Meet The Keeper

I had intended to pick up the book and check the cover. However, the moment that I picked it up, the moment that I felt the weight of the book in the palm of my hand, it was like something started to happen.

I don't know how to explain what was happening. It was like there was this mysterious wind that just started to blow all around me. My hair was whipping against my face as it was buffeted by the gusts.

Not only that, but the book in my hand felt like it suddenly weighed a lot more. Instead of just being a few pounds like it was when I initially touched it, the book now felt like it weighed fifty pounds. And it was still gaining weight with each passing second. It was getting to the point that my hand was hurting quite a bit with the effort to keep it balanced on my palm.

I wanted to know what was happening. I wanted to know what was going on with this book. But then again, I also wanted to just get the hell out of here. This was not something that I signed up for.

I wasn't going to run though. I wasn't a coward. I was going to stick it out and figure out just what was going on here. It wasn't like I had any other choice here anyway. I mean, there was this crazy wind surrounding me. That was going to draw attention and it's not like I could just get away from it.

Only, maybe I could have. When I turned my head to look around, I saw that the wind was focused solely on me. It was like some kind of miniature whirlwind that was ignoring everything else around me. Not even the books on the shelves or the ones that I had set on the ground were affected. It was only buffeting me.

"What the hell is this? What is going on here? How is this even possible?" I was looking around at all of the books that were untouched. Well, I was trying to, at least. My hair, the hood to my jacket, and some mysterious white fog was swirling in that wind so much that it was making it very difficult to see anything at all.

"HELLO!" I called out. I needed to see if someone could hear me. "Is anyone out there?" I couldn't be the only person that knew what was happening. Could I? I mean, I didn't even know what was happening, but it was major.

"Dammit." I growled in pain as the book, which now felt like it weighed a ton, fell out of my hand and slammed against the floor. It hit with such a loud thunk that told me the book really was heavier than it should be. It wasn't just me. "Man, these must be some heavy stories." I laughed despite the situation. I think that if I didn't laugh about it I would probably end up losing my mind.

Since I wasn't holding the book anymore, and this whole situation was getting to be way too freaky for me, I tried to stand up. I say that I tried because I was not able to. The moment that I tried to move away from the book that seemed to be the root cause of this entire thing, I felt like something was pulling me. There was this straight weight that seemed to suddenly attach to my belly button like there was an invisible hook or something there. It was odd and I didn't particularly care for it very much.

"What the hell?" I tried to move again, but this time I fell all the way down onto my knees. I felt a sharp jolt of pain spread through my leg from the impact, but I didn't let that get to me. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get away from this book. Whatever was happening, this book was the sole cause of it all.

"And to think, I don't even know what this fucking book is called yet. Isn't that just great?" I felt the sarcasm spread through me. That was my weapon, my defense. But it wasn't working right now. It wasn't helping me to feel any better at all right now.

"I need to get away." I grunt in frustration as I fought to turn away from the book and crawl as far from it as I possibly could. I needed to get out of here. I needed to just go home and research things the same way that everyone else did. Hell, maybe that book that I needed was available as an ebook. That would make things a lot better. Right? I just needed to be modern and normal like everyone else. That was all that I could do.

"I can't give up." I forced the words out past my clenched teeth. "I need to get out of here." I put all my strength and effort into moving away from that spot. And it was working too. Well, at least a little bit. I managed to move maybe a foot or a foot and a half away from the book before the pull of it sucked me right back to where I was to begin with.

"SHIT!" I yelled. It wasn't like anyone else was able to hear me anyway. So, I didn't need to worry about yelling profanities to the other people here. I could shout and scream and grumble all I wanted. It wasn't going to hurt them, but it also didn't seem like it was going to help me at all either. That fucking sucked.

"Nooo!!" The moment that I felt like the book was pulling me beyond my starting point, when it felt like the book was growing larger and I was being pulled into it, I couldn't hold back my frustration and fear any longer. "What the hell is going on!? This cannot be happening! This is insane!"

I did not believe in magic. I did not believe in fairy tales. I didn't believe in anything that was this 'strange'. Yet here I was. It was happening to me, nonetheless. I was literally going to be sucked into this book. I was going to be lost forever because of this mysterious book that I didn't even know the name of.

"Why!? Why is this happening to me?" I called out to no one in particular. I knew that no one was going to answer me, but it made me feel better to be talking to myself here. "WHY!?" I called out again. And that was when I both felt myself leave the floor and heard a mysterious voice both at the same time.