A chill wind blew through the town of Pforzheim in the European country of Germany, bringing fall along with it. Leaves were covered in colours forgotten since the last fall, the oranges and reds almost mesmerizing to the average denizen. Though, for all the kind memories that brought forth warm feelings, an air of foretaste hung thick in the air, premonitions of the coming winter being brought to the minds of all in the town that lay at the gate to the Black Forest. Though, how every citizen handled the news was a different matter altogether. Most only let out sighs of discomfort.

Though some, like the fair skinned German-born Reiss Beltz, took the knowledge in stride. He was not bothered by much of anything in the town. To him, it was just another fall in another year. He welcomed winter. His full beard, though groomed so as not to be too long or unprofessional, would keep him warm. It always did, ever since he got it. The challenge of surviving the cold made him feel alive, and helped him forget the actual few things he didn't like. He rolled his eyes as his BMW stopped next to a book store before a red light. But he was moreover rolling his eyes at a certain object in the store's window, rather than the store itself. These 'shirtless vampire' novels are getting tiresome...

He saw the light change to green out of the corner of his eye, keeping careful mind to his peripheral vision, as he always did. It was something his father had hardwired into his head as he grew up. Though, on rather rare occasions, he would see strange things, just out of sight. He would swallow hard in those moments, and try to keep his eyes away from whatever it was, hoping it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He pressed down lightly on the gas petal shortly after noticing the change in luminescent colour, and the engine of his M3 hummed louder than before, moving forward and down the street.

He shrugged at the song that had begun to play as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex, "Der Telefon-Anruf" by Kraftwerk. The 80's techno synthesizers and beat only made him smirk, reminding him of the kind of music that his polish friend listened to. He shut the radio off, and pulled his keys out of the ignition before stepping out of his car, scratching between the brownish black short hair he beheld upon his head, ending half an inch down his forehead. As he was walking into his apartment, the second he stepped past the doorway, his phone began to ring. He quickly shut and locked the door, grabbing the phone off of the wall. "Hallo?" His voice was naturally friendly, not too low but not too high in pitch, but in that moment it sounded inquisitive.

"You may." Came a voice distinctly male. It sounded somewhat youthful, but experienced. And American. "My name is Mr. West. Herbert West, that is. I am calling to inform you that you have been offered a job at an educational facility deeper within the Black Forest than the town you live in. The pay you would get at a school there? Triple it, and that is what your payment would be, should you choose to accept the opportunity granted to you. Not to mention, you would have a free apartment on campus, much larger than your current apartment."

Reiss was rather shocked at the amount of information that this "Mr. West" knew about him. He began to look out of his windows cautiously, his bright sky blue eyes searching the area around his apartment as thoroughly as possible in a short amount of time. He swallowed hard before he spoke more seriously then, his voice beginning to have the accent of his country. "You lischten, juscht how do you know sie size off mein apartment?" He was beginning to worry that he would have to use the skills his father taught him. He hadn't had to use them too often, and he forgot to train every now and then, so he was just a tad rusty.

"Whoa, calm down. Look Reiss, all you need to know is I am to your East. Heh, that rhymes... You know, if your name was Reiss East, it would almost be like the opposite of my name! Ha!" Reiss was beginning to think the man was a loon, hand palming at the 'Reiss East' comment. "Anyways, I'm not anyone you need to focus your thoughts on, I just like to make sure I am... thorough with my research." He cleared his throat then. "So, should you want to accept the job, I shall be at Pizza Fontana tomorrow with the contract for you to sign, from one pm to two pm. I also have another possible employee meeting me there for a different job at the educational facility I work at, and that you have the chance to work at. He was the one who suggested the place."

Reiss thinks for a few moments before answering, considering his options. He calmed down and sat down in the chair in his bedroom, clearing his throat just before he spoke. "Mr. West..."

The abandoned hospital creaked around the young paranormal investigator inside as the fall winds blew against it's outer walls, brushing some leaves against them. It had been abandoned long ago, one could tell such a thing from not only the chipping paint and broken and cracked windows that you could see from the outside, but by the chaotic look that the interior of the building had as well. The rooms were all trashed, and some graffiti was left upon the walls from various vandals visiting over the years, saying things that generally gave the ghost hunter a little bit of unease in his stomach to lay on top of the dread that the atmosphere of the place was summoning within him.

Jonas Bukowski, a foreign young male with skin a pale white, was searching the hallways and rooms for signs of ghosts, trying to catch an Electronic Voice Phenomena or two at least, maybe a picture or still frame. But he was an amateur, and he knew it. He grasped at his dark brown circle beard, trying to communicate with the ghosts somehow. "Is it true someone died in one of the rooms of this hallway?" His Polish accent wasn't particularly thick on the English he spoke, he was getting better at it since he started living in America. He travelled the country in an almost gypsy like way, living off of the money he'd saved over the years in the confines of his Aston Martin, rather than a home or motel.

He reached back and made sure his low ponytail was in good condition, the brush of hair beholding the same colour as his beard, and ending between his shoulder blades. He just never seemed to catch anything wherever he went. He'd always felt that ghosts were real, but he just couldn't prove it to anyone, especially when he had no evidence. Were the ghosts I saw as a kid just imaginary? He swallowed hard under his filter mask. Perhaps I just let the fictional machinations of my mind as a child influence the mental state of my adult mentality? He stopped for a second, and shook his head. No, now I'm just sounding like a sceptic. Plenty of people believe in ghosts, so it's not just me going insane or anything...

He quietly chuckled a little nervously to himself then, sighing shortly afterwards. He knew ghosts were real, he just had to figure out what to do to get them to react audibly or show themselves. He breathed in a deep breath, and stood still, closing his eyes for a moment. He thought back to some of the times he saw ghosts when he was young, and remembered a few key things. He'd always been standing still or walking slowly, and he had kept more of an eye on his surroundings. He began to slow his movements through the hallways, so that way he could observe everything around him, his dark brown eyes searching the shadows for things that could be within their obscurity.

He heard something then. Behind him and to the right. He turned quickly but cautiously, focusing on it's direction. He made his way over to the room, finding the number was the exact room he had heard the stories about, Room 413. He slowly pushed the nearly closed door open, but just as he took a step into the room, that was when he was shocked, making him jump lightly. His phone had begun to go off, and he placed a hand on his chest to calm himself down quickly before he looked at the number, recognizing the number of his German friend. Man, I haven't talked to that ziom vocally in over three years, I wonder why he's calling me? He pulled down his mask, figuring he should be fine for a cell phone chat at least. "Reiss, this better be important, I'm..." He swiftly looks around the empty room, seeing some medical files. "...working, grading papers." He didn't want Reiss to know he was trekking around ghost hunting in America.

The friendly voice of Reiss Beltz came through the speaker then, the words it brought with it causing Polish eyebrows to raise in surprise. "Oh, it is, my Polish friend, trust me, for you see..."

"I've got a better job for you. Well, if you're interested, that is."

The Highlands of Scotland looked beautiful in the fall. The way that the leaves upon the trees turned different colours brought more of a fantasy like feel to the landscape, and everybody seemed to understand it well. More children on the streets of Nairn, a humble town made even more beautiful by the fall, began to pretend to sword fight. More men wore their familial kilts more often, and with more pride, reminded of the olden days. Purple was the colour of the Murdock family of Nairn's kilts, and it went well with the black clothes that the youngest member always wore.

Drake Murdock is listening to some symphonic power metal over his iPod as he drives through Nairn in his 1974 Dodge Challenger. It was an imported car that he had to save up a lot of money to buy, working at a shitting desk job, but it was well worth it in the end. She belonged to him, and he had even named her. He just wished he could get a better job. He didn't want a job that involved paperwork. He liked doing things of a physical nature, like hunting deer or cleaning and fixing up his car. It was something that his father had passed down onto him. He'd been raised in the wilderness as a child, taught by his father to hunt for his food and survive with a bow, knife, and sword. His father was just like that, set in all of the old warrior ways of the old Irish and Scottish blood he came from.

The young fair skinned man smiled as he listened to "The March of the Swordmaster" by Rhapsody begin to play. It always pumped him up and made him feel full of a warrior's pride. That day, it made him think about his views on the supernatural and magical as well. His Polish friend Jonas was a ghost hunter after all. And the Scottish and Irish did have many ghost tales and fantasy like legends, some of which could even be found in fantasy stories and video games. When he stops at a light, he quickly fixes his mirrors, wanting to make sure they were all perfectly visible, seeing himself in them. He grasped at his long Van Dyke style beard, Raven Black like the hair upon his head, just before quickly looking back at the light just in time to go.

He rolled down the window as he began to drive down a long road. His ice blue eyes scanned the coastline, admiring the way that the sea looked at the time of dusk. He was glad to have been born in a town so close to the sea. It let him experience all the elements the world was made of. He drove until he could just see his destination, a gas station. But that was when his phone went off, giving him a startle and making his car swerve a little. Fuck me sideways! He pulls into the gas station and fixed his hair first before answering, making sure that his bangs were tied back, keeping his shoulder length hair out of his face, but loose around the back in what he called a warrior's ponytail.

Reiss, you better not be piss drunk an' callin' me right now. He groaned before he answered, his accent heavy on his words, though they were English. "Reiss, bloody hell ya coulda made me crash Aileen, ya gobshite, thick, chicken-headed, wanker!" He stayed silent for a second before he laughed heartily. "I'm jus' fuckin' with ya laddie." He then added another sentence in quickly. "But seriously, text me next time, ya plonker, heh." He cleared his throat, turning his music down. "I'm assuming this is important though, since ye are callin' me?" What he heard next would make his eyebrow raise in curiosity, and make him hit his head as he got out of his car. Reiss made his words sound sarcastic, though they were true.

"Yeah, considering I can get you a job a lot better than the one you keep complaining about."

The three young men each stepped out of their respective cars, and onto the dirt path they had each driven to, following Reiss' lead. Reiss and Jonas stepped forward to look at the narrow dirt path, only big enough for them to drive directly behind one another, and looked at each other in an almost unsure way, but Reiss shrugged. Meanwhile, Drake was busy looking over his car, making sure that it was looking good, and cleaning some dirt off a few places. He looked up to see Reiss and Jonas getting back in their cars, and he grumbled as he saw the thin path of dirt. "Really? A dirt road? Come on." He swiftly got back in his car none the less, driving right behind Jonas with a disgruntled expression on his face.

They drove slowly and carefully, finally ending up at a gate after three minutes. Next to the gate, however, was what their attention focused on. A sign with woulds that summoned different reactions out of each of them.

Miss Grimwood's

Bewitching Lich University

For

Ghouls

Reiss raised a brow, wondering just what he got himself and his friends into. Jonas looked on in an interested way, thinking that there was perhaps more to the place than he thought, perhaps a way to get some evidence. Drake, in his classic Scottish way, let out a resounding "Da fook is this then?! Am I seein' shite?" He said it whilst rolling down his window. He poked his head out to inspect the sign, and sure enough, it read what he thought it read. "What?" He shook his head and brought it back in his car, rolling up the window.

Reiss rolled down his window to look at the gate better. He was about to open his door to get out and push it when suddenly, it began to creak open as if someone was opening it. It was a metal gate, moving on it's own, and it made him swallow hard. It was something supernatural, happening right before his eyes. "This could go one of two ways, please let it be the second." He spoke under his breath. He quickly got to driving again, leaving his window open. They pulled up to what looked to indeed be a University, but somewhat strange in appearance. Some parts looked absolutely Victorian, and yet at the same time as if they had just been built. The Manor was the first thing they drove up to, however.

They parked outside, seeing the exact person they were there to see waiting for them. Miss Grimwood herself. A stout late twenties aged woman with black hair in an eighties fashion. She looked like a piece out of time in a way, a deep sanguine coloured scarf around her neck. A smile spread upon her face as she saw the three young men step out of their vehicles. "Hello boys! I hope you found the place alright, I was worried Herbert was going to trick you into driving into a ditch!" She sighed then. "...Like he did to the last three potential candidates for your employment positions." Drake shot a deadly look at Reiss as soon as she spoke those words. The German swore he felt the metaphorical daggers being sent his way. The goth took his eyes off of his friend when Miss Grimwood spoke once more. "I suppose that means he finds you favourable, which is a rather good thing."

Reiss scratched the back of his head. "I'm rather glad to hear that, heh." He seems like he may be some trouble, I'll have to talk to him later. He looked around at the place once again then, but with a deductive eye. So many questions were filling his head and he wanted answers to all of them, but knew he must sort out the more important ones. "So... Miss Grimwood, right?" He was met with a nod and a kind smile, then pointed back with his thumb casually. "University for Ghouls? I think someone may have misspelled your sign back there." He chuckled nervously, looking at his friends, Drake seeming the most unsettled.

"Yeah, what's up with that then?" He snickered in an almost snarky way. "You got some vampires an' werewolves as students or somfing? I mean, I'm a pretty superstitious dude, but I don't think that you can communicate well enough with zombies or ghosts ta teach em, y'know?" He grinned at Miss Grimwood, trying to let her know he was only being sarcastic. But when he was met with a most mischievous smile from the headmistress, his own grin turned into a look of confusion. He crossed his arms and swallowed hard. "Okay, er, how haunted is this place?"

Miss Grimwood was the one who snickered then. "Follow me, I'll show you around. Perhaps we may even run into some of our... students." She said the last word in Drake's direction, afterwards humming slowly as she turned and began to walk towards the manor's entrance. "There are many things in this world that we are not meant to understand, but I will show you that you can comprehend some of the world's tenebraeic mysteries if you just allow me to open your third eye." She chuckled once again as she looked back to see the three young men all wearing looks of confusion. She knew they were going to do that.

"It will make sense soon dears, don't you worry."