The Secret Manuscript (19 page)

“So that’s it,
huh? You’re leaving?”

“Yep.”

“What are you
going to do?”

“I don’t know,
but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

“Here man,
take this number,” Ben said as he grabbed a piece of paper and
scribbled a number on it.

“Whose number
is this?”

“Her name is
Velena,” Ben said, handing Kyle the paper. “She was the woman from
the bus who offered me a place to stay when I had nothing; maybe
she’ll do the same for you.”

“You have her
number memorized?”

“It’s the same
as the code to get into the secret room, so yeah, I have it
memorized.”

“So you’re
just going to stay here?” Kyle asked.

“I have over a
hundred thousand dollars sitting in my brokerage account. All I
need to do is transfer that money out, and I’ll be fine.”

“Good luck
with that.”

“Thanks, good
luck to you too.”

Kyle walked
downstairs and said goodbye to Gladys. He gave her a hug, and then
left. Without any money, his only play was to walk toward the
highway with his thumb out and hope someone would pick him up and
take him to Cold Lake.

With Kyle
gone, Ben was back to being lonely and miserable. What Ben had not
realized at the time was how much Kyle meant to him. Having a
friend he could trust in his life was more valuable than money.
Perhaps it was the greed in him, but he had hoped he could have
both.

After waving
goodbye, Ben excused himself from Gladys’s company to make a phone
call.

“Can you give
me my balance please?” Ben asked.

“After fees
and commissions, your balance is $158,320.22. Congratulations, Mr.
Owen, I’ve never seen an ROI quite like this. You open up an
account on Monday, and by the end of the week nearly double your
investment. Some of the greatest traders in the world can’t even do
that.”

“What can I
say, I had a hunch. Call it beginner’s luck I guess.”

“Well then,
Mr. Owen, you are the luckiest guy I’ve ever seen.”

“How soon can
I expect this money?”

“EFTs
typically take 3-5 business days. You’ll probably see your money by
the end of next week.”

“Alright,
thank you.”

Ben hung up
the phone and went downstairs. He explained to Gladys he would have
some money coming in soon and asked if he could stay with her until
then. Gladys had no problem with that and insisted he stay longer.
Ever since her husband had passed, she welcomed the company.

Throughout the
week, Ben tried to make himself as useful as possible by doing
chores around the house. Whenever he was not busy cleaning, he and
Gladys would talk for hours. It was actually quite therapeutic in
many ways since it allowed Ben to open up about his life. It also
helped him work on his communication skills. Being a recluse, he
avoided a lot of face-to-face interactions with people and rarely
made new friendships. After spending so much time with Gladys, he
had come out of his shell substantially. Despite the benefits, he
still needed some alone time, so he would go to the university
often.

Whenever he
left Gladys’s house, it was usually at night or early morning and
always through the back exit. With two killers knowing where he
lived, Ben thought it would be wise to stay as far away from his
neighbourhood as possible. With each moment he stayed there, he was
putting Gladys in danger, but he did not have a choice. Moving back
to Cold Lake with Kyle was not an option he was willing to
entertain. It had taken him far too long to leave that soul trap
and he was not ready to go back there just yet.

Sneaking
through several backyards, Ben eventually emerged onto the main
road where he could blend in a little better. Wearing his parka
with the fur-lined hood pulled low over his head, he waited at the
bus stop with the other commuters. Within a few minutes, the bus
showed up, pushing through the morning fog as it slowed to a stop
in front of the crowd of people. Ben walked on, paid his fare, and
took a seat near the rear exit.

The bus made
several stops throughout the city, picking up young and ambitious
college students who were heading to their morning classes. First
the seats filled up, then the aisles. The more packed the bus
became, the more Ben’s anxiety rose. To take his mind off his
claustrophobia, he tried to ignore the chatter and focus instead on
the rhythmic hum of the bus and the scenery outside. Periodically,
condensation formed on the window, but he would wipe it away with
his sleeve. Through the blurry window, he saw cars whizzing by,
pedestrians huddling together at intersections, and buildings
decrease in size as the bus travelled further from the downtown
core. The long bus ride allowed Ben to clear his mind and think
about his next move.

After about
forty minutes, the bus stopped at the main terminal on the
University of Calgary campus and everyone funnelled out the two
exits. Ben was one of the last to leave. With his backpack slung
over one shoulder, he rose from his seat, and walked along a
pathway like everyone else.

Entering the
computer lab, Ben found his usual spot near the back. He unzipped
his jacket, threw his backpack on the chair next to him, and took a
seat. Among the things he retrieved from the secret room was his
flash drive. That was where the file of his novel had been saved.
Throughout the past week, he had spent at least part of each day at
the campus library writing his novel. He had about 50,000 words
written and was quite happy with the way the plot was developing so
far. After inserting the drive and loading the file, Ben cracked
his knuckles and began to work. The scene he was working on was
where his character, named Ben, encountered some bad men, who broke
down his door and roughed him up. As he was furiously typing away,
he had an unexpected break in concentration combined with the
sudden urge to look up. When he followed his instinct, he had to do
a double take because he could not believe his eyes.

“Impossible,”
he said to himself.

Ben shrank low
in his seat to conceal himself behind his computer screen. He
quickly saved his work and waited for his flash drive to safely
eject. Once finished, he took the flash drive and shoved it in his
pocket. He poked his head over the monitor and saw the two men who
had tried to kill him walking toward him. He put his backpack
around his shoulders and cinched the straps tightly in case he had
to run. The two men walked slowly, carefully scanning the faces of
the students in the computer lab. As they approached, Ben crouched
down and hid under the desk.

How did
they find me?
he asked himself.

He followed
the men’s legs, which were at opposite ends of the row of computer
terminals, and hoped they would not look under the desk.

“He’s under
the desk!” one of the men yelled out.

The commotion
caught the attention of everyone in the library. Ben bolted from
his position and hurdled over a vacant computer station. Once his
feet hit the ground on the other side, he sprinted as fast as he
could. Again, he led the men on a foot chase. This time, they did
not have access to their car. Even though the two men were not as
agile as Ben, they were not far behind. Ben ploughed through a few
people and exited the library.

Not knowing
his way around campus, Ben ran in the only direction he knew.
Darting across an open field like a madman, Ben headed toward the
science building. He burst through the doors and staggered up the
stairs. His pace had slowed considerably as he was now exhausted
and completely out of breath. Once at the top floor, Ben was
dripping with sweat. He turned around to see if he had lost his
pursuers. Fortunately, they were not behind him. He continued on
his way, but was not paying attention to what was in front of him.
He clumsily bumped into a girl in the hall, causing her to drop her
papers.

“Oh my gosh, I
am so sorry,” he said, offering to help pick them up.

The woman bent
down to pick up her papers as did Ben, yet the whole time he kept
looking over his shoulder.

“Are you
okay?” the woman asked.

Ben turned his
head back around and looked at the woman for the first time.

“Vanessa?” he
said in disbelief.

Fate had
thrown Ben for another loop. Bumping into Vanessa was indeed a
strange coincidence — one of many as of late. There was reason
behind it, that much he was sure of, but with two killer henchmen
on his tail, he had no time to ponder the meaning.

“Ben, oh my
gosh, I didn’t even realize it was you. How are you?”

“I’m good,
well, not really…” he answered, in between deep breaths. “Look,
Vanessa, it’s great running into you… I mean, not like that, but
whatever… the point I’m trying to make is that I don’t really have
time to chat with you right now,” he said, looking over his
shoulder again.

“What’s wrong?
Are you okay?”

“Not really. I
need a place to hide.”

Vanessa read
his body language and knew he was being serious.

“Come on, I
know a spot,” she said.

Together, they
ran down the hall, turned a corner, and kept running. She led Ben
to a storage room and attempted to input her four-digit code while
Ben kept a watchful eye behind them.

“Dammit!” she
said.

“What’s
wrong?”

“My code ,
it’s not working for some reason. It’s the first time I’ve had to
use it so maybe I memorized it wrong. Just give me a minute.”

“Vanessa, we
don’t have a minute,” Ben said, looking down at the lock. He then
cast his gaze up at the door and had a revelation. It only occurred
to him at that moment that he had been there before. It was the
very same storage room he and Kyle had used in the past.

“Try 4125!”
Ben said.

“What?”

“Just do
it!”

Vanessa
entered the numbers and twisted the handle. The door opened and
they both stepped inside. Once inside, Vanessa shut the door and
locked it behind her.

“How did you
know the code?” Vanessa asked in confusion.

“Don’t you
want to know why we’re hiding first?”

“Sure, but
start with the code.”

“I assure you
the answer is not that intriguing,” Ben huffed, still out of
breath. “My buddy Kyle is… or
was
a science major. He had
access to this room. I saw him input his code a few times.”

“Of all the
places I could have taken you, it happened to be a room you had
been to before and you also happened to know the code. I find that
pretty intriguing.”

“You don’t
even know the half of it,” Ben mumbled. He took another deep
breath.

“So tell me,
what’s going on? Who or what is after you?”

“It’s a long
story, but some very bad men are after me and they are trying to
kill me.”

“Kill you!?”
she blurted out.

“Shhh,” Ben
said, gesturing for her to keep her voice down.

“Who’s trying
to kill you?” she asked in an urgent whisper.

Ben
deliberated for a moment on whether or not he should tell her
everything. Ironically, it was the exact same spot where he had
revealed the manuscript to Kyle. Now, fate had brought him back to
the same location, and Ben took it as a good omen.

“Vanessa, I
want to tell you something and it may be hard for you to believe
me, especially for a scientific mind like yours.”

“Try me.”

“You remember
the moment we met, right?”

“Vaguely.”

“I actually
had a little help getting your number.”

“What do you
mean?” she asked with a perplexed look on her face.

“You know the
manuscript I was reading?”

“Yeah.”

“I told you I
wrote it, but I didn’t actually write it. The truth is… that
manuscript is not an ordinary manuscript, it’s very special. The
pages are filled with remarkably accurate details of my life, and
sometimes I can use that information in ways that will benefit
me.”

“What are you
saying?” Vanessa asked in disbelief.

“Here, let me
show you.”

Ben crouched
low, removed his backpack and took out the manuscript. He flipped
through the dog-eared pages until he found the spot. “Read this,”
he said as he shoved the manuscript in her hands.

Vanessa read
the text with a furrowed brow. The prose described an event similar
to the meeting that took place between her and Ben, but it was
slightly different. When she was done, she handed it back to
Ben.

“Vanessa, this
is how I knew all those details about you. I wasn’t in your earth
and ocean science class, nor was I in your English class. In fact,
I don’t even go to this school. The reason why I didn’t look
familiar to you was because you’ve never seen me before in your
life.”

Not sure what
to make of Ben’s story, she remained silent and processed the
information she had just heard.

“Before you go
and judge me, and call me a bad person, please let me at least
explain where I was coming from. You see, it just so happened I was
reading this text moments before I saw you. Then you walked by in
your green coat and something compelled me to call out your name. I
couldn’t resist the temptation to use what I had just read to try
to get your number. It was stupid and I shouldn’t have done it, but
I did. I’m sure you can understand how someone with an impulsive
and weak character such as mine could do such a thing, right?”

“Ben, if what
you’re saying is true, as unlikely as it sounds, you manipulated
me.”

“Well, sort
of. I manipulated the situation, you just happened to be in it.
After all, it’s not like I influenced your thoughts or anything. I
didn’t even know you would agree to go out with me.”

“Let’s agree
that it was a little sneaky and leave it at that. I’m not upset
with what you did.”