Hey all,
This is the first chapter of my latest project "Deep Dark Secrets." This is my first attempt at a full-length novel. Anyway, tell me if you like and if it pulls you in!!
Chapter 1
Copyright Matthew C. Herch Jr. 2007
Every family keeps its secrets wrapped up under the guise of time. Sooner or later, the secrets will come out.
Mary sat in an aluminum folding chair at the back of the huge room. Hundreds of business moguls and some of her distant relatives filled the other seats as an old man walked onto the stage and waved toward a curtained area. Mary pulled her skirt down gently. She wasn’t great at being conspicuous. Feminine clothing was definitely not her strongpoint.
The first item up for bid was pushed out from behind a curtained area and set next to the podium. The old auctioneer reached down and tried to open the trunk, but quickly realized that it was locked tight. He glanced at the woman who had brought the trunk out and watched as she shrugged her shoulders in confusion. The trunk would not open.
“Alright; apparently, we can’t open the trunk. We don’t know what’s in it, so I guess it’ll be somewhat of a mystery to whoever buys it. We’ll start the bidding at twenty-five dollars.” The old auctioneer said as he stood at the wooden podium staring into the audience, looking for all the pretty girls his eyes could take in.
Obviously, the item would not sell. No one in their right mind would buy a musty, old trunk. Nevertheless, something in Mary’s mind told her to place a bid; so she did. With one swift motion she raised her paddle into the air to place her bid of the minimum twenty-five dollars.
“I see twenty-five.” The old man continued. “Do I see thirty? Thirty dollars for the antique trunk?”
The auctioneer slowly looked around the small room filled with real estate moguls and filthy rich politicians. The girl who placed the minimum bid was completely out of place in a crowd like the one seated in the room. Her bright red jacket and flowing blonde hair gave her the look of a fancy fashion model, rather than a bureaucrat. The way she smiled was almost divine. It was angelic, yet somehow conveyed a hint of devilish charm. The old man scratched his bald head in confusion and continued the auction.
“Last chance people. Do I hear thirty dollars for the trunk? No one?” One last glance around the room and he knew the young girl had won the auction. Who’d want such an ugly piece of history anyway? They didn’t even know what was inside of it.
“Going once. Going twice. Sold to the young lady in the red jacket! Congratulations my dear.”
“Congratulations my ass.” Mary said under her breath as she stared at the auctioneer and applied her best fake smile.
Why she bought the damn trunk, she’ll never know. That’s the last auction for me tonight, she thought. I’ve spent enough already; besides, if I stay here longer, I’m bound to buy another needless piece of junk.
Mary arose from her folding aluminum seat and silently adjusted her garments. As quickly as she could without making a sound, she walked out of the back door of the room and into the huge foyer of the mansion. Oh, how she would have loved to live in a house as big or as beautiful as that one. Instead, she lived with her boyfriend in a small mid-town Manhattan apartment. Even it was barely affordable.
The mansion was absolutely amazing, though. Its stunning eight-foot ceilings and breath-taking woodwork could not be compared anywhere else on Long Island. Of course Mary would know the history of the house. It was her great grandfather’s house. Unfortunately, since he left no will, there was no choice but to auction off his possessions.
As she walked through the long hall toward the gathering room where she would pay for the ugly trunk, she began to wonder why she had bought the damned thing. She had looked at it for only a couple of seconds, and could immediately tell that it was decaying badly. It was once covered in leather, the only traces of which can be found where the metal clamps met the old wood frame. The thing had never even been opened. That was probably the best thing about it. To her, it was sort of a mystery as to what could have been lying untouched for years in the antique sarcophagus.
The only people in the gathering room were the cashier and security guard who were engaged in a lively conversation. Not wanting to intrude on them like an uncivilized baboon, Mary simply sat on a small suede chair and waited for them to notice her.
“Oh I’m sorry, darling.” The female cashier said with regret in her voice. “We’re over hear blubbering on like idiots while you’re waiting patiently for some service.”
“It’s no problem, ma’am, really.” Mary said, attempting to reassure the elderly woman.
“Come now honey, it’s my job to collect the money for whatever treasure it is you purchased. I do get paid for it after all.”
“That it is.” Mary answered.
“By the way, what treasure did you buy?” The woman asked as she stared at the pile of antique items stacked near the window.
“Ah, the antique trunk there.” Mary said as she pointed at the piece of junk in the corner. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a treasure though.”
The security guard quickly walked up to the pile of her great grandfather’s old possessions and dragged the trunk across the floor, toward Mary.
“Here you are.” He said lightly, as he stood back in his place.
“If you didn’t like it, then why did you buy it?” the cashier asked.
“This may sound crazy, but I really don’t know. I just had an impulse I guess.”
“You know, impulses like that can really break the bank.” The cashier said as she typed the information about the trunk into her computer.
“Yeah, I know. The only good thing about it is that I have no idea what’s in it.”
“Oh a mystery. Well, at least you’ll be surprised.” The old lady said.
“Yeah, I hope so. If it’s empty, my great grandfather will owe me money in the afterlife.”
The elderly cashier finished typing the information into her computer and wrote up a small receipt using a piece of plain copying paper.
“Alright, that’ll be twenty-five dollars young lady.”
Mary unzipped her cheap black purse and pulled out a wad of money. It was all the money she had left from her bi-weekly paycheck. She pulled out a five and a twenty dollar bill and handed them to the cashier.
“Alright then, you’re all set. Enjoy your trunk.”
“Thanks.” Mary said sarcastically.
With the trunk in tow behind her, Mary made the long trek back outside to her car. She would drive back to her apartment and get Jeff, her boyfriend, to pry the lock open. She was dying to see what was inside.
As the sun began to set below the horizon, Mary pulled up to the driveway outside her apartment building. She turned off the car and popped open the trunk using the lever next to the driver’s seat. The trunk door opened with a click and Mary pulled the ancient trunk from out of the compartment and shut the lid. She dragged it carelessly across the sidewalk and up to the door. She’d have to take the elevator up because there was no way she would be carrying the trunk up ten flights of stairs.
Ten minutes later and Mary was at the door to her apartment, the smelly trunk sitting next to her. She quickly unlocked the door and dragged the old trunk into her apartment. Jeff, her boyfriend of two years was lying on the couch reading the latest edition of the Washington Post. Mary threw her keys onto the kitchen counter and dragged the trunk into the living room where Jeff was reading. The trunk made loud squeaking sounds as it scraped against the tile of the hallway.
“Hey honey, would you mind toning that noise down a bit?” Jeff said as he continued reading his paper.
Mary stopped dragging the trunk and dropped the end of it to the floor. She walked up to Jeff and pulled the paper away from him.
“Hey!” He yelled in protest.
Mary slapped him on the head with the rolled up newspaper and then set it on the coffee table.
“Don’t be such a jerk.” She said playfully. “Now get over here and help me open this trunk. I’m dying to see what’s inside.”
Jeff sluggishly slid off the couch onto his bottom and then used the coffee table as a crutch to pick himself up. The lock seemed to be of a different age than the trunk itself. Had it been replaced recently? No sign of rust could be found on its almost flawless surface. Jeff bent down to the trunk and ran his hands over the smooth surface.
“I think there’s a crowbar in my toolbox. I’ll be right back.”
Jeff stood back up and rushed off down the hall and up to the closet near the front door. He opened the flimsy wooden door and began rummaging through his collection of unused tools.
While Jeff was searching for the crowbar, Mary couldn’t help but get entranced by wonder of what could be in the mysterious trunk. According to the auctioneer, the trunk was found in a small niche in the attic of her great grandfather’s old mansion. The agents didn’t open the trunk for fear of its drop in value.
Mary felt like a child again. Her view of the old trunk went from a useless piece of junk to a mystery that allowed her imagination to wander to places it hadn’t been since she was very young. She experienced the pleasant wonder associated with opening a birthday present and the excitement of making a new discovery around the house. For years she had forgotten the wonderful feelings. Her life was nothing but a series of dead ends. That’s why she lived in the small apartment instead of her own home in the suburbs. Her job wasn’t exactly the greatest either. How many more crying children could she tolerate? The daycare paid well, but the psychological toll was too much.
“Found it!” Jeff shouted as he raced back to the trunk and crouched down once again next to Mary.
Mary was brought back to reality from her dream state by the loud clanking of metal made by the crowbar. Jeff was trying to pry the lock off of the ancient trunk.
“Almost got it.” He said through clenched teeth as he used all his strength to pull on the crowbar.
The sound of wood cracking and then the sound of metal hitting the soft carpet confirmed that the lock was finally off. The trunk would obviously not be repairable due to the huge chunk of wood that was torn off with the lock.
“You do the honors, Mary.” Jeff said as he put his warm hand on her shoulder.
Quietly, Mary inhaled the air and held her breath as she lifted the lid slightly and allowed rays of light to enter into the dark abyss of the trunk. A repugnant smell emanated from the box. It wasn’t the smell common with ancient things, and it wasn’t the smell of rotting leather, or even of a dead animal. The smell was distinct. It was the same smell that Mary had experienced when she found her grandmother dead in her bed. It was the smell of rotting human flesh.
So, what'd you think?