by
Jenny King
Natalie hated long
journeys, especially in the rain and particularly in the dark. She was tired
already and only half the journey was complete.
“Not far now” she
muttered to herself
Suddenly the
engine warning light came on.
“Oh god really?” now
talking to the car
She needed a place
to stop and phone Mike, driving slightly further she saw what was a warehouse and
a light shining from the top window. The car crawled its last drive to the
warehouse. Slamming the door as if to punish it, she ran to the entrance. The building looked old.
She took out her
phone, no signal
“Typical” she
thought
Turning to the
large door Natalie looked for a buzzer, wondering why anyone would be in at this
time of night.
She eventually saw
a speakerbox and buzzed
“Hello” said a
croaky old voice
“Hello, im sorry
to disturb but my car has broken down and my mobile has no signal, could I come
in and use your phone?”
No reply
She sighed and
turned back to the car. Suddenly the door opened.
“Thank you,” she
shouted to the air
Natalie stepped
inside and the cold air still followed her, even after the door slammed shut
behind. Looking around she studied that the floor was covered in newspapers and
dust. There was a conveyer belt going around the area- she was in a factory of some
kind. The only light was from a hanging florescent tube that was swinging on
two chains, even though there was no breeze. The air smelt of musk and it
tasted damp.
“Hello” she
shouted with a hint of impatience
She walked through to another room, no one around but lots of boxes.
This room was darker as the only light came from the entrance. She took out her phone and used it as a torch.
To the right of her were stairs. She started to climb them and they made a
creaky noise, like the bolts were loose. This was enough for her to quicken her
pace. At the top she could see down to the area she was first in. Natalie noticed
out the corner of her eye something moved down below, but she couldn’t focus
quick enough. She shook her head and continued on
“Surely they hire
a cleaner?” Tutting at the newspapers on
the floor.
The next room she
saw a baby, she let out a silent scream and ran to it, but as she got nearer
she noticed it was a doll- so this is what the factory is used for! A doll
factory!
Unexpectedly music
started to play throughout the factory- creepy nursery rhyme music, sounds like
it is playing on a gramophone type player.
“I must be close
to that phone” she wondered
She found it odd that
whoever the old person was had not greeted her yet. As she approached the other
side of the room she saw a warm glow from under the door and a voice of a
female talking.
“Finally” she
thought as the cold was starting to get to her
“Don’t they have
heating here either?
Natalie knocked on
the door.
“Yes” the old
voice demanded
“Hello its me- I
buzzed in asking to use a phone?”
“Ahh yes come in” the
croaky voice replied
She opened the door
to an office type room. She made out the back of an old lady on a rocking chair,
cradling one of the dolls like it was alive.
“Hello” she said nervously
The old lady
turned around slowly, her face was like one of the porcelain dolls and her eyes
were black as night, her jaw started to detach.
Natalie screamed
and ran out the room, hearing giggling in the background. As she was running , the
doll that was on the floor earlier was not there! She didn’t care and kept
running – she didn’t think she was being followed. Down the stairs she tripped
face down onto the floor, her eyes adjusting to the newspaper article in front
of her:
“Factory murder
forces business to close”
There was a
picture of the manager – the old lady!
She picked herself up, her knees started to hurt so had to limp. The
giggle was behind her, she turned her head around and her eyes widened. The
doll was walking! Its head turning 360 then jerks sideways like it has a twitch.
She quickened her limp; the dolls were climbing out the boxes. They were moving towards her and a screech
from above pierced her ears. Natalie
glanced up to see the old lady; she looked like she was ordering the dolls
somehow.
“We need fresh
blood to keep us going” the old lady shrieked
“You will join us”
chanted the dolls slowly
Natalie could feel
the bruise from her knees starting to come out and tears formed around her eyes
making everything blurry.
“Join us, join us”
The sound of the
nursery rhyme in the background got stuck on repeat. Natalie made her body move
for her freedom, she tried the door but it was locked. She turned around to find any other doors;
surely there should be an exit?
The old lady
spouted black wings and flew towards her. Suddenly she blacked out.
Natalie awoke
sometime later- she felt hungover, her body felt stiff and squashed
somehow. She glanced at her hand and
found it was tiny. Everything around her
seemed so big and tall. Lying on its side was a broken mirror. Shuffling towards
it she started to get a recollection of what happened earlier. Scared to look,
taking all her confidence, she takes a deep breath and willed herself to look. Staring at her reflection she froze in
horror-she realised she was looking at a doll.
Screaming she woke
up to the sound of her phone vibrating. It
was Mike texting her, asking if she could pick him up from the airport. Sweat
dripping from her forehead, she breathed a sigh of relief. Just a dream.
****
My name is Jenny
King, I am 27 and a 1st time mummy to my daughter. I like reading, drawing , knitting and
writing. Currently writing my first novel (link below) and I participate in
five sentence fiction and 100WCGU to improve my writing skills. I also write
book reviews. This is my first competition! 
Great story Jenny :) Nice pace and very creepy! You did a great job and should keep at it. Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteNice and creepy! Keep writing!
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