ASHLY picks up a small table upon which are the Book Of The Dead, and the professor's journal. He throws it at SCOTT. This does not affect him, and he advances closer. The Book Of The Dead lands near the fireplace and edges of the paper darken from the heat. SCOTT picks up ASHLY and begins to throttle him as if he were a rag doll. The front door begins to give under CHERYL's pounding. ASHLY brings his hands to SCOTT's eyes. With a crash, CHERYL breaks through the front door and begins to push the dresser away. Pages from the Book Of The Dead are smoldering- in now. ASHLY jams his fingers into SCOTT's eyes and slips from the grip. SCOTT clutches his eye sockets and his back begins to smolder. ASHLY now sees the book. Its pages burn at the edge. CHERYL topples the dresser and enters the room. Her face is partially torn away from the shotgun blast. ASHLY rushes to throw the book onto the burning logs, but CHERYL, smoldering also, gives him a backhand blow across the head, and he is sent sprawling to the floor. She grabs a fireplace poker with her crushed fingers and turns back to ASHLY who is crawling toward the fireplace. When almost in reach of the book, Scott grabs his leg and begins to pull ASHLY backward. CHERYL approaches with smoke pouring from her clothes and slams ASHLY across the back with her poker. ASHLY screams. A glitter catches his eye. It is LINDA's necklace. Grabbing it, he tosses the end with a clasp toward the book. It slides off the cover. SCOTT pulls him back once more as ASHLY swings the necklace in a last desperate attempt. CHERYL raises the poker for the final blow. The necklace drapes over the book and as ASHLY is dragged, the clasp hooks the cover and pulls the book with him. With a yank, he seizes the book and tosses it upon the blaze. CHERYL and SCOTT freeze. The Book Of The Dead burns in a bluish green flame. Smoke pours from SCOTT and CHERYL as distant demonical screams are heard from the woods. The fireplace poker slips from CHERYL's hand and sticks into the wood scarcely an inch from ASHLY's head. The bodies of SCOTT and CHERYL then begin to cave inward upon themselves, collapsing to the floor in smoldering heaps. Finally, nothing is left but the burnt clothing and a blackish grey ooze on the floor where their bodies once were. The old clock begins to tick again, normally. ASHLY slowly climbs to his feet to stand above the fuming debris. Open- ing his hand, he looks down at LINDA's necklace. The force retreats from him, out the door, slowly returning to the darkness from which it emerged. Gradually, the natural sounds of the forest swell and trees lose their gloom as Autumn colors return. The first rays of sunlight gleam over the woods beyond the cabin. Daybreak has finally come.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"Ash screams.
"Ash, stop it's gone," Mustapha said as he shakes Ash.
"This wasn't supposed to happen why the hell didn't we listen to Cheryl. "Ash raged.
"What do you mean Ash? "Bashir asked.
"We played that damn recording and she lost it big time. Scotty said she was overreacting but then not long after it turned into a real shit show. "Ash replied.
"The shit show isn't over yet daylight is a temporary solution to this problem," Ahmad said.
"Then tell me how do we permanently fix this? "Ash asked.
"Simple it started with the book it ends with it. Professor Knowby didn't have all the pages when he recited the translations, so he couldn't stop it. and we can only hold it off. "Babette replied.
"You've got to be shitting me, I've been getting my ass kicked in there, "Ash said.
"Look, Ash, I know this is a bad situation but we don't have a choice here as soon as night falls the evil will come back and finish what it started, "Mustapha replied.
"Then we better get ready.
"How do you guys know so much about this shit anyway? "Ash asked.
"Our ancestor, fell victim to it. since then our family has kept watch for any signs the book might become active again,"Ahmad replied.
"Is that how you were able to find me? "Ash asked.
"Only partly, "Mustapha replied.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? "Ash asked.
"Our families have history. Your grandfather James and our grandfather Emir worked together."Ahmad said.
"What the shit? "Ash exclaimed.
"You're meant to fight these things but not alone," Bashir said.
"Oh, really that's nice to know and all but how does that help us? "Ash replied.
"Being a dick isn't going to fix this any faster Ash. "Amani scolded.
"Hey, I think I've earned the right to be a dick here, I am with my girlfriend sister and our friends, and thinking we were going to have a good time here then head to Jacksonville only to become hosts for fucking Kandarian demons who want to use us next. "Ash raged.
"Damn it, Ash! We are not the enemy here, "Mustafa yelled.
"We should have, just gone to Jacksonville, "Ash mumbled.
"Ash you all didn't know this would happen.
"Not even Professor Knowby suspected that translating the book would be the end game for him and his wife," Ahmad said.
"That's true but that changes nothing about this situation, "Ash replied.
"Come on, we better get back inside it's far too dangerous to be outside when night falls, "Mustapha said.
"Yeah, we need to figure out how we're gonna get the hell away from here, "Ash replied.
"We can't hope, to get away as long as the woods are possessed it's going to do everything it can to keep us here so we have no choice but to make a stand here, "Babette said.
"She's right we have an arsenal that will help you still have Linda's necklace that should ground you should they try to possess you, "Mustapha replied.
"Ugh, that residue smells like pure sulfur," Ahmad said.
"Not surprising since hell demons possessed them, "Amani replied.
"Yeah, can't do anything about that we have to secure this place as best we can," Mustafa said.
Ash and the Alzeez siblings took careful steps into the cabin. The comfortable feeling that Ash felt when he and his friends arrived completely changed.
He hadn't slept the whole night having been terrorized by possessed people who he deeply cared for.
The regret of making the trip out here was overwhelming.
But he couldn't change anything that happened and that hurt him just as deeply.
"When nightfall comes along we're going to war," Ahmad said.
The atmosphere outside was calm unsettlingly so.
A gentle breeze blew against the trees that had once come to life with evil.
The only signs that something occurred here was the bridge the damage done to the Delta and the damage to the window and front door.
But inside the cabin, the main room and the bedroom that Scotty and Shelly had briefly used showed signs of the events that slowly built into a night of hell.
Blood where Cheryl stabbed Linda in the ankle stained the floor as well as the places where Scotty and Cheryl's bodies decentigrated.
As they looked around at everything they could only be thankful that Professor Knowby chose to study the book in seclusion rather than a populated area where the evil could roam unchecked feeding on the souls of innocent people.
"You know the sad thing is Cheryl didn't want to come out here Shelly Linda and Cheryl were best friends Shelly and Linda didn't like the idea of her being alone while we went off to enjoy spring break," Ash said.
"Ash none of you knew what Professor Knowby had done out here.how the hell were you supposed to know you were walking into a trap. "Mustapha replied.
"Yeah, by the time Professor Knowby realized he shouldn't have done what he did it was already too late," Ahmad said.
"Ash we can't lose it now we have to keep our wits," Amani replied.
"God damn it I know that! "Ash shouted.
"Hey, I realize you had a really shitty night but yelling won't change it,"Ahmad said.
"Come on, we have to get ready," Mustapha replied.
"So tell me more about our families history," Ash said.
"You came from, a long line of people who thrived on being duty bound. Your grandfather James was one of them he was good at his job but his luck ran out when he got kidnapped and murdered.
"Our grandfather was the one to discover his body. Your father never got the chance to know him."Ahmad replied.
"Dad never talked about him, "Ash said.
"Because he doesn't know a lot about him. Elliot Ness and your grandfather James weren't targeting Al Capone just because of his mob activities though they didn't know it.
"Al Capone was to become host to a demon just like your friends and he set about making his gang host to demons they knew from our grandfather's would come to the very ending of their existence, "Mustapha replied.
"Which is why all of us will have a target on our backs even the innocent people who have not a snowball's chance in hell to know what this actually is, "Bashir said.
"You said Cheryl was acting oddly before anything actually happened what exactly was she doing? "Babette asked.
"She felt uneasy about being here. Scotty drove my car because he knew where we were going.
"The whole way Cheryl, felt uncomfortable. even after Scotty lost control of the steering wheel he assumed it was just the car but after everything that happened I now know it wasn't.
"But after we played that recording Cheryl got worse screaming at us.
"We calmed her down she sat right in this chair drawing when she suddenly got up and went outside. she ended up in the woods and she said the woods attacked her.
"Her clothes were torn she had scratches and she was bleeding, "Ash said.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Mustapha replied.
"How so? "Ash asked.
"It took away her security showing her that she couldn't be safe inside or outside the cabin," Amani replied.
"Yeah, It's really not secure even behind these closed doors," Ash said.
"Cheryl was a sensitive you are to the only difference is her fear opened her up to the evil," Mustapha replied.
"Your overwhelming grief opened you up but your thoughts of Linda are what helped you, "Babette said.
"Yeah, well shit I didn't expect any of this you know, "Ash replied.
"We know Ash but right now we're fighting this thing to a draw without the complete book we are in a shit ton of trouble," Mustapha said.
"Already figured that out Captain Obvious, "Ash replied.
"Oh like your doing better Captain Oblivious," Amani said.
"Hey, cut that shit out. We can't let this pit us against each other," Ahmed replied.
"He's right," Mustapha said.
"The only way we stop this is by working together," Bashir replied.
"Come on we don't have any time to waste, "Mustapha replied.
They shut the doors and took up positions by the windows looking out listening for any signs of trouble.
It was tedious and nerve-racking waiting for the evil to make its move.
"Hey, how you holding up? "Babette asked.
"I'm tired I'm angry and I hate we even came here, "Ash replied.
"That's understandable," Mustapha said.
"We can't let our guard down, "Ahmed replied.
"So, someone want to explain why a book can cause an apocalyptic shit show? "Ash asked.
"Because this book was designed for many uses Ash,"Amani replied.
"After our ancestor got possessed by it once he was free he made it his mission to figure out how to use it without repercussions and protect future generations," Basir said.
"Well shit might have been helpful if he left instructions," Ash replied.
"Did you notice there were no signs of birds? "Ahmad asked.
"Yeah, I guess the evil scared them off," Ash replied.
"That would be my guess," Mustapha said.
The evil force lay dormant in daylight waiting patiently for the night to fall so it could strike again.
"Remember we don't leave each other's sight," Bashir replied.
"Oh, that's a given, "Ash said.
They were all on edge tired irritated and just wanting to leave but they couldn't let the evil go unchecked.
So all they could do was wait and plan accordingly. going outside at night would be playing into the evils hands they couldn't let this insatiable force get the jump on them.
But while they planned the evil force was coming up with plans of its own.