The Manuscript

Chapter 3

It's been almost a week since Jason and I had the dream. We haven't  visited the library to have a look at the manuscript again. So far, this week has been relatively uneventful.

An hour ago, Jay told me to wait for him outside the Cafeteria because he wants to discuss something important. I'm hoping that he'll tell me his little secret. I've been extremely curious about that secret .

I check my phone, I still have 10 minutes. We have an honours student lecturing us today, Miss De Lange, and I must say she knows her game well.

I haven't seen him since last week. I wonder which poor soul is being tortured by his eyes. I guess his absence is a good thing. At least, I don't have to think about his black, dangerous eyes...

Who am I kidding? His eyes have been haunting me ever since that day he lectured us. I can't walk down any hallway without looking over my shoulder for fear of him being there, silently watching me.

I decide to pay attention for these last few minutes.

'These games utilise a minimal amount of character movement. Object movement is achieved by mouse clicks (PC) and tapping (touchscreen keyboards)', Miss De Lange says and I scribble down as much of what she's saying as I can remember.

Someone asks a question and she answers immediately, 'well, this clicking & tapping usually activates a timer that counts down the real-time duration of performing these various tasks.' I quickly write down what she said.

Suddenly, while writing , I feel goosebumps break out on my arms. I haven't had goosebumps since...

I look up and see him talking to our lecturer. His presence causes comments to start flying again. Oh gosh, not again. I groan.

I notice he's holding a big, very thick book under one arm and keeps gesturing to it with his other hand while talking to our lecturer. Is it a gaming textbook? No, I don't think so but then again...

In fact, it looks suspiciously like the manuscript that Jason discovered hidden in the library. If it is the manuscript, then what is he doing with it? Most importantly how did he find it? I remember Jason saying that he put it back in its place just before we left.

Our lecturer looks up and at everyone and then dismisses us. I can't help but notice that the two of them are now frowning and Mr. Black eyes (Thanks to his many admirers, I found out that his name is actually Nicholas Whyte) looks worried.

As I'm passing Mr. Whyte, our shoulders brush. The split second contact is enough to trigger a memory about my dream.

This flash of revelation also shoots a spark of pain from my shoulder to my head, resulting in an excruciating migraine. I turn to look at Mr Whyte, shocked. Surprisingly, his facial expression mirrors my own and not long after, his face is hard and dangerous.

He looks as if he's about to say something but before he can, I grip my bag strap tighter and run out of the lecture room as fast as I can.

I decide to head to the cafeteria where Jason asked me to wait .The migraine, temporarily blurring my vision, causes me to bump into a few people.

As soon as I get to the large notice board outside the cafeteria, I sink down to the floor and cradle my head in my hands. I squeeze in an attempt to lessen the pain. It seems that by squeezing, I'm making the pain worse, so I stop.

'Kayleigh?' I recognise the concerned voice: Jason.

I look up to see him looking down at me in surprise. He helps me up and grips my shoulders tightly before asking, 'oh gosh, Kayleigh. What happened? Are you ok?'