Fatal Frame: The Endless Defacement

by Dharknia

1st per POV. FF 1, 2, and 3 A girl must survive the horrors and terrors of a much larger and more dangerous village and its own reason for destruction. New and old spirits make their way into a haunting plot of rituals and deaths. COMPLETE!

5. This Pain

Disclaimer

Please read: I do not rightfully own the Fatal Frame title or its trademarks. This is only a fan fiction story. It is slightly based on the second Fatal Frame, but includes my own characters, locations, and certain items. Any mentioned subjects that are Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly characters, locations, and certain items are owned by TECMO and used for fan fiction purposes only.

Fatal Frame

The Endless Defacement

Chapter Five

This Pain

"I close my eyes to make it all go away,

I do not want to hurt anyone,

But everyone longs to hurt me"

I try the door at the bottom of the attic stairs once more. It will now open. I head through and into the Yoshiawa house. Apparently, this belongs to the Head Priest of the Church. It is evident by what I find in his house. I enter near a back balcony. It is actually more like an extended porch. I can see a wilted garden before me. I cannot reach it unless I jump the fence on the porch, which I do not feel like doing. I do not notice anything of interest there. To the right is a dead end with nothing to stare at besides an empty plant pot. The way to the Yoshiawa house is to the left, anyhow. As I make my way to the back door of the Head Priest's house I get a glimpse on how religious this man really is. Symbols that resemble a seven sided star with criss-crosses on each point are painted on the outside wall of the Shimo house in red paint. When I reach the door to the Yoshiawa residence I can see the same symbol on it, but it has not been placed there by red paint. It is wet and dripping, fresh blood. I enter.

As soon as I step inside an elderly man's spirit surprises me. He is wearing a large white robe with the symbol on the long sleeves and the chest. On his feet are dark brown sandals and he wears matching gloves. He has a tall hat with the symbol repeating on it three times to form a triangle of it. The elder's face shows him to be very advanced in years. His eyes are sunk into his skull and wrinkles cover every inch of him. He wields a long staff with the symbol decorating it. "Ready the ropes. We have a live one." I take his picture. I now have the 'Informer' photo (The Head Priest spreads the news to villagers about an upcoming Ceremony.) When he is gone I pull my flashlight from my pocket and search his home. I am almost certain there is another house next to this one. The wall bends in slightly. It seems to be to the right of where I am standing, but that would put it behind the Yoshiawa house if one judges from the main entrance. I focus on the contents of this house, though. There are paintings and dedications to the Church all over the walls, which are naturally made of wood. I can see the Head Priest is a well known person throughout the village. There are a countless number of letters addressed to him from people. He keeps them hanging on the wall, too. The floor is bare of any rug until I move to the entrance. An enormous red and white rug is before a fireplace where a picture of a spiritual woman is above. It can possibly be a goddess of sorts. She holds a white sheet over her pale and naked body. Her long, flowing black hair reaches beyond the frame of the picture. Her red eyes are staring straight out. I almost feel like she can see me.

There is not anything else besides the numerous candles that are lit and burning a vanilla scent. They are all over the floor. I make my way back to where I first came in from. There is a hallway almost directly across from the back door. I had not really even seen it. I had been more intent on seeing the fireplace, I guess. The hallway is short and has a stairwell at the end of it. A door is to the left as I start to walk to the stairs. I head through. It leads into a large area of bedding and praying. Blankets and pillows are scattered. An altar of more candles and another portrait of the goddess are also here. I move to the other end of the room where I can see another door. I head through here and find myself in another hallway. It leads to the left some ways down and to the right only a few steps. Another door is here at my right. I open it, but I don't step in. There is not much space. It is just a storage closet for more scented candles and extra blankets and pillows. I close it and start down the hallway in the other direction. There is a set of stairs leading down at the end of this hall. There is also a door to the left. I take that path.

The room is a kitchen and dining place. I can see rotting corpses of fish and wildlife animals that never got their chance to be cooked. A fire pit to prepare meals is next to the bin of meats. There is also a ground well to supply water in this area. A full bucket sits in wait. I glance over at the other end of the room. A very stubby table is surrounded by puffy cushions on all sides. A butchering knife is next to each dusty plate, except one. The seating area to the right does not have one. I think it troubling to say the least, but maybe the Head Priest has children. I leave the room and head back near the stairs. As soon as I exit I am face-to-face with Gerald's spirit again. There is no indication that he is going to try and harm me this time. We don't say anything to each other. We stare solemnly into one another's eyes. I am frightened, and he is full of sorrow. We both exchange a bond of pain. It is almost like we are each other. I know what it is like to be chasing something you long for with every fiber of your existence. However, the more I watch him and his stone complexion the more I sense something else. No, Gerald… It's not me.

His spirit turns to the stairs leading down. I snap a picture before he vanishes into the thick dark below. It's the 'His Longing' photo (Gerald Hemmingway wants so badly to know the whereabouts of his daughter. He vowed to die searching for her if it ever had to come to that.) I take the stairs down into murkiness of Yoshiawa's basement. My flashlight hardly does any good with the fog settling down here. The stairs seem to lead for eternity. They are not stopping any time soon. I have no idea where they are taking me. I cannot see what is to come ahead for me. I do start to hear the loud and brisk chanting of an elderly man. Over it is another man's voice. "They don't seem to know what they're doing to their people. They think they are helping their village by cleansing it of all evil. Why kill these people? Why kill them when they have done little or no wrong? Is it a cover for something more sinister? I don't know if I will ever find out. Hell, even if I did uncover the answers, I wouldn't be able to leave this place. There isn't a way out. I can only hope that someone catches on to what happens here… … and they don't come near… Please, anyone…save yourself… leave… leave before they know your face… … It's… It's… It's endless! It never stops! GO, NOW! LEAVE! Turn away… turn away…" When the man finishes so does the chanting. I also find the bottom of the stairs… and a locked door! It's a set of red double doors. I can smell the burning of vanilla candles. Someone's in there. They walk by and mumble something. I try again to open it, but nothing. A rose head is etched on the left door and a stem is etched on the right. I sigh and make my way back upstairs.

I backtrack all the length of the hallways and altar room until I reach the second floor stairs. I head up them with high expectations that I am getting closer and closer to the truth about this place. Does it even have a name? I am at the second floor now. Yet another hallway is before me. The walls are wallpapered with a faded silver shade to it. There are rips and tears in it. A few insects skitter on the rotted wood of the ground. I shriek as one crawls over my foot. I kick it away and keep moving. The third hallway of this house goes straight until an oak stand with a yellow vase is in front of me. It now turns to the left and heads straight once more. There are rows of windows on the right side wall. I can see the other houses faintly through the fog. For a single second I could have sworn I saw people with torches gathering somewhere near the large bridge. It might be a cemetery. It appears that someone is being hung! When I blink it all fades. I keep pushing on until the hallway takes another left. This time the oak stand has a red vase. The hallway goes straight again and forks another left with a blue vase on an oak stand. The goes repeats the same pattern, but with a purple vase. It does it again with a green vase, then a black vase, and when I reach a pink vase the path ends at another portrait of the goddess after a short right turn. I also notice some sheets of paper and another Spirit Stone. It's a Lazulite.

Monroe Accounts 2: "This puzzle confuses me. I heard from Munuta that the Head Priest kept high security on his main chambers down stairs. Munuta Aragaki lives across from Mr. Yoshiawa. He claims Yoshiawa has been spending a lot of time at the Church lately. When he is home he confides himself down stairs all alone. Munuta, who've I grown to be great friends with since my arrival, informs me that it is possible that Yoshiawa is separating himself from others in order to prepare for a ritual. A Priest must only have contact with the Gods and the Church. The villagers know when to remain silent around the Priests because they will veil themselves with black nets on their faces. There are many rumors to why they cover their faces, though. Munuta says it can be to let others know not to speak around them, or to protect themselves from whoever is to be sacrificed at the ritual. I am confused on the whole idea of sacrifices and rituals. I know they exist, but what goes on during these things? Why would Priests need to veil themselves from the victim? Munuta apologizes for not telling me more. He says he could get into trouble for even standing next to me. I will discuss matters with the Master of the Village tomorrow. Perhaps with some kind words he will learn to welcome my team and me." 1/2 "The meeting with Kazua Tanaka did not go well. First off, he spoke in a different language the entire time. Second of all, he refused permission for me to talk during the whole ordeal. There was a young girl, his daughter, to translate for me. She often whispered and looked at the ground. I hardly heard a word. I left feeling angry and discriminated against. No one means this place any harm! We only wish to know about it. I mean, we can't have a repeat of All God's. Can we?" 2/2

Lazulite: Man's Voice (worried, scared, tired, warped growls and static voices in background): "What…? What is WRONG with this place? I don't understand what has happened… Where are you? I've come a long way to find you, but… you're not here… Why…? Why?"

I leave the second floor and head back to the entrance of the Yoshiawa house. I am just about to touch the handle to the door and head across to the Aragaki house when I hear footsteps come from the back door. The entire place goes pitch black and my flashlight stops working. The candles are lit, but they do not shine any light. Their glare looks dreary and sad. I panic and start to wheeze. I try to open the main door, but it just will not budge. I can hear the elderly voice of the Head Priest. He is talking about a ritual; that it is time and the village must attend. I keep pushing and pulling on the door. There is never any progress. I run to the hallway and try the door on the left, but it has the same result. I start to head up the stairs (although I know it is a dead end). A group of about seven Priests start to descend the stairway. Each one has a robe that corresponds with the vases I had seen upstairs in the winding hallway. The Head Priest is in the middle. I back up and right in front of Gerald's spirit. His tearing eyes look at my fearful ones as I now face him. "It didn't have to happen this way… If only she had stayed home… If only…" He lowers his head and I move past him. I run to the back door and it will not open, either. I raise my Camera and start clicking away at Gerald and at the group of Priests. They do not vanish away. The group of Priests grabs Gerald by the shoulder of his clothes with their free hand and they start to guide him along. Six of them go straight through the front doorwith Gerald. He gives me one last look and one last, I'm sorry, before heading on. The Head Priest stays behind for a few moments. He goes to the fireplace. He bows his head to the goddess on the portrait. Yoshiawa now moves his hands over the candles. Their light casting days return! It is not longer pitch black and my flashlight comes back alive. The Head Priest glances at me before leaving. "You might want to leave…" He snarls at me. I take a picture just before he's completely gone. I've acquire three new photos. They are: 'His Funeral' (Gerald Hemmingway is about to meet his fate at the hands of the Priests in an unknown Ceremony), 'Alliance' (The seven Priests of the village ready for the sacrifice of a sinner in a strange Ceremony), 'The Bad Feeling' (Head Priest Yoshiawa feels something is different about the upcoming ritual after praying with the 'goddess.')

The entrance door is now able to be opened. I exit the Yoshiawa house. The Aragaki house is straight ahead. It looks about the same size as Yoshiawa's. The outside is made of the same elements as the rest of the places in the village. In the notes left by a researcher, Monroe, it speaks about how the villager, who has lived here, Munuta Aragaki, had been helping him to uncover the mystery surrounding this village. I start to enter when three villagers come from the direction of the Okura and Shimo houses. They are angry spirits that wield axes and knives. Why are they after me! I aim the Camera at them and start to take pictures as fast as I can. I am able to push them away a short distance. One of them vanishes to their ghostly death. The other two shout on about a traitor and a sinner. Are they accusing me of something? It's not me! I take a few more pictures until the other two have dispersed to their deaths as well. When it is over I continue entering the Aragaki house. What will I see next?

To the right inside of the house is a wall filled with researcher's notes. They seem much older and more aged than Monroe's. I glance over them. I do not feel like reading every single one. There are so many! What I can gather from the notes is that Munuta Aragaki collects these accounts to record patterns in what the researcher's find. The dates and times of events put this village here before All God's. The researchers that are mentioned on these notes claim the same things as Monroe and the others. The Tanaka family has been the ruler of this place since it began. There is no straight detail of what anyone uncovers, though. I have a feeling that Monroe must have uncovered something. The village is obliterated.

Straight ahead of me is a small door. It is not very high. Perhaps Munuta had children? To the left is a hallway that seems to wrap around and to the back of the house. The lighting is very dim. There are floor lamps with paper shades over them, but a few are filthy and cast a dark glare on the wall. I jump when I catch a glimpse of my shadow for a moment as I approach the small door. There are not any pillows or blankets on the dusty floor, I notice. The place is empty. Did something happen to Munuta Aragaki? I open the small door to see, not a child's room, but a damp cellar. The walls, ceiling, and floor are made of chipped rock and dug up soil. It's like someone had been trying to dig their way out! I get a sick chill up my spine. I hear the voice of a young male in my left ear. I can almost feel a hand on my shoulder once more. It is not Gerald this time. It's someone else. "We couldn't escape…" I peer behind me. There is no one there. I leave the room.

I make my way down the hall. It turns to the right and I follow it. There is a door at the left. I try and open it. It is locked. The young male's voice is beyond it. "They'll take us down with them…" I knock and call out. Instead of the young male replying I get the growling hiss of someone or something. "Go away!" An object slams against the other side of the door. There is a shadow at the bottom near my feet. I kneel down to see what was thrown. There is someone's face, well… someone's head. It is a severed head of a young woman with long, charcoal black hair and wide, brown eyes. A woman's hand reaches down and picks it up by the hair. The hissing voice speaks again, "That's mine…!" I stumble away from the door. When the shadow is gone I slowly peek back under. There is nothing but a pool of dried blood and someone's feet walking out of my view. I try the door one more time, but there is no progress. I move from it and glance down at the end of the hallway. It is nothing but darkness. There is one bright thing down there. I cannot really tell what it is until it keeps moving closer to me. It keeps getting closer and closer. Soon two more bright objects are below it. Are… Are those hands? Is it someone's face? It looks like the woman in the kimono that keeps calling me 'Miaka.' She whispers inaudibly to me. I shine my flashlight. She's gone…No, now I hear her behind me. I turn around. She is gone again. I keep looking back and forth. "Miaka, where… were… you…?" I start to continue down the hall when things seem quiet. I end up kicking something. I point the flashlight at the ground. It's a Blood Red Chrysolla. I take it and play it in the radio.

Blood Red Chrysolla: Woman's Voice (Tenses change between deep and low to squeaking and high pitch, running water in background): "I took care of you… I watched over us… I put the doll in the blanket…! Sung you to sleep… fed you blood and water… emptied your head…! Replaced the hollowed out dark with my own name… I remember you… remembering me…! They bled out, bled out…! Bled out into the rose red sea…"

I go on until I come to a door at my right. I open it to see an empty room. It is small with a hanging lamp dangling violently back and forth. The wind is strong and comes from an open window at the far wall. Purple curtains that are torn up like rags wipe around in the same breeze. It is strangely warm. At certain times when the lamp swings about I can see the transparent spirits of a young man with a rope tied on his neck, which seems broken by the way his head is titled to one side. He appears at one spot in the room, and now is not there anymore. He appears somewhere else and now is gone the moment I catch his image. I believe he wears a white shirt filled with holes and brown pants with tears at the bottom. He has bare feet, short, brown hair, and brown eyes (I think). The young man is rather tall and lanky. It is almost like he has starved. His bones stick out of his skin. I can hear the young man's voice. Is this… Munuta Aragaki? "They'll… take us down… They'll… ruin us like they did the others… We'll have to find another way out… You go ahead… I'll catch up later… Save yourself…" I start snapping photos. It does not do anything. His spirit will not even show in the picture. I stop trying to use the Camera on him. I'm very low on film. His spirit gets closer each time he appears at different spots of the room. When he reaches me my eyes are blinded by a flash of white light. His hands grab my neck. Another black and white 'movie' plays in my mind.

The view is through Munuta Aragaki's eyes. The Priests I had seen earlier are escorting him through a forest. Each one has a colored rope that corresponds with the roses and vases, as well as their robes. The hold on to one end and the other end is around Munuta's neck. The Priests still have a rose in their other hand. I cannot tell where they are exactly at, but it is most certainly somewhere outside of the village. The woods are thick, dark and hold a heavy fog over them. In the distance are lit torches that stand high. It resembles what I saw outside of the window in the Yoshiawa house. Munuta looks to his right. The Priests have veils over their faces, but I focus more on what he is focusing on. The village is there. They are traveling on a raised path just above the village. Munuta looks at his house. He looks into the window where I am currently standing in. He sees a woman with long, black hair and brown eyes. It's the woman who lost her head in the one room that I cannot get into. A little girl runs up next to her. They wave with tears in their eyes. Munuta lowers his head. As they keep moving the image flashes to scenes of Munuta and a researcher (most likely Monroe) talking over tea in the Aragaki house. The place is furnished, though. They are seated on pillows. Monroe is dressed in a safari-like outfit. In fact, he resembles Dagan's dad quite a lot. "They know I've been talking to you…" Munuta whispers. "You might want to leave…" A herd of villagers and Priests start to try and break into his house. "Quick! Leave out the back way!" Monroe runs down the hallway. Munuta's wife and child take cover in the small room. Munuta locks the door and hides the key somewhere upstairs… The image goes back to him glancing one last time at his house. His wife and child are not actually waving at him. It is just a memory of them. He starts to cry. "I couldn't help them escape… So I locked them away… What have I done…? Monroe…please return to save them…" The last scene is of Munuta's face. His eyes roll to the back of his head. "What have I done…?"

I open my eyes to see the wind has calmed and the lamp has started to slow down. I hear slamming. I shine my flashlight at the back wall. A part of it opens and shuts. Is that the back door? As I walk past the window the spirit of the Priests escorting Munuta appear on the upper path. I snap a picture. I've acquired the 'Munuta's Ceremony' photo (Munuta Aragaki heads towards the Ceremony grounds. He is upset, not that he is about to die, but that he couldn't save his family.) I think back on the small door after I hear Munuta's voice. "You came back…?" The door is not locked anymore. I wonder if that means that Monroe had been able to save Munuta's wife and child. Why did her head get severed off? What ever happened to his child? I turn away from the window and the back door. I'm not ready to leave just yet. I want to know what has happened to the Aragaki house. I need to know. I go back to the hallway and to the right. There are no more doors. There is a stairwell that leads up. I ascend them. I cannot help but feel that it is my turn to play the researcher. I have to uncover the mystery behind this village. I have to find Yumi and Dagan. I have to find out why Gerald and Munuta are missing. I have to know what Monroe found that caused this village to suddenly turn into a ghost town. I have to know who I am… who the childhood memory represents… This pain? No, this pain is not a childhood memory. This pain is a strong nag that pulls at me from all angles. It keeps going even after I am about to rip apart. I am so tired… will it let me sleep? My eyes close on their own and my body falls down on the wooden stairs. I drift off… forgetting all about this pain.

End

Chapter Five

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I will revise if needed!

Next time: House of Horrors

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