The Secret Manuscript (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-One

Ben darted up the staircase, nearly ploughing into several students along the way. He paid no mind to the annoyed pedestrians and kept an ear to ear grin stretched across his face. He had no idea if Kyle would be upstairs in the lab, but figured it was the best place to look. 

Ben enthusiastically ran down the hall, searching every science lab on the top floor. In the last one, he found Kyle. As soon as Kyle saw Ben, he did a double-take. For one, it was strange to see Ben on campus in a science lab, and two, he looked as if he had just won the lottery. There was a zest about him, a new-found fervour for life - whatever it was, Kyle could immediately tell something was different about his friend. 

"Ben, what are you doing here?" Kyle asked. 

Ben was completely out of breath and was panting. "I have to speak with you, now," he replied with a sense of urgency. 

"Is everything okay?" 

"Everything is great!" Ben said loudly. 

"Okay, take it easy. Calm yourself," Kyle said. "How did you find me?" 

"I'll explain later. Is there a place where we can go that's private?" 

Kyle led the way down an empty hallway to a locked supply room in which he had access. There was a numbered panel just below the doorknob. As Kyle pressed his thumb against the buttons to enter his code, Ben couldn't help but look. When they entered the room, Ben shut the door behind him. 

"So what's going on?" Kyle asked. 

"Kyle, I'm going to tell you something incredible and you're not going to believe me." 

"Okay, but make it quick, I have a lot of work to do." 

"Last night, I was poking around in the basement and found a secret door in the fireplace." 

"Let me guess, you found twenty-two million dollars?" 

"No... something better." 

Kyle crossed his arms and focused intently on what Ben was saying. He restrained himself from interrupting, allowing Ben to speak freely. 

"I flipped a switch and one of the side walls retracted to reveal a hidden doorway. I crawled through and discovered a long corridor that wrapped around the house and eventually led to a steel door. The door was locked, but I was able to gain access by entering a ten digit code... and guess where I got the code from?" 

"Tell me." 

"From one of the notes I had received in Cold Lake. It was still in my back pocket." 

"You haven't washed those pants since Cold Lake?" 

"I don't like to wash my jeans often because... you know, that's not important." 

Kyle continued to listen in a state of suspended disbelief. A part of him did not want to believe the fantastic tale of his mischievous friend, who was known to concoct stories to get a rouse out of people. However, what Ben had said so far was certainly plausible given that the house was old and its origins were still a mystery. The entire time, the scientist in Kyle looked for holes in his friend's story and empirical evidence that could be verified. If in fact Ben was lying about his account, it should be fairly easy to prove him wrong once they both went down into the basement and inspected the fireplace together.  

"So I entered the code and the door opened. On the other side of the door was a room that looked like something out of a Sherlock Holmes novel. It was filled with shelves of books, a desk, and a couch," Ben paused a brief moment to catch his breath.