Chapter 29: Under the Watchful Eye

Nathan stood at the threshold of the factory's core, his pulse pounding in his ears. The air was thick, suffocating, and carried the weight of something ancient. The oppressive silence pressed down on him, but he could feel it—the gaze.

Something was watching.

"I broke it… I ended this…" Nathan's thoughts echoed in his mind, but the air felt wrong, too still, too charged. His father was gone, the crystal had shattered, and the factory's grip was supposed to be severed. But the heavy sense of unease that coiled around him suggested otherwise.

Nathan's grip on the flashlight tightened, his knuckles turning white. He swept the beam across the cavernous expanse ahead, but the light seemed to barely penetrate the suffocating darkness. The walls, once pulsating with a sickly glow, were now cold and silent, yet the feeling of being watched was stronger than ever.

"Who's there?" Nathan's voice echoed, but only silence answered.

And yet… he knew.

Eyes.

Invisible, unblinking eyes watched him from the shadows. He felt their gaze, cold and calculating, crawling over his skin like icy tendrils. It was an instinct, primal and undeniable—a predator's gaze locked onto its prey.

"It's not over…" The thought was a whisper in his mind, but it wasn't his own. The factory may have lost its grip on the physical world, but something deeper, something older, was still here.

Nathan took a hesitant step forward, the floor creaking beneath his weight. The echo was unnervingly loud, as if the factory itself was holding its breath. His eyes scanned the room, searching for the source of the oppressive feeling, but the darkness stretched endlessly.

"Keep moving…" he told himself, his heart pounding louder with each step.

But the further he went, the stronger the sensation became. The feeling of being watched was no longer passive—it was… focused. As if whatever was observing him had finally decided to make itself known.

A cold shiver ran down Nathan's spine, and then he saw it.

At the far end of the cavern, barely visible in the dim light, stood a figure.

No… not a figure.

A silhouette.

It was tall and unnervingly still, its form impossibly thin, as though it had been stretched beyond its limits. Its head tilted slightly, as if observing Nathan with a morbid curiosity. But there were no features—no face, no eyes.

And yet, Nathan felt its gaze.

"What the hell…" Nathan's throat went dry, his body screaming at him to run, but his legs refused to move.

The air grew colder as the figure shifted, gliding toward him without a sound. Nathan's flashlight flickered, the beam sputtering as if the very presence of the thing was draining the light itself.

"Move, damn it…" Nathan's mind screamed, but he was rooted to the spot, paralyzed by a fear so primal it felt like it was etched into his bones.

The figure stopped mere feet from him, and though it had no eyes, Nathan felt it staring straight into his soul.

And then… it spoke.

"You shouldn't have come back."

The voice was a whisper, but it echoed in Nathan's mind like a deafening roar. It was layered—like countless voices speaking in unison, old and new, all bound to the same entity.

Nathan's heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst. "What… what are you?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

The figure didn't move, but the space around it shifted, warping as if reality itself was bending around its presence.

"We were here before the factory…" the voice murmured. "Before the first stone was laid. We watched. We waited."

Nathan's mind reeled. "Before the factory? But… how?"

"The factory was merely a vessel…" the voice continued, colder now. "A shell to contain us. But you… you tore down that wall."

Nathan's eyes widened. "The crystal…"

"You broke the seal."

A sick realization clawed at Nathan's mind. He hadn't freed the souls trapped within the factory—he had unleashed something far worse.

"No…" Nathan's voice trembled, his mind racing for a way out. But there was no escape.

The figure took a step closer, and the temperature plummeted. Nathan's breath formed mist in the air, his body trembling as an overwhelming dread gripped him.

"You see now, don't you?" the voice echoed in his mind. "We were always watching. Waiting. And now…"

The shadows around Nathan deepened, stretching toward him like claws. He stumbled back, his flashlight barely flickering to life. But the light did nothing. The darkness consumed everything, and the figure's presence was suffocating.

"It's not over…" the voices whispered, louder now, echoing through the space. "Not until you take our place."

Nathan's heart slammed against his ribs. "Take… your place?"

The figure raised a hand—if it could even be called that—and Nathan's vision blurred. A flood of images surged into his mind—faces of countless souls trapped in endless torment, their bodies bound to the factory, their eyes hollow and lifeless.

They had all been watched.

And now… it was his turn.

"You broke the barrier. You opened the door." The voices grew louder, reverberating through Nathan's skull. "Now, you must stay."

Nathan's grip on the flashlight faltered. His limbs felt heavy, his mind clouded by a force far beyond his understanding.

"No…" he murmured, shaking his head. "This can't be happening…"

But the figure was relentless.

The whispers pressed in from all sides, a deafening chorus that consumed his thoughts.

"Stay…"

"Stay…"

"Stay…"

Nathan's knees buckled as the darkness enveloped him, pulling him into its cold embrace. He felt his consciousness slipping, his mind being drawn into the void. The weight of countless eyes pressed down on him, watching, waiting.

And just before everything went black, he heard it one last time.

"You are ours now…"

Then—silence.

But somewhere, beyond the void, beyond the veil of darkness, the factory's hum stirred once more.

And the eyes…

They never blinked.