Stray Dog
Rating: R/M (To be safe; describes children dying a series of bloody deaths)
Genre: Horror/Drama
Summary: Rule of Rose Gregory doesn't remember much from that night.
Author's Note: … This is one of those "Hit me at 4 AM things and I had to write it then or I would lose it" deals.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rule of Rose. It belongs to Atlus.
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Gregory doesn't remember much after his house.
He doesn't remember being led to the orphanage on a rope-leash.
He doesn't remember the orphans gawking at him in the front hall.
He doesn't remember the rope being dropped and the screams beginning.
The orphans screamed because the orphans were children, the oldest of them a bare thirteen. The orphans ran away screaming through the orphanage, trying to find places to hide. They thought they'd had the advantage- They lived there, Stray Dog didn't. They underestimated his hunting skills.
He doesn't remember the chase.
He slaughtered two of the boys, Nicholas and Xavier, right there in the hallway before they could reach the stairs or any of the doors. He ripped Nicholas' windpipe from his throat and tore out Xavier's stomach with his teeth.
He killed Thomas on the stairs, yanking the boy's foot and sending his forehead crashing onto the steps, effectively smashing his skull open. Grey, gooey matter splattered over the worn wood and Gregory doesn't remember it.
He killed Olivia in the kitchen as she tried to escape through the second door. It didn't take much, she was so small; He tackled her and crushed nearly every bone in her tiny body, snapping her spine instantly. He doesn't remember the crunching or the snapping noises.
He killed Meg and Susan in the library. He tracked them down and found them clinging to one another, quivering under a table in the library. He tore them away from each other and smashed their skulls open, clawing at their eyes and faces until they stopped moving and crying and shrieking and screaming. He doesn't remember when they finally fell silent.
He killed Eleanor on the balcony, finding her crouched there with her empty birdcage. He seized her by the arm and snapped her like a whip, throwing her back inside and smashing her against the wall, watching the blood spray across the wall. He doesn't remember when the spray stopped and starting to seep into rivers on the floor.
He killed Amanda in her sewing room, ripping her arms clean from their sockets and throwing the girl against the sewing machine table, allowing the machine to crush what was left of her body. He doesn't remember where he tossed the arms.
He killed Diana in the dormitory. She was looking around frantically for a place to hide, and he tackled her from behind. He bit into her back and tore out her spine with his teeth, throwing it aside and continuing to bite into her. He doesn't remember, but he spent the most time on the proud Aristocracy leader. He also doesn't remember that, of all the children he killed, Diana was the most peaceful-looking in death.
"What have I done?"
Gregory doesn't remember being Stray Dog.
He was smart enough to know that just because he didn't remember didn't mean he wasn't the one who murdered all the children.
"What have I done?"
Guilt. Guilt. Burning, raging, endless guilt. Atonement. He wanted to feel physical pain, wanted to feel the burn of hell as atonement for his horrible sin.
He sees the gun.
He picks it up.
And he smiles.
-End
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OO Holy crap. That's probably the most graphically violent thing I've ever written. I think. Yeah.