Chapter 3 (The Keeper)
Holly and India were led through the inner down, down another, stone, candle-lit corridor and to a large hexagonal chamber. A staircase spiralled around from the centre and led to a door further up the wall, but the majority of the walls were adorned with bookcases loaded with all manner of different types of books, not in any particular order.
In the centre of the room sat an arm chair and a small, round coffee table. Another door led off from next to the bottom of the staircase, and a small TV set sat against the wall opposite the armchair. Holly thought the TV looked incredibly out of place, despite it being an older looking one.
“Please, take a seat,” said the Keeper, placing his lantern down on the coffee table.
“Where?” asked India, looking around for any sign of somewhere else to sit.
“On the floor, of course,” said the Keeper with a smile. “The fire’s on. It’s quite comfortable.”
The fireplace was across to the side of the armchair and was already roaring away. The wood crackled and fizzed under the flames. In front of the fire was a large, soft, cream rug.
Holly looked at India and the pair of them shrugged and then sat down.
“Would you like some tea?” asked the Keeper, going to a small tea pot sat on the coffee table.
Holly didn’t really want to sit and drink tea with this strange man, but at the same time she was beginning to feel thirsty. She hadn’t had a drink since she had been back on Lunar City Alpha.
“Yes, please,” she said.
“Do you have any biscuits? I haven’t had a biscuit in ages,” asked India.
“Oh, my poor young lady,” said the Keeper, pulling out a packet of custard creams from a drawer and handing them to the red-head. “Bless you.” His eyes lingered on her inquisitive face and then he nodded as if realising something.
He poured them two cups of tea and then passed them to the girls as they sat cross-legged on the rug. He then took up position in the armchair and sat back, smiling.
“As delicious as this tea is - ”
“It’s Yorkshire tea,” said the Keeper, tapping his nose.
“As delicious as this Yorkshire tea is,” said Holly, putting her cup down on the hearth, “we did come here for a reason.”
“Of course you did,” said the Keeper, sipping from his own cup, “I don’t get many visitors unless there’s a reason.”
“Where exactly are we?” asked India.
“Zero Point,” said the Keeper, matter of fact.
“Which is what?”
He interlocked his fingers and put them to his chin, thinking. “How can I explain this...?”
“As simple as possible please,” said Holly. “I have a headache coming on and it’s been a very difficult day.”
He smiled at her. “The Zero Point is the last known moment and point of existence in any universe, reality or world.”
Holly and India looked around the room, their eyes scanning everything.
“How is that possible?” asked India.
“It’s a little difficult to explain the mechanics, but ultimately the universe has always been stubborn. Even when the last blink of light disappeared from reality, there was still this place. It’s like the universe has to have something survive.”
“But we’ve come from a healthy, full-functioning universe,” said India.
“Yes, and at the end of it all, when it’s all come crashing down and everything has ended, reality survives here in the Zero Point.” He took another sip of tea. “Very few people know about it and even less visit here.” He leant forward and looked directly at Holly. “Let me guess, the Doctor sent you.”
“That’s right,” said Holly.
“So it is true,” said India, looking uncomfortable.
“I told you,” said Holly. She turned back to the man. “How do you know him?”
“Oh, only in passing,” said the Keeper, brushing her question aside, “but I know that he is a good man. Infuriatingly good, but good none the less, and he must have sent you with good reason.”
“The last few months of my life were erased from ever happening and India took my place.”
“You make it sound like I did it on purpose,” said India. “My life is as important as yours.”
“Ah, yes, Miss Macleod, it is, but it is also a fabrication,” said the Keeper, pointing to her.
“It’s just an alternate reality,” she said.
The Keeper waggled his finger and shook his head. “An alternate reality where a reality runs parallel with another world is acceptable, but Miss Dangerfield has had her own reality changed. That is wrong. That is called meddling in time.” He looked a little distant for a moment.
“I’m sorry,” said India.
“Look, I’m not saying that it’s anyone’s fault other than the Masters,” said Holly, “but the Doctor sent me here for a reason. He wants me to put it right.”
“Putting it right might not be as easy as you expect.” He leant back in his armchair again. “There are always consequences.”
“What consequences?” asked Holly.
“To tell you before you follow your desire would give you a choice. You are here to put back what went wrong, yes?”
“Yes,” said Holly.
“Then the consequences won’t matter. The consequences have already occurred. You’ll just be putting them back again.”
India blew air out of her cheeks. “This is damn confusing.”
The Keeper chuckled. “The question is – should I help you?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” asked Holly. She hadn’t even considered the fact that when she got here she wouldn’t have help. “Surely you want things to be put right.”
“Child,” he said, with a chuckle, “your problems are just a drop in the ocean of reality.”
“But the Doctor said - ”
“Hush,” said the Keeper, his finger to his lips. “Of course I will help you, Miss Dangerfield.”
She relaxed and closed her eyes. “Oh, thank god for that!”
“More tea?”
“No, thank you,” said Holly. She hadn’t even finished her first cup. “How do we do it then?”
“Firstly you must discover what happened to cause the change in the first place.”
“So travel back to the moment it changed?” asked India.
“Exactly,” he said. “Once you’re there we can ascertain your next move.”
“So you’re coming with us?” asked India.
“I will be with you and yet not with you,” said the Keeper. He got up and walked over to the TV and switched it on.
“You can get remote controls for them now, you know?” said Holly.
The Keeper smiled at them. “Always in a rush.”
The TV screen cleared of static and showed hundreds and hundreds of coloured, wavy lines. To Holly they looked like jumbled up, inter-twining strands of wool getting more and more tangled up. One of the strands began to glow white and the Keeper clicked his fingers. The strand pulled away from the rest of the strands until it was isolated on its own.
“Is that my timeline?” asked Holly.
“Very good,” said the Keeper. He closed his eyes. “I can see it – the moment your world was changed.”
“Which was when?”
“You were sad. You were saying goodbye to a loved one.” His eyes were still closed, but Holly could tell he was frowning. “It was a rainy day. You exited a car where the dead are buried.”
“My granddads funeral,” said Holly. “That was the first day I ever saw the Doctor and Lilly. They were standing amongst the gravestones.”
“That was the moment it changed.”
“How?” asked Holly.
“That I cannot say. Not until you travel there.”
“But I might run into myself.”
“That hardly matters now. It is a false timeline.”
“Still in the room,” said India.
“We better get back to the escape pod.”
“I’m afraid the escape pod no longer exists. The Zero Point does not like aberrations.”
“What?” said Holly, getting to her feet. “Then how do we travel back in time.”
“You’re sat at the final point of time. I can send you anywhere.”
The three of them jumped when their came a loud hammering on the door back towards the exit.
“It’s that thing,” said Holly, nervously. “What is it?”
The Keepers eyes seemed to become darker as he looked towards the door leading to the corridor. “You are an aberration as well, Miss Dangerfield. There are things in the universe – Vortisaurs, Reapers and...other things that want to remove your from existence. That bracelet on your arm holds you in place, but all the time you are becoming more and more unstable. You’re like a bomb with the power continually building up. What is outside there is your worst nightmare.”
Holly looked worriedly at India.
“No matter where and when you go it will follow you through time and attempt to devour you.”
“Oh, joy,” said Holly, closing her eyes.
“But we will stay one step ahead of it,” said the Keeper. “The Nightmare will not prevail.”
India nodded. “Okay, well that thing sounds like it really wants to get in here.”
“It won’t get in,” said the Keeper.
“Still freaking me out though,” said India, her arms folded as the hammering continued.
“Holly,” said the Keeper, “there is one more thing before we leave – the timeline that has been created will become more and more unstable as you move through it. You must always remain focused on your goal. If you don’t you will be lost in the winds of time.”
“What are you the Keeper of? The amateur dramatic society?” said India.
The Keeper laughed and nodded his approval at the American girls joke.
“India!” said Holly.
“Look, I’m sorry, but neither of you seem to give a crap about what happens to me when you erase my timeline.”
Holly looked at her and put her hands on her shoulders. “I’ll do you a deal, India. If I manage to put things right I will get the Doctor – my Doctor – to come and find you.”
“But I won’t remember anything,” said India. “All my experiences will be gone.”
“I may be able to help with that,” said the Keeper, “but for now you need to go.”
“Okay,” said Holly and India together.
“Are you both ready?” asked the Keeper. “This is going to be a dangerous journey.”
To be continued...
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