The Conspiracy

Looking left and then right, he quickly darted across the vacant street. His worn, leather boots splashing in the puddles that were scattered throughout the deteriorating cobble stone road. Coming to a sudden halt Leopold stood silently at the dimly lit door that led into his apartment block.

His keys now in his hand, he began to struggle to get the right key into the lock. He was shaking frantically, while he desperately tried to control his breath.

With the sound of a murmur behind him, his head darted around catching a glimpse of a man wearing all black strolling along the other side of the street. They locked eyes and both nodded their heads. Leopold turned back around uneasy, listening intently as the man’s footsteps faded further away into the distance.

Finally, he managed to open the door to the common area that led to his apartment. Stepping through the heavy door that only opened halfway due to its age and rusted hinges, he slowly pushed the door shut leaning up against the wooden surface until the lock clicked.

Looking ahead he gazed with awe at the government funded housing block that he had called home since he could remember. He stared briefly at the communal garden that lay in the middle of the circle shaped block of apartments thinking to himself that he could not recall a day when the garden was not covered in thick snow. Knowing that he better not wait around, he quickly scurried up the rickety spiral metal staircase, hoping that this would be one of the last times he would have to worry about it collapsing beneath his feet.

As he entered his shoebox apartment no bigger than a prison cell, Leopold clutched at his belongings. Laying down on his bed he looked up at the peeling, light blue ceiling. As he stared at the growing mold, he slowly removed the black book that he was hiding under his jacket.

Taking out his pen he began to write.

ooo

Waking up to a knock on at the door Leopold abruptly sat up in a state of panic. Wondering if they had already found him, he quickly grabbed the black book and hid it under his mattress. As the knocking persisted, each bang sent goosebumps down his spine and anxiety pumping through his veins.

Standing at the end of his bed he took a deep breath and opened the door to find his charming, but frightfully old neighbor Mr. Pentridge standing there with a newspaper under his arm. “My dear boy, this propaganda will never stop!” he said with frustration. “Read this, they are claiming that all of us are living lavish lifestyles at the expense of the government, but little do they know that our government is only handing out hard labor and minimum wages.”

Leopold stood there calmly as Mr. Pentridge continued to squabble about their government and the lies that were conveyed through the media. After quite some time of hearing the old man talk, Leopold wished him goodnight and closed the door on a still mumbling Mr. Pentridge. This outburst wasn’t out of the ordinary. Mr. Pentridge had a habit of knocking on his apartment door at all hours of the night just to criticize their government.

As Leopold laid back on his bed thinking that he will miss Mr. Pentridge once he has escaped this country, there was another knock at the door. Swiftly standing and opening the door, expecting to greet Mr. Pentridge for a second time, Leopold was shocked as he greeted a heart stopping surprise.

There stood the man in black who was walking across the road earlier that night. His dark clothes were immaculate and appeared to be very expensive. Why was someone who looked like they were from the city knocking on his door late at night in the slums?

Looking up he locked eyes with the affluent looking man and said, “sorry you must have the wrong apartment, no harm done.” As Leopold began to shut the door, the man stuck his leg in the way yanking the door back open.

“I know what you possess. I am here to save you” said the man firmly. Before Leopold could respond the man lent forward, “Please take this $20,000, it will be more than enough for you to bribe the men at the train station who will be looking for you. Just please give me the book.”

Staring at the appealing stack of money that laid in this man’s hand, Leopold leaned out the door checking the apartment hallway to ensure there was no one else in sight. “How can I trust you?” he asked trying to hide the panic that was consuming him.

“Unfortunately, you can’t but you do not have a choice, we both know you don’t have long to get away. They will find you and when they do, you and the book will vanish” the man pushed the money into Leopold’s chest, insisting that he take it from him. He knew the man was right. Leopold took the money and headed back into his room, with the man in black following close behind.

ooo

Leopold picked up the black book handing it to the man, who proceeded to inspect it with great curiosity. Flipping through the pages briefly he nodded to Leopold and opened the door leaving the room in an eerie silence. With no time to waste Leopold began packing his backpack ready to race off into the night. He had very few belongings he cared for, so he knew he would be packing light.

Just before he left with his backpack around his shoulders, he flipped everything in his apartment upside down, hoping it looked like someone had already kidnapped him. Leaving the door ajar to raise further break in suspicions, Leopold threw on his woolen hat, pushing the brim down over his forehead to mask as much of his face as possible.

As he turned around in the corridor, he came face to face with Mr. Pentridge who was on his usual route to Leopold’s apartment. This time Mr. Pentridge had his radio in hand, so there was the sound of gun shots, war cries and patriotic chants playing softly in the cool winter air. Catching Leopold looking uneasy, Mr. Pentridge asked “where are you off to? You know you cannot be walking around late at night, they will book you for loitering and you ought to know what they’ll do to you then.”

In the midst of him listening to the old man rant, Leopold heard someone if not two people walking up the creaky staircase. Grabbing Mr. Pentridge’s arm Leopold ushered the older gentleman back into his neighbor’s apartment. Mr. Pentridge was thrilled that Leopold wanted to spend some quality time with him, so in a matter of seconds they were both safely hidden within the old man’s humble apartment.

Staring at the crack in the door two men in black flickered past walking directly to Leopold’s apartment. Knowing this was his chance, he had to make a break for it. Mr. Pentridge had his back to him as he slowly heated up the kettle, so with a silent pull of the door, Leopold slipped out into the corridor and crept down the staircase as soundlessly as he could.

Once outside he looked left and then right and proceeded to dash across the street into the darkness that laid ahead. Standing still to ensure no one was following him, he began to sneak away when out of nowhere the man that gave him the large stack of money appeared on the street.

Before he knew it, there was a swarm of six other men in black all muttering and pointing towards the apartment block. Thankfully they had not seen him leave. The familiar man in black advised the others “we have the book, but this was not part of the plan, Leopold must not get away with the money, the government officials made that clear.”

His heart sank. He had given the book to the wrong man. He was supposed to give it to a man sent from the independent news outlet. They were going to litter the streets with the incriminating evidence that filled this book. Leopold was going to help spark a civil war.

Knowing he must keep moving, Leopold turned around and snuck off silently into the night. Paranoid he frantically checked if he was being followed, doubling back constantly and choosing to walk a peculiar route to the station.

ooo

Now standing across from the station he knew that trying to board a train was going to be risky, but he had to escape before sunrise. When the sun comes up, he will not be able to hide from the government officials that will stand on every corner ready to question anyone who takes a step out of line.

As he leant forward, a black car pulled up next to him. He thought he should just run, but before he could take the initial steps to sprint away, a familiar face popped out of the car window. He knew this man because he had spoken to him from the news outlet. Relieved by this discovery he got into the car and they sped off.

“They are looking for you. I heard that you sold the book for $20,000, was it worth it?” Leopold told the man to keep driving, he needed to get over the border and he would then explain. Leopold crouched down hiding underneath the glove compartment so he would not be seen. All huddled up he fell asleep as the crazy night had left him extremely fatigued.

The car abruptly stopped waking him. “We are here Leopold, you are safe.” Sitting up on the passenger seat and seeing the sunrise over the beautiful meadows that lay as far as his eyes could see he knew he was indeed safe. Leopold got out of the car, shaking the man’s hand. “Just follow this road, you will find a big brick church, seek refuge there for a few weeks, stay incognito. You have enough money to start your life again, we may not have won, but thank you for risking your life for your people.” The man still shaking Leopold’s hand looked into his eyes with great respect.

Leopold chuckled to himself. Opening up his bag, he took out the black book. The gentleman was shocked at the sight of the book and before he could even ask how he had done it Leopold told him “you described to me a black book was what I had to steal, so one week prior I bought another black book and an ink pen.” Staring off into the distance knowing he was about to start his new life Leopold smiled to himself briefly before continuing.

“When I got home last night, I copied down the entire book word for word, took me nearly all night. I gave the fake version to the man who bought it from me. I knew they were going to find me before I could leave, hence my plan.” Leopold looked back amused with his own success, handed the man the book who enthusiastically said “with this book we will change the course of history and your name and story will be immortalized forever. Our government and their reign over our lives shall finally crumble, thank you Leopold!”

Both standing there with smiles, Leopold asked, “just before we part ways, may I know, how you found out I had left the apartment and sold the book?”

Looking ahead, turning the key in the ignition the man paused, “Mr. Pentridge told us. Your neighbor seemed to know everything. Goodbye for now Leopold, once again, thank you for saving the people of your country.”