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!

6. House of Horrors

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 Six

House of Horrors

"They are trapped in their own house,

A house sworn to protect them,

But now being there is… get out, get out, get them out…"

I wake up slowly. My eyes take minutes to fully open. The stairs are frigid and chipped. I find a splinter in my one finger. I try and pull it out. I wince quickly. Munuta Aragaki's voice comes from upstairs. I do not know what he is saying. It almost sounds like he is crying. There is another voice, too. It might be a female's. I can hardly tell. She speaks so softly and is overwhelmed by Munuta's bellowing. I hold my head with one of my hands. It hurts so badly. My world is spinning, spinning out of control. My eyes start to recluse on their own. As I make my way up the steps the air gets colder and denser. I can feel a strange moist coming from the far hallway. I don't see any doors at the moment. I reach to turn my flashlight back on (not remembering that I had even turned it off), but it is not there anymore. I now take notice of the fact that my Camera and my Radio are missing as well. I creep down the murky hall. I can still hear Munuta's crying and the pacifying of a stranger. The more I think of it the more I realize that it might be his wife trying to calm him. There are still not any doors around. I walk with the hall as it turns to the right. My feet kick up dust from the filthy floor. I can smell the mold growing on the house. As I round this first corner I notice a door on the right. It sounds like the voices are coming from within. I peek under, but I can only see a wood floor and a white wall with fade-spots. I open it. There is nothing in here except three sheets of paper on the ground in the middle of this empty room. They don't seem very old… in fact, they seem brand new!

Unknown 1: "Why do you stay?" 1/3 "Leave, leave, leave, leave, leave, leave…" 2/3 "Don't stay." 3/3

There is the ear-piercing sound of high-pitched static behind me. I turn to see my Radio is on the ground in the doorway. Confused, I pick the Radio up and open it. There are not any stones inside. When I close it the noise stops. I open it, but it does not return. My heart pounds as I hear the shuffling of feet and the growling rumble of someone's voice, "Why—do—you stay?" It was feminine. Is it Mrs. Aragaki? I go back into the hall and catch a glimpse of a bare foot disappearing around a corner. I follow down the hall and around the second right turn. There is another door in the same place as the other one. It is slightly ajar. There is another empty room with two more sheets of newer paper on the floor.

Unknown 2: "Don't stay. Don't stay here." 1/2 "Leave." 2/2

A beam of light casts over me suddenly. I look at the doorway. Sure enough, there is my flashlight on the ground. I take it back and I hold onto it tightly in my shivering hands. I hear the same snarling voice, "You can't… be… here…" I quickly jerk my head around the corner. I catch the same bare foot and an ankle going around a left turn in the hall. I follow and aim the flashlight down the hallway. The woman who has been harassing me and calling me 'Miaka' is opening up a door to the left. She places something (I am guessing my Camera) on the ground. She enters and the door closes behind her. I am stunned. I approach it, but it will not open for me. She slides more sheets of paper under the door. I pick them up.

Unknown 3: "What are you? Leave. Don't stay. You cannot stay." 1/3 "WHAT ARE YOU?" 2/3 "I don't know what you are… I don't know…" 3/3

I go further down the hallway. There is another door on the left. It is already open. I go through to see a large room with another archway to the right. The place is empty like the others. I begin to think that the villagers cleaned out Munuta's house after his death. This also means that his wife and child are dead as well. Like I realized earlier, the door where he had them hide is no longer locked. The key is upstairs somewhere, but there is no possible hiding spot with everything taken out. This also raises a red flag, though. Monroe might not have been able to save Munuta's wife and daughter. Perhaps they had been trying to dig their way out as the villagers took everything in their house. When they stumble upon the key, they most likely open the door to kidnap and kill both of them. Monroe, escaping the horror previously, comes back to see such an event. I do not know whether he is slaughtered along with them, or if he manages to leave. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that everyone here is dead. I just hope that Dagan, Yumi, and their team are not suffering the same fate as the researchers might have. I let out a rough sigh and pass through the archway.

The way leads downstairs. The steps are rotting and most have completely withered. I find it very difficult to travel them. It gets darker and darker as I reach the bottom. It becomes too dark that my flashlight only reveals a cloud of black fog instead of a clear path. It is narrow and only gets more discomforting as my arms brush against the soil and bug-infested walls. I inhale the lint from the air. When I cough it echoes in a deep manner. I am relieved when my feet finally touch relatively level ground. There are bumps and slants. I cannot see what I am actually walking on. Maybe it is hard soil? Maybe it is chipped rock? The flashlight works slightly better if I aim it upwards a little so it slants. I get a blurry view of dirt walls and a long hall. I can hear the wails of a woman as the hall takes a sharp right turn. It keeps going and occasionally takes some more sharp twists and turns. I soon come to a dead end where fresh specks of dirt fall from above. I point the flashlight up to see a woman's arm flapping about from a hole in the wall. I gasp and jerk away as it appears she is trying to grab me. She shrieks and catches hold on my shirt. She pulls me to the wall and does not let go. I persist in loosening her grip, but it hardly does any good. Is she trying to pull me through the wall entirely! I see two flashes of light. Is that a Camera? Is it Dagan? The arm lets go of me and retreats back into the hole like a snake. Something drops afterwards. I use my flashlight to identify the object. It is an Emerald (Small).

I don't play the stone in the radio yet. I go back to where I came from. I stumble across a Camera; my Camera. I pick it up. After I acquire the 'Arms to Bare' photo (Suke Aragaki tries to break through the wall from within a locked room to escape a gruesome death at the hands of Priests) a whisper comes from the other end of the tunnel. It sounds like Monroe! I do not know what he is saying, but he sounds close. I start to run for the stairs that I had descended earlier. When I reach them I aim the Camera at the top of the steps. I can see the back of Monroe walking away from me. It is too late to take his picture. I am close enough to hear what he says, though. "I failed you…I'm sorry… I am so sorry…" I do my best to hurry up the collapsing stairs and catch up to Monroe's spirit. As I make it to the top I see him entering the door that the woman closed on me before. My first thought is that, yes! It is open! The second thing that comes to mind is the fact that this means Monroe is dead for sure. Who saved my life? Is Dagan around somewhere? I approach the door after Monroe's spirit. I am not watching where I step so I end up kicking the item that the woman had put on the ground. It obviously is not my Camera like I guessed. It is a beautiful necklace with seven large pearls on it. Each one has two different shades of color. At one angle they will glow a certain color, but then at another it changes to a second one. As I truly examine it I think of the Priests and how they had such correspondences between their robes and the rose they carry. I also remember the vases. The colors are as follows: Yellow and pink, red and black, blue and purple, purple and green, green and blue, black and yellow, and finally pink and red. Do the diaries I find also have something to do with this? I keep the necklace with me. The room is as empty as the others have been. For a minute I can swear that I feel a presence in the room. At first I think it's Monroe, but it is not. He has regret in him. It is not Munuta's wife, either. She is frantic with fear and desperation. It is not Munuta. He has a strong hatred for himself and sorrow for others. Who is it? I hear footsteps…

"There you are!" Dagan is nearly breathless.

"Where did you go?" I inquire.

He straightens up. "I don't… I don't know. I woke up and you weren't next to me. I've been all over trying to find you. I was so worried."

I nod to him. "Yes, I was, too. I couldn't find you, either. Dagan, uh, your father… You said his name was Murdock, right?" Dagan replies that he did. I do not want to doubt him. It is his father, but Monroe looks so much like him. I cannot help but ask, so I do. "Then… why does he look so much like the researcher, Monroe?"

Dagan gets a bit distracted with my Camera. He takes the photos from me and looks them over. He puts them back in the Camera and now he is occupied with the new stone I received. I have not listened to it yet, I tell him. He purses his lips and decides to answer me. "His… his name is Murdock Murrioko, but… his friends started calling him Monroe. It was just a nickname… He went by it when he was working… … … Don't…" His face tightens as he tries not to cry, "… don't tell me he's dead, okay?"

"I won't, I promise." I loosely hug him.

He says that he has to check on Yumi. Dagan informs me that he has not been able to make contact with anyone in his team or anyone on the other teams as well. I blankly direct him to a warehouse-like building. He says that he knows of one across the village. He is also curious of why I am so sure of myself. I tell him it is about a vision I had. It is nothing, I claim to Dagan. He has to leave my side. He does let me know that there is a market nearby that he will return to. I should head there, he suggests. Dagan walks me down the stairs and to the entrance of the Aragaki house. When we pass the small door I glance there at the sound of Munuta's wife's whimper. Dagan takes notice of this and opens the door. When we enter we see the widow with her arms up in fright as she cowers near the dug out. Dagan snaps a photo and she vanishes. "Please…don't hurt me anymore…" He hands me the 'Captured' photo (Suke Aragaki is found by the Priests and taken away somewhere unknown). A small hole is on the far wall. Through it I can see the tunnel I had been in.

"She was so close to safety…" I lower my head. Dagan pulls a newspaper clipping from his knapsack. He hands it to me. He instructs me to keep it because he cannot bear to hold onto it any longer. His father's photo is with it as well. I hold it in my hands tightly. "Thank you. I will." Dagan leaves for the warehouse. I wait until I hear the main entrance door close before I read the clipping and place the photo away.

Newspaper Clipping: "…Murrioko, 45, was deployed to an undisclosed location near a popular hiking trail. It was rumored that hikers and travelers were disappearing whenever they took a certain path. Their bodies were found by others on the opposite trail that could spot a gruesome sight in the distance. The victims were hanging from trees. However, none have been recovered successfully. Murrioko, a highly experienced explorer, was sent in by his organization to find the cause. The tragedies were stirring up much turmoil in the towns and cities surrounding the area. People were threatening protests and their own investigations if the government didn't do anything soon. Murrioko was their last hope. 1/3 Murrioko and his companions are keeping radio contact with others stationed in a small town near the forest. His latest reports depict an ancient village with inhabitants. He claims most are quiet and unfriendly, while the rest are helpful and kind. Murrioko told reporters via radio about the Master of the Village, Kazua Tanaka. Tanaka had been rude and secretive about his village. Murrioko kept most of his findings to himself, he admitted. He did share with the rest of the world about a certain male villager that was giving him more than he bargained for. 'There are dark secrets here,' Murrioko said, 'very dark.' He was worried for this man, though. Tanaka was suspecting the villager of leaking information about a Ceremony and a Priest. 'He wants action to be taken,' Murrioko was heartbroken. He would feel responsible if anything happened to his new friend. 'The man asked me to promise him something. I obliged. I might be longer than expected. Wait for my next transmission to you all.' Murrioko never called back…2/3 Found… with child…on trail… ropes…3/3 "

The last part is smudged and I can barely read it. I can understand why Dagan is willing to come here to search for his father. It seems that someone had been found on a trail with a child. Although ropes are mentioned, I know he feels that his father is alive. It makes me wonder about the child. Munuta's daughter, perhaps? If it is his daughter, then it means that Monroe; or rather Murdock Murrioko, survived his escape from the Aragaki house and returned to fulfill his promise. He is not able to save the widow. I am puzzled with that. Did the child leave the room before her mother? How? I have a feeling that this room does not hold my answer. What about the one with the woman who lost her head? She is Mrs. Aragaki. She had been killed in that room, right? She must have gotten out and made it there. The Priests probably followed her there and decapitated her. Should I go back and check the door again? With all these questions I need to find the answers. I go back down the hall and back to the door where the woman lost her head. It is already open…

The room is empty just like the others. I can see where the spirit of Suke Aragaki went after she retrieved her head. There is a small closet. Did she lock herself in there? I can see the padlock on the door is not unlocked, but it is not locked either. It is destroyed. This means that someone forced the closet open. I aim my Camera on the door. Something about my Camera seems different. Did Dagan do something to it? I look at a small compartment on the side to see two orbs placed there. They are like the ones I have collected. I put mine next to those. I aim the Camera to notice the focus is clearer and the range is better. I can zoom in and out. Dagan also slipped me some more film. It is different than the kind I had before. Type-61? I smirk. He's sneaky. Suddenly my radio starts going haywire. There is a warped bellow coming from it. It is almost like a hollowed out cry. I pull it out and shake it gently. Is it broken? I notice a dial on it. Dagan never told me about it. I mess with it until I start hearing the voice of Monroe. There is a lot of static and interference. I am only getting bits and pieces of what he says. "We… notice a trail… wrong t--… by a… --ate… lock…--d… We can't find a way… --ll--… loud… --ghthouse… The lighthouse… … go… --ound… the trail starts out of the gates… only one is right… don't go, don't go… --out… a rose… for the dead…" I remember the stone that I found. I decide to play it after Monroe's message.

Emerald (Small): Woman's Voice (scared, chanting and shouting of Priests and villagers in background): "I can't find another way out! The wall won't budge, will not budge! What else can I do? Where can I go from here? They'll find me… They'll find me… Miaka, I can only pray that you are safe. I can only hope that they will spare you your life… Don't come back… Do not return! The time is coming, coming fast… We must… go… forever…"

I hear loud footsteps coming from the back room. I think it is Dagan. I think maybe he forgot to tell me something. My heart pounds when I call out and get no answer, at least not the answer I am looking for. "Where were you…?" The woman's voice hisses out. "I waited for you…" When I reach the back room's door I can see that it is already open. I had closed it when I left earlier, right? I peek through the crack. I can see the spirit of the harassing woman dressed in her kimono. She is kneeling on the ground facing the windows. I think she is holding a necklace of some sort. It is like the one that I found. I pull it out. She turns her head to me and squints at the jewelry I have in my hand. "I don't know what you are… but I've waited…waited for you…" She stands up and moves to me. I jerk away from the door as it shuts on its own. I can still feel her around. I aim the Camera at the door and take a picture. Her spirit is not harmful, according to the Camera. From the snapshot of the door emerges the white figure of the woman clasping the necklace to her chest. When I take the photo out I get double. It appears almost the same only it looks like a mirror image of the spirit—The first ones faces to the right and the other faces to the left. I've acquired two new photos, 'Mika Aragaki' (One of the Aragaki daughters, longs for her sisters return after escaping; thought she would return to save her from the Priests), and 'Miaka Aragaki' (One of the Aragaki daughters, thought to have escaped the village with a researcher when the Priests came for her family.) The back room's door opens once more on its own. I push it further to see a diary on the ground. I pick it up. The cover is blue with purple floral designs on it.

Blue Rose Book 1: "Under the Master's orders we have been watching carefully over the Aragaki home. It is a quiet surveillance. Munuta Aragaki, the father and husband, comes and goes before and after work. He collects grain and water for the village. Occasionally he stops at the Suda Market to purchase food for his family. Suke Aragaki, the mother and wife, weaves and sells clothing for the men and women in the village for profit and sport. She does so at home. We have seen her outside a few times to plant flowers and visit with neighbors. Mika and Miaka Aragaki, the daughters and sisters, live a very subtle life. We have only seen them outside to attend schooling at the Shibata house. We know nothing more. 1/3 A veiled man has been seeing Munuta Aragaki lately. His shoes are like the outsiders. Is Munuta betraying the Master? We've informed Master Tanaka about this stranger. It is clear to him, he says, that it is indeed an outsider. Which one, though? We have extended our search into the Shimo house where we can get a closer look. The widow is blind and nearly deaf. She holds no idea with our presence. We WILL see this through to the end. 2/3 The veiled man is Monroe, a researcher who has been bothering us all. I, Priest Ogawa, am most displeased. The Aragaki's were always such nice people… Now we know what we must do… Munuta, why? 3/3"

Things about the Aragaki family are fitting into place. Munuta Aragaki spilt information to an outsider about events in the village, which the Master took as betrayal because he was strict about speaking with people who weren't villagers. Why? I still have no clue. The next thing that happens is the killing of Munuta and his wife. Munuta is killed during a Ceremony, which I am still unfamiliar with. His wife and one daughter look on as he is led to his fate by the Seven Priests. I do not know where the other daughter is during this whole ordeal. The person who wrote in the book I just read claim they only left to attend the schooling. Was she able to sneak out? After Munuta's apparent sacrifice, the rest of his family is to be slaughtered. I am not so sure why the Priests feel that the rest of his family should die, too. There has to be something more here. Suke Aragaki is not able to escape and she winds up dead. One of the daughters, probably Miaka Aragaki, is led out of the village by the researcher, Monroe Murrioko. The other daughter, Mika, must have wandered into the horror happening to her family. Did she suffer a painful fate at the hands of Priests, take her own life, or die of natural causes? She keeps saying she waited for me… but it's not me! It's not… The mystery behind the Aragaki family is still a mystery! Something else happened… something else was uncovered after Munuta's death. Gerald Hemmingway's spirit interrupts my thoughts. He appears at the back door and he looks right at me. "This way…" He groans. He heads toward the main path. I follow. I take a last look at the room. I can just feel and almost see the bloodshed and the screams of the mother and the crying of the daughter. I sigh and make my way after Gerald's spirit.

Munuta… what happened to your family in this house…?

End

Chapter Six

Any and all reviews welcomed!

I will revise if needed!

Next time: Daughters

Thank you!

Author's Note

There WILL be a sequel to this story. What exactly it will contain, I am not sure. It honestly depends on the feedback that I get on this story. I could be part two of this one, or it could be a whole other plot all together. It depends on how the reaction to this one goes. And if I truly want to have the second part of the village (which will be mentioned in the story in later chapters) in this, or use that for the sequel. I am not really sure! Thanks for wonderful reviews. If you would like me to review any of your work, please don't be shy to ask! I am currently having difficulties writing chapter nine. Chapter seven and eight were easy enough. I could picture them and type them up like nothing. It was so easy, but I find myself completing chapter nine, and then earasing it. This has happened three times. I don't currently have the time to be working on it twenty-four seven. (The weekend is here! Yay!) However, maybe coming back to it with fresh eyes will help me out. Thank you!