Neonn: So. Fatal Frame.

This is rated T because, well, the game is. Also, Demon Tag Ritual. Scary stuff.

Disclaimer: I've been told that if I'm sued for copyright infringement, a disclaimer won't actually help me. So I won't bother to say that I don't own Fatal Frame.

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It's All Fun And Games…

Hitomi was excited. Her mother was taking her to the main house to play today. That didn't happen often. As a member of one of the four branch houses, she didn't often get the chance to play with her cousins. She was very excited—they were going up to play Demon Tag today. Hitomi had just turned seven this year, and was to be allowed to play the 'grown up' game of Demon Tag. She had played before, with other children her age, but this was supposed to be a special game. She would be playing with lots of people. Her mother said that everyone in the whole family participated in this game.

Best of all, it was just for the girls. Ever since her older brother had become one of the Four Priests who assisted the Family Head, Hitomi had been searching for a way to be just as amazing. What better way than to win a game that he, as a boy, couldn't even participate in? Even better, she didn't even have to do any work, like he did. She just had to play a game, one she excelled at.

Hitomi marveled at the crowded room. She had never seen so many people in her entire life. The room was completely full! Her entire extended family was there, mothers and daughters. The men were away; today was for the women.

"Kirie-chan!" she waved happily to one of her many cousins. Kirie Himuro waved shyly back. They were the same age, but Kirie was everything Hitomi wasn't. Quiet, small, and shy. She didn't talk much, and had a difficult time making friends.

"Hello, Hitomi-chan," Kirie always spoke in a quiet voice that was just above a whisper, when she bothered to speak at all. "Are you here for the game?" Hitomi nodded vigorously.

"I'm so excited! Nii-sama is so jealous, because he doesn't get to play!" Hitomi explained.

"I'm sure he is," a bitter voice interrupted their conversation. It was Mizuki.

"Mizuki-san!" Hitomi feigned joy at the sight of her. She didn't know much about her cousin, just that at eighteen years of age, she would be one of the oldest players. Also, that she didn't play fair. The last time she had seen her, she had been cheating in a game of shogi, removing pieces when her opponent wasn't looking.

"Mizuki-san," Hitomi's mother scolded her. "You shouldn't be like that."

"I just don't see why I have to participate. I did this last time. Obviously I'm not going to be…picked. It's not fair." Her voice was shaking, like she was going to cry. "Just because I have not married I have to go through this again."

"We all have our parts to play in this family," said Hitomi's mother firmly. Her voice was wavering too. Hitomi looked back and forth at the two of them.

"But, Mizuki-san, don't you want to play with us?" asked Hitomi, confused. "And you're so lucky! You get to play with everyone twice."

"You're right, Hitomi-chan. What could I have been thinking? Of course I'm excited," Mizuki's sarcasm was lost on the children, but Hitomi's mother frowned.

A bell tolled. It was about time for the game to begin. It was time for the parents to leave their children. Her mother bent down and whispered something to her.

"Be neither first nor last."

Hitomi was too excited to listen, however. They would have free run of almost the entire house, to play and hide in! She wished she knew the mansion better. Maybe Kirie would know some places.

Now it was just the children, talking happily amongst themselves. Most were excited and eager to begin the game. A few of the older ones, like Mizuki, were staring at the doorway fearfully. They were near the back of the crowd, as far from it as possible. Another bell tolled, and seconds later a woman screamed. Hitomi froze, wondering what had happened.

Mizuki was muttering under her breath, "Not last. Not first. Not last or first. Not last or first." Hitomi didn't know what that meant. Not first, obviously. Who would want to be caught first and have to sit out the rest of the game?

Her mother said the game would start when the third bell chimed. She waited, now nervous. The screaming had yet to stop. Over and over again, a horrible wailing that seemed to be getting closer and closer.

The third bell! The front doors flew open, and a woman stepped out, hunched over, hands on her face. She was making the most awful sounds Hitomi had ever heard.

"My eyes!" cried the woman, looking up at the sound. Hitomi stared in shock. Her eyes were gone, only bleeding, gaping holes remaining. Terrible, awful wounds, with red spilling out of them. Her hands now stretched forward before her like skeletal claws. Her hair hung raggedly around her face, plastered to the sides of her skull by sweat and bloody tears.

"My eyes!" she cried again. Everyone was running now, screaming and yelling in panic at the monster before them. It stumbled forward, grasping at nothing.

Hitomi started to run, grabbing the hand of the screaming Kirie and pulling her along. They had to get away, had to hide from that thing, whatever it was. It couldn't possibly be a person. The thought flashed through her head that her brother would take care of it. He would save them. He was one of the Four Priests, after all. But then she remembered he wasn't there; this was a day for the girls.

The room was rapidly emptying as everyone fled and hid from the creature. What had seemed like a fun game had suddenly become a terrifying nightmare. Something must've gone wrong, thought Hitomi. A real Demon had come, taking advantage of the one day when the men were gone. That was the only possible explanation.

"Kirie-chan, please be quiet, it'll hear you," said Hitomi, trying to calm down her terrified cousin. "It'll be alright. I won't let it get you." Kirie nodded, sniffling, trying to stifle her sobs. "Where's the best place to hide?" Hitomi whispered.

"Ah…this way," Kirie whispered. Hitomi followed her, trusting her cousin knew where she was going. Hitomi certainly didn't. They entered a room filled with dolls, all lined up in rows on red, draping cloth that spilled over the edge of the table and onto the floor.

"In here, she won't find us in here," said Kirie, pointing to one of the tables. She lifted up an edge and started to go underneath. She started to scream as she found that there was something already under the cloth.

"Kirie-chan-!"

"Quiet! The Blind Demon will hear you!" hissed Mizuki as she clamped a hand over Kirie's mouth. "Hurry up and get in here, the two of you!" They hurriedly did as they were told.

"I swear, if she heard you, I will never forgive you," Mizuki hissed furiously.

"Never mind the Blind Demon, there's a real Demon here, Mizuki-san," said Hitomi. Now that she had a hiding spot, she had nothing to take her mind off her fear. She started to cry.

"Stop that! And that is the Blind Demon! Didn't they tell you this game was special?" said Mizuki.

"What?" whispered Kirie.

"Be neither first nor last—it's bad either way," whispered Mizuki.

They sat in silence. Mizuki made it clear she didn't want them to make a sound, and in any case Hitomi was too exhausted by fear to talk anyway.

"I…I have to go to the bathroom," confessed Kirie, breaking the silence.

"Then go," said Mizuki. "I don't think she'll be able to smell it over the incense."

"I can't go here," whispered Kirie, scandalized. "I will ruin my new kimono," she stated in child-logic.

"Then leave. Just be quiet and don't lead Her here," snapped Mizuki.

"I'll go with you," said Hitomi. "Come on, Kirie-chan."

The two travelled slowly, quietly, listening for the telltale mumbling and shuffling of feet heralding the approach of the Blind Demon. Mizuki had refused to come, deciding instead to stay safely ensconced among the dolls. The game couldn't have started more than half an hour ago, but to Hitomi it seemed days.

"Here we are," whispered Kirie. They were outside now, by the covered well. Right nearby was a small shack that served as an outhouse. They both stood before it, neither wanting to go inside.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Kirie nodded guiltily. "Will…I don't want to go alone."

"I'll be with you. It'll be alright," whispered Hitomi. Acting braver than she felt, Hitomi slid the door open. She smiled back at her cousin. "See? We're fine."

She took a few steps in, with Kirie following close behind her. Everything was quiet. All they could hear was the sound of their own breathing. Hitomi's. Kirie's. Too many breaths.

Hitomi knew what was going to happen almost before the Blind Demon appeared from within. Hitomi had to decide in that instant what to do.

"Run!" she shoved her cousin out, just as the Demon slammed the door shut, trapping Hitomi inside.

"Hitomi-chan! Hitomi-chan!" Kirie was screaming. She could hear Mizuki, as well. She must have followed them. She was dragging the screaming child away, back to somewhere safe.

"Where are you? It's all so dark," muttered the woman, almost to herself. "Dark, it's dark. So dark…my eyes…" Hitomi moved back. She didn't have a lot of room to move, and the Demon was so close, so terribly close.

Something inside of her snapped. Her tiny, seven-year-old mind just couldn't take it. She began screaming. The Blind Demon was on her in an instant. Her probing hands pulling and twisting the child's hair and clothes.

"I've got one! Finally, I have one!" she moaned, pulling Hitomi close.

"Let go! Let go!" Hitomi screamed. "Nii-sama!"

The door to the shack slammed open.

"That's enough! You've caught her. Now let her go!" It was her brother.

"Thief! Thief! Give me back my eyes!" said the woman piteously, reaching towards the sound of his voice.

"Nii-sama!" Hitomi extracted herself from the Demon's clawed grasp and ran toward him. She clutched him tightly as he shut the door. He picked her up.

"Your part is done, Hitomi-chan," he said gently. "We have to go meet with Himuro-sama now, alright?"

"But what about the Blind Demon! And Mizuki-san, and Kirie-chan, and all the others?"

"You've played the game with your friends before, right? They'll be fine. The Demon just needs to tag them, that's all. She just got a little excited. You were the first person she found, after all."

Hitomi was almost disappointed. All that fear, all that stark, raving terror, and she was the first to be caught.

But it was behind her now. She was safe in her brother's arms. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He had saved her from the Blind Demon. He was one of the Four Priests, after all.

-End-

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Neonn: So, I kinda imagine Demon Tag as a weird cross between Marco Polo and Hide-and-Seek, but mostly like Hide-and-Seek. *shrug* I also think of the players as being all the unmarried/ irgin girls who are of age. So if you're a spinster…sucks to be you, right? And if Demon Tag is anything like I imagine, I would TOTALLY hide in the bathroom until the little kids couldn't hold their bladder anymore.

Yes, Hitomi becomes Blinded Woman. We don't actually know Blinded's name, so I gave her one. And I kinda liked the idea of Blinded and Kirie once being friends, and Blinded getting caught to help Kirie. And I made her brother be one of the priests. Specifically, I imagine him to be the shirtless one you fight outside by the well. (The Calamity is a fangirl. She took his shirt.) Because it amused me greatly. And I figure four priests equals four 'branch' houses, plus Lord Himuro representing the main house. The main house is the one privy to all the secrets and the like. The branch houses still know some stuff, but function more as the family's connection to the outside world, if that makes any sense.

Mizuki is just a random OC I shoved in there for interesting-ness, and she helped build the tension. I like to think she helped put in a sense of unease, and also gave me a character to (sorta) explain things. She had played before, so she knew what to expect. To me it made sense that some would have to play more than once, depending on their birthday and when they married.

Bleh. I always feel awkward writing serious stuff. Because WHAT IF I'M WRONG? Oh well.