How It Started

I pulled into the last available parking spot in front of the counseling center where I worked. Janie, the other receptionist, waved me over. 

She whispered, "Did you hear what happened last night during the raids?"

"No, what's going on?"

"Dr. Westoller got run over by the police. He's dead."

My stomach dropped. Dr. Westoller was one of my seven charges. Well, now six charges. The Vollstrecker would not be pleased. They would not be pleased at all.

"Oh dear......don't look so upset Sarah, I know you two were close."

"Not that kind of close Janie."

Janie had always had a theory that Dr. Westoller and I were together. In reality, he only knew I existed because of his knowledge of the Vollstrecker. The Vollstrecker are a society of time travelers devoted to keeping  humanity in order. They do this through Elders, such as myself. We are given seven lives to improve humanity. As a part of this, we were given seven charges each life, to specifically improve. After our seventh death we are inducted into the Vollstrecker. Dr. Westoller was up for consideration as an Elder. All of my charges were. Except one.

Jamie Houser had been the bane of my existence as Sarah Embry. Unending requests for dates, and unnerving stares from across the center had been the least of it. Not only was he a handful in that way, he had a lack of respect for the rules that bound him as a human being. He kept trying to stick his nose behind the proverbial curtain. I caught him snooping through my things one day, looking for magical items.

“Also, Sarah, Nora Talley won’t be in today either.”

“What? Why not?”

“She jumped off the bridge downtown.”

Could my day get any worse? Nora was another of my charges both as Sarah and as a counselor. We had been so close to a breakthrough, I could feel it. The fact that she had jumped, just didn’t sit right. She was brighter and more vibrant as of late. I would have picked out several people as jumpers before her. Still, she was dead and that hit home. My vision began to blur with tears. Couple her death with that of Dr. Westoller and I had had enough loss for a while. I was sure the Vollstrecker would think so too.