"Behind The Mask"

Hello Steemit

Enough unfinished project posting, for now, let's get some stuff done. Shall we?
I would like to present to you, Nataly. She was going to be a project for a friend of mine who needed an original character concept with a backstory for a contest. She was going to build a costume around my sketches and story... But it got scrapped. I decided to give new life to this idea cause It was my first try to write a story about an anti-hero.

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A friend of mine liked the story that I had for it. She asked me to send her the work file. And an hour after that she sent me back the story from e different perspective.

Eternal companion

What is like to be the only child of one of the most influential and corrupted people in town? Many wish for it and think that those children eat their breakfast every day with golden spoon.. well so was Nataly. Let me tell you a story, as I hide in the shadows among humans, I can see and feel with them every joy, every burden, every end. It was never meant for me to spend my lifetime like that, but when the time came nobody asked me for my permission. Oh and by lifetime I meant eternity. (I am Death) Let's go back. Her name was Nataly. As I said she was the only child of one of the most influential and corrupted people in town. Her parents were the regional judges of the town and it happens that they had many enemies. One of them was the brother of a man, wrongly convicted of killing 37 children in a kindergarten by setting the building on fire. I was there and it was a rough day for me, busy to collect every poor soul of those 37 children who never woke up after the afternoon nap. Well, every person has a different point of view what to call justice and that man was really innocent as the crime was just a mistake.
The first time that I met Nataly, she was a happy child, innocent, with big, bright curious eyes. For her young age, she was really a well-educated young lady. She spoke 4 languages fluently at the age of 15. Her parents gave her everything that she ever desired and loved her dearly.
One night, after midnight, her home was set on fire and I was there, but not to collect her soul… The reason for the fire was an explosion from the hallway.

The firefighters managed to get her out alive. The man that held her, almost got her out of the house, when she saw the burned bodies of what supposed to be her parents... Exactly at that moment, a secondary explosion from the kitchen threw her and the firefighter away. Poor man, he died instantly but, still holding Nataly in his hands, trying to protect her from the crash. I taught that today I will carry more souls than usual, alas she was alive indeed, but her face was all burned, her eyes were irrevocably damaged by debris and the flames. She was lying shrunken on the sidewalk right before my feet. She heard the talk between the firefighters, they could not save anyone else and I knew from the start. Because of the shock, she was not feeling the pain yet, no one told her what exactly happened. Her parents were dead. I can imagine how this cruel reality hit her, she was just crying there lost in the eternal darkness. I really wanted to see where all of this will go, but my job was done here.

I knew that we will meet again. I found her in the streets, for 10 days she was alone, blind and cold. No one could help her, she was just another orphan and the orphanages were already full. She could not eat or even sleep, just crying, wondering the streets, homeless. I must admit, at that time I thought that she is a really tough girl. Oh, boy I was not wrong.
It was the night that everything took a different turn for her. Nataly was sitting on the corner of the street, I was sitting next to her. Of course, she was not able to see me, no one is. Five construction workers approached her. By the dragging of their feet and the languid speech, and the loud noises, she could tell that they were drunk. I also knew. In those times the work was heavy, money was not enough and the only joy of the human was to drink. When the noises became louder, she knew that something is not right. She stood up and started walking away from the noises. I followed. She heard quick steps behind her. Someone grabbed her hair and said -Hold on, you filthy whore! Then pushed her to the ground. I stood on the side. My job today was to collect five souls. Nataly fell, hitting her head on the pavement. The drunk people ripped off her dirty dress, she was dizzy. Then she heard an unfamiliar sound, I heard it too. Well, I knew what was going to happened and somehow I was glad. Quick hissing, right after she felt that something like a sack with potatoes fell on the ground. A moment of silence. Again, and again, and again. She heard someone running and cursing.
Then someone grabbed her hand...She shuddered. A deep throaty voice whispered in her ear that everything is going to be alright... And then I lost them in the darkness. Okay, time for work, but we will meet again Nataly.

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Details

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When i was working on that concept back then, i just had begun to assemble the details that i came up with. Here is the one of the outlooks for Nataly.

At first, i wanted to create something similar to Batman cause I really like that character and his moral system. But then I realized... That's already done. I wanted to create something that used to be pretty but then turned all the way around and is one of the curses to the world. If i manage to find the first story that i wrote for that project i will deffinetly post it.
The whole story i will show you when i finish the digital version of that drawing.

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Tools used: Red and black ink ballpoint pens; HB graphite pencil and an eraser

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