The Fatal Frame Chronicles: A Collection of Drabbles
Chapter 2
A/N: This chapter was finished a while back, but my computer crashed and I lost the document before I got a chance to upload it. D'oh. =/ I think I pretty much remember the gist of these stories, fortunately, so it's only a minor setback. =P
--Seductress--
"Hello?" she called out inquisitively into the dark hallway in front of her. "Is anyone here?" There was no reply but the formidable clacking of her high heels against the cold wooden ground.
She hated herself. Cast to the streets by poverty, she turned to the only thing that an uneducated woman has to offer for her financial support. The days had been cruel and miserable; she couldn't remember the last time she'd worn a sincere smile or felt a sincere happiness.
She'd woke up outside the mansion; all of her money was gone. The man she'd stayed with last night had drugged her. Equating a large residence to large amounts of money, she decided to search for clientele at ominous Himuro.
The woman turned the corner, about ready to give up and leave, when she saw the masked figure, the bloody sword, and the ground littered with corpses. He'd seen and skewered her before she even had a chance to scream.
(162)
--Man at Screen, Koji Ogata--
He had nowhere left to go. There were two doors in the main hallway: one of them was locked, and the other led to a fireplace room with nothing but another locked door. He gave a pitiful moan and tossed the bookbag on the ground in defeat, but then gasped upon hearing the shattering of glass. His reading spectacles were in there. "Stupid..." he cursed himself, bending down to inspect the damage.
Then there was cold.
Something cold behind him.
He whirled around to see the ghostly figure of a girl, pointing one gaunt finger to the partition next to him. He looked to it, then looked back at her, but she was gone.
He had not seen his reflection in Kirie's eyes, revealing the shining blue rope around his left arm.
Apprehension twisting his insides, he moved the partition away to reveal a musty door. He then realized that Himuro Mansion was more than it appeared.
Koji Ogata had no idea.
(161)
--Girl Turning--
"Oh..." she whispered to herself, looking down the deep well. She dropped her new doll. Her mother would be furious, but she was more worried about the doll; she'd get her new blouse wet. The girl couldn't see a single thing in the pitch-blackness of the well, so in a fevered moment of childish naïveté she reached in to try to grab it.
A cold, clammy, slimy hand grasped her wrist with astonishing ferocity. She screamed, but was unheard, for seconds later she was pulled into the freezing and murky water.
The only thing she could see was her doll, but something was wrong with it. Its innocent painted-on features were twisted into a visage of evil, with malicious eyes and an eerie grin. Its porcelain arms reached to her through the dark, and that was what terrified the drowning girl the most.
(141)
--Monk Into Dark--
The Himuro Family Master demanded that Kirie be purified for the seven days before the Strangling Ritual, and that the priests he commissioned to do the job remain there at all times. Things became pretty dull when duties were not called, however, and one monk decided to read up on the history of the fascinating mansion. After a fruitless search for material in the library – the lack of material on Himuro aroused suspicion in him where it should never have been – he decided to return to the Moon Well, but quickly got lost in the sprawling mansion.
He found himself in the Fish Tank Room, which was impossibly dark. Had night come so soon? He tread across the planks connecting land carefully...before hearing a hideous shriek from above him.
Long arms grabbed him and pulled him up into more darkness.
(140)
--Female Head--
The maids of Himuro Mansion had it rough. Virtually unpaid for having to scour and clean the gigantic mansion, it is needless to say that they were overworked to the breaking point. One in particular tended to the entrance areas of the mansion, and she had yet to clean the Fireplace Room, her least favorite.
She'd heard something about a ritual going on at the mansion that night, but she didn't really care. She still had to clean, ritual or not. As she dusted the staircase, in a state of automated apathy, she heard the door slide open. She didn't really care.
"Hahaha." The eerie laugh behind her was a little disturbing, but she didn't really care; the Family Master was a creepy man anyway.
"Don't you have a ritual or something?" she inquired half-heartedly. They were her last words before the sword sliced clean through her neck. As her decapitated head tumbled down the stairs, she realized that in the throes of teenage angst, she didn't really care.
(169)
--Broken Neck--
She screamed.
Her daughter was there, floating at the top of the well, her raven tresses billowing out from her head like some grotesque moss-laden fan. She seized the lifeless corpse of the girl and turned her around, and at seeing her, she screamed again.
Her face was locked in an expression of fear and terror, eyes bloodshot and skin gray. Her mouth was pulled open in a silent shriek of terror.
The woman had nothing without her daughter. Nothing but a completely empty existence. She was at the balcony of the tatami room before she knew it, heartbroken tears streaming down her cheeks, but before she could fling herself over, one fleeting thought crossed her mind.
"It hurts."
She didn't care.
(123)
--Floating Woman--
She left the world with no regrets. Married contentedly with three children and living in the Himuro Mansion, her life was simple but perfect. Happiness was merely a walk away to the Cherry Atrium to watch the trees burst into spring bloom and watching the iridescent silver fish swim through the pond in the back.
The disease stuck without warning or cure. As she lied there, quarantined in the unused hallway from everyone else but her beloved family, she looked into each of their eyes and smiled. The peace she sought would come to her soon.
Perhaps there WAS one regret lingering in her mind.
"Why couldn't it have lasted longer?"
(111)
--Wandering Man, Koji Ogata--
Hungry. Tired. Depressed. And most importantly, lost.
He couldn't really hear himself think anymore
but
and then there was that picture Tomoe took and he looked at it and
ropes ropes ropes one here one here and another and another
The rope circling his neck seemed to be the tightest. They hadn't been there when she took the picture. Koji would have been scared, but he couldn't bring himself to be through the
ropes
oh god where am I Tomoe Junsei please help me please Tomoe please
Cold.
Koji could hear ropes tightening. Not knowing what it was or where it was coming from, he quickly flung himself into the nearest closet.
the photo ropes hate you
(117)
A/N: I have to confess that I sort of forgot the in-game roles of a couple of ghosts in this chapter, most notably Girl Turning and Monk Into Dark, so I kind of improvised. Hope you don't mind. =3
Chapter 2
A/N: This chapter was finished a while back, but my computer crashed and I lost the document before I got a chance to upload it. D'oh. =/ I think I pretty much remember the gist of these stories, fortunately, so it's only a minor setback. =P
--Seductress--
"Hello?" she called out inquisitively into the dark hallway in front of her. "Is anyone here?" There was no reply but the formidable clacking of her high heels against the cold wooden ground.
She hated herself. Cast to the streets by poverty, she turned to the only thing that an uneducated woman has to offer for her financial support. The days had been cruel and miserable; she couldn't remember the last time she'd worn a sincere smile or felt a sincere happiness.
She'd woke up outside the mansion; all of her money was gone. The man she'd stayed with last night had drugged her. Equating a large residence to large amounts of money, she decided to search for clientele at ominous Himuro.
The woman turned the corner, about ready to give up and leave, when she saw the masked figure, the bloody sword, and the ground littered with corpses. He'd seen and skewered her before she even had a chance to scream.
(162)
--Man at Screen, Koji Ogata--
He had nowhere left to go. There were two doors in the main hallway: one of them was locked, and the other led to a fireplace room with nothing but another locked door. He gave a pitiful moan and tossed the bookbag on the ground in defeat, but then gasped upon hearing the shattering of glass. His reading spectacles were in there. "Stupid..." he cursed himself, bending down to inspect the damage.
Then there was cold.
Something cold behind him.
He whirled around to see the ghostly figure of a girl, pointing one gaunt finger to the partition next to him. He looked to it, then looked back at her, but she was gone.
He had not seen his reflection in Kirie's eyes, revealing the shining blue rope around his left arm.
Apprehension twisting his insides, he moved the partition away to reveal a musty door. He then realized that Himuro Mansion was more than it appeared.
Koji Ogata had no idea.
(161)
--Girl Turning--
"Oh..." she whispered to herself, looking down the deep well. She dropped her new doll. Her mother would be furious, but she was more worried about the doll; she'd get her new blouse wet. The girl couldn't see a single thing in the pitch-blackness of the well, so in a fevered moment of childish naïveté she reached in to try to grab it.
A cold, clammy, slimy hand grasped her wrist with astonishing ferocity. She screamed, but was unheard, for seconds later she was pulled into the freezing and murky water.
The only thing she could see was her doll, but something was wrong with it. Its innocent painted-on features were twisted into a visage of evil, with malicious eyes and an eerie grin. Its porcelain arms reached to her through the dark, and that was what terrified the drowning girl the most.
(141)
--Monk Into Dark--
The Himuro Family Master demanded that Kirie be purified for the seven days before the Strangling Ritual, and that the priests he commissioned to do the job remain there at all times. Things became pretty dull when duties were not called, however, and one monk decided to read up on the history of the fascinating mansion. After a fruitless search for material in the library – the lack of material on Himuro aroused suspicion in him where it should never have been – he decided to return to the Moon Well, but quickly got lost in the sprawling mansion.
He found himself in the Fish Tank Room, which was impossibly dark. Had night come so soon? He tread across the planks connecting land carefully...before hearing a hideous shriek from above him.
Long arms grabbed him and pulled him up into more darkness.
(140)
--Female Head--
The maids of Himuro Mansion had it rough. Virtually unpaid for having to scour and clean the gigantic mansion, it is needless to say that they were overworked to the breaking point. One in particular tended to the entrance areas of the mansion, and she had yet to clean the Fireplace Room, her least favorite.
She'd heard something about a ritual going on at the mansion that night, but she didn't really care. She still had to clean, ritual or not. As she dusted the staircase, in a state of automated apathy, she heard the door slide open. She didn't really care.
"Hahaha." The eerie laugh behind her was a little disturbing, but she didn't really care; the Family Master was a creepy man anyway.
"Don't you have a ritual or something?" she inquired half-heartedly. They were her last words before the sword sliced clean through her neck. As her decapitated head tumbled down the stairs, she realized that in the throes of teenage angst, she didn't really care.
(169)
--Broken Neck--
She screamed.
Her daughter was there, floating at the top of the well, her raven tresses billowing out from her head like some grotesque moss-laden fan. She seized the lifeless corpse of the girl and turned her around, and at seeing her, she screamed again.
Her face was locked in an expression of fear and terror, eyes bloodshot and skin gray. Her mouth was pulled open in a silent shriek of terror.
The woman had nothing without her daughter. Nothing but a completely empty existence. She was at the balcony of the tatami room before she knew it, heartbroken tears streaming down her cheeks, but before she could fling herself over, one fleeting thought crossed her mind.
"It hurts."
She didn't care.
(123)
--Floating Woman--
She left the world with no regrets. Married contentedly with three children and living in the Himuro Mansion, her life was simple but perfect. Happiness was merely a walk away to the Cherry Atrium to watch the trees burst into spring bloom and watching the iridescent silver fish swim through the pond in the back.
The disease stuck without warning or cure. As she lied there, quarantined in the unused hallway from everyone else but her beloved family, she looked into each of their eyes and smiled. The peace she sought would come to her soon.
Perhaps there WAS one regret lingering in her mind.
"Why couldn't it have lasted longer?"
(111)
--Wandering Man, Koji Ogata--
Hungry. Tired. Depressed. And most importantly, lost.
He couldn't really hear himself think anymore
but
and then there was that picture Tomoe took and he looked at it and
ropes ropes ropes one here one here and another and another
The rope circling his neck seemed to be the tightest. They hadn't been there when she took the picture. Koji would have been scared, but he couldn't bring himself to be through the
ropes
oh god where am I Tomoe Junsei please help me please Tomoe please
Cold.
Koji could hear ropes tightening. Not knowing what it was or where it was coming from, he quickly flung himself into the nearest closet.
the photo ropes hate you
(117)
A/N: I have to confess that I sort of forgot the in-game roles of a couple of ghosts in this chapter, most notably Girl Turning and Monk Into Dark, so I kind of improvised. Hope you don't mind. =3