Conspiracy fiction

[deathmetal]

Didnt know where else to post this...


In the chest

By Eva Stoner


The long-sought blessing of recent winter rains had filled the bottom dam, and I decided on a spot of yabbying. The yabby nets were hidden in the beautiful mess of my Father's shed, and it was here that I rummaged when I found the chest. Although covered with a thick layer of dust, it stood out amongst the other objects, as an example of the fruits of a long-forgotten love of workmanship.

In the centre of the lid was affixed a round piece of metal, embossed with a complex design. Crouching down, I reached out and brushed away the dust that obscured it. I froze, as the image met my eyes. For a time I sat and simply allowed myself to breathe, waiting for the adrenaline to ease in its effect, and my thoughts to resume.

O.k! O.k. First things first. I looked around the shed, and at it's open doorway. There was no-one else around. The sound of an axe chopping wood assured me, my Father was busy beyond the windowless wall. The secret of my discovery was safe for now, so I closed the shed door and returned my attention to the image on the lid.

It was a representation of various symbols, layered and intertwined, so none would be taken as pre-eminent or subordinate. The Star of David, The Sygil of Saturn, The Swastika, the serpent that eats its tail. These I recognised from my own research into the occult, both ancient and modern. But other symbols were a mystery to me, and I felt the stab of that unique emotion: Where fear and joy do battle, and a special kind of tear is brought to the eye. The kind of tear shed, when a firmly-shut door is blown open by a light breeze, entering a room of people telling true ghost stories.

I quickly snapped the design with my phone camera, shaking, shifting my attention to the ornate keyhole on the front of the chest. Frustrated, I tried to recall...

Remembering, I moved to the old desk that now served as a workbench, opened its single drawer, and located the metal box of antique keys I had loved to inspect, compare and dream about as a child. One key stood out from the rest. Untarnished. As ornately forged as the lock. Without hesitation, I inserted it and turned, until a soft click sounded from within the mechanism.

I lifted the lid slowly, my heart all flame, my hands all tremor.

Inside lay nothing but a very thin stack of papers. Disappointment rose, but only momentarily. I identified the text as being written in English, and a moment later recognized two of the first words: Giuseppe Mazzini.

I almost laughed then, with a mad kind of laugh, as the shock of my discovery threatened to unnerve me. Could this be? A copy of the letter sent from Albert Pike to Mazzini in 1871? I removed the sheets and quickly scanned their contents. I was familiar with the letter and confident I would recognize the text if it were the same.

'The First World War must be brought about in order to overthrow the power of the Czars in Russia...'
'A fortress of atheistic communism...'
'The Second World War must be fomented...'
'Between the Fascists and the political Zionists...'
'Institute a sovereign state of Israel in Palestine...'
'The Third World War must be fomented by...'
'Between the political Zionists and the leaders of the Islamic world...'
'Mutually destroy each other...'
'Complete physical, moral, spiritual and economic exhaustion...'
'Unleash the nihilists and the atheists...'
'Disillusioned with Christianity...'
'The universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer...'

This was it. This was a copy of what was known to conspiracy researchers as: 'The Three World Wars Letter.'
A sound, behind...
I turn my head and there he stands.
Dad, lifting the axe high over his right shoulder, with powerful arms. As it comes down hard, to plunge into my chest, I can neither scream, nor raise my hands to defend myself.
Because I am transfixed.
By his smile.