League Files from the Keeper Library: Eccentric Rise of a Keeper by Ashlyn Ross
live your first life believing that you are mortal. That way you can live life to the fullest. A Watcher is connected to you from your birth to make sure that you don’t go into a book or back in time. Your Watcher decided that he was ready to become True Bound about three years ago. So you have been without a Watcher since then and I have no one who has claimed to know anything about you. Someone should have noticed what you’ve been…”
Scott interrupted, “Wait… what is True Bound? You said this Michael guy chose to be only… I guess I just don’t understand.”
“Um… you know how I said we are immortal. It’s true we can’t die but some of us can’t or don’t want go on anymore. When that happens, the Keepers may choose to go into a book and become part of that world forever. We call it True Bound because you're bonding with the book.”
“But you can come out right?” he asked nervously.
“For short visits, but they're a part of the story now, so they'll feel drawn to go back to their book.”
“Do they become a major character?” He was now leaning forward excitedly.
“Not normally. Though I have heard that there's a guy who went into a book and lost his head. He’s now a major part of the story because he's trying to get his head back. The only thing is we have sent other Keepers to help him get it back but no one seems to know where it went.”
“Wait, someone is going around in a book without their head… like the Headless Horseman?” he said almost jokingly.
Emily looked away a little nervous. “Actually that’s him. Someone cut off his head, and it should be somewhere within the book. Only it’s not there.”
“So why doesn’t he just leave the book?”
“Think about it this way, if he comes out without his head, how would people react to him?” she said sarcastically.
“Oh yeah, that would be quite a problem. So he’s now in the book like forever?”
She shrugged. “From what I’ve been told, yep. That is unless his head shows up some place.”
“Yikes,” Scott exclaimed.
“Now you know about True Bonding… Let’s see, from what you've told me, you've only gone into nonfiction articles. Is it safe to say that today was the first time you thought to go into a book?” She had picked up her pen again. She jotted a few notes and then wait for him to go on.
“Yes, I have only gone into the local paper. The first time was a complete accident. I'd read the article already and was reading another section on the opposite page and my finger must have gone into the article 'cause the next thing I knew I was standing in the bank. Everyone was down on the ground and I was right behind the robber. I hit him over the head and ran out of there, only to find myself back in my living room. When I picked up the paper again, it said that the robber had been subdued by someone who had left the scene. It took me some time to figure out how it worked, and when I read about those kids, I felt I had to do something. Took me a day longer to figure out how to do go back without being caught. When I came back and found that I had saved those kids, I felt like I had a purpose,” he finished a little out of breath.
Emily reached out and touched his arm. “Scott, you have a purpose, only it's not what you think it is. These are very delicate matters. When you go into a fictional book you can play around. We don’t quite understand why things snap back to the way they are supposed to. But when you deal with real life, such as nonfiction, it can cause so many changes. That’s why there are Watchers and Time Jumpers. Now maybe nothing is wrong with what you did, but you have to be careful of all of this. What if you had gone back in time and landed in the middle of a senate meeting. They would have killed you. Yes the people of that time believed in magic but something like that could have caused catastrophe or who knows what.”
“But you said they can’t kill us.” He sounding a little unsure.
“Oh you don’t die. Think of death as kind of like a lizard losing a limb, you just keep coming back. Even if you are complete ash you will come back, which takes about a decade but you will reconstitute. From what I understand, the process can be very painful.” She shuddered from the thought.
“What if someone keeps us? You know like torture.” He wrapped his arms around himself protectively.
“Again, we have Watchers whom are connected to Keepers. They're able to locate their charges so that other Keepers get to them as quickly as possible. Either take them to the future, the past or to another area in the world. No one can really hide a Keeper for long, and it’s not something that I would recommend you try. It is defiantly not something for the faint of heart.” Emily had a look that showed that she had a little personal experience regarding this.
Scott watched her carefully. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah just a bad memory, is all.” She shook her head, trying to push the memory aside.
David was suddenly standing next to their table, appearing just as quietly as he had before. His hair was now a mess. He had two large folders with him. “Here are the reports on the changes. The first one is what was supposed to happen and the second is what happened because the changes. The bank had no effect on anything except the robber was arrested a week earlier, so no action is needed,” he paused and looked over at Scott. “The bus accident on the other hand. We have some major problems.”
“David, is it bad?” asked Emily, concern running over her face.
“It has to be reversed. Even I've had a very hard time with this one. But I’ve gone through every scenario and can’t find a way to save any of the kids and make everything work out the way it should. I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you both.” The look on his face was pained and showed just how sorry he was.
Emily lowered her head almost in defeat. “I understand. We will fix the situation. Only we will need a Time Jumper to help us, or did you put the original article in the folder?” she said half heartedly.
“The original is in the folder. I thought it would be best since it’s dealing with kids and all.” He ran his comb through his disheveled hair.
“Thanks David. Has there been any news on who Scott’s Watcher is?”
“Yeah, her name is Linda, she is a new Keeper. She hadn’t taken the test and didn’t understand what she was getting when he started jumping. He’s her first and only right now. The League decided to send her to Mara. So this shouldn’t happen going forward. Do you want me to help out with this one at all?” David offered whole heartedly.
Emily shook her head no. “That’s alright. I know how dealing with something like this isn’t really your cup of tea. I’m sure that we will be able to handle it perfectly. Thanks for everything, David. Have Mara and Linda keep an eye on what we are working on. I will report in once we have reversed things back to check that the time line is where it should be.”
“Sounds great, Emily. Be safe and do not hesitate to call if you need anything.” He placed his hand over hers and squeezed.
“You know I will. See you soon.” She squeezed his hand back and gave him a half smile.
“Ok. And Scott, know you had no way of knowing that changing history is more complicated than you could even imagine. So please don’t beat yourself up over this. Everything will work itself out for the best. You just can’t see it now.” With that, David disappeared.
“So let me get this straight, the bank robbery was fine to change, but we have to let a bus full of kids die because that guy said so? This is bullshit!” He hit the desk with both hands and stood.
“Scott, please calm down. ” She looked around, making sure no one was coming. She held up one of the folders. “Have a look at what he brought us. Start with this folder. In it shows what will happen if we don’t do anything, meaning let the kids live.”
Scott grabbed the folder from her practically, ripping it out of her hand. Opening it, he quickly began to read what was inside. He found that almost all of the kids went on to living like anyone else in this town, not straying far from home. One had committed suicide in middle school due t
o bullying, but then he came across the bulk of the folder where he found police and FBI files talking about a serial killer going back years. Everything was extremely graphic and detailed. The killer was never caught, but they did find out who it was after the killer himself died. They found evidence that linked the man to every one of the crimes. He had started close to home, killing someone here in town when he was only thirteen years old. It had been the librarian, Mrs. Sterling. They linked the crime to him as he had kept a notebook on all his kills, detailing exactly how he had done it. He had also kept souvenirs from every kill.
Scott went white as he read through this man’s criminal record. He started to visibly shake when he finally saw the killer’s name, Alex Wilks. He'd seen the boy just this morning, run to catch the bus.
“I know this kid. He lives next door to me. Heck, he runs through my lawn every morning to catch the bus.” He put all the papers back into the folder and closed it on the table. “What's in the other folder?”
She handed the other folder which she had been going over. “This folder is what should have happened. Speaking specifically about a younger sister of one of the victims on the bus who creates a new kind of sensor that will causes the vehicle to stop and not slide. The device will save countless lives over time. It may not seem like much for the cost of these children, but you
Scott interrupted, “Wait… what is True Bound? You said this Michael guy chose to be only… I guess I just don’t understand.”
“Um… you know how I said we are immortal. It’s true we can’t die but some of us can’t or don’t want go on anymore. When that happens, the Keepers may choose to go into a book and become part of that world forever. We call it True Bound because you're bonding with the book.”
“But you can come out right?” he asked nervously.
“For short visits, but they're a part of the story now, so they'll feel drawn to go back to their book.”
“Do they become a major character?” He was now leaning forward excitedly.
“Not normally. Though I have heard that there's a guy who went into a book and lost his head. He’s now a major part of the story because he's trying to get his head back. The only thing is we have sent other Keepers to help him get it back but no one seems to know where it went.”
“Wait, someone is going around in a book without their head… like the Headless Horseman?” he said almost jokingly.
Emily looked away a little nervous. “Actually that’s him. Someone cut off his head, and it should be somewhere within the book. Only it’s not there.”
“So why doesn’t he just leave the book?”
“Think about it this way, if he comes out without his head, how would people react to him?” she said sarcastically.
“Oh yeah, that would be quite a problem. So he’s now in the book like forever?”
She shrugged. “From what I’ve been told, yep. That is unless his head shows up some place.”
“Yikes,” Scott exclaimed.
“Now you know about True Bonding… Let’s see, from what you've told me, you've only gone into nonfiction articles. Is it safe to say that today was the first time you thought to go into a book?” She had picked up her pen again. She jotted a few notes and then wait for him to go on.
“Yes, I have only gone into the local paper. The first time was a complete accident. I'd read the article already and was reading another section on the opposite page and my finger must have gone into the article 'cause the next thing I knew I was standing in the bank. Everyone was down on the ground and I was right behind the robber. I hit him over the head and ran out of there, only to find myself back in my living room. When I picked up the paper again, it said that the robber had been subdued by someone who had left the scene. It took me some time to figure out how it worked, and when I read about those kids, I felt I had to do something. Took me a day longer to figure out how to do go back without being caught. When I came back and found that I had saved those kids, I felt like I had a purpose,” he finished a little out of breath.
Emily reached out and touched his arm. “Scott, you have a purpose, only it's not what you think it is. These are very delicate matters. When you go into a fictional book you can play around. We don’t quite understand why things snap back to the way they are supposed to. But when you deal with real life, such as nonfiction, it can cause so many changes. That’s why there are Watchers and Time Jumpers. Now maybe nothing is wrong with what you did, but you have to be careful of all of this. What if you had gone back in time and landed in the middle of a senate meeting. They would have killed you. Yes the people of that time believed in magic but something like that could have caused catastrophe or who knows what.”
“But you said they can’t kill us.” He sounding a little unsure.
“Oh you don’t die. Think of death as kind of like a lizard losing a limb, you just keep coming back. Even if you are complete ash you will come back, which takes about a decade but you will reconstitute. From what I understand, the process can be very painful.” She shuddered from the thought.
“What if someone keeps us? You know like torture.” He wrapped his arms around himself protectively.
“Again, we have Watchers whom are connected to Keepers. They're able to locate their charges so that other Keepers get to them as quickly as possible. Either take them to the future, the past or to another area in the world. No one can really hide a Keeper for long, and it’s not something that I would recommend you try. It is defiantly not something for the faint of heart.” Emily had a look that showed that she had a little personal experience regarding this.
Scott watched her carefully. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah just a bad memory, is all.” She shook her head, trying to push the memory aside.
David was suddenly standing next to their table, appearing just as quietly as he had before. His hair was now a mess. He had two large folders with him. “Here are the reports on the changes. The first one is what was supposed to happen and the second is what happened because the changes. The bank had no effect on anything except the robber was arrested a week earlier, so no action is needed,” he paused and looked over at Scott. “The bus accident on the other hand. We have some major problems.”
“David, is it bad?” asked Emily, concern running over her face.
“It has to be reversed. Even I've had a very hard time with this one. But I’ve gone through every scenario and can’t find a way to save any of the kids and make everything work out the way it should. I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you both.” The look on his face was pained and showed just how sorry he was.
Emily lowered her head almost in defeat. “I understand. We will fix the situation. Only we will need a Time Jumper to help us, or did you put the original article in the folder?” she said half heartedly.
“The original is in the folder. I thought it would be best since it’s dealing with kids and all.” He ran his comb through his disheveled hair.
“Thanks David. Has there been any news on who Scott’s Watcher is?”
“Yeah, her name is Linda, she is a new Keeper. She hadn’t taken the test and didn’t understand what she was getting when he started jumping. He’s her first and only right now. The League decided to send her to Mara. So this shouldn’t happen going forward. Do you want me to help out with this one at all?” David offered whole heartedly.
Emily shook her head no. “That’s alright. I know how dealing with something like this isn’t really your cup of tea. I’m sure that we will be able to handle it perfectly. Thanks for everything, David. Have Mara and Linda keep an eye on what we are working on. I will report in once we have reversed things back to check that the time line is where it should be.”
“Sounds great, Emily. Be safe and do not hesitate to call if you need anything.” He placed his hand over hers and squeezed.
“You know I will. See you soon.” She squeezed his hand back and gave him a half smile.
“Ok. And Scott, know you had no way of knowing that changing history is more complicated than you could even imagine. So please don’t beat yourself up over this. Everything will work itself out for the best. You just can’t see it now.” With that, David disappeared.
“So let me get this straight, the bank robbery was fine to change, but we have to let a bus full of kids die because that guy said so? This is bullshit!” He hit the desk with both hands and stood.
“Scott, please calm down. ” She looked around, making sure no one was coming. She held up one of the folders. “Have a look at what he brought us. Start with this folder. In it shows what will happen if we don’t do anything, meaning let the kids live.”
Scott grabbed the folder from her practically, ripping it out of her hand. Opening it, he quickly began to read what was inside. He found that almost all of the kids went on to living like anyone else in this town, not straying far from home. One had committed suicide in middle school due t
Scott went white as he read through this man’s criminal record. He started to visibly shake when he finally saw the killer’s name, Alex Wilks. He'd seen the boy just this morning, run to catch the bus.
“I know this kid. He lives next door to me. Heck, he runs through my lawn every morning to catch the bus.” He put all the papers back into the folder and closed it on the table. “What's in the other folder?”
She handed the other folder which she had been going over. “This folder is what should have happened. Speaking specifically about a younger sister of one of the victims on the bus who creates a new kind of sensor that will causes the vehicle to stop and not slide. The device will save countless lives over time. It may not seem like much for the cost of these children, but you