Unlocked
As he got closer, he saw something completely bewildering. His hand clasped around the mysterious key in his pocket. His eyes widened in disbelief.
With nothing to lose, he put the key in the lock and slowly turned it. He heard a slight “clink” and stood back in disbelief at what just happened. But the best was yet to come.
Ted Louis
Renovator Ted Louis spent the summer building a wine cellar for a client in Vancouver.
He was transforming their basement into a beautiful wine repository when he stumbled upon something bizarre. Ted had been working in construction for years now. But no matter how much experience he had, he never encountered anything like this.
Wine Cellar
Ted loved renovating basements. And there was nothing cooler than renovating a space into a wine cellar.
The clients wanted the wine cellar to have an old-fashioned and rustic look. For this reason, Ted decided that he’d reuse old bricks. But this technique was about to give him much more than just the desired look.
Reclaimed Brick
Ted ordered a delivery of local sandstone and reclaimed brick and began working his magic. It wasn’t long before the cellar really started to take shape.
In just the space of a couple of months, it was almost finished. Ted loved working with the old bricks, he loved seeing how each brick had its own story, its very own building it was once a part of. But he could never have imagined what was coming.
Partial Stamp
Ted first noticed the strange partial stamp on one of the reclaimed bricks when he was preparing for another day of bricklaying.
At first, he didn’t think much of it but then he looked closer and his head cocked sideways. He had never seen anything like this before. Still, he had a job to do so he put it aside and continued working.
A Strange Connection
But then he found another brick with a similar partial stamp. They seemed to be connected. He grabbed the brick and placed it next to the other one to examine it closer.
Ted wondered what it meant. He placed the bricks together in a number of different ways to see if he could make it legible. But then something incredible happened.
A Key
One of the bricks slipped out of his hand and broke open. His initial fright of losing his grip turned into complete awe when he saw what it revealed.
Right there, along the crack, a key had been placed inside. He assumed the mysterious item was some poor brick worker's key that had been long forgotten. But that wasn’t the case.
Detective Work
Swept up in intrigue, he cut his day short and went home to search for answers. His first task to solve this mystery was to understand what the symbols meant.
“I did some research to find out where and when these bricks came from”, Ted recalled. He discovered that the bricks were made by an old brick company in Vancouver, which shut down in 1938. But that’s not all.
Factory In Ruins
Since the site of the old company was relatively close to him, he decided to drive there and confirm that his new piece of information was correct.
When he arrived at the old factory building, it was in ruins. A beat-down fence ran along the factory grounds. He parked outside and walked up to the entrance.
The Search
With the key in hand, he walked up to the door. It looked completely abandoned. But to his surprise, the door was unlocked and he walked right through.
He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, perhaps more bricks with strange stamps or an old account book so he could return the key to someone connected to the factory. But what he actually found was beyond his wildest imaginations.
Brick Wall
It wasn’t long before Ted stumbled into a decapitated red brick wall, the exact same as the bricks he was using for the wine cellar.
He strode towards it, hoping that he’d find a brick with the strange stamps on it. But as he got closer he saw something completely bewildering. His hand clasped around the key in his pocket in disbelief.
Strange Lock
On the wall, was a strange lock. It looked completely out of place. Ted took out the key in his pocket and looked at it with suspicion.
With nothing to lose, he put the key in the lock and turned it. He heard a slight clink sound and stood in disbelief at what just happened. But the best was yet to come.
A Hidden Room
He pushed the mysterious wall and it gave way. It was a door that led to an empty dark room. A hidden room in the factory halls.
He scratched his head, stood back, and wondered what on earth just happened. Quickly, he got out his phone and started recording. Then he posted his bizarre story online.
Skepticism And Disbelief
His story was met with a lot of skepticism. Many people didn’t believe that this actually happened. Some commented, “This is a very cool story, but it’s just too unbelievable. How does something like this even happen?”.
But others thought differently. “That’s insaaaane!”, one user wrote, while another wrote. “Wait, where's the treasure?”. What was in the room?
A Wild Story!
Unfortunately, Ted didn’t find anything but dust and bugs in the mysterious hidden room. He reckoned that whatever this room was used for was cleared out a long, long time ago.
Ted never found any account books so he could try to return the key to someone more connected to the factory. But for now, he’s happy just to have this wild story.