The daily life of a ghost in Oletus manor

Chapter 2

Claude has been in the manor for a few days now, yet he still wasn't able to figure out why he came back as a ghost, nor the reason his brother was in this place with the other strange people. Speaking of strange people... he has been following around the lady his brother talked to the most. 

It was the Geisha. 

Or Michiko. Everyone seemed to call her that. She was very pretty too, even though she was wearing a little too much makeup for his taste. She was very kind to everyone in the manor, though he noticed she enjoyed spending time around the strange-looking bicolored man, the lady in red, who had that scary scar around his neck -which honestly freaked him out a little. It looked like her head was stitched back onto her neck, but that's crazy right? Noone would be alive after getting their head detached from their neck. And he really didn't want to imagine her getting beheaded. It was scary- and of course, around the ridiculously tall man, that he found out was actually wearing a mask. It was a relief. Really. He didn't know how he would have reacted if the man did actually not have a face. That would be just...too much for him. 

He slowly started to memorize their names too. The maybe-beheaded lady is Mary, and she was from France, just like his twin and him. Her title was "bloody queen". He wondered if she actually was a queen. Probably yes, because many of the residents here addressed her as "my queen" or "your majesty". She was an okay person. She was a little scary, and she didn't talk too much. Actually, he didn't really hear her voice yet, she usually communicated nonverbally, with her expressions and by nodding or shaking her head every time she was asked a question. 

It was a little unsettling and made him think about her neck. Maybe she couldn't talk at all? Though he did hear her coughing a few times, clearing her throat, producing little choking sounds while doing so. It made him a little sad. He remembers the feeling very well. The uncontrollable coughing, the burning ache in his throat. She must feel something similar too. 

That sucks. Honestly. 

So he starts to feel some sympathy for her. He decides that he likes her, and he silently prays for her, that her throat will get better. No one should live with that constant pain.

Well back to the names. Obviously, he knows his brother's name and Geisha's name. The tall, masked person was Jack. He was creepy. He liked humming a certain, slightly unsettling tone, and his voice was filled with something dark, making his blood run cold each time he heard the sound of it. He followed him to his room once. He didn't know better, and he was curious that time. 

And he regrets it with every metaphorical bone in his nonexistent body. 

You see, Jack's room is nothing like the one his brother currently possesses. That room is bigger, has furniture that is in much better condition and it looks less old. You could tell its owner is someone with a higher position in this place. And you could also tell that the man takes great care of his room. 

He had a huge mahogany wardrobe, a king-sized bed, with silky, black beddings, a big window, that looks out into the huge garden surrounding the manor, and a large mirror right beside the bed. 

Coming into the room, Jack took his tophat off, alongside the suit coat, which was followed not long after by his gloves, his white mask, and his dress shoes. Beneath all that clothing, Jack was wearing a simple white collared shirt with a white waistcoat. Surprisingly though, those were not the only things Jack was wearing at that moment. Because under that white mask, he had another pale one, that was tightly covering his whole face. It was confusing, to be honest. Why would you wear not one, but two masks? It just didn't make any sense for him. Though it did explain why he seemed faceless before. The skin-tight white mask had only two little holes for his eyes and none for his nose or his mouth. He wondered how was he able to breathe like that.