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 Eleven

All of the Lonely Roses

Part Two

Bitter Stems in Bitter Families

"The thorns cannot prick their hands,

And the thorns cannot draw their blood,

It is their blood that draws the thorns in their hands…"

When I open the warehouse door, I am not faced with the outside world anymore. It is a black and white parody of the Tanaka house. I can see the main room as I did before when I saw things as Kaname. There is no blood or anything. Things seem to be free of death for now. Nina runs past me as I stand at the entrance. She has the largest smile on her face possible. Where is she going to? I peek around the corner to see her father kneeling with some prayer beads. There is a partition screen separating him from my view, but he casts a shadow on the wall and a silhouette through the screen. He softly asks of good things from his goddess before turning his attention to his daughter who waits patiently on the other side of the screen.

"Nina…" He shakes his head. He does seem slightly irked.

She laughs. "Kaname says she's going to make me a doll!"

Kazua nods and places his prayer beads on the ground on something raised (probably a pillow). I can't be for sure through the partition screen. He gets up and walks around to her side of the screen. He kneels to her and sits her on his lap. "Did I ever tell you about the Red Prayers?" Nina is at a loss of words. She does not seem to have a clue what he's talking about, and neither do I. "Well…" He clears his throat for a moment. "The Red Prayers, Nina, are special prayers that only a select few in our village ever get to make. These prayers are the ones that the goddess hears first and foremost, because they are from people she selected at birth. You'll only know if, and when, you're a Red Child if she visits you on your fifteenth birthday."

Nina scowls. "Am I a Red Child?"

"I've asked her many times before you were born to make you one. I only wanted you to be happy, Nina…" His eyes glare up, and it's as if he can see me. I back away with a gasp as he stands to his feet and starts walking. Nina tugs on him, but he ignores her. Can he really see me? Why is he coming after me? I slightly move out of the way as he reaches his hand what seems like for me, but instead goes for the shoulder of someone who had been standing behind me this whole time. It's Kaname Shibata.

"Please, take care of my Nina. I'm going to the Church for a while." He asks of her.

Kaname smiles graciously at Kazua. "Of course…!"

As Kazua leaves the room he takes another glare at me. And this time I can actually feel the stare. Chills go up my spine as his deep, maniacal voice suddenly enters my mind. "You'll always be around… won't you…?" The eerie feeling stops as he has left and I am in the room with Kaname and Nina. The mood is rather peaceful now. I can tell Kaname is such a caring and nice person. The atmosphere around her is just amazing. It's such a relief from what I am use to here. And Nina is so young, innocent, and pure. There isn't a once of evil in the room, or any bad vibe. The two of them sit on knee pillows and discuss Nina's doll. Everything is fine until I see the blurry-faced girl in one corner of the room. Around her appears a mist of black. She's huddled up. "I can't seem to get the red out of my head…" I look at Nina and Kaname, but they don't notice a thing.

I glance at the stairs to the left of the entrance. I think I heard some sort of soft whistling from beyond there, but I am not sure. Just across from the entrance is a door already half open. I peek inside to get the glance of an altar room. At first within in a split second it appears to be a village massacre. Jun Okura stands in a pile of bleeding bodies. She is nude, but not completely without something on her skin. It appears to be a red tattoo of some sort. She laughs insanely as she steps on the backs of those very few villagers still trying to escape. She crushes their skulls with hard stomps. Her bloody bladed knife is tossed at the door. It clicks off of it as I quickly shut it for a moment to shield myself. When I open the door back up, there is nothing and no one there. This entire room is empty. I walk in as I do believe a notebook of some sort is awaiting me in the middle of the room (about where Jun had been standing). I pick it up and read over it. It appears to be a normal diary.

Kaname's Diary 1: "Master Tanaka has been very leery of this room lately. I find that highly odd. It's supposed to be his altar room, but he's had some villagers help clear it out the other day. I don't understand why. The Master is an extremely religious man. Why would he want to do away with his altar room? I guess it makes sense in a way, though. He hasn't started acting like that until Nina's strange dreams. 1/5 Master Tanaka came up to me today and asked me to seal the door. I was taken back. Usually a villager cannot use the church's seals. It is considered a vile sin. I am stuck, though. Asking the Master why, as well as refusing to do so, is also a vile sin. I trust him, though. I will seal the altar room's door. 2/5 Nina has been getting lost a lot lately. She wanders for hours into the woods and she won't return home until nightfall, where then she insists on spending the night outside. I've asked the Master to please talk to his daughter. She won't trust in me anymore… 3/5 My duty of sealing the altar room's door is completed. It didn't go so smoothly, however. I kept hearing screams and begs every time I close the door, but no one was ever in there. The screams continue every night… And I often catch Nina staring at the door… Almost like she's hollow… 4/5 Nina tore off the seals last night. The Master was beyond angry. He pulled her from the altar room immediately. When she came out, a blue bruise was on her forearm and shoulder. Before I could ask Master Tanaka about it, it faded. Nina's eyes drearily looked into mine… She's been asleep ever since… 5/5"

As soon as I finish, I hear Kaname's voice calling after Nina. Nina is standing in the doorway. She looks at me. Well, at least it appears that way… No, wait… I think she can actually see me! She points and tells Kaname to look… "…look at the pretty scars, Kaname… … … Kaname, look at them!" I gasp as my body goes cold. I feel something growing on my arms. I look down. There's something red starting to cover me. I scratch and swipe, but it doesn't help anything. Suddenly Kaname yells at Nina for being near the altar room. She slams the door shut and I think she locks it, but I'm not sure. I run to the door and start to scream… and beg… It sounds like she's nailing something on the other side. Is she sealing the door? No, not now! I'm in here! "I've tried to keep the red from spreading… but this simple little knife just isn't working…" I freeze. Behind me is Jun Okura. She holds a locket of long, black hair. Something's different about her. She doesn't appear to be a spirit. Don't tell me… Don't tell me she's real…

"I keep loosing my way… I can't seem to find her anymore… I'm done… I'm done…" She brushes my face with the black hair. I can actually feel its tingle and soft touch. "I'm done with all the pain…" She laughs as insanely as she had before. She shows me the blade in front of my face. I can see my reflection… No, it's not me… It's not… The person showing in the blade is one of the dressed-up women, like I saw down in the tunnel; the one I became when I first entered it with Dagon. I gasp and bring my hands up, and so does this girl in the reflection. Jun pulls the knife away and aims down. What is she doing…? Oh… yeah… she's going to stab me… And suddenly, just as my thoughts couldn't be more right, Jun Okura thrusts the knife deep into my stomach. My eyes twitch and my face winces at the horrid pain. I vomit slight blood. My body begins to burn as Jun pulls out the knife. I fall to her feet. I reach up to her for some reason. I call out quietly… "Jun… Jun, my love… why? Why did you do this…?" She wipes the knife clean of blood with my hair, taking a lock of it with her. She looks down upon me. She steps on my back with one foot. She smiles. "Now, you want to know! Do you really want to know…?" Jun pauses. She looks up and then quickly back down. She raises the knife one more time high above her head. "Because…" She scowls. "… For me… It's never ENDS!" She strikes the back of my head with the knife. I can honestly say I don't feel anything. I just know my eyes close. And I can hear Nanako's voice singing softly… "Wake-up, daddy, no one needs to sleep… Wake-up, daddy, no one needs to sleep… … Wake-up, daddy, no one needs to sleep…" As she repeats this harmoniously, a disgruntled sounding woman growls over it loudly, "I can't kill you anymore…"

I wake up to the sound of Nina bothering me. She nudges on my shoulders and pleads for me to open my eyes. "Nina…?" My eyes open and I sit upwards against a wall. I'm still in the empty altar room. Things are a bit darker and I'm not alone. Before my face is Nina's spirit. I reach for my camera and I snap a shot. She fades away and I acquire the 'Wake up!' photo (a photo of Nina Tanaka; She begs for you to wake from your dreams). I feel at my stomach. It itches a little, but I don't see any blood. I lift my shirt up. What the…? A small red patch is there. It doesn't rub off, but it hurts to even touch it. I get to my feet. I stumble a bit as I head for the door. I can only hope it opens.

Just before I go to open the altar room's door, I hear Kazua Tanaka speaking with who might be Murdock (Monroe) Murrioko. Its basic mumbles on both parts, so I can't be sure. And even if it is them, I don't even know what they are talking about. I push the door a little bit more. It creaks, but not too loud. I can now see Kazua's form. He appears to be dressed in his dark colored church robe. He is not wearing the hat or veil. I can't quite see who he's talking to, though. However, I can hear them a bit better. It doesn't sound like Monroe. This stranger sounds like he might actually be Gerald Hemmingway. Kazua says, "… --sun go… It's not going to happen. No matter what you think, I cannot allow for this. My daughter is not longer safe. No one here is safe anymore. Why did you return, tell the others? Now more have come here… it's causing too much… The Church fears a Hell will be brought to us all… What have you done!" Gerald (?) laughs mockingly, "Have you yet to notice the ones you are Defacing are of your own people! The outsiders don't do anything but ask questions. You would, too, if people you loved were being spirited away…" Kazua scoffs at him, "And my own daughter?" Gerald (?) sighs heavily, "Let us hope that our daughters never meet; that NONE of the daughters ever meet."

It doesn't appear like their conversation is over, but they aren't sticking around to talk about it near me. Kazua pauses and says he has heard something. The two walk further away from me to discuss things elsewhere. I let down my guard and proceed to open the altar room's door the rest of its way when a pale face pops up in the crack. It's Kaname's spirit. I can hear her cry. She slams the door shut in my face. I fall back. A shadow is beneath the door. I stay put with my camera ready. When all is clear, I try the door again. I open it to see I am alone now. I step out into the main hall.

The house now appears like it should have in present time. The wood floor is rotting away, the various objects (vases, dolls, etc) collect dust and are sometimes broken, the walls smell of a musty antique, the ceiling is often warped and looks like it could collapse at any moment, and spider webs decorate corners and furnishings. I head to the main door. The only thing I can think of is: I want out of here. I mean, Jun tried to kill me! Or, well… someone that she thought I was? Anyway, I don't want to stick around any longer. I start to leave when Nina Tanaka appears further down the hallway (the main sitting room with partition screen; place I was first when first here). She stares at me with tearing eyes. She points down the hall and to some other doors. "He's been looking all over for you, Brianna. Please… won't you go talk to him?" A short vision in my head shows me of Nina laying on her back on some sort of circular platform. Five pillars that villagers rotate have ropes around them, and each rope from the pillars goes to one of these body parts on Nina: left and right ankles, left and right wrists, and neck. The villagers begin to rotate the pillars and…

I get back to reality suddenly. Nina is no longer before me… Shit… I just missed another photo… Slightly disappointed and highly frightened at the vision I had, I sigh at the door. I'm thinking to myself this place probably won't let me leave anyway. I am a tad curious, though. If Nina Tanaka was Defaced, then why was her body pulled apart? That's not how the Defacing Ritual takes place… I look down the hall to see two doors. Hm, too doors? I can handle that, I guess. I head down the hall and enter the first door to my left.

Kazua's spirit is standing alone. He is transparent, but the black rose he holds in his hands is very real. I remember the photo, and how I've collected the blue and red rose. I need that! I raise my camera, but Kazua fades in front of the lens. I pull it down. He's gone! Frustrated, I enter the room angrily. There is a stubby, wood table on the ground with about five pillows surrounding it. Plates and cups of tea are in each spot. Candles line the walls as well as religious symbols, portraits of the goddess, prayer beads, and worn scrolls. This appears to be a room for meetings. Something about the table strikes me as highly odd. Two cups of tea have been drunk from, and two pillows have need indents. A bloody rope lies strewn across the stubby table as well. I reach down to touch it when a blue distortion appears. I take a photo of it. I acquire the 'Extra Rope' photo (a photo of the extra rope Ogawa reported to Tanaka). Another image forms out of the picture. It looks like a small person's body wrapped in a bloody, white sheet being hung in the graveyard. It's a new photo called, 'Failed Defacing' (a photo of an apparent failed defacement of a sinner; the ritual hadn't gone as planned).

Nina appears behind me. "Will you wait for me?"

I look over my shoulder. Naturally, I am alone. The rope no longer has the blue distortion, in fact, it isn't even there anymore. I leave the meeting room and head back to the main hall to check the other door. It is immediately to my left. I enter it so see it's a very small room. It… looks like a child's room. There is no doubt in my mind that this belongs to Nina. To my right is a tiny, white canopy bed. The sheets and pillows match the pure white color. Candles line the walls of this place, too. All of the candles burn a warm, vanilla scent. I am still unsure of what the fragrance has to do with Defacing Ritual. Dressers hand painted pink are in the corners of the rooms. Some have paper lamps on top, others have fancy dressed dolls, and one has a stack of small kimonos. A closet door slides open on its own. It's to my left. I go over to it carefully. I aim my camera inside. There's nothing there, but there is a scrap of paper.

Nina's Note: "I can't live like this anymore. My body hurts. It keeps burning! I don't want to go to sleep anymore! Daddy, don't let me close my eyes again! She's… She's the only thing keeping me awake now…"

I get a black and white vision just after reading her note. I can see Nina sleeping peacefully in her sleep. Flashes of her being chased up the lighthouse, calling after her father (Chapter 3 reference), come and go. This disturbs and roughens her rest. She starts to twitch and convulse, and it gets worse as the images progress. A spirit shrouded in red, bloody mist gives chase after her, much like it had to me. I'm not sure if it's the same spirit or not. Who knows? It could be Mika, Miaka, Nanako, or Jun. The red mist makes it impossible to determine. Nina keeps yelling for her father, and as she nears the top of the lighthouse she can see him at the door. He looks at her. I'm saved! She thinks. A frown is on her father's face. He turns away and goes beyond the door, closing and holding it shut behind him. Nina hits on the door and screams. As the spirit nears her, she wakes up. Her body is sweaty, and on her grows a horrible red mark that has spread throughout most her body.

The image turns to her walking the dark and silent halls of her house. She heads to the altar room. She tears down the seals Kaname has placed on there. Nina heads on in. A woman with long, black hair stands facing the wall. She wears a kimono much like Nanako's… In fact… she looks exactly like Nanako Ohnishi. She turns around after hearing Nina close the door. Her face is still obscured by her thick hair. Nanako kneels to Nina. "He's trying to kill me!" Nina cries out and hugs Nanako. The mysterious woman holds her tight. She speaks in a very melodic, calming tune. "Don't worry… I will find a place for you; a place where no one will be able to harm you again… no pain… no scars or bruises… And here, you will have a name… and a face…" Nina looks up to her and wipes her tears away. She smiles happily. Upon hearing the comforts, Nina leaves for bed again. Nanako stands to her feet and watches as the Tanaka daughter heads off. She isn't alone. Kaname has seen Nina leaving the altar room. She caught her walking back off to bed after coming downstairs from her room to check on her. Kaname looks into the altar room, and for a split second, she sees what I had seen (Jun Okura in the sea of bleeding bodies, insane laughter, etc). Kaname jumps back and the door slams shut. All of the seals are repaired miraculously. The door won't open, but beyond the door Kaname can still hear Jun Okura's laughing and the slaughtering of villagers. "Nina…?"

A warping growl comes from her room. Kaname rushes over to Nina's bedroom, flings open the door, and sees a horrific sight. The body of Nina is in pieces. Her blood splatters cover the walls, ceiling, floor, the bed sheet, the pillows, the canopy, the paper shade lamps (which cast nothing but a red light in the room), the beautifully dressed dolls, and everything else. As Kaname glances over the horror, Jun Okura appears behind her with a knife. She stands it through her stomach, but as she is stabbed, Kaname awakens from a bad dream. She feels her burning shoulder to see a red patch, pulsating with blue veins. "Not another one…" She rolls her eyes. "I need to stop drinking tea before bed…" She laughs, but upon realizing the patch on her, she looses her cool. Kaname hears the muffled screams of Nina from the first floor. She takes off.

She stops just short of the altar room to see Kazua Tanaka standing over a small figure covered in white, bloody sheets and a rope around its neck. He holds his prayer beads, says a small prayer, and tosses the black rose onto the corpse before two churchmen carried it off. She gasps and leans herself against the wall. Her cries are not silent anymore. She bellows out for Nina! Kazua hears her and quickly looks over at her. He shakes his head. "Kaname, it's not what you think… She's…" A small voice comes from down the hall. Nina walks to her, rubbing her eyes. "Kaname?" Kaname grabs her and hugs her tightly. "Nina! I'm so glad you weren't…!" Kaname pauses as Jun Okura's body suddenly falls from the ceiling. She dangles there by means of a rope around her neck. Kaname jumps back, but no one else sees it. Next is Mika Aragaki's body falling down from no where but the walls itself. She goes to head upstairs, screaming in panic while Nina and Kazua look on highly confused. Once she reaches the top of the stairs the white-faced spirit is before her. It latches onto her neck, but before I know what happens to her, I wake up.

I'm in Nina's bedroom lying on her bed. I can feel something in my left hand. I open my palms to see the black rose! As I look at it I can hear Kazua's voice grumbling, "Through my shadows, and into my death; though I am unknown, my name is this breath." The photo of the door and the faded roses has one more animated on it now. I have the blue, the red, and now the black. I only have four more to go… but… where will I find them? And what exactly happened here at the Tanaka House? I leave Nina's bedroom and stand at the bottom of the staircase. I guess there's only one way to find out. Kaname… what did you see?

Any and all reviews welcomed!

I will revise if needed!

Next time: The Defacement Ritual

Thank you!

Author's Note

I'm sorry about the long delay here, too. However, I can pretty much guarantee the next update will be much sooner. My storyline took an unexpected dead end with something, so I'm currently trying to work things out smoothly. I do not intend to keep things out, but however, seeing as there WILL be a sequel, I can't give you all the information. And if this chapter seemed to be taking on a Fatal Frame III: The Tormented twist, it's because it is. I'm taking every Fatal Frame plot and working bits and pieces into my own original storyline. It's coming together nicely, and someday you might understand it, but for now… Let me tell you that you can believe a vision/text/stone, etc, etc, or not… Or interpret them in your own way. This sort of puts you in control of how the plot really is.

Aren't I cool? Hahaha… Nah, I just want to keep your attention and keep you guessing…

So you'll be back for more… and be dieing for the sequel.