Translated by: Maxmani

Original by: TheOVJM

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11924204/1/Photophobia-Touhou-Fan-Fiction

Photophobia

"Bed unmade, clothes on the ground, cupboard open, carpet rumpled," Marisa sighed in relief. Everything was still on the same spot as they were three weeks ago. Marisa then walked a few meters through a dark corridor and reached for the handle of a closet in the end of it. She took a deep breath and opened it.

"Completely empty and unchanged," Marisa sighed silently and turned back. She walked towards the other end that had stairs to the upper floor. Just before the stairs there was a doorway to the right that led into the living room of Marisa's house. She walked carefully straight into the room, without looking at the stairs that at first sight led to an endless darkness. Marisa's living room was quite big and longitudinally parallel to the corridor. The only thing seperating the corridor and the living room was a thin partition wall. Marisa walked towards a chair, that had been placed next to a small round table, in the middle of the room. She sat down on the chair and opened a book placed on the table. She browsed through the book squinting her eyes looking for the first empty page she could write her notes on. Three weeks of continous sitting in the dark had made Marisa's eyes very sensitive and she had difficulties to read. When she eventually found a empty page she started to write.

"Thursday, 23rd day since the removal of the amulet. Nothing weird after four o'clock," she thought to herself as she was writing the results of her last guarding round. The whole room was gloomy and dusty. Even though it was only afternoon, no light shined through the curtains covering the windows. Marisa then got up and walked towards the kitchen which was in the same space as the living room. She walked to a larder and looked at its contents. She believed she had enough food for around two days. That is, if she continued to sleep only 30 minutes each time every five hours. She sighed nervously, took a piece of bread and returned to the living room.

"Only an hour and 48 minutes, and it's time to do today's ninth round," Marisa thought to herself half aloud, looking at a grandfather clock that was standing against the wall. She had ripped the clock's pendulum so that its movement couldn't been seen from the outside. Curtains were in the front of the windows to block visibility, but Marisa didn't want to take any risks.

As she was eating the piece of bread, she took a red-white piece of cloth and a squashed up paper from her pockets. She looked at the piece of cloth and choked up. How such a simple item had led into this situation.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Marisa smirked to herself. Then she looked at the paper. This particular piece of paper was the last time Marisa had some kind of contact to the outside. It was a message from Reimu, Marisa's friend. Marisa had found the message on her front door the last day sun rose around three weeks ago.

It was a beautiful normal summer day. Marisa was returning to her home after visiting the Human Village. Marisa had bought food and visited her friends. While returning home she had noticed that during nightfall it had become abnormally silent but she didn't pay attention to it. She just wanted to get to home soon so she could examine the piece of cloth she had gotten that day. But as she arrived to her home in the middle of the forest Marisa found a message from Reimu hanging from the door handle. This was weird to Marisa since if Reimu had something to say she would say it face to face.

"Marisa, something is terribly wrong. Rumia has acted like some kind of disease is bothering her. We have already found piles of chewed bodies. I think that somebody has removed the amulet from her head. I have already formed a strike force, and we are going to deal with Rumia before that demon manages to do more harm. Read this very carefully Marisa. Your life might depend on it. Stay in your house and cover all doors and windows. STAY IN DARK! That demon of darkness noticed even the slightest of a light source before the removal of the amulet, so I can just imagine what she can do now. Even one glimmer of light and you might be dead. We don't know what we are facing, but stay in your house until we return. So remember: stay in your house, cover every possible entrance, do not make a sound and do not under any circumstances use lights. Good luck."

As she read the message, she glanced at the piece of cloth she had. It was her fault. She had removed it. She had heard of legends that this piece of cloth on Rumia's head was a magical artifact. But how could have she known that it was actually an amulet making sure Rumia couldn't break loose. Marisa then looked around her and noticed how silent it was in the forest. She swallowed nervously and stepped inside her house. She did as Reimu told her. She covered all the windows and shut off all light sources. She also tore the pendulum from her grandfather clock so it wouldn't reflect any light or make any sound. After this she went upstairs to her room to sleep. Marisa was very nervous. She could only hope and pray that Reimu and others managed to stop Rumia, and they would never get to know that it was her who had removed the amulet.

Night passed, but as Marisa woke up in the morning the sun didn't rise anymore. The silence was deafening and the darkness glaring. Marisa spent her day by sitting silently in her living room and hoping that Reimu would knock on her door and told her it was finally over. After three days of waiting Marisa stopped sleeping in her own room because walking up the stairs made too much noise. She had started to spare her food at this point. Few days later Marisa started to do regular guarding rounds every couple hours around the downstairs, and stopped almost completely touching her stuff to make sure that she would notice, if there was someone else in the house besides her. She tried to stop sleeping after ten days but soon realized it to be impossible, so she started her 30 minute sleeping schedule so stay up as much as possible and be ready to defend herself.

Suddenly Marisa woke up from her thoughts. She had fallen asleep on her chair. Urgently, she glanced at the clock. She had been sleeping two hours. Her face flashed white as she realized that the next round should have been done already. Quickly, she stood up from her chair and headed to the corridor. She listened for a moment but didn't hear any sound. It was as dark and silent as last time. Marisa then walked once again to her guestroom door and reached for the handle. She waited for a moment before she opened the door and looked around her. She then turned around and looked at a mirror she had placed on the corridor opposite of the guestroom door so she could see behind her and inside the room at the same time.

"Bed unmade, clothes on the ground, cupboard closed, carpet rumpled," Marisa sighed in relief once again. She closed the door and walked to the end of the corridor towards the closet. Reaching it she opened it and looked inside. The closet was empty. She closed it and, with relief, headed back towards the living room. Just before turning to the living room she glanced at the staircase. Darkness and silence screamed in her face from the empty and pallid staircase. Marisa swallowed and quickened her pace so she wouldn't have to be near that creepy place. She returned to the living room, sat down on her chair and wrote down her notes as always.

Even though the lighting outside didn't change, evening and night arrived eventually. In the meantime, Marisa had done a couple of rounds more and had just slept the 30 minutes she allowed herself to, or at least she thought she had. Without her grandfather clock she would have already lost her time consciousness. But when she woke up and stood up from her chair she happened to glance at the clock and notice something weird. The clock had stopped but that wasn't the weirdest thing. The clock had stopped on three o'clock.

"Bu-but I went to sleep half past ten and woke up now at 12 o'clock," Marisa slurred at herself. Slowly, she started to realize what was going on. How could have she known she had even slept half an hour. After all, she had awakened when she just happened to.

"H-have I slept 12 hours... five times a day... for 23 days?" Marisa started to think in horror.

"Th-that means that I... I have been hiding in my house for almost two months," Marisa thought, holding and shaking her head. She then looked at the book on the table that had an entry: Day 23. Sense of reality was starting to return to her head as she realized how much time had passed, and that there could have been nobody outside anymore.

"Am I alone? Is there anybody left outside?" Marisa thought in horror as she looked at the outdoor that seemed to stretch into the distance like a black hole. Marisa slumped on her knees as she realized that she had been waiting for Reimu's return for nothing. After about two months it was clear that no help was coming.

"M-maybe there is still somebody outside? Maybe I should go find and help them," Marisa slurred aloud and started to shuffle towards the door reaching for the handle, but slapped herself on the face as she realized what she was doing. She realized that opening that door would lead to her certain death.

"Who cares? I either starve to death or I will be eaten," Marisa complained to herself as she tried to decide if she should stay in the house or go outside. Marisa then happened to glance at the kitchen and she realized that there was a third option. A kitchen knife shined on the table invitingly like the sunrise. Marisa walked to the kitchen and picked up the knife from the table. A blade had never looked as lovable as now.

"J-just one thrust and it's all over," Marisa thought to herself with tears in her eyes and pointed the knife at her throat. But suddenly a huge hot wave swept through Marisa's body which made her drop the knife. She turned around slowly, sweating and eyes wide open like teacups, towards the doorway of the corridor. There was a sound of shattering glass upstairs. Marisa had never in her entire life felt so much fear as now. She had been used to all the sounds in the house being her doings. So now as she heard a sound she didn't make she froze in fear. Thoughts spinned in her head but instincts eventually got her to move and do a check of habit. She headed to the corridor and as fast as she could she reached for the guestroom door and opened it.

"Bed done, clothes missing, cupboard door loose, carpet ripped," Marisa thought to herself confusedly and laughed without thinking about what she saw. After this she headed to the cabinet as always. She opened it and looked inside.

"Good, good. Clothes are all folded nicely. Hehehee... Reimu is coming for a visit soon so the house has to be clean," Marisa gabbled aloud with a crazy grin on her face. She then turned around and headed upstairs. As she dragged herself upstairs Marisa muttered something incoherent to herself. As she finally got in front of her room, sanity returned to her head. She finally realized where she was. Shakingly, she looked around and on her right she saw the bathroom door and straight ahead her own room door she hadn't visited for over a month. Marisa started to breath heavily and took a step away from the door.

"You are going to die anyways so what are you scared of?" Marisa muttered to herself and took a step towards her room she had heard the sound from. As she reached for the handle and pressed it down, all possible horror scenarios flashed in her mind. The handle clicked and Marisa let the door open slowly. She took a deep breath as she looked inside. The room was completely untouched. Dusty but exacly the same than when Marisa had last gone there. She stepped inside and looked around. Her bed was neatly done and her elixirs that she kept on her brewing stand were still in place although dried up, but untouched. Marisa looked around the room confused until her gaze hit the shattered window in the end of the room. She walked closer and examined it for a moment.

"W-Wind shook a branch and broke the window," Marisa thought a bit relieved. She stuck her head outside so she could see outside for the first time in two months. It was gloomy and chilly. The fog was so thick that all objects within 50 meters were completely covered in it. Trees were gray and leafless. Apparently two months without sun had killed even the trees. After this Marisa looked down and saw how the grass had yellowed and all the plants in her flowerbed had withered ages ago. It was completely silent. So silent that you could have even heard a mouse run through the yard. It was also completely calm. You could say it was dead outside.

"Wait a minute. If it's calm outside how could a branch break the window," Marisa thought half aloud and looked down more carefully. There was a pile of glass shards on the grass. Marisa soon realized that the window had been broken from the inside. Fear started to overwhelm her again and sweatingly she started to turn around from the window. Marisa didn't make it far as she noticed something that paralyzed her again.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Marisa screamed as she noticed a motionless figure leaning against her bed's end. She hadn't noticed it at first since from the door the figure was left completely behind the bed.

Marisa looked at the figure for a moment, breathing fast and heavily, but started to soon realize how lifeless this particular figure was. Marisa swallowed and took a couple of steps closer in order to identify who it was. Marisa crouched closer holding her nose. The smell of a rotting corpse was horrible. But as she got closer she drew her hand from her nose in shock. It was Reimu's over a month old rotting corpse.

Reimu's skin was completely gray and stretched. Her black strands were still on her head but they had lost all their gloss and life. Reimu's dress had lost its beautiful red color and was stained with blood.

Tears ran on Marisa's face as she touched her friend's dried cheecks. All this time Marisa had waited for her friend's return without knowing that this corpse had been lying all this time in her room. Marisa pressed her head down holding back tears and noticed a piece of paper in Reimu's hands. Marisa took the piece of paper carefully, opened it and read in her mind.

"If somebody is reading this, there is no hope left. Rumia slaughtered my whole crew and seriously wounded me. I managed to get to my friend's house but like I had ordered the doors and windows were shut. However, I managed to climb inside from the upstairs window. It's completely silent. It seems like Rumia managed to find Marisa after all. I'm too weak to check but I can't think of any other reason for this silence. I feel like my time is coming so as my last act I will curse the wicked who removed the amulet from Rumia's head. I wish that Rumia will kill them last so that they will experience all the agony we've all been through. Rot in hell. So tired..."

After reading the note she just looked at the lifeless Reimu with disbelief. It was too much for Marisa when she realized she had slept during Reimu's death. Marisa dropped the note, stood up and started to hold her head in panic.

"Aaaaaahhh I can't take this anymore!" Marisa screamed and started to totter outside the room in panic and into the staircase. Reaching the stairs she rushed them down as fast as she could. This however led in Marisa falling down before she managed to get down the stairs. She collected herself and was going so crazy that she didn't even notice her broken leg or a short figure standing in the end of the corridor. Marisa just obsessively headed towards the kitchen. Getting there, she went through every cabinet and shelf searching for something. Marisa was so busy she hadn't noticed how the figure was slowly walking towards her. Marisa finally pulled a small box of matches from a cabinet, and looked at it with a mad grin on her face. She took one matchstick from the box and scratched it on fire. The bright light blinded Marisa's eyes but they quickly got used to it. Marisa looked at the bright flame. The light and warmth the flame gave was something Marisa was missing for almost two months.

"Hehehe. Oh light how I have missed you," Marisa slurred with a grin on her face bringing the matchstick close to her face. But at that moment Marisa finally noticed the face, which was looking directly at her from only 20 centimeters away, on the other side.

The figure had the sweetest yellow hair, that had a small bloodstain on the spot where Marisa had removed the amulet, and was wearing a clean black vest with a long-sleeved dress shirt under it. At first sight the figure could be mistaken for a sweet human child, but the face that looked at Marisa from the other side of the matchstick was far away from sweet. Huge empty eye sockets watched Marisa like a well. There was no trace of a nose and the mouth couldn't possibly be shut because the teeth were huge and jagged like broken planks. Rumia blowed at the matchstick, extinguishing it and darkening Marisa's field of vision. The only thing Marisa could do in fear was to just listen how Rumia whispered in her ear in a terribly sweet and delicate sound, "Is that so?"