I set the book down and pull another from the shelf.The Rift and Its Keepers: A Historical Account, 1958. This one’s thinner, the binding more fragile.
“Who are the keepers?” I ask.
“Families sworn to protect the Rift. Goes back to the town’s founding. There were five original families—the Wilders, the Crosses, the Hartwells, the Finches, and the Ashes. Each family held a specific role. The Wilders handled the wards. The Crosses monitored the ley lines. The Hartwells managed the record-keeping. The Finches supplied the potions and botanical components. The Ashes maintained the physical site of the quarry.”
“All five families still active?”
“The Ashes aren’t. Gideon Ash runs the tavern, but he doesn’t do keeper work. His father was the last one, and when he died fifteen years ago, the quarry maintenance fell to the town as a whole. No single family claimed it.”
I open the book and scan the table of contents. Chapter Three catches my eye:The Catastrophe of 1887: Fact or Fabrication?
“There was a catastrophic flare,” I say. “Legend says it killed almost everyone in town.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “The records from that period are sparse. Whole sections of the town archives are missing—births, deaths, property records, everything from an eight-year span. Nobody touches those gaps. Nobody asks about them.”
“Who would have the authority to erase that much history?”
“Someone with significant power. Council-level power.”
I file that away and keep reading. The 1887 chapter is short—barely four pages—and the author spends more time dismissing the legend than examining it.No physical evidence exists to support the claim of mass casualties. The story persists as local folklore, likely exaggerated for dramatic effect.
I pull another text. Berrick, Aldric.An Empirical Study of Rift Instability in Omega-Dense Populations.Published eight years ago. The same Berrick who came to Willowbrook twelve years ago. I didn’t know he’d published his findings.
“Damon. Did you know Berrick wrote a paper on the Rift?”
“He mentioned it while he was here. Said the Council buried it.”
I flip to the introduction.This study examines the correlation between unbonded Omega populations and Rift instability in three monitored locations. Findings suggest that the relationship is not merely correlative but potentially causal, with unbonded Omega magic acting as a catalyst for flare events.I scan further.However, anomalies in the Willowbrook data suggest the presence of an additional variable not accounted for in standard models. The author recommends further investigation before policy recommendations are made.
“He found something,” I say. “Something that didn’t fit his model.”
“That’s what he told my aunt. Said the numbers didn’t add up. The Rift in Willowbrook was destabilizing faster than the unbonded Omega population could explain. There was a gap—a missing factor. He came here to find it.”
“And?”
“And he left three weeks later with nothing. Told Aunt Etta he’d been called back to Chicago. Told the Council his investigation was inconclusive. But he told my aunt he thought someone was interfering with the Rift.”
My hand stills on the page. “Interfering how?”
“He didn’t know. And the Council didn’t give him the opportunity to look into it further.”
I set Berrick’s paper down and reach for another text—Keepers of the Rift: Lineage and Duty. This one is moredetailed, with family trees and diagrams. I trace the Wilder line back six generations, then the Cross line, then the Hartwells. All intact. All documented.
Then I get to the Ashes.
The family tree stops three generations back. No death dates, no marriage records, no children listed after 1942. Just a blank space where the rest of the lineage should be, and a footnote in small, cramped handwriting:Records sealed by order of the Regional Representative’s office. Reason: classified.
“Damon.”
He looks up from his book.
“The Ash family tree ends in 1942. The rest is sealed by the Council.”
His jaw tightens. “That’s new. It wasn’t sealed when I was a kid. I remember looking at these same books with my aunt when I was twelve. The Ash line went all the way to Gideon.”
“Someone sealed it between then and now. Classified it.”
“Who has the authority to classify historical records?”
