The Secret Manuscript

by Edward Mullen

  Chapter Forty

  With the tunes playing and the sun setting, Ben embraced the serenity of the long drive. Surrounding him were emerald mountain ranges and billowy clouds, which had a calming effect on him. After several hours of driving, he looked over at Vanessa and saw she was asleep. Ben was getting tired himself and needed a break so he turned off at the next exit and pulled into a rest stop.

  As soon as the tires rolled across the noisy gravel in the parking lot, Vanessa woke up. She sat up and adjusted her seat to an upright position.

  “Is this Cold Lake?” she asked, looking at the one lone building in the middle of nowhere.

  Ben laughed. “No, this is just a rest stop along the way. I thought we could take a break and stretch our legs.”

  “Good idea.”

  “I have to use the washroom,” Ben said.

  They exited the vehicle and went their separate ways. Vanessa went into the store and browsed the aisles for some snacks while Ben used the restroom. She went to the chip aisle first, looking for something salty. As she perused the different options, a vehicle pulled up and then cut its lights off. It came to a stop just out of view from the front window of the store. Two large men exited the vehicle and entered the store. The door opened, triggering a tiny bell to ring. Thinking it was Ben, Vanessa looked up and could not believe her eyes. It was the two thugs from the university; somehow they had tracked them to the middle of nowhere.

  Vanessa crouched low and hid at the end of the chip aisle. She looked above her head and saw a circular mirror in the corner, which clearly gave away her position. Staying low, she repositioned to the centre of the last aisle and was truly at a loss as to what she should do. She thought about texting Ben, but knew she did not have enough time. The two men spread out, taking opposite ends of the first aisle. They then walked from the front of the store to the back, looking up and down the aisles. It would not be long before they discovered Vanessa hiding at the back of the store, and there was no telling what they would do to her once she was caught. She was genuinely freaking out and desperate for a way to escape.

  As the two men approached, time was running out. She looked all around her and discovered an item on the shelf that she thought may come in handy. She quickly opened the package and gripped the small item in her hand. When the men reached the aisle, Vanessa popped up and sprayed them in the face with bear spray. The men clutched their faces and screamed in pain as Vanessa quickly ran past them and out the front door.

  The timing was perfect since Ben was returning from the washroom and heading back to the car. He was only a few feet away from the car when he saw Vanessa running toward him at full sprint yelling at him.

  “Get in the car!” she screamed.

  Not exactly sure what was going on, Ben wasted no time and followed her instructions. He jumped in the car and fired up the engine. The loud exhaust growled with aggression. Ben leaned over and opened the passenger door, allowing Vanessa to jump in. Before her right foot was even in the car, Ben slammed his foot on the gas pedal and took off. Vanessa quickly pulled her legs into the car before the door slammed shut.

  The car’s wheels dug into the pebbly surface and spit up loads of small rocks and dirt. The backend fishtailed in the loose gravel until it found traction on the highway pavement. Almost instantly, the car accelerated to 100 km/h. Ben checked the rear-view mirror, but could not see any headlights behind him. Until that moment, he had yet to communicate with Vanessa as to what was going on.

  “What’s wrong, babe?” he asked in an excited tone, clearly agitated from the ordeal.

  “I saw the goons from the university; I think they’re following us,” Vanessa said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure!” she said, still distressed.

  “What happened?”

  “They came in and were searching the place. I think they thought we were both in the store. I was hiding in the last aisle and they were coming closer. I panicked and didn’t know what to do.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “I sprayed them with pepper spray!” she said.

  “You what?”

  “Yeah, right in their faces.”

  “And you were sure it was them?” Ben asked.

  “I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look, but I’m pretty sure.”

  “Vanessa, you might have just sprayed two random fishermen or something.”

  “They didn’t look like fishermen.”

  Not trusting the rear-view mirror, Ben contorted his body around and looked out the rear windshield.

  “I don’t see anybody following us.”

  “Ben, I’m sure it was them… pretty sure... oh gosh, did I just spray two random men in the face with pepper spray?”

  The tension of the situation broke and they both burst out laughing.

  “They must have been surprised when you popped up like a possessed demon and blasted them in the face with acid,” Ben said, laughing as he pictured the situation. “That was probably the last thing those poor guys expected.”

  “Should we go back and apologize?” she asked.

  “No, don’t worry about it. If they were the size of the two men from the university, they should be tough enough to handle a little mace.”

  “I think it was bear spray,” she added. “Is that worse?”

  “I have no idea, but I’m assuming it’s not too pleasant. If it was the two men from the university, they won’t be driving anytime soon. I’ve been hauling ass for the past few minutes, there’s no way they’re catching up to us.”

  “What if they’re tracking us somehow?”

  Ben paused to think for a moment.

  “Check the bag,” he said.

  “What am I checking for?” Vanessa asked.

  “There’s a little metallic disk-type thing. It’s small enough to fit in your palm.”

  Vanessa opened Ben’s bag and sifted through the clothing.

  “Check the small compartment,” he said, taking a second to glance over.

  “Is this it?” she said, pulling out the strange-looking object.

  “Yes, that’s it.”

  “What is this thing?” she asked, flipping it around to inspect all sides.

  “I have no idea. I thought it was a paperweight or some sort of artifact, but maybe it’s a tracking device. I had it with me at the university when the men found me.”

  “Where did it come from?”

  “I found it in the secret room in my house… on top of the manuscript. Whatever it is, it was important enough to hide in a secret locked room.”

  “You said there are two instances when they found you,” Vanessa said, “once at your house and then at the university.”

  “Yeah?”

  “But you’ve always had this thing with you. So if they’re using this thing to track you, why have they only showed up on those two occasions?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it. If this is some sort of tracking device and it has never left your possession, shouldn’t they have been able to find you anytime they wanted? So either they track you all the time, but only bother to pursue when they need something or in this case, when you leave the city...”

  “Or?”

  “Maybe they’re only able to track you under certain conditions such as when you leave the house with it.”

  “That makes sense actually,” Ben said. “I didn’t have any problems until I removed the device from the room and brought it upstairs that one day. As soon as I did that, two large men showed up at my house and kicked my door down. Ever since that day, I’ve kept it locked in the basement in a vault-like room. The only exception was when I had to break into my house and retrieve the manuscript. I was using the device as a paperweight and must have slipped it into my bag when I grabbed the stack of papers.”

  “So you had it with you at the university?”

  “Yeah, it was in my pocket. Maybe that explains why I found it encas
ed in a steel room in the ground. That’s the only way it can’t be tracked.”

  “I say we throw this thing out the window.”

  “Wait, we don’t even know what it is yet. It might be something valuable.”

  “We know what it is, it’s a tracking device!” Vanessa said.

  “It looks a bit high-tech to be a tracking device. Besides, I found it in a secret room on top of a manuscript. Whoever left it for me wanted to make sure I noticed it.”

  “Whoever left it for you should have left a note; I’m throwing it out the window.”

  “No don’t!”

  Vanessa had her armed stretched out the window and was holding onto the device. Ben pleaded with her not to let go of it. Just then, the device did something it had never done before — it began to glow.

  “Vanessa, look,” Ben said in astonishment.

  Vanessa looked up and saw the same thing. It seemed like the device was activated by the rushing air. “What’s it doing?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Ben wanted to watch what the device was doing, but needed to keep his eyes on the road. At one point, he looked down at the speedometer. The digital display read 141.6 km/h. It was at that moment a stream of light burst from the device and lit up the entire car in a flash. The explosion of energy overrode some of their sensations. The audio faded to silence, and all they could see was white light. Ben tried to talk, but was unable to. In fact, he could not even move a single muscle. Then, almost as instantaneous as it started, the flash disappeared and their senses came flooding back. Ben was disorientated, which was not a good thing since he was driving at high speed. He quickly regained his bearings and focused on not crashing. Vanessa was noticeably dazed and confused as well. She retracted her arm back in the car, still holding the device. Neither one of them had yet to say a word.

  “What just happened?” Vanessa finally asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  They drove in silence, trying to independently process the strange feeling that had just consumed them. It was indescribable and unlike anything they had felt before. It was as if their souls had been ripped out of their bodies and then sling-shotted back into them.

  “Do you notice anything different?” Ben asked.

  “Yeah, where did all these cars come from?”

  The red glow of taillights lit up in the darkness in front of them. Ben looked at the time display in his car and it was flashing 00:00.

  “Is this what missing time feels like?” Ben asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s a phenomenon people claim to experience with UFOs, alien abductions, and other paranormal activity. It’s where people experience an unaccounted gap in their conscious memory.”

  “You think we were abducted by aliens?” Vanessa asked.

  “Maybe,” Ben said. “Now that you ask me, my anus kind of hurts. How’s your anus?”

  “My anus is fine.”

  “So what was it then?”

  “Whatever it was, it came from this thing you insist we keep. I should have thrown it away.”

  “I think it’s fine, just keep it inside the vehicle for now. We’ll study it more when we get to Cold Lake.”