Kwai Kwai nidobak! In case any of you don't know, that means "Hello, friends" in Abenaki. Now, this story is a little idea that popped up in my head a few months ago and I decided to make it a Halloween special story. I'm not planning for this story to be too long, but I already have all the chapters finished and I will post a chapter every day. Also, this story is in fact, a prequel to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films, but there will be some inspirations and nods towards the 2013 remake. I hope that you all enjoy this story. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 1: Words Don't Kill
The yellow sun shined brightly in the blue sky over the Tennessee wilderness. It was early October and most of the now multicolored leaves fell from the trees. The leaves decorated the forest floor with various shades of yellows, reds, and browns. A few deer, squirrels, and other forms of wildlife moved around in the woods and did their parts to prepare for the upcoming winter.
Within the woods, there was a dirt road and a lone vehicle was driving down the path. This vehicle was a yellow taxi car. The driver of the taxi drove the car threw the wilderness and drove up to a lone cabin in a large clearing. This old cabin was mostly made of wood and it had a slanted roof, like most houses and cabins in the area. There was a front porch and two windows in the front of the cabin. The building seemed to be very old and abandoned, but inviting enough.
The yellow vehicle slowed down to a stop in front of the cabin and the two back seat doors opened. A middle-aged Caucasian man and woman stepped out of the cab and the older man paid the driver the money they owed.
"Thank you for the ride." the old man said with a smile before he placed his dark gray top hat onto his head, which hid most of his gray hair.
"You're welcome, sir. Have a good day." the driver of the taxi, a handsome looking man with combed back blonde hair, replied with a smile of his own.
The old man nodded before he walked to the back of the taxi just as his wife opened the trunk, revealing a few bags and briefcases. The man took it upon himself to carry most of the heavy bags while his wife took one of the lighter briefcases. She then shut the trunk and waved at the taxi driver, who waved back before pulling the car away and down the dirt road where they came from.
Once the car was gone, the couple made their way towards the cabin and the woman used a key to unlock the front door before opening it. They then entered the dark cabin and the man finally set the heavy bags down.
"Oh Raymond, this is such a nice little cabin. So peaceful and quiet." the gray haired woman spoke with a smile as she flicked on the light switch, eliminating the living room.
"And isolated." her husband, Raymond, added as he closed the wooden door behind them so no bugs could get in. "Now we don't have to worry about a bunch of workers asking us questions about where to dig next and what to do next. I can finally translate it in peace." he commented with a warm smile.
That was the reason why they came to this remote cabin in the first place. This couple was in charge of an archaeological dig site in Europe and they usually had their sites on Sumerian and ancient European ruins. At their last dig site, they found two rather interesting artifacts that they wished to study, but they were always pestered by the workers about various things that kept them from their work. So, they chose to take some time off the site to better study the two artifacts. In their place, their daughter was taking charge of the dig site.
"I hope that Annie can take care of herself back at the site." the old woman commented with a soft sigh as she sat down on an old rocking chair near the unlit fireplace.
"She will be fine, Henrietta." Raymond assured with wife as he rested a hand on her shoulder. "She is a tough one, just like her old man." he added with a smile.
Henrietta chuckled upon hearing this and looked up at him with her old, but wise brown eyes. The couple was very proud of their daughter. She was strong willed, independent, and she loved Sumerian history as much as they did. They knew that she would be able to take charge of the dig sites they had well after they retired. But for now, they had work to do.
It was currently night in the state of Tennessee and the woods surrounding the cabin were ablaze with the sounds of crickets, frogs, and nocturnal insects. The fireplace in the cabin's living room now had a crackling fire that warmed the room up and kept the room lit without the use of the main light. At the work desk on the other side of the room, Raymond was sitting in the office chair with a lamp illuminating the contents on the desk. While he sat at the desk, his wife, Henrietta, was sitting on the rocking chair behind him, knitting.
Raymond himself was dressed in the clothes he wore when he first arrived; gray dress pants and a jacket with a white undershirt, but he wasn't wearing his top hat. He figured that there was no need to wear it while he was indoors. He smiled lightly to himself as he looked down at the contents on his work station.
On the far right of the wooden surface, there was a piece of worn cloth with an ancient dagger that seemed to be made entirely of bone. Sitting on the center of the desk was a book. This was an ancient book that was found at the Sumerian dig site. Raymond looked at the cover of the book carefully with squinted eyes and surmised that the cover resembled a human face. The face appeared to be in pain or angry, but this didn't bother him too much. What did bother him was that the book cover felt very leathery and he believed that the binding was actually human flesh.
With a soft sigh of anticipation, the old man opened the book to the first page, which revealed various Sumerian writing in long dried out blood. There was also a highly detailed drawing of a skull on the top of the page that was also inked in blood. He turned to a few other pages that showed more Sumerian text and various drawings of decaying corpses, anatomy charts, symbols, and what looked like otherworldly beings.
"The Necronomicon Ex-Mortis…" he whispered quietly to himself as he flipped through the pages and stared at the disturbing pictures.
Raymond spent the next few hours using various cheat sheets and notes to help decipher the ancient words in the book. It was hard work, but he felt it would be worth it in the end. The book contained ancient burial rights, long forgotten chants, and myths he was unfamiliar with. When he felt like he had enough to work with, he reached over at the old tape recorder next to him and pressed the record button. He then leaned towards the recorder's microphone and began to read his translations of one of the texts from the book.
"This is Professor Raymond Knowby, Department of Ancient History, log entry number two. I believe I have made a significant find in the Castle of Candar; having journeyed there with my wife, Henrietta, my daughter, Annie, and Associate Professor, Ed Getly. It was in the rear chamber of the castle that we stumbled upon something remarkable. Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, the 'Book of the Dead.' My wife and I brought the book to this cabin where I could study it undisturbed. It was here that I began the translations. The book speaks of a spiritual presence. A thing of evil that roams the forest and the dark bowers of man's domain. It is through the recitation of the book's passages that this dark spirit is given license to possess the living. Included here are the phonetic pronunciations of those passages. 'Kunda… astratta… montose eargrets… gutt nos veratoos… kanda amantos kanda." Raymond declared into the microphone before he ended the recording.
Immediately after the passage from the book had been spoken, there was a sudden gust of wind that forced the nearby window to open. The old man immediately stood up and rushed over to the window before he closed it. He mumbled something under his breath before he sat back down at his desk.
As he continued to read from the book and continued with his translations, Henrietta slowly opened her eyes, revealing that they were now milky white instead of the usual brown. She just smiled at her husband before she looked down again and continued her knitting.
Two hours of work had passed since Raymond had recorded the translation and he was still hard at work translating more pages. At one point during his research, he sat back in his seat to stretch his back and his eyes casually glanced at the mirror. His eyes widened however when he saw the reflection of Henrietta, who was staring at him with unnatural white eyes. He immediately whirled around in his seat, only to see her still knitting. She slowly looked up at him with her beautiful brown eyes and smiled sweetly.
"Is something the matter, honey?" his wife questioned with a gentle and sweet tone of voice.
'Honey? She never calls me honey. Darling, yes, but never honey.' the man thought to himself as he cold chill ran up his spine.
"Um, n-nothing, Henrietta." Raymond replied before he slowly turned around to look at his work. "I think I'm just tired…" he sighed.
"Then maybe you should get some sleep." she spoke calmly as she stood up from her rocking chair.
Raymond glanced over his shoulder to address her, but he let out a panicked gasp as Henrietta lunged at him with her knitting needle in hand. She swung the sharp needle towards him, but he dove off of the chair and out of the way.
"H-Henrietta… what are you doing?" the old man asked with a shaky voice as he quickly stood up and stared at her milky white eyes.
His wife didn't reply, but instead, she let out a soft chuckle as she slowly walked towards him with the knitting clenched in her hand. Raymond shakily stepped away from her as she came closer before he twirled around and sprinted out of the room and into the bedroom. Henrietta let out a loud laugh as he slammed the door shut behind him.
Raymond began to sweat as he rushed through the next door and slammed that door shut. He heard the other door he closed burst open, so he ran past the kitchen and into the hall. Taking a sharp right, he looped around the cabin until he was back in the living room. He noticed his work station and felt a sudden urge to record what was going on. Not knowing what else to do, he rushed towards his recorder and pressed the record button Before he sat down.
"It has only been a few hours since I've translated and spoke aloud the first of the demon resurrection passages from the Book of the Dead." he started, but stopped when he heard something coming from somewhere to his left.
Heavy footsteps could be heard coming from the other room and he sharply looked towards the hallway not far from where he was sitting. The footsteps continued for awhile before they suddenly halted. Raymond waited a few tense moments before he cleared his throat and looked back down at the recorder before he pressed the stop button. Perhaps choosing now to record wasn't the best idea.
As soon as he stood up, Henrietta rushed into the room he was in with the knitting needle still in hand. She sharply looked up at her husband with her pupiless eyes and she let out an inhuman shriek as Raymond screamed and dropped the microphone.
Henrietta stretched out her arms and flexed her suddenly pointed fingers as she sprinted towards her husband. Raymond ducked down as she tried to stab him with her knitting needle. He panted heavily as he quickly backed away from her until his back touched the shelves behind him and something fell from the shelf.
Looking down, Raymond noticed that he had knocked down an axe. Without hesitation, he picked up the axe and as his wife suddenly charged at him with the knitting needle raised, he raised the axe over his head and sung it in a downwards swoop. The blade was buried in Henrietta's shoulder and she let out a demonic cry as crimson red blood splattered out of the open wound.
With a loud grunt, the old man pulled the axe out of her shoulder, only to swing it down again, cutting into her other shoulder. Henrietta dropped the needle at that point and lifelessly fell to the floor. Once she was dead, Raymond dropped the axe he had used to kill her and he breathed shakily as he looked at his bloodied hands.
"H-Henrietta…" he whimpered before he grabbed her by the legs and commenced to drag her towards the trapdoor that led to the cellar.
With some effort due to his shaky hands, he opened the door to the cellar and dragged his wife's dead body down the wooden stairs and into the cellar. The floor was composed completely of dirt and hay while the walls were made from concrete and rotting wood. There were also various shelves that held rotting fruits, which mean that this basement was a fruit cellar. There was also a shovel near the stairs.
After picking up the shovel, he hesitantly approached his wife's dead body. Raymond spent the next hour or so digging a large hole in the cellar floor before he pushed her corpse into the hole and he refilled the hole with the mound of dirt next to him. He couldn't believe he was burying his own wife in the floor of this dirty fruit cellar. He knew she deserved better than this, but he couldn't think of anything better to do.
Once the hole had been completely filled, the professor made his way up the wooden steps before he slammed the trapdoor shut. Noticing some chains and a padlock nearby, he locked the trapdoor shut. Once the padlock clicked, signifying that it was locked, he stepped away from the trapdoor and tossed the muddy shovel to the side. He couldn't believe what he just did. Not only did he kill and bury his own wife, but he also couldn't bring her peace. In order to save her soul from the demon, he had to fully dismember her corpse, bu he couldn' bring himself to do that.
Raymond sniffed and shook his head before he walked over to his desk and sat down on is chair. With shaky hands, he pressed the record button. Even as the machine recorded, he silently stared into space, but he soon shook his head to clear his dark thoughts and began to speak.
"And now, I fear that my wife has become host to a Kandarian demon. May God forgive me for what I have unleashed onto this earth. Henrietta tried to… kill me. It is now October first, four thirty three P.M. Henrietta is dead. I could not bring myself to dismember her corpse. But I dragged her down the steps… and I buried her. I buried her in the cellar. God Help me, I buried her in the earthen floor of the fruit cellar." the old man spoke with a shaky voice before he ended the recording.
Immediately after he pressed the stop button, he rested his face on his hands and began to cry. It wasn't like him to break down in such a fashion, but the very recent events did a little more than trouble him. As he cried miserably to himself, something outside the cabin watched him through the window; something unnatural with ill intentions.
Two days have passed since the night Professor Knowby read the translations to that book and he had been spending sleepless nights trying to translate a passage that would reverse whatever evil he's unleashed on the world. During his time alone in the cabin, he had managed to find some weapons to defend himself. He kept the axe and shovel near his desk at all times while he carried his personal M1911 pistol in his jacket at all times. He also had a double barreled shotgun he bought from S-Mart a few years ago at arm's reach.
Thankfully, no sounds came from the fruit cellar below and Henrietta didn't return from the dead, which is what he thought would happen. He read in a passage that the only way to stop the Evil that had possessed his wife was to fully dismember her corpse. Of course, he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing to his own wife.
Raymond Knowby sighed heavily as he leaned back in his chair and looked down at the shotgun he had resting on his lap. Nothing else strange had happened since the incident with Henrietta, but he always felt like he was being watched.
He took this particular moment of peace to recall what he knew about the surrounding area. From what he was told about this place, the cabin he was in was completely surrounded by wilderness, but there were some points of interest. To the west of the cabin, there was a family of locals that lived together in an old house. He remembered hearing some colorful rumors about that family. He didn't believe them at first, but now he didn't want to test his already bad luck by seeking out their aid.
To the east of the cabin, there was a boy scout camp. Raymond prayed to that whatever evil he's unleashed hadn't gotten to that camp. Even though it was now autumn and summer break was over, children would still go to those camps every now and then for various activities that the camp was hosting. Raymond already had his wife's blood on his hands; he didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of children either. A cold shiver ran up his spine just by thinking about it.
That is when he remembered something that might help him. There was a Christian church to the north of the cabin. If there was a priest currently at that church, then perhaps Raymond could have some reliable help stopping this Evil.
With this in mind, the professor stood up with the double barreled shotgun in hand and he absentmindedly tapped his jacket's inner pocket to make sure his pistol was still there, which it was. He then grabbed his top hat from the nearby sofa and placed it over his head. Once he felt like he had everything he needed, the old man made his way to the back of the cabin and opened the door that led to the back yard.
Professor Knowby's bloodshot eyes blinked a few times as he stared at the skeletal trees and the work shed in front of him. It was currently late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set. There was also a dirt path that would lead him towards the church. He guessed that it would be night by the time he reached the church.
With a shaky breath, Raymond stepped out of the cabin and closed the door behind him. He held his shotgun close as he half walked, half jogged his way down the dirt road and headed northward. If he was going to stop this otherworldly power, he was going to need help.