Chapter 2: Return of the King
oooo
It was just before dawn, still dark out. The door to the apartment of one Ashley J. Williams creaked open and out stepped a handsome man in his mid- thirties with short black hair and a right hand of metal. He had an old drawstring sack thrown over his shoulder. It looked like he was carrying a large power tool of some sort. He pulled his door closed behind him and made his way across the catwalk. He appeared to have a look of distress and nervousness on his face. Like he was expecting something bad.
Before he could make it to the stairs a door opened behind him and he heard a voice call his name.
"Hey Ash. Where are you off to this early?"
He knew who it was before he turned around to face him. It was his neighbor Ted who lived a few doors down. He had stepped out to get the morning paper. Ash tried his best to sound like his normal self. "Oh, just going out into the woods for a little early morning hunt."
"I didn't know you hunt. Where you going?"
"Up near the mountains in Tennessee."
"Tennessee? That's quite a drive. You had better get going then if you want to make it before noon."
"Yeah. Tell me about it. I got a few stops to make first. You always want to be well prepared. Especially when you're hunting what I'm hunting."
"And What's that?"
"I'm not sure yet."
"Uh huh. Ash, you're bleeding"
"Huh?" Ash felt a warm trickle on his upper lip. He put the edge of his real hand to it to feel what it was. It was blood. His nerves were already making his blood thin out and he hasn't even left town yet. "Guess it's the air." he said calmly as he wiped it away.
"Yeah." said Ted with a bit of uncertainty behind his voice. "Be seeing you. And good luck out there." He waved to him and went back inside his apartment with paper in hand.
"Yeah. A whole lotta good that'll do." Ash said to himself.
The sun was starting to come up. Ash knew that it would be just plain stupid to go to the cabin during the night when he could go during the day. He knew he'd be safe from the deadites during the day, hopefully.
He was unsure of what he would find waiting for him at the cabin but he wasn't going to take any chances. All he had with him was his trusty chainsaw and sawed off double barrel. But that wasn't going to cut it. If there was any chance that he would run into a deadite out there he wanted to be well prepared and he knew of a place that could help him with that. Guns and ammo of all shapes and sizes right then and there, no waiting period, and no questions asked. It wouldn't hurt to stock up on weapons of the non-projectile variety as well.
Ash went over the possibilities in his mind. There was little chance of something going wrong but when you're dealing with the deadites you have to expect the impossible. Who knows? He could be on his way to nothing more than a run down cabin. But then again, he could be on his way to another war.
oooo
Somewhere near the Tennessee boarder . . .
It was almost noon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Things were looking good. Ash had been driving along the main roads for a couple of hours now but it was time to take a detour. He pulled off onto a dirt road, crushing the overgrown shrubs and bushes in his way.
He eventually made it to one of his least favorite landmarks: The bridge. It looked as if nothing had ever happened. It was still in one piece. Ash stopped just a few feet in front of it and got out his car. He looked across the valley to the other side. All he could really see were trees. Everything appeared to be normal.
He remembered a few years ago after he returned from Kandar seeing the news on TV about Professor Raymond Knowby's disappearance along with his wife, his daughter, her associate, a road worker and his girlfriend. They had mentioned the cabin being in shambles but there was never anything about the bridge.
Ash stepped forward, onto the wood and metal. He looked off into the distance, still trying to see to the other side while rubbing his mouth and chin. He mumbled to himself. "Seems okay now. But something tells me if I cross it and come back later it won't be here. Call it instinct or common sense."
But he had to press on. Hopefully the bridge would stay. He climbed back into his car and made his way across, sweating the entire time. Worried that at any minute the whole thing would collapse by the will of some evil force. But that didn't happen. Ash made it across just fine.
As he continued to drive forward he spun his head around and watched the bridge as it became small and smaller and eventually disappeared behind the trees. In a panic he suddenly slammed on his breaks, put the car in reverse, and drove backwards until he could see the bridge again. "Okay. Still there."
He sat forward. Two seconds later he spun around again to see the bridge still intact. He began shaking his head up and down slowly. "Yeah. That's right," he said nervously. Semi-confident that the bridge would remain he continued forward.
The cabin wasn't too far off. Only half a mile. Ash started driving even slower as he crept around the corner, finally coming upon Hell itself. The once run down cabin had become nearly non-existent. Years of neglect, and the vortex ripping it apart, had reduced the place to a big pile of wood and stones that kinda looked like a cabin.
Ash stopped the car and got out, but made sure to leave the engine running. He stared at the cabin for a while. Even though it had become mangled and dilapidated it still made his skin crawl. "Long time, no see, you old bitch."
SNAP
Ash quickly jerked his body around, alarmed by what sounded like a twig breaking under someone's pressure. He darted his eyes back and fourth.
Nothing.
"Maybe it was just an animal. Yeah. And I'm a cute dominatrix."
Ash ran to the back of his car, opened the trunk, and took out his usual gear. His boomstick holster, boomstick of course, and old red. The chainsaw that saved his life more times than he can remember. He removed his metal hand and replaced it with the chainsaw, strapped the holster on his back and slid the shotgun into it. Slamming the trunk closed he took one more look around his surroundings.
The day was a bright as ever but that fact wasn't helping Ash's nerves very much. The spirits of the deadites would stay at bay, this he knew. But anyone that had become a host to them. . . Well, that he wasn't so sure about. His will was strong enough those few lucky times but it could be a different story for anyone else.
The thing he was worried most about was Annie. He remembered the bodies of the deadites he killed were sucked into the vortex with him all those years ago. And he remembered hearing on the news that they found the skeleton of the road worker in the caller, the body of his girlfriend Bobby Joe crushed to death and wrapped in veins somewhere in the woods, and the body of an unidentified female. That unidentified female was Linda, but no one would ever know that except Ash. But the body of Raymond Knowby and his daughter Annie Knowby were never found. Who knows what happened to the professor but as far as Annie went, Ash was sure her body wasn't sucked into the vortex. Which meant she could still be here.
Ash stepped forward onto the porch. The wood collapsed under his weight and caused him to stumble forward into the cabin. He composed himself, making sure no one was around to see that.
The place was a mess. Walls were ripped apart, books were scattered everywhere, the roof was caving in, decaying wood was strew about, pots and broken dishes cracked under his boots, and the entire place was caked in mud, rust, and rot. Other than that everything looked normal.
He searched the place slowly, trying to repress horrible memories. He sifted through some things here and there but found nothing of value and there was no way he was going into the cellar. Sun or no sun it was just too much for him right now.
Ash moaned and groaned, kicking rubble out of his way. This wasn't going to work. He had to do this another way. He hated it but it had to be done. He went back to the trunk of his car and retrieved an old tattered book of browning pages and a crumbling cover. A while back he had done a search on the internet for the Necronomicon and discovered several other books that held similar supernatural mumbo jumbo, but nothing near as powerful and dangerous as the book of the dead itself. Ash figured fighting fire with fire would work to his advantage if he ever got into trouble with the Necronomicon again. He was no Harry Potter but if need be he could conjure up a spell or two.
He went back to the den of the cabin, kicked aside a few books, and sat on his knees. He snatched a nearby book of no importance and opened the pages to the center. He took out a small vile of red ink and poured it onto the pages, creating a big red blotch. He opened his own spell book and flipped through it until he found what he was looking for.
He placed his finger on a certain passage and red aloud. "Mouvo die ellias sinco Raymond Knowby junoklight vasul dous grex."
The pages of the book he had placed on the floor suddenly began flipping back and fourth by themselves until they finally went back to the original pages Ash had opened them on.
"Professor Knowby?" Ash spoke aloud, looking into the red blotch in the book.
The red blotch started to move and reshape itself on the pages. It formed the word YES.
"I'll be a son of a bitch, it worked. Professor Knowby, do you remember me?"
YES ASH YOU SAVED MY SOUL
"Well don't roll out the red carpet just yet. I've got a favor to ask."
ASK
"I'm looking for the Necronomicon. I think something is after it. Is it here?"
NO
"But it's out there isn't it? It has to be. The deadites are still pestering me every chance they get. It's really annoying."
THE NECRONOMICON STILL EXISTS
"So where is it?"
I DONT KNOW
"Well that's just great. What kind of guiding spirit are you anyway?"
THE MISSING PAGES
"The ones that Annie had!"
THEY ARE HERE
FIND THEM
THEY WILL LEAD YOU TO THE BOOK
"Knowby! . . . Are the deadite spirits still here?"
YES
"Shit."
THEY KNOW YOU ARE HERE
LEAVE NOW
"Wait! Can you tell me. . . is there something after the Necronomicon?"
YES
"What is it?!"
YOU MUST LEAVE NOW
HURRY
"Professor!"
The pages began flipping back and fourth again and a loud crashing boom sounded from the book. It slammed shut.
Ash bolted up and looked around in a panic, gritting his teeth. His instincts told him that that sound was the deadites slamming the proverbial other worldly door shut between himself and Knowby.
A cold wind blew in and gave Ash's goosebumps goosebumps. He spun around several times and started up his chainsaw. But nothing happened. Everything seemed calm again. He turned the chainsaw off and let himself breathe.
"Get a grip. They can't hurt you if the sun is still out." he reassured himself. "Alright. Gotta find those pages."
To Be Continued . . .
oooo
(Next Chapter: Professor Adam Barnes is having trouble. He has recently come into possession of an ancient and mysterious book which he intends to translate but his motivation is less than great. All that will change once he falls asleep. Plus, Ash continues in his search for answers and follows Knowby's advice. But it won't be so easy because Annie has a bone to pick with him and darkness will fall shortly.)
oooo
It was just before dawn, still dark out. The door to the apartment of one Ashley J. Williams creaked open and out stepped a handsome man in his mid- thirties with short black hair and a right hand of metal. He had an old drawstring sack thrown over his shoulder. It looked like he was carrying a large power tool of some sort. He pulled his door closed behind him and made his way across the catwalk. He appeared to have a look of distress and nervousness on his face. Like he was expecting something bad.
Before he could make it to the stairs a door opened behind him and he heard a voice call his name.
"Hey Ash. Where are you off to this early?"
He knew who it was before he turned around to face him. It was his neighbor Ted who lived a few doors down. He had stepped out to get the morning paper. Ash tried his best to sound like his normal self. "Oh, just going out into the woods for a little early morning hunt."
"I didn't know you hunt. Where you going?"
"Up near the mountains in Tennessee."
"Tennessee? That's quite a drive. You had better get going then if you want to make it before noon."
"Yeah. Tell me about it. I got a few stops to make first. You always want to be well prepared. Especially when you're hunting what I'm hunting."
"And What's that?"
"I'm not sure yet."
"Uh huh. Ash, you're bleeding"
"Huh?" Ash felt a warm trickle on his upper lip. He put the edge of his real hand to it to feel what it was. It was blood. His nerves were already making his blood thin out and he hasn't even left town yet. "Guess it's the air." he said calmly as he wiped it away.
"Yeah." said Ted with a bit of uncertainty behind his voice. "Be seeing you. And good luck out there." He waved to him and went back inside his apartment with paper in hand.
"Yeah. A whole lotta good that'll do." Ash said to himself.
The sun was starting to come up. Ash knew that it would be just plain stupid to go to the cabin during the night when he could go during the day. He knew he'd be safe from the deadites during the day, hopefully.
He was unsure of what he would find waiting for him at the cabin but he wasn't going to take any chances. All he had with him was his trusty chainsaw and sawed off double barrel. But that wasn't going to cut it. If there was any chance that he would run into a deadite out there he wanted to be well prepared and he knew of a place that could help him with that. Guns and ammo of all shapes and sizes right then and there, no waiting period, and no questions asked. It wouldn't hurt to stock up on weapons of the non-projectile variety as well.
Ash went over the possibilities in his mind. There was little chance of something going wrong but when you're dealing with the deadites you have to expect the impossible. Who knows? He could be on his way to nothing more than a run down cabin. But then again, he could be on his way to another war.
oooo
Somewhere near the Tennessee boarder . . .
It was almost noon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Things were looking good. Ash had been driving along the main roads for a couple of hours now but it was time to take a detour. He pulled off onto a dirt road, crushing the overgrown shrubs and bushes in his way.
He eventually made it to one of his least favorite landmarks: The bridge. It looked as if nothing had ever happened. It was still in one piece. Ash stopped just a few feet in front of it and got out his car. He looked across the valley to the other side. All he could really see were trees. Everything appeared to be normal.
He remembered a few years ago after he returned from Kandar seeing the news on TV about Professor Raymond Knowby's disappearance along with his wife, his daughter, her associate, a road worker and his girlfriend. They had mentioned the cabin being in shambles but there was never anything about the bridge.
Ash stepped forward, onto the wood and metal. He looked off into the distance, still trying to see to the other side while rubbing his mouth and chin. He mumbled to himself. "Seems okay now. But something tells me if I cross it and come back later it won't be here. Call it instinct or common sense."
But he had to press on. Hopefully the bridge would stay. He climbed back into his car and made his way across, sweating the entire time. Worried that at any minute the whole thing would collapse by the will of some evil force. But that didn't happen. Ash made it across just fine.
As he continued to drive forward he spun his head around and watched the bridge as it became small and smaller and eventually disappeared behind the trees. In a panic he suddenly slammed on his breaks, put the car in reverse, and drove backwards until he could see the bridge again. "Okay. Still there."
He sat forward. Two seconds later he spun around again to see the bridge still intact. He began shaking his head up and down slowly. "Yeah. That's right," he said nervously. Semi-confident that the bridge would remain he continued forward.
The cabin wasn't too far off. Only half a mile. Ash started driving even slower as he crept around the corner, finally coming upon Hell itself. The once run down cabin had become nearly non-existent. Years of neglect, and the vortex ripping it apart, had reduced the place to a big pile of wood and stones that kinda looked like a cabin.
Ash stopped the car and got out, but made sure to leave the engine running. He stared at the cabin for a while. Even though it had become mangled and dilapidated it still made his skin crawl. "Long time, no see, you old bitch."
SNAP
Ash quickly jerked his body around, alarmed by what sounded like a twig breaking under someone's pressure. He darted his eyes back and fourth.
Nothing.
"Maybe it was just an animal. Yeah. And I'm a cute dominatrix."
Ash ran to the back of his car, opened the trunk, and took out his usual gear. His boomstick holster, boomstick of course, and old red. The chainsaw that saved his life more times than he can remember. He removed his metal hand and replaced it with the chainsaw, strapped the holster on his back and slid the shotgun into it. Slamming the trunk closed he took one more look around his surroundings.
The day was a bright as ever but that fact wasn't helping Ash's nerves very much. The spirits of the deadites would stay at bay, this he knew. But anyone that had become a host to them. . . Well, that he wasn't so sure about. His will was strong enough those few lucky times but it could be a different story for anyone else.
The thing he was worried most about was Annie. He remembered the bodies of the deadites he killed were sucked into the vortex with him all those years ago. And he remembered hearing on the news that they found the skeleton of the road worker in the caller, the body of his girlfriend Bobby Joe crushed to death and wrapped in veins somewhere in the woods, and the body of an unidentified female. That unidentified female was Linda, but no one would ever know that except Ash. But the body of Raymond Knowby and his daughter Annie Knowby were never found. Who knows what happened to the professor but as far as Annie went, Ash was sure her body wasn't sucked into the vortex. Which meant she could still be here.
Ash stepped forward onto the porch. The wood collapsed under his weight and caused him to stumble forward into the cabin. He composed himself, making sure no one was around to see that.
The place was a mess. Walls were ripped apart, books were scattered everywhere, the roof was caving in, decaying wood was strew about, pots and broken dishes cracked under his boots, and the entire place was caked in mud, rust, and rot. Other than that everything looked normal.
He searched the place slowly, trying to repress horrible memories. He sifted through some things here and there but found nothing of value and there was no way he was going into the cellar. Sun or no sun it was just too much for him right now.
Ash moaned and groaned, kicking rubble out of his way. This wasn't going to work. He had to do this another way. He hated it but it had to be done. He went back to the trunk of his car and retrieved an old tattered book of browning pages and a crumbling cover. A while back he had done a search on the internet for the Necronomicon and discovered several other books that held similar supernatural mumbo jumbo, but nothing near as powerful and dangerous as the book of the dead itself. Ash figured fighting fire with fire would work to his advantage if he ever got into trouble with the Necronomicon again. He was no Harry Potter but if need be he could conjure up a spell or two.
He went back to the den of the cabin, kicked aside a few books, and sat on his knees. He snatched a nearby book of no importance and opened the pages to the center. He took out a small vile of red ink and poured it onto the pages, creating a big red blotch. He opened his own spell book and flipped through it until he found what he was looking for.
He placed his finger on a certain passage and red aloud. "Mouvo die ellias sinco Raymond Knowby junoklight vasul dous grex."
The pages of the book he had placed on the floor suddenly began flipping back and fourth by themselves until they finally went back to the original pages Ash had opened them on.
"Professor Knowby?" Ash spoke aloud, looking into the red blotch in the book.
The red blotch started to move and reshape itself on the pages. It formed the word YES.
"I'll be a son of a bitch, it worked. Professor Knowby, do you remember me?"
YES ASH YOU SAVED MY SOUL
"Well don't roll out the red carpet just yet. I've got a favor to ask."
ASK
"I'm looking for the Necronomicon. I think something is after it. Is it here?"
NO
"But it's out there isn't it? It has to be. The deadites are still pestering me every chance they get. It's really annoying."
THE NECRONOMICON STILL EXISTS
"So where is it?"
I DONT KNOW
"Well that's just great. What kind of guiding spirit are you anyway?"
THE MISSING PAGES
"The ones that Annie had!"
THEY ARE HERE
FIND THEM
THEY WILL LEAD YOU TO THE BOOK
"Knowby! . . . Are the deadite spirits still here?"
YES
"Shit."
THEY KNOW YOU ARE HERE
LEAVE NOW
"Wait! Can you tell me. . . is there something after the Necronomicon?"
YES
"What is it?!"
YOU MUST LEAVE NOW
HURRY
"Professor!"
The pages began flipping back and fourth again and a loud crashing boom sounded from the book. It slammed shut.
Ash bolted up and looked around in a panic, gritting his teeth. His instincts told him that that sound was the deadites slamming the proverbial other worldly door shut between himself and Knowby.
A cold wind blew in and gave Ash's goosebumps goosebumps. He spun around several times and started up his chainsaw. But nothing happened. Everything seemed calm again. He turned the chainsaw off and let himself breathe.
"Get a grip. They can't hurt you if the sun is still out." he reassured himself. "Alright. Gotta find those pages."
To Be Continued . . .
oooo
(Next Chapter: Professor Adam Barnes is having trouble. He has recently come into possession of an ancient and mysterious book which he intends to translate but his motivation is less than great. All that will change once he falls asleep. Plus, Ash continues in his search for answers and follows Knowby's advice. But it won't be so easy because Annie has a bone to pick with him and darkness will fall shortly.)