The Secret Manuscript

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Since the window was at his back, Ben’s silhouette was perfectly visible. The robber wasted no time jumping into action. In one fluid motion, he sprung out of bed and kicked Ben in the stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs. With great force, Ben launched backward and crashed against the window. The impact caused him to drop his flashlight and keel over in pain. On his way down, Ben clutched a fistful of curtains and ripped them from the pole.

  The robber immediately jumped on Ben and tried to wrap him up in the drapes, which had inadvertently fallen on top of Ben. A tussle ensued, during which Ben managed to rise back to his feet. The robber was able to land a few solid blows on Ben’s midsection before losing his balance and stumbling backwards. In that time, Ben saw a brief window of opportunity to stage his attack.

  With some distance between him and the robber, Ben charged forward and tackled the robber onto the bed. Ben swung recklessly and landed a few shots of his own. Stunned, but not hurt, the robber came back with a vengeance. He overpowered Ben and reversed the position so that Ben was now on his back. While mounted on top of Ben, the robber clasped both his hands tightly around Ben’s throat and leaned all his weight into him. Ben’s legs bucked and kicked desperately as he squirmed. During the struggle, Ben even tried to pry the robber’s hands off him, but nothing worked. Ben was not a fighter and had no business being in that exchange. It was never more apparent to him than in those last few moments before he was about to be choked unconscious. There was no telling what the robber would do to him if he went out, though he was quite sure the robber would not be inclined to call the police. It was absolutely imperative that Ben free himself.

  Ben did not recall reading the part in the story where he gets strangled to death, but he knew it was certainly a possibility. After all, Ben had proven before that situations in the story could be altered. In those final moments that the life was being squeezed out of him, he thought about what a terrible mistake he had made. He recalled what had happened to him on his date with Vanessa and thought this debacle was one he may not be able to walk away from.

  The robber’s grip was so tight that it was both crushing Ben’s windpipe and pinching the two main arteries in Ben’s neck, cutting off the blood supply to his brain. Ben began to feel faint and his vision started to tunnel. He only had a few more seconds before the lights went out. He made peace with the fact he was about to die and said his last prayers.

  Just then, a large crash occurred outside the bedroom window, which serendipitously reversed Ben’s misfortune. Outside on the roof, Santa Claws the cat was on the prowl. The chimney crown was the object of his investigation. As cats are known to do, he thoroughly inspected this strange and indeterminate object that was resting haphazardly against the side of the chimney. As it turned out, the cat swatted at it a few times and dislodged it from its resting position. In a thunderous crash, the large metal crown tumbled down the roof, causing all kinds of ruckus. Once it reached the edge of the roof, it became airborne for a brief moment before crashing down on the back porch.

  The burglar jolted in surprise. The distraction caused him to loosen his grip enough to allow Ben to cling to life.

  With every ounce of energy in him, Ben made a concerted effort to free himself from the grip of death. In an act of total desperation, Ben sunk his teeth in the robber’s arm and chomped down as hard as he could until the robber let go. Ben followed that up with a punch directly into the robber’s groin. The robber stumbled back in agony, enabling Ben a chance to scramble to his feet. Still lightheaded, Ben stumbled out of the room and disappeared from the robber’s sight.

  The robber let out a ferocious roar and then equipped himself with an aluminum baseball bat that he had stashed under the bed. With the bat in hand, he took off after Ben.

  Ben had darted into the adjacent bedroom and used his black clothing to hide in the darkness. He was leaning up against the wall and breathing heavily. The blood flow was restored and was circulating to his brain. Within a few seconds, he was feeling much better. He could hear the snarling grunt of the robber as he came closer. Ben was absolutely terrified and had no idea what to do. He was trapped with no means of defending himself. He closed his eyes tightly as if somehow he would be magically transported far away to safety, but his nightmare was far from over and he had no one to blame but himself.

  By the time the robber rushed out of the room, he had no idea where Ben was. He stood at the top of the stairs and listened. That was when Ben used the element of surprise to emerge from his hiding place at full charge and shove the burglar down the stairs. In a violent commotion, the burglar tumbled down the stairs like a chimney crown on a steep roof. Ben immediately rushed down the stairs after him and began to pummel the robber with relentless fists of fury.

  Once the robber was noticeably dazed, Ben scrambled for his backpack and ripped it open with jittery hands. Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a long piece of rope and tied the robber up with it. He then took a roll of duct tape and used it on the robber’s hands, feet, and mouth to ensure the robber could not escape. Lastly, Ben slipped a pillowcase over robber’s head and tied a knot in the back to obstruct the robber’s vision.

  Ben went back upstairs and returned to the bedroom. This time he flipped on the light switch and the whole room lit up. He walked over to where his flashlight was and picked it up off the floor. For the next few minutes, Ben frantically searched the entire room. He used his logic and prior burglary experience to quickly go through the entire room. He first checked the back of the sock drawer, then under the mattress, then in the closet. He knew there was a strong possibility the money was hidden in the closet, and he was not about to leave without it.

  Ben went into the closet and started pulling everything out — clothing, boxes, shoes — it was all taken out and thrown onto the floor. Once the closet was empty, Ben shone his flashlight all around. Given that he was no stranger to finding secret stashes, he had some ideas of where to look. In the back of the closet, Ben noticed the carpet was curled up a bit. He knelt down, and with both hands he pulled the carpet back to reveal a wooden floor with a large hole in it. Ben picked up his flashlight and shined it into the hole. Inside the small makeshift chamber were stacks of money and piles of jewellery.

  Jackpot! he thought. The very sight of all that treasure made him salivate. Ben opened up his backpack and started shoving everything in. When he was done, he stood up and slung the backpack over one shoulder and proceeded out of the room. The bag now had some considerable weight to it, which excited him. He could not wait to go home and count it.

  On his way out, he flipped the light switch off and then bounced down the stairs with his newly acquired bounty in tow. The robber was still lying at the bottom of the stairs, right where Ben had left him. Although Ben had not known it at the time, the flashlight, rope, and multi-purpose tool he had stolen from his old apartment building came in handy for a home invasion. A part of him wanted to untie the robber just so he could get his rope back, but figured it would be his last home invasion, and he would have no other purpose for the rope. Besides, he had just stolen thousands of dollars in cash and prizes so the rope was a justifiable loss. Ben patted the robber on the head before fleeing into the night.