Ravage

Sweet, Priestess, lie in peace.

Rei's eyes opened wide as the gentle chanting echoed in the confines of her mind. The room's white walls seemed almost too close, too foreboding and she was suffocating, a chill wrapped around her throat, around her wrists, her ankles, and-

"Rei?"

She gasped when the freedom of breath returned to her, feeling the warmth of a human hand on her shoulder. With a sharp turn of her head, she looked up to see a man-shaped figure touching her, silhouetted by the hall light flooding through her open door. Her breath ceased and she pulled away, dragging herself across the rumpled sheets with one scrabbling arm.

"Rei!"

The voice was male, but oh-so-wondrously familiar. The voice was safe. The remnants of her nightmare fell away and Rei's eyes adjusted to make out Yuu's concerned expression. His hand hovered in the air in its former position, as if uncertain to move, like making a sudden movement in the presence of a volatile, wild animal.

"Yuu?" Rei asked on an exhale, relaxing against the wall and ending her breath with a reluctant chuckle. Yuu withdrew his hand, but he was smiling just a little. He plunked down on the bed, Rei bounced, and they both reached out to grasp each others' hand, engagement rings glittering in the minute light.

"Rough night?" Yuu's deep voice rang into the stillness of the night, running his thumb along her knuckles, catching on the ring, but repeating the gentle motion again and again. The gesture soothed the panic out of Rei's nerves.

"Just a silly nightmare," she assured him. Rei pushed away from the wall and rolled onto her back, watching the popcorn ceiling and looking for shapes in its uneven surface. "I'm a big girl, you don't have to worry about me."

Yuu laughed before laying down next to her. He gently pressed his temple to hers. "I'd worry about you no matter what you told me. I love you too much to just let you run wild. You could get hurt, and what would happen then?"

Rei smirked, turned her head so he could feel the pull at her lips. "Then I guess you'd have to take care of me, hm? You could be my nurse."

Yuu pushed himself up on his elbows, stared down at her with some unreadable expression that made Rei want to laugh at just how serious it was. "Rei, I love you. I love you enough that I would do many, many things for you, just because you asked, but you will never get me in a nurse's uniform."

Rei did laugh, she laughed hard, but was silenced when Yuu's lips descended onto her own. She felt his body shift until he was on top of her, caging her in with his knees, but she didn't mind as his hands began to wander, fingertips dancing along her skin and her silk night gown. His hands bled heat into the cool fabric, making her sigh.

"Ah, Yuu," Rei gasped as he abandoned her lips in favor of her neck, making her tilt her head far back into the bedspread. Her legs lifted and rubbed against his side.

"You had a nightmare? There's nothing to worry about, I'll make it go away." Yuu finished his oath with an unexpected kiss to the skin just above her right breast. Rei was certain he felt the impact of the kiss on her thundering heart.

"Ahem."

The tiny, insignificant sound bounced off the bedroom's walls like a sonic boom and the couple broke away from their intimate ministrations, turning their heads to the petite figure in the doorway. The figure reached into the room and flicked the light switch up, flooding the room with light.

"Ah, Miku," Yuu whined, hiding his face in Rei's chest. "That's bright. There's a reason I left the light off."

"How unsightly," Miku laughed. "Sorry to interrupt, but my room is right across the hall, and you're not exactly...quiet."

"Miku!" Rei spluttered, but even she couldn't deter the giggles erupting from her lips. The situation was too funny to keep silent about.

"Ah, even Rei is making fun of me?" Yuu asked with a pout that couldn't hold up to his sudden, humorous smile.


Sleep, Priestess, lie in peace.

When she wrenched her eyes open, the snake-like chill had vanished from her limbs, but a profound pressure was crushing the breath from her windpipe. She thought she could feel cold, human fingers squeezing with unholy strength and she wheezed.

The bed jolted just the tiniest bit and the phenomenon vanished, as evanescent as a breeze, and Rei looked for the source of the movement. The bedroom door was open just the slightest, giving her a view of nothing but the blackness of night that shrouded the house. On the sheets twisted around her legs a little black lump was curled up, staring back at her with silver eyes.

"Ruri..." Rei sighed, extending a hand towards Miku's cat. It butted its head affectionately into the digits with a soft purr. "Was my door not shut all the way? You wanted some attention?"

The cat's friendly manner stopped suddenly, its wide eyes stared at the wall just to the side of Rei's head. When Rei turned to see what had caught Ruri's attention, perhaps an insect on the wall, she saw nothing but the blankness she was familiar with. She looked at the cat again, perturbed by its strange behavior.

Carefully, Rei lifted the small animal into her arms and made for the doorway. She flicked the room's lights on before stepping into the empty hall, wary of stumbling, hand groping for the hall light. It flickered on, splaying cruel shadows against the walls. Rei shuddered.

"No wonder you like to cuddle with people at night, it's creepy in the dark," Rei joked. She felt Ruri adjust in her grip so that the cat could look over her shoulder and stare into her bedroom. "C'mon. I'm gonna go get a drink of water, you can keep me company."

The trip to the kitchen was uneventful other than Ruri's growing restlessness. Cats in general did not liked to be held, Rei knew from watching Yuu try to forcibly bond with the tiny beast. She set the animal on the counter top and began fishing for a glass in the cupboards.

Ruri released a feral, sick sounding half-growl-half-mewl, and Rei nearly dropped the glass in fright. She placed the glass down with care, raised a hand to her breast in a vain effort to still her racing heart, and looked back at the cat.

It was crouched low on the counter, ears folded back and tail swishing angrily back and forth. It made the same peculiar noise deep in its kitty throat, eyes focused on something and nothing. "Ruri?"

The cat pounced with its ancestor's speed, just missing Rei's bare shoulders, and landed near the stove. Rei watched it in surprise before she saw what had agitated Miku's normally docile pet.

Struggling under the weight of Ruri's clawed paw, red butterfly wings tried to lift the insect's body from its grave position. Ruri had none of it and lowered its jaws down. Rei flinched when she heard the insect crunch.

"That's gross, Ruri," Rei gasped. She turned around to reach for a napkin, but when she looked back, Ruri was sitting straight up, looking all the world like the stove was the perfect place to just hang out. Rei rolled her eyes at the cat before she walked over to scoop the remains up.

There was nothing on the surface to wipe away at all. No disheveled body parts, no fragmented wings, no slime, no bug guts. "D-did you eat it already?"

Ruri flicked an ear in response, a soft meow meeting Rei's ears.


Rei awoke the next morning to the glare of sunlight not properly filtered out by her blinds. She grumbled something even she could not decipher and pushed herself out of the bed, trying to ignore the mystery ache in her hands and feet, like they'd been pinned down for far too long. They almost stung.

Just in time, a knock met her ears before the door was inched open. Yuu poked his head into the bedroom, then his hand, jingling a set of car keys.

"Rise and shine, we have a long drive to that mountain range you wanted to go photograph, right? We should leave soon. It'll be dark by the time we even get there, and I heard it's supposed to rain!"


A/N: And done. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would write something for Fatal Frame, but I did, and here we go. Can you catch my allusions? My forewarnings to our poor Rei? Either way, it's been a pleasure. Later!