The building made Sharon Court falter for a minute, hold her breath, for somehow its very existence ruined the placid morning, caused a great chill to travel her spine and dig at the pit of her stomach. Yet there was a fascination to it; a spell-binding intrigue about why it was there, what it was for, the secrets of its interior. She hesitated, put one dainty foot forward as though testing the path that lead around it, as though the round stone house might have a way of stopping an intruder from interrupting its gloomy loneliness.
Then she smiled. This was no way to be, she chastised herself. After all, there is nothing there to harm me, no hidden mystery that could make trouble if I came closer. Get hold of yourself, silly goose! Your imagination is running rampant, just as it had last night… and you know what that caused!
Her morale boosted by her pep talk, Sharon continued. She came right up to the building and felt the cold, clammy exterior, laughed as indeed, nothing did happen to her, that she wasn't struck down. She walked along the path; it curved around and the grass faded away as the ivy had, and flinty gravel made her feet hurt. She considered whether she should go back.
And then she saw the door. It was set well in an arch of capped stone, shadows making it look heavier and blacker than it actually was. It was of old, hewn oak, sections the size of house beams welded together by bands and studs of thick metal, and hinges monstrous in size cemented to the wall and attached to the door with long, spear-like extensions. There was a large ring for the handle, and below it a key-hole that looked as if it was part of a lock rugged enough to withstand the most ardent assault. Hanging on a peg set in the stone was a key, an old-fashioned one with a long shank and involved looking head.
Should she? Her heart hammered at her breast, and there seemed to be a constriction in her lungs. A quick peek… the curiosity was almost too much for Sharon Court to bear! Who would know if she took down the key, fit it in the antique lock and opened the door.
She turned away. No, that would be prying. Anyway, it was probably no more than a garden shed for the tools and equipment used in tending the garden. That's all there was inside… or was it? She stopped and looked back at the door. It seemed to beckon her, to invite her to investigate the dark depths of its insides. And yet the rest of the building let off the distinct impression of alienness, of rejection. The tall, blonde woman shuddered at the deliciously enervating ambivalence of her feelings. It was all in her mind, of course…
She started back toward the mansion. She'd ask Mark what the stone hut was used for, and perhaps he would take her to it. But she knew that wouldn't be really the way of resolving the romantic involvement she had started with the house; no, she would have to conquer her own curiosity and imagination and go back and see. Nobody was around, nobody would know, and the whole idea of it was like something she had read as a little girl, like The Secret Garden, or The Wizard of Oz. She wasn't so old as to have lost all of her kittenish ways.
She ran to the hut, her mind resolved to do the forbidden. Down came the key! She fit the key into the mortised lock and jiggled it around, waiting for the latch to trip. There was a loud "Click!" and she leaned against the ring and shoved against the door. The door protested with a loud squeal of hinges.
The interior was dark. It was also dank and smelled oddly of old straw and dry-rot, but the floor was of packed earth and there wasn't any wood to be seen other than the door. She licked her lips nervously and opened the door wider. The morning sun fell across the floor in a wide shaft, highlighting the empty, barren area in front of the door. A spider scurried across the wall, frightened by the sudden light. Sharon stepped inside and peeked; the gloom was thick and cloying like a gray muslin sheet and she could not see farther than the light no matter how hard she squinted. She let the door swing wide then, letting as much light as she could invade the inky dungeon atmosphere.
Then she saw a plain, plank table. On it were a stack of magazines and a large enameled bowl that was curiously filled with fruit. She could see a couple of apples, some oranges, and if her eyes weren't deceiving her, a bunch of bananas behind it. Frowning, her curiosity peaked to its fullest, Sharon stepped to the table. What on earth would a bowl of fruit and magazines be doing in a place like this? She picked up one of the magazines. The magazines were digest sized, with plain brown covers. She held some up to the light. Across the covers was the title: Climax Illustrated, and then different volume numbers. She thumbed through volume seven, at first only mildly interested, and then in sudden revulsion she dropped the little booklet and put her hands across her mouth in disbelief.
The booklet fell open on the table. What she saw was now before her in twice the blazing colors — a two-page spread in full clear tones and exact detail of three men and two women together on an immense double bed. The five persons were naked and what they were doing to one another sent ripples of further revulsion traveling up her back. The man on the extreme left was lying with his huge penis in the foreground at full erection. Straddling it with an expression of pure ecstasy was a large, well-built Negro woman, her vagina and breasts in full display, a black satin Goddess enjoying lusty human pursuits. Besides the couple was another; only the girl was on her fours like an animal. She was blonde and fair, and looked more than a little like Sharon, although more Scandinavian in features. Standing at the side of the bed was a Negro man, his muscles etched across his body, and his black curly pubic hair nearly impossible to see against his burnished prune colored body. His cock made a wonderful contrast of color as it penetrated the golden fleece of the girl's upturned pubic area, slid between her spread buttock cheeks and nestled home in her pink-rimmed vagina. And as if that wasn't enough to glaze the eyes of the distraught young wife who looked at them, there was a third man who was kneeling in front of the white woman. His tremendous cock, in horizontal rigidity was at the lips and mouth of the girl, its bulbous red glans, so glaringly in focus, rested on the outstretched tongue of the girl. Her lips were pulled back as if supplicating for its full length to be slid into her hungry mouth…
And then, before even the wretchedness of what she was viewing settled in her shattered mind, Sharon heard something rustle behind her! For one terrified moment she stiffened; it was as if her whole body was of chipped ice, an immobile statue. Then there was a louder scraping sound, a heavy, regulated breathing. She whirled around, and screamed.
There, dimly visible in the light, loomed a monster! A thick animal, a stout beast terribly hairy. It wasn't as tall as she was, and it was hunched over, its muscular arms dragged on the dirt, its knuckles making noises.
An ape!
Sharon stumbled backwards, every fiber in her body in turmoil as the ugly creature studied her with small, very dark eyes. Its rubbery lips parted and it sniffed the air, making the same snuffing sound as she had heard before, and then it stood erect. It grunted and panted and tried to close the gap between them, its desire more pronounced than ever. But it couldn't… around its right leg was a tight metal band, and to the band was a thick chain which led into the invisible recesses of the building. For one instant Sharon dared to breathe, for she saw the chain and clamp, and knew that the ape couldn't touch her. She backed against the table, her whole being still in shock, unable to comprehend what to do.