Fatal Frame III: Chou no Yami (Butterfly of Darkness)

Chapter II: Gone, but not Forgotten...

The silence that had encased the Tokyo situated farmhouse still kept its grip, as if clinging to each wooden plank used in its construction, and the shoji's which separated the rooms to force its lack of noise about each room. By this time, the full shock of the letter had subsided from the young males mind, now trying to focus the remaining amount of his rational mind onto making some food - In specific, four Kobe meat rice-balls, wrapped in a rather thick layer of nori. His fingers covered in the salty water that he'd used to help keep the rice clingy to it and its other tasty siblings, they dripped over the kitchen sink, as the glistening rubies that he called pupils stared into the basin, not noticing the 'dunk, dunk, dunk' of the tap dripping into the basin. Although his mind was not focusing on the letter, it was still in a land of dreams and fantasies, playing over and over like a broken DVD player skipping on the same soppy romance film that was his first and only relationship.

"C'mon, Ryuuuu-kun! You know you want to walk with me to get an ice-cream, so why not just come with me?" The surrounding park, rather 'originally' known as 'Sakura Park', was a literal oven during the summer. At the scorching temperature of twenty four degrees, Ryu was down to the topless hourglass and cheese grater that was the male's torso and stomach, and a simple pair of 'Murasaki' knee-length shorts, black in colour and exposing some of the muscle-defined calves coated in a thin layer of small hairs. Looks like -somebody- was partial to shaving...

"But Kasumi-chan... It's so hot, and I already walked with you all the way to the coffee shop to get a frozen cappuccino..." Came the whined response, the girl with him tugging at his arm with her rather stick-like ligaments.

"Yeah, but now I want an ice-cream... and if you come, I'll buy you an ice-cream too! Please!" She mimicked his tone, tugging him slightly once more. Now, the girl didn't seem to care much for how people saw her - Wearing a simple bikini top which kept her unruly (but ample) chest under control, a pair of short shorts, clinging to each curve of hips with the slight string of an almost whoreishly exposed thong to top it all off. It didn't take much of a genius to figure out who she idolized when she played her RPG games. Yet, it seemed she unknowingly continued to try and bring him about to her way of thinking. Whilst tugging at her boyfriends arm, her own body was pulling closer, the top of his arm becoming buried between the held-at-bay breasts.

Suddenly, the twenty four degree heat became something closer to forty eight degrees.

His cheeks suddenly flooded with blood, bringing red to the tan Asian skin of the male as his arm was held captive by her chest. "A-Alright, but this is the last time, okay Kasumi-chan?" His eyes tried to narrow slightly to emphasize this, but the perky reaction from the female only caused his look to soften.

"Yay! Thank you, Ryu-kun!" She yelped out happily, proceeding to throw her arms about him, embracing his own slightly damp skin with her own, bringing a smile to his face, giving him the ability to endure the added heat she was bringing to him. "Love you..." She whispered, nuzzling against his neck gently. Suddenly though, rather destroying the mood, the male came out with a shocked...

"Shit!" His fingers slipped, destroying the current rice-ball which was being created, as the phone began to ring, destroying his concentration (and unluckily for him) the reminiscing of his love. "Bloody phone..." He mumbled under his breath, only just noticing the odd tear trailing his face now. His hand trailed over to the towel on the side, wiping his eyes quickly before just running it along his hands, to dry off his digits and get the desperately clinging rice from his hands. The ringing merely got louder, programmed to rise in volume as the duration of its stillness increased until it was answered. "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" He continued to grumble, hurrying down the kitchen into the living room, picking the phone up from its place on the wall and placing it to his eat. "Konnichi wa?" He blinked twice, as what seemed to be scraping came from the other end, and... static, mixed with groaning. "... Hello?" He raised his voice, blinking twice as he pulled it from his ear, looking at the receiver before placing it to his ear again.

"S... So... Cold... Can't..." Came the moaning from on the other end, of what seemed to be the voice of a man suffering, just much... lower, and drawn-out.

"What? Who is this?" Ryu questioned once more, narrowing his eyes. Was this some sort of joke?

"Can't... Breathe... Open the door..." However, as it continued to speak, everything suddenly dimming as if the lights of the room were on - But it was still only 4:23PM.

"Look... I'm hanging up now. Weirdo." It seemed to have him rather freaked, eyes trailing the room as it dimmed and brightened slightly. Not too much, but enough to notice. There was a 'click!' as he simply placed the phone down quickly, the room returning to normal. "... Just someone playing a trick... I guess..." He mumbled, picking it up, and pressing a few numbers on the dialling pad. "Now, let's see who it was..." For a few seconds he waited, tapping his foot as it picked up, an automated female voice greeting him.

"Thank you for calling the Matsukaze Electronics Inc., Tokyo Branch call centre. The last number that called you line was..." It clicked again, as it went to go to another automated voice, ready to relay the number which connected to him previously. Instead, it was replaced with a scream-like sound, mingled male and female voices yelling over each other, the odd phrase such as 'Please! Help me!', 'Get off!' and 'My baby! My baby!' came across. His eyes widened, standing in place as this bombardment of drawn out, pained tones assaulted his ears. Something about them were panicking, and instead of hanging up the phone, his hand shot to the cable allowing the phone to connect, and tugging it out, letting the receiver swing in mid-air lazily as he dropped it, backing up.

"... Okay, that... must have just been a crossed-line or... or something... Nothing to be afraid of..." However, in saying this the television now reacting, the screen changing from the program that was playing, some film about two Samurai fighting changed to static, flickering into vivid outlines of people, with voices to match.

He spun on his feet; eyes still widened as his foot drew itself back, taking a step away before it flickered back to its channel. However now, it was even giving the boy a chance to calm. The same static sound came from the old stereo on top of the bookshelf; the groaning 'Can't... Breathe... So... Daaaark...' coming from it.

Like a spinning top, he continued to spin from before to his new position in staring to the stereo - It wouldn't have been as frightening, it the plug, not in a power socket swung idly in the air, the half broken stereo continuing to play even though it was powerless and supposed to be broken. The room dimmed again, before it stopped, the light coming back in full brightness... Until the noise came again, from behind. It was closer... It had to be the phone again.

"Bu... But I... Unplugged the phone...!" Ryu whispered to himself, body shivering as the room dimmed, turning around before freezing up. What lay in front of him was the horror which must have been causing these problems.

Floating in front of him was the pale image of what looked like a man. Wearing something which seemingly came from a history program, of an ashigaru peasant uniform (a pair of black, torn trousers and stained cloth tunic, torn at practically every place possible on the clothing) with his body in a similar state. His body was scarred along the arms, with what looked like blade marks, his fingernails missing, or completely torn to pierces on his fingers, bleeding along them with a large red stain at where the nail began (whether it was there, for not). His head was tilted back limply, sliding along his shoulder and slumping forward, eyeballs a pure white like his optics had been simply removed and replaced with a smoothed down ping-pong balls, dragging its scar-covered face upwards, one large cut down the front of his face.

"W... What the... f-" Before he had a chance to even curse about what he saw in front of him, with a grunt it went from its slouched standing to an outstretched 'pounce', arms wrapping about his face as his strength seemed to suddenly wither and almost disappear. His skin grew cold rapidly, his veins the exact opposite, feeling as if they were on fire, burning as his vision began to darken from the outside inwards, the... things broken and non-existent nails clawing at his face, causing nothing to appear, yet the pain tore through his skin, creating an immense stabbing, burning sensation seemingly coming from deep inside his head.

However, something kicked in - The pain began to create enough panic to over-ride the paralysis the 'monsters' grasp caused, beginning to flail against its semi-real body enough to push it away, stumbling backwards, and trying to catch his breath as his sight began to recover. Continuing backwards, he watched as the groaning male flailed as it fell backwards, floating for a second before managing to right itself.

"So dark... Can't... breeeeeath..." It droned out again, beginning to advance painstakingly slowly towards Ryu, which in turn mad him step back, bumping into the bookshelf. His back continued to press against the pine-wood, the floating male proceeding to advance, attempting to grapple his prey once again. Rather smartly, Ryu ducked under his lunge, causing enough shaking in the shelf for the odd book to fall out, and a box - Upon contact with the floor, the box opened, the sound of 'pitchiou!' filling the room as a flash emanated from whatever fell from the box, a scream following this as the attacker stumbled backwards, covering his eyes and shaking his head.

"What... was that?" He stared at the cowering ghost, his eyes turning to the floor - A black and brown camera, slightly dusty and with a strange looking 'sutra' of Kanji etched around the lens. Unknown to him, this was the only defence he would have if he wished to survive - The Camera Obscura. It was obvious that this thing was the thing was reeling in pain... So he kept knelt, snatching up the camera from the floor.

By this time, the attacker had regained his composure, back into the 'stance' of floating forward, lumbering as it began to groan again, prompting his prey to pick up the pace a get away from him, sprinting down to the other end of his living room, over the books which had spilled to near his front door. It was here he saw something as he ran. The small opening in the trees, in the forest just outside his house was... another glowing, pale figure. It was female... its face barely visible as it looked in his direction, before turning and pacing slowly into the forest, before disappearing just as quickly as she'd appeared. Somehow, she was familiar... He just couldn't place it, especially not in this situation. Suddenly though, the letter came to mind once again... One line in particular...

'This tiny village, in the forest north of where you live'...

"North of where I live? That's directly... in the forest... Could that have been Kasumi-chan!" Ryu quickly questioned to himself, turning and aiming the camera in the direction of the ghost. Fumbling about with it, fingers touching each side of the camera as it approached further, just managing to find the right button as it proceeded to attack, the flash going off point-blank in the spectres face, causing it to scream out again, grasping at its face. Bringing the camera back down, his hand shot for the front door, turning it quickly and making his exit from the house, hopping his way down the four steps up to the farmhouse quickly, in a sprint towards the forest.

"Kasumi-chan... Was that really you?" He whispered to himself, glancing backwards as the ghost easily floated itself through the wall of house that had just been vacated, at an accelerated forward slump, hands dangling behind it as Ryu continued to sprint. Bounding over the log which laid at the entrance, his foot sunk slightly into the damp leaves which littered the now mud dirt, slowing him slightly as he continued to run, dodging his way across ledges and fallen branches as the trees ahead seemed to appear from no-where, each almost attempting to halt him so that whatever it was chasing him could get him.

It groaned out, this echoing in front and behind of Ryu, as it merely passed through each try that came at it, as the living male tried to follow the half-existing path which seemed laid out before him - Sadly though, his progress was cut off quickly as one of the rocks he attempted to jump from slipped from beneath his foot. Time suddenly slowed for him, as his foot gave way, one gasp leaving his mouth as this led to hit hitting the slope which lay below it. His body began to spiral down the ground rapidly, arms flinging about like someone had taken Ryu and instead thrown a poorly made mannequin down in his place, the Camera Obscura bouncing itself in circles as it tumbled beside him.

It seemed to continue for hours, as the ghost disappeared from sight, before a sudden 'thud!' stopped his fall. His body was numb... He couldn't move, and pain was running through his dirt covered body, staring upwards towards the sky. The trees seemed to twist and interlock, stopping practically any light from getting down to him. This numbness... Had he broken his back, or something? What was he going to do?

"I... I can't feel... My legs... My body..." He whispered to himself softly, breathing quickly in an attempt catch his breath from his running, and to try and steady his nerves from what had just happened. His eyes began to flutter closed, trying to force them open yet failing, as they finally clamped down.

Strangely though, after a few seconds of this, his eyes seemed to peel open easily... His vision was black and white, still staring up at the same ceiling of trees which blocked the sun still in place, as... lights flew about over-head, slowly taking shape as red butterflies. They continued to flutter, going past him. The males head tilted backwards to try and watch them, giving a small 'Wha-?' before his voice failed to come out. Something was on his lips... Was it... a finger? What he saw next was impossible to comprehend, especially with what was heard straight after.

"Shh... Don't worry, Ryu-kun... We're together now..." Came the soft voice, as a females face became visible - Soft, extremely pale skin part of what he saw, the deep sapphires staring into his own jewel-like eyes, waterfalls of pure ebony trailing over his face, the scent of sweet cherry blossoms filling his nostrils as he stared blankly into the face of what seemed to be... his lover.

"K... Kasumi-chan...?" Ryu gasped out, eyes still wide as she merely 'Shh'ed him again, beginning to lower her head towards him, her body seeming to get younger as it did. Her pale lips pressed against his, her eyes closing for a second as the lights fluttering about above her began to darken... become black representations of their previously red selves, the girl pulling back, her eyes now brown, and much younger, giggling.

"Together... Forever..." She whispered, now only barely resembling Kasumi. She had changed... Unknown to him, the form of his mother's twin sister, Mayu. She continued to pull back as the butterflies flew away, leaving him with this echoing 'Together... forever...', which seemed to echo more through his mind that it did the forest, the same weakness coming over him again.

"Kas... umi-ch... an...? Com..." His voice trailed off, eyes beginning to close, before finally shutting, left lying in the spot he'd fallen, not moving.

This was where the horror of Ryu's destiny now lie...

OOC: Hey all, once again! After this long down period of depression, which had taken most of my will to write, all the people who enjoyed the prologue have helped me see that my writing is enjoyed, and given me the power to pick up and continue writing this story. Thank you all. I hope you enjoy the first real chapter of my Fatal Frame fan fiction, and hopefully you'll review this also. If this is liked as much as before, I will continue the best I can. So, for now, ja ne!