The Temple of the Blind: Book One

The Box

By Brian Harmon

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 by Brian Harmon

Published by Brian Harmon

Cover Image and Design by Brian Harmon

SmashwordsEdition, License Notes

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Chapter 1

It was just a stupid wooden box.

But it was also a mystery. It was not justthat Albert didn’t know where it came from or how it found its wayinto his locked car while he was in class. It was not just thecryptic markings etched into its sides. It was not even that hestill didn’t know what was inside. It was the sum of all ofthese things. It was the fact that nothing about the box wasobvious. It was an enigma literally locked up within itself…andthat was irresistibly fascinating.

He had been studying it all afternoon. He’dalready missed lunch and if he didn’t watch the time he’d be eatingdinner from a vending machine. He’d thought of little else sincereturning from his eleven o’clock class, and he didn’t even know ifthere was anything to be learned from it. Yet each time he walkedaway, he soon found himself back at his desk, staring again at thebox.

It was a ten-inch cube with no apparent seamto indicate a lid and no visible hinges. He had turned it over andover in his hands and could not determine how it was supposed toopen. Yet there was something inside. Things rattled when he shookit. Also, on one side there was a lock, which indicated that thebox did indeed open, but the revolving brass plate made a mysteryof which end belonged up. The keyhole was about the size of anickel, with a narrow slit suggesting that the key was very simple,perhaps just a narrow piece of flat metal, but he was unable topick the lock with a pocketknife.

With the exception of a few small scars inthe wood, there were no distinguishing marks on the keyhole side ofthe box. On each of the other five sides, however, someone had useda sharp object to carve into the wood. On three of these sides werewritten strange cryptic messages while the last two displayedsomething that appeared to be a sort of map.

He leaned back in his chair and tried tofocus. He never before thought of inanimate objects as havingpersonality, but this box did. He felt almost that itenjoyed being mysterious, that it mocked his ignorance. Itwas like a deeply intriguing character in a really good mysterynovel. But in a mystery novel, the secrets are always eventuallyrevealed. Whatever secrets this box held might never berelinquished, might not even exist, as far as he knew. And thatmade the mystery all the more exquisite.

Derek, Albert’s roommate, entered the roomand dropped his keys onto his desk. “You still staring at thatthing?”

Albert glanced at the clock. It was alreadyalmost five. “Yep.”

“I think you’re making way too much out ofthis. Somebody probably got the wrong car or something.”

Albert did not respond. It was a possibilityhe’d more than considered. After all, it was only early September,just a couple short weeks into his first semester here at BriarHills University. Having come from as far north as St. Louis, heknew no one and hadn’t made more than a handful of acquaintances,none of whom knew him well enough to distinguish his car from allthe others that occupied the parking lot the previous evening.Whoever left the box could very well have meant to leave it insomeone else’s car.

“I wouldn’t stress about it.”

Albert did not turn around. He could hearthe familiar tones as Derek checked his cell phone for voicemail.He’d only been living with Derek Clarnet for three and a halfweeks, but he already knew his every routine by heart. Every timehe returned from class he would walk straight to his desk and drophis keys and wallet. Then he would always reach for his cell phoneand check his voicemail. He never took it with him to class forsome reason. If there were any messages that required a response,he would do so. And he would always play Solitaire while he talkedon the phone. Every time, as soon as he was finished dialing, hewould sit down at his computer and load the game. The moment hehung up, he would turn it off. It didn’t matter whether he waslosing or winning. Once he was done with that he would pocket thephone and leave through the bathroom to visit with Scott and David,their suitemates in the next room. He would return after a whilefor his keys and wallet and then disappear until later thatevening, anywhere between eight and eleven, depending on how muchhomework awaited him. He would then sit at his desk and work untilexactly midnight, when he would go straight to bed. He rose everymorning at a quarter to seven and showered and shaved. He left forhis first class right at seven thirty. He always ate lunch ateleven. He always ate dinner at half past four. He was, without adoubt, the most boring human being Albert had ever met in his life,and he was actually surprised at how annoying that was.

“‘See Carrie,’” Derek read aloud.

Albert realized that he was reading thePost-It he’d left on his keyboard and sat up. “Oh yeah. Carrie fromacross the hall. She was looking for you while you were atdinner.”

“Did she say what she wanted?”

Albert shook his head. “Nope.” And Ididn’t care to ask, he thought. He’d recognized the girl as oneof the four who lived in the suite across the hall, but he did notknow her name until she asked him if he would tell Derek that“Carrie was looking for him.” She was a very pretty brunette,petite, with shy mannerisms and a freckled face.

Derek said nothing more. He returned thephone to his desk and then stepped into the bathroom and locked thedoor. At six-foot-three, he appeared awkward at first sight. He wasscrawny, almost geeky, but with his neat hair and piercing browneyes, he was still fairly handsome. He was also very charming whenhe wanted to be. Albert had been sharing this room with him foronly a short time, but it was already perfectly clear how they weregoing to get along. The two of them could coexist peacefullyenough; their different interests made this room one of the onlyplaces on campus where they were ever likely to cross paths. Albertwas a computer science major. Derek was a business major. Albertliked to read; Derek liked to go out. They would never be friends.In fact, Albert could hardly stand the guy. Besides his maddeninglyboring routines, he was arrogant, self-centered, stubborn,closed-minded, cold natured and lacked any real sense of humor. Yethe was manipulative. He could suddenly become the most lovablehuman being alive when he wanted something, a tactic that Albertfound dazzlingly obnoxious.

Albert had already noticed the time Derekwas spending across the hall, trying his best to turn on the charmfor Carrie and her suitemates. The names on their doors wereCarrie, Danielle, Gail and Tanya. He was pretty sure that Gail wasthe heavyset blonde and now he knew which one was Carrie, but hestill did not know which of the remaining two was Danielle andwhich was Tanya.