A Life Internal - A Fable

Part 2

"Working late again?" The old man asked, "You're gonna kill yourself if you don't enjoy life more, Bill." William Blake looked up from the paperwork on his desk with a chuckle, "So you always tell me...these books aren't going to balance themselves though. Better to take care of it now rather than worrying about it in the morning." "Balance away my boy, but don't be so hard on it." the old man replied, his voice traveling off as he headed for the door of the jewelry store, "I've never seen an accountant take so much pride in his work." Blake heard the sound of the door closing and the turn of the lock signifying the old man having left for the evening. The accountant put his pen down with a resounding click as the plastic met the oak of the table and he waited for a moment, listening nervously to ensure his solidarity. He took deep breaths, assuring himself that this would work, the old man's paranoia of banks would pay off in his favor tonight. Part of him felt remorse for what he was doing as he turned the dial of the large, heavy iron safe in the back office of the store, after all, this was the old man's life savings and the culmination of several generations business

But ever since he had seen its contents, he had dreamed of the day he would make it his own.

With a click and squeaking of aging machinery, the safe opened. The large pile of bundled bills never ceased to fill William with a feeling of awe. So much money in one place, he thought to himself. Indeed many times had he done only this, opening the safe after hours while he was alone and simply looking at it. It wasn't until today however that he had finally mustered the courage to bring his thoughts to fruition. He took his briefcase, a cheap thing he had gotten from a secondhand store, and began filling it. He stacked the bundles of bills into neat piles in the case with a smirk of satisfaction. His work finished, he closed the safe and turned his attention to the old man's filing cabinet. He searched until he found his employment record and put that in the case as well to be destroyed later. No sense in making finding him easy.

Moments later he was loading the case into the passenger seat of his car, handling it carefully as one would treat a child being placed in a car seat. He then climbed into the driver's seat and started his engine, taking another deep breath to steady his shaking hands as the gravity of what he was doing began sinking in. No use worrying about it now, he tried convincing himself, Just head for Canada and once you cross the border, you'll be safe until you think of something else. He pulled out of the parking lot, concentrating on the road and the trip ahead of him rather than his cargo.

The next day proved a difficult one as his journey continued. The previous nights sleep in the hotel room was hardly restful as the old man's face haunted and awakened him frequently. In his groggy and dazed state he had narrowly missed several collisions with traffic until he bought a bottle of No Doze from a gas station to help keep him awake. As the day grew late though, it became obvious he would have to stop and sleep soon, or else risk falling asleep at the wheel from exhaustion. He pulled off the road to the next hotel he found and got a room for the night, hoping his rest would be more peaceful.

As he lay on the freshly washed sheets and closed his eyes he again questioned the wisdom of what he had done. He wondered to himself what had happened to the old man, who must have discovered his deceit by now. Never in his life had he ever done anything like this, but the sight of that money, it still excited him now just thinking about it. Gradually he drifted off to a dream filled sleep, but at least it was a deep one.

He awakened to the sound of voices outside. Curious he cracked the room door open and peeked outside. Standing down the hall was the hotel manager speaking to a man in a suit. He could not hear the conversation though he was quite sure he saw his own name on the suited man's lips and shortly thereafter saw the FBI marking on the man's ID as he showed it to the hotel manager. His heart jumped to his throat and he closed the door as quietly as possible. "Shit!" He hissed under his breath. He frantically looked around the room, searching for a way out. Thankfully he had no luggage in the room, all he had brought remained in the car; now it was just a matter of reaching it undetected. His eyes fell on an air vent that looked big enough for him to fit through. Quickly he stood on a chair and set about getting the cover off of it. As the vent came off in his hands with a dull clank he heard a knock at his room door, "Mr. Blake? I'm Agent Cole with the I speak with you for a moment? I have some questions I need to ask you." He wormed his body into the vent and pulled the cover back onto it behind him as he made his way through the tight passage. Several moments later he heard the sound of wood splintering as the door to his room was bashed open, all the reason to move faster. After several moments of cramped exploration he came to a vent below him. As he peered through it he was greeted with the red glow of an exit sign to which he breathed a sigh of relief. He shifted around carefully trying to expand his view of all else below him. Seeing that the coast was clear he opened the vent and cautiously lowered himself to the floor. He wasted no time in vacating the building and running for his car, pulling out and not looking back.

As he traveled the roads he began considering the near disaster at the hotel. He would have to think this out more than he had, obviously. No more hotels, that was a given. Also he decided he would stay off of the main roads. No sense in being easily tracked, especially since it had been proven that he was not all that hard to find. Almost as soon as he this thought crossed his mind he saw a turnoff from the highway nearly hidden by foliage. A nearby sign read: Exit 13 - Silent Hill. Perfect, he thought, this should confuse them for awhile. He turned onto the aged road and smiled for the first time since leaving the store with his prize. Despite the approaching storm, things were looking up.

Funny, Blake thought as he replayed the past few days events in his head as the flashlight beam danced in front of him. After all that, here he was chasing some damned little girl around an empty hospital while terrified for his life for no clear reason he could see. No use dwelling on it though, he said to himself in his mind, just focus on the task at hand, and this will all work out.

To be continued...