1 Chapter 1

It was a dark and stormy night when I arrived at Blackwood Manor. The old mansion loomed above me, its windows glowing softly in the darkness. I was brought here by the authorities, to spend my time here to ponder over how I had ended up here, for the "crime" I had apparently committed. Of trying to murder and orchestrate the robbery of a famous landmark within the Iastriogus Central Museum.

As I stepped inside, I was immediately struck by the musty smell of the place. It was as if the air had not been breathed in for decades. I shivered, despite the warm fire burning in the hearth.

I made my way up the creaky stairs to the guest bedroom, my footsteps echoing off the walls. As I entered the room, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. I tried to shake it off and set up my equipment, but the hairs on the back of my neck continued to stand on end.

Suddenly, I heard a faint whisper coming from behind me. I spun around, but there was no one there. "Who's there?" I called out, my voice shaking. There was no answer, but the whisper seemed to grow louder and more urgent.

I knew then that this was going to be a very long night.

As I stepped inside the main entrance, I was immediately struck by the sense of decay that permeated the air. The once-grand entrance hall was now cluttered and dusty, with cobwebs covering the chandelier and the grand staircase.

My great-grandfather and his peerage had lived in the mansion for most of their life, and it seemed that they had not thrown anything away in all that time. The rooms were filled with an eclectic mix of antiques, trinkets, and clutter as if the mansion was a living museum of Grandfather's life journey.

As I worked my way through the mansion, I began to uncover its secrets. In the library, I found a hidden compartment containing a stack of letters from a mysterious woman, signed simply "E." In the attic, I discovered a trunk filled with old photographs and mementoes from my grandfather's youth, including a faded letter from a soldier serving in the Great Struggle.

But the strangest discovery was in the basement. As I descended the creaky stairs, I was greeted by a musty smell and a faint light coming from a room at the end of the corridor. As I approached, I heard a faint humming sound.

I pushed open the door and gasped at what I saw. The room was filled with strange machines and gadgets, all of them humming and whirring away. It was like a mad scientist's laboratory, with strange pipes and tubes running everywhere. And in the centre of it all was a hollow ghost-like man, hunched over a workbench, his face obscured by a pair of goggles.

"H-hello?" I called out. "What are you doing down here?"

I could hear a loud, message within my brain, possibly a telepathic message. "Leave!" he wailed. "This is my master's life's work, and I won't let anyone ruin it!"

I fled the basement, my heart racing. As I left the basement, I knew that I had only scratched the surface of its secrets. There was much more to discover in that strange old mansion, and I couldn't wait to uncover more of its mysteries.

I spent the next few days at Greystone Manor, cataloguing the contents of the mansion and trying to piece together the puzzle of its long life. Every time I thought I had figured out one of the mansion's secrets, I seemed to uncover another mystery.

As I delved deeper into my grandfather's past, I began to realize that there was much more to him than I had initially thought. Despite his gruff exterior and apparent obsession with his work, I began to see a deep sadness in his eyes, as if he was carrying a heavy burden, as if... something was haunting him, he kept repeating a strange message, I couldn't understand these words, possibly Latin but I won't be coming back to this until I had a clear understanding of what is actually going on.

One evening, as I was sitting in the library, poring over a stack of old letters, that ghastly figure appeared in the doorway. He looked older and more haggard than ever, his eyes sunken and his skin pale.

"I know you're trying to figure out your grandfather's demise," he said, his voice shaking. "But you need to leave. You won't understand what they are. No one can."

I tried to reassure him that I was only trying to help, but he would not listen. He turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the library.

As I sat there, surrounded by the clutter and secrets of Greystone Manor, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story than I would ever know. I realized that the mansion was not just a dilapidated old building, but a living, breathing entity, full of secrets and stories that would remain hidden forever.

But even as I left the library and returned to my decomposed lodging, I knew that I would always be drawn back to its mysteries and secrets, forever seeking to uncover the truth of Augustus Revera's past.

I began to uncover more and more secrets and mysteries. I discovered that Augustus had been involved in a number of top-secret scientific projects and that he had made some groundbreaking discoveries that had the potential to change the world.

But I also learned that he had been forced to keep these discoveries a secret, out of fear of the consequences they might have. He had spent his entire life locked away in Greystone Manor, working in secret and hiding his inventions from the world.

Despite my best efforts, I could never quite get Mother to open up about his work or his motivations. He remained a mysterious and enigmatic figure, always shrouded in secrecy and mystery. He wouldn't talk to my grandparents, wouldn't say a word about what kind of things he was trying to discover, why sometimes he would come back to his children with scents so eerie, carrying what seemed to be a large black bag that was moving, and the same look that creeped out everyone.

When I was a small child, my grandmother would tell me stories that rocked me to my core; I didn't understand her motivation for sharing such heart-breaking things; her experiences at the time were unfathomable. But now that I think about it, I realise she was telling me this to make sure I didn't do something foolish.

And so, even though I had completed understanding some basics to uncover the truth step by step, my work at Greystone Manor was nowhere near accomplished, I knew that I would always be drawn back to its secrets and mysteries, forever seeking to uncover the truth of the Augustine Demise, his past and the secrets that he had kept hidden away in the mansion's walls.

As the days passed, I couldn't shake the memories of my time in the deserted basement and the mysteries that I had uncovered there. I often found myself thinking about Augustus and his secrets, wondering what had happened to him and what had become of his inventions.

I decided to visit the mansion again, hoping to uncover more of its secrets and perhaps even find out what had become of him. As I walked through the familiar halls and rooms, I was struck by how much the mansion had changed since the last hearing. It was even more dilapidated and run-down than before, with cobwebs covering the windows and the floors creaky and unstable.

I made my way to the basement, where I had last seen something. The door to the secret laboratory was still there, but it was locked and there was no sign of any of that hollow ghost or its inventions. I tried to open the door, but it was stuck fast.

Just as I was about to give up, I heard a faint noise coming from behind the door. It sounded like a faint humming or buzzing, like the sound of machinery at work. I pressed my ear to the door, trying to listen more closely.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and I was confronted with a sight that I will never forget. The laboratory was still there, filled with strange machines and gadgets, but it was abandoned and in disarray. And in the centre of the room, surrounded by a web of wires and cables, it lay there, with wires and other jumbled cables stuck to each part of his limbs, head and spine.

He was old and pale, his once-vibrant eyes now dull and lifeless. He was connected to the machines by a network of tubes and wires, and it was clear that he was barely alive.

"Sir!" I said, rushing to his side. "What happened? How did you end up like this?"

He looked up at me, his eyes flickering with recognition. "I...I tried to save her," he whispered. "The last creation I had made with Augustus. I tried to save her, but I was too late. And now...now I am trapped here, forever."

I listened in horror as the ghost told me the story of his life, of his love for a woman named Evelyn and his desperate efforts to save her from a terminal illness. I realized then that the ghost, known as Arthur, had dedicated his entire life to the discoveries that my Great-grandfather made, driven by a desire to save his significant other.

As I listened to Arthurs's story, I knew that I had finally uncovered one of the truths of Greystone Manor and the secrets that it held. But even as I left the basement, my heart heavy with the knowledge of Arthur's tragic story, I left with more questions than answers.

As I was ready to leave the closed chamber, I heard an audible mechanic voice to my left and felt compelled to assist. Something unknown to me as a result of my life in this planet. But I had gone towards it, towards the weird book named "E", I brought it near to me, wishing for the voice to offer me a request, but all I heard was "Open!". I had previously opened it, but it contained nothing but blank pages. But I listened, and what I saw changed all I knew about my late Great-grandfather and the world as a whole.