and those who were desperate enough to try where again..... made an example of.

Vaida remembers the first time she ignored the rules and crept to the edge of the forest. Everything had been so eerily quiet. No insects, no birds, not even the blowing wind made any sound. Too stand there and just hear nothing but silence, the village was not that far away but even that seemed completely muted. As child though, the excitement about doing something against the rules and the feel of adventure, all of the things that made everything unsettling went ignored. The one thing she at least made sure she didn't do was head into the trees, she got close enough to touch one but that was as far as she allowed herself to go. Being so young and with all the stories she had heard, the fear of the darkness was still instilled so strongly in her. But as she stood there the disappointment started to grew, nothing was happening. Listen to all the adults, she had expected something, anything to happen. With a sigh, she was ready to head home, not noticing how cold she had become in that moment.

Quickly turning so she could at least get home before her parents started wondering were she had run off too. The moment she came face to face, and meeting it's eyes straight on. Nothing would have ever prepare her for what came came over her. Time seemed to slow and it was nothing but endless cold and the feeling like she was drowning. Whether it grew bored with its prey or was summoned away and eventually flew away. It took a long time before the fear and whatever else had been forced on her to wear off. Night had fallen and it took everything she had to stumble her way home. Vowing to never return to the edge of the forest again.... until now.

Vaida was old enough to know now, years having passed since that moment. That the only way out of all of this, was to get to the one holding this curse over them. Sword in hand, she would die trying, so this would end.

2026-10-26 02:35:31

Ghosts were nonsense. At least, that was what Morrow believed.

They had spent countless nights wandering through abandoned graveyards, exploring crumbling mansions, and listening to the stories whispered by frightened villagers. Every creaking door had a draft behind it, every flickering light had a reasonable explanation, and every ghost sighting was just someone letting their imagination run wild.

Morrow had never seen a ghost, after all. And if there was one thing they trusted, it was their own eyes.

That was how their search for proof led them to an old manor on the edge of the forest, a place locals refused to approach after sundown. They claimed a restless spirit haunted its halls, a creature with wild fur, a curling tail, and eyes that glowed like green lanterns in the dark.

Morrow found the description amusingly specific.

That night, they slipped through a broken gate and padded toward the manor. The front door swung open before they touched it. Inside, dust drifted through the moonlight, and a cold breeze curled around their paws.

“Cheap tricks,” Morrow muttered. That was, until they heard footsteps. They followed the sound upstairs, down a narrow corridor, and into a room filled with dusty mirrors. In the largest mirror stood a figure with a shaggy silhouette, a wild mane, and luminous green eyes.

Morrow turned around, but nobody was there.

They faced the mirror again. Morrow tilted their head. The figure tilted its own.

A terrible realization crept into their mind. They had visited this manor before. They remembered the staircase, the broken gate, the storm that had raged outside.

And all at once, they remembered falling. Slippery steps. A terrible crack. The cold stone beneath them.

Morrow stumbled backward, but their paws made no sound. They looked down and watched the floor show faintly through their legs, their dark fur dissolving into wisps of shadow.

For the first time in their life, Morrow believed in ghosts… Because the creature in the mirror wasn’t a stranger. It was them.

The manor had never been keeping a ghost out. It had been keeping one in.

Morrow stared at their reflection, their glowing eyes wide with horror. All those nights searching for proof, all those lonely journeys through the dark. They hadn’t been hunting ghosts. They had been trying to understand what they had become.

Outside, the church bells rang midnight and Morrow turned toward the open door, their tail curling behind them. Perhaps there were other spirits wandering unseen, just as lost as they had been.

For once, Morrow didn’t need proof. They believed. Then, from the deepest corner of the mirror, another pair of eyes opened. They glowed a sickly yellow.

And they were staring directly at Morrow.

2026-10-25 05:04:26 (Edited 2026-10-25 05:06:21)