Natasha Branch and the Cursed factory

Chapter 7: Back to where it began

Natasha was reeling and crying and breathing hard as she tried to make sense of what just happened. "How?" she thought to herself. I've lost it completely! She convinced herself that she was asleep again and that she was just having a bad dream or at least she tried to do so. As she laid on the floor with her hands covering her face she all of sudden heard the phone ringing. She got up as quick as she could and tried to answer it, but just as she reached the bed to pick up the phone it's as if a fear gripped her in place and wouldn't let her pick up the phone. It was her best friend Tomiko calling. What would she tell Tomiko? That she was walking through doors and walls like a ghost? How could she even begin to explain what was happening. She still was trying to convince herself that this was all just another dream and if that was the case it didn't even matter if she answered, right? No, she had to tell someone, even if it made her sound crazy. Just as she worked up the courage to do it, it went to voicemail. Natasha was still sweating at this point and her confidence sank again because of what she'd seen. However she decided to try picking up the phone out of sheer desperation. This was an act of faith at this point considering she'd phased through almost everything else she'd attempted to touch. For some reason, she was able to grab the phone and it didn't phase through her hands. She was able to check the voicemail Tomiko left her. The voicemail from Tomiko said "Hey Natasha. I wasn't calling you about anything too important but for some reason I just felt the need to encourage you and I just felt compelled to ask you to go back and watch something from a few days ago. I sent you the link in a text message, ok? I love you darling(an affectionate term of endearment they used with each other)." Upon hearing the end of the message Natasha saw the link Tomiko texted her. Natasha still nervous and shaken clicked the link and laid down on the floor with the phone on the floor while she laid on her back with her eyes closed. As the video began to play she started shedding tears and began to wonder about her predicament. However as the video continued playing, she began to notice something sounded familiar. She wiped her eyes for a moment and looked at what was playing on her phone and noticed that it was a replay of the Resurrection Sunday service that she'd attended only a few days before. She'd been so disconnected the day she attended that when the camera was put on her face she wasn't even clapping on beat with everyone else in the choir that morning. However, it was the sermon that would wind up striking her the most. The day she attended that service she was so out of it that she didn't even remember what was said after it was all over, but now as she re listened to the message it all began to make sense. It was a sermon entitled "Gifts from the Devil" and as soon as the minister announced his title Natasha realized her great mistake. Not even halfway through the oratory she knew that she'd made one of the biggest mistakes of her life. Somehow, she'd gotten tricked despite thinking she was so careful. She facepalmed herself now that her eyes had been opened. She knew what had to be done but did she have the strength to do it? As she thought on these things in her mind she heard something the minister said that gave her some strength. As he began to close he said "It's time to give it back and walk away". A bulb clicked in her head at that very moment and she knew what she had to do. For a moment she did still sob and moan but she remembered the words she'd heard just a moment before and realized she couldn't stay in a perpetual state of feeling sorry for herself. She had to pick herself up and go back to where it all began. Already dressed and emboldened by a need to come out of her state of self pity, she got up and prepared to go back to the factory where it all began. She took the facial cream that she'd used ever since that fateful day it was given to her as a gift and put it in her purse that she'd be taking with her. She wanted to take her car but that was impossible at this point. She phased through just about everything. In the past when she looked up the address of where the factory was supposed to have been, she strangely found that nothing came up. She'd planned to due further research but got distracted and forgot about it. As such, she knew she'd have to go back to the park and attempt to stumble upon it just like she did the first time. She left her house and began the journey to the park she'd visited the first day she found the factory. As she walked outside she noticed the sky was red instead of blue and the sun was as black as tar in her eyes. Oddly enough, the streets were empty and there seemed to be no one else in the world except her. Above her head she saw dark shadowy figures with white wings and red eyes staring at her but refusing to go to close to her. In her mind she was as scared as little girl in a dark room but no matter how scared she was she had to keep pressing her way. When she finally got to the park she tried to remember the path she'd taken to get to the factory and when she'd thought she'd found it she began to attempt retracing her steps. As she began doing so she began hearing voices from those shadowy figures that were still hovering over her and all around the sky say go back and turn around! She didn't heed them , but ran even faster. "Go back we said" as she continued ever onward. She could feel that she was getting closer to her destination despite the lack of any direction or familiarity with her surroundings but as she continued the shadowy figures got closer and louder. Their fright was beginning to take a tole and as she continued one finally seemed to get in her path and then another and another from every direction until she was completely surrounded and couldn't go any further. She was scared now and was frozen in her tracks. Then all of a sudden she heard a demonic voice out of the huge crowd of creatures surrounding her say "Natasha!". Thats when she turned and saw him. It was Mister L, the man she met at the factory. The old serpent she now realized he really was. "I found out everything about what this is all about" she said trying to put on a confident face as she said it. He responded "Well since we both know the truth now, might as well take off the disguises". As she stood there he began to transform into something else that was inhuman. His eyes turned blood red and he bent down as a set of wings about fifteen feet in total diameter came out of his back which were as black as the midnight sky. He also grew atleast 7 feet taller than he was when he first saw her. His face even changed with all of his facial features being rearranged into something that was oddly beautiful. Then all of a sudden she passed out and fell to the ground as though she'd fainted out of astonishment. Just a few seconds later she woke up but it was clear all wasn't normal. When she looked down, she saw her body still lying on the ground. Before she could fully grasp what was going on, Mr L still in his transformed or rather real state of being came at her suddenly. With a swiftness that could only be described as seeming like light speed, he crashed into her with as much brute force as he could knocking her into what seemed like an oblivion. Before she could fully recover and come to her own defense, he was already behind her knocking her in the back. These were hard hits she was taking, but all of a sudden, it's as if she received wisdom from on high in this crucial moment. Realizing that somehow her spirit was no longer in her body and that she was having an outer body experience she decided in a split second that she couldn't simply sit there and take the beating. This fight had just begun, and she had no choice but to win it. This was the final stage of her redemption.