The Secret Manuscript (Complete)

Chapter Forty-Five

It was nearly 5:00 a.m. when the two Bens left the hotel. They walked through the lobby and paid no mind to the confused-looking receptionist. 

"Look, Ben, before we walk to the hospital to drop off this note, I need to tell you something," the older Ben said. 

"What is it?" 

"I didn't want to say this in front of Vanessa, but you have to do something later that will seriously challenge your morals." 

"I have morals?" Ben said in jest. 

"You're going to have to kill Charles Gringer." 

"You want me to travel back in time to kill my grandfather?" 

"Yes, I know the irony of it considering our previous discussion, but this has to happen. It won't affect anything since you are killing an old man, not your grandfather as a child." 

"Why does he have to die?" 

"It's just the way it is." 

"No, I can't do that," Ben protested. "I won't do it." 

"Trust me, you can do and you will do it. And if it's any consolation, you don't get caught. Ben Owen won't ever be a suspect because he will be holed up in a police cell when it happens. It'll be the perfect alibi." 

"I don't feel comfortable doing this." 

"Neither did I, but it has to be done." 

"Why don't you do it?" 

"Because that's not how the story goes. This is your destiny." 

"To hell with my destiny, I've changed it before, proving I have free will." 

"No, your free will was just an illusion. You only think you changed your destiny, but look at what has unfolded. Everything is happening the way it should, and you will eventually come to your senses and do what needs to be done." 

Ben just stood there with a blank expression on his face. 

"This is your destiny, Ben, and there's nothing you can do to change it. I'll be back in a bit; I have to drop off this note." 

Ben walked back into the hotel with a heavy head. He entered the elevator and rode it up to the third floor. The whole time he was trying to wrap his mind around everything that was happening. The moment he walked through the door, Vanessa could immediately tell something was wrong. Ben sat on the bed and told her everything he had to do. 

"If he knew you were just going to tell me the moment you came upstairs, why didn't he just say it in front of me?" 

"Because that's not the way the story goes. It didn't happen that way to him." 

"I don't like the older you, he seems like a stickler for destiny." 

"Let's just go to bed and deal with all this in the morning." 

The entire restless night Ben tossed and turned, barely catching a wink of sleep. He was dreading having to kill Charles Gringer and wondered if the future Ben was manipulating him. He wondered why Gringer needed to die, why it needed to be him who killed him, and did he really have a choice?  

Ben woke as the morning sunlight came through a crack in the curtains and fell upon his face. He rolled over and saw Vanessa was still sleeping. On the other bed was his older self. Ben quietly got out of bed and put his clothes on. He needed some fresh air and more time to think.  

By now, it was around 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. His younger self was still sleeping in the hospital. He would wake in a few hours and begin to have a series of strange events unfold. Ben considered paying him a visit, but decided not to mess with fate.