"Excuse me sir, but could you help me?"
Ash looked up. He had seen some pretty unbelievable things in his life. But the one that was seemed to put them all to shame. The woman was absolutely gorgeous! And not the average kind of pretty that you see on a regular basis on the street, but drop dead, just stand there and breath, thank Heaven for putting her on earth beautiful. Ash could not help but gawk for a moment at her.
She was tall, at least six feet. Her long hair, dyed green, a strange choice in his opinion, tumbled over her shoulders. Her deep eyes held the sort of seductive promise that wet dreams were made of. She had long arms and legs, and the most fantastically curvaceous body that Ash had ever seen. She obviously was used to the type of reaction she was getting from him, for she offered an amused smirk.
"Uh...yeah, sure. What can I do for you?" he stuttered, trying his best to force himself to gaze into her eyes, and not down the front of her loose fitting shirt.
"I'm looking for a book," she said in a voice that sent a chill up Ash's spine.
"Um, books should be in aisle twelve, toward the back of the store. Shop smart, shop S-Mart!" he said, flashing her his best charming grin.
"Oh, I don't think I'll find what I'm looking for there..." she took a step closer, placing her hands on her hips as if she were deliberately trying to make him drool over her sexy form. Ash took a reflexive look around, making sure there were no managers nearby; it was against regulations to talk with, especially flirt with customers. "I'm looking for a particular book..."
"Well, maybe I can help you look for it." Ash offered, lowering his voice a notch, trying to sound masculine and impressive.
"Oh, I know you can" she leaned in closer and whispered "And I can make it worth your while..."
Ash suddenly began to feel uncomfortable in this woman's presence. Something about her suddenly seemed foreboding and sinister. Her eyes narrowed in a way that was seductive, but at the same time made Ash more than a little tense. She stepped even closer to him, ran a slender finger down the front of his chest. "I'm looking for the Necronomicon."
"How do you know about that thing?" Ash gasped, stumbling backward, his back bumping against the shelf behind him. She stepped even closer, trapping him.
"Oh, I know many things mister..." she stole a glance at his name badge, "Ashley Williams. Fitting that the Book of the Dead should fall into the hands of such a strong, handsome man..." she leaned in close, pressing her torso against his. Ash quickly scrambled to the side, getting away from her.
"Get out of here lady, you don't want to know about that thing." He warned, trying his best to sound imposing.
"Oh, but I do. And I want to know about you. Won't you let me?" she winked, implying limitless possibilities. But now the things she was offering were far from Ash's mind.
"Just get out of here...don't make me call security."
She laughed briefly, as if the idea of security guards rushing down the aisle didn't matter to her. Then she smirked at Ash.
"Consider what I'm offering you, Ashley. It will be a lot more pleasant than what some others would give you in return for the book. Think it over." She blew a kiss at him as she walked away, her hips swaying softly from side to side as she went.
Ash collapsed back against the display shelf, struggling for breath.
There was someone in his house!
Ash sat up in bed, his eyes quickly flicking from one darkened corner of the room to the other. He strained his ears, listening to the silence, struggling to pick up something.
He had heard a thud, that much he was sure of. He began to slowly reach one trembling hand out for the switch to his bedside lamp. As his fingers brushed against the plastic of the button, he heard a faint creek. Soft, squeaky, almost inaudible, but definitely there. Ash's hand paused, waiting for several seconds, and then began to switch directions, moving down, reaching for the shotgun that leaned against the wall next to the bed...
With a horrendous cry it leapt out of the dark. It flew through the air on large, bat-like wings, soaring toward Ash. Ash took aim as quickly as he could and loosed off a single shot. It stopped the creature in mid- air, knocking it to the floor. Ash scrambled from his bed as the creature rose back to its feet. It pointed one clawed finger at him, cackled like a Hollywood witch, and charged across the room, ramming itself full force into the next shot Ash fired. The buckshot tore into the creatures face, splitting its head in a fountain of blood, flesh, and bone. It twitched on the floor for a moment as the blood drained from it. The gore that had splashed everywhere did not bother Ash, experience having taught him to ignore it.
"The book!" he thought aloud. He hurried to the closet, tore the door open, and reached in. He pulled the chainsaw from its perch against the wall and scrambled to put it into its proper place, at the end of his arm, over where his other hand had once been. It putted and then roared to life.
Ash ran down the hallway, leapt down the staircase, landing in the front hall downstairs. The moment his feet landed, he was thrown to the ground by an unseen force. His attacker leapt down onto him in a writhing mass of limbs as they struggled to overpower each other. Ash grunted and drove his knee hard into its abdomen, but it kept coming, tearing at his flesh. Ash shouted and slammed the butt of his shotgun into its face, driving it back for a moment. As it leapt to its feet, ready to press the attack again, Ash fired his shotgun, emptying both barrels. As the creature stumbled back, thrown by the impact of the shots, Ash jumped to his feet, charged forward, slamming himself into it, throwing it back against the wall. It slammed hard against the wood, its skull cracking with the impact, and then slid down into a sitting position, leaving a long trail of red on the wallpaper.
He hurried down the basement stairs, throwing the light-switch on, and ran across the room to the safe. He moaned with despair when he saw its door, wide open, it's inside completely bare. He went down on his knee before the safe, trying to see if even a single paper had been left behind.
"What a nice book. Lord Demitri will be most pleased." a crackly voice croaked from behind him. Ash spun around. Standing at the staircase was another of these monsters. A pair of large bat wings jutted from its back. Its beady red eyes gazed at Ash from its rat-like face. In one hand it held the Necronomicon, under its other arm it held the recorder and the file of papers. The dagger was tucked under its filthy trousers.
"What the hell are you?" Ash said as he stood up cautiously.
"The last thing you'll ever see!" it screeched as it charged him. Ash swung his chainsaw-arm hard, slashing the hand that held the book clean from the wrist. The creature screamed, so focused on the pain of its severed hand that it dropped the other materials. Ash stabbed it through its chest with the chainsaw, its screeches rising over the sound of its bones being torn to pieces. Blood flew in all directions, thoroughly painting the walls with its red sparkle.
Ash gathered up the book, the dagger, recorder, and the documents, and hurried upstairs. He changed from his pajamas to his day-clothes as quickly as he could manage. He had to get out of Deerwood.
He gathered up the cursed items, tossing them all into a backpack. He slung it over his shoulder and dashed down the stairs and out the door. As he fumbled in his pocket for the keys to the car, he caught the sound of laughter. It was the soft, sweet sound of a little girl giggling. Ash looked around for a moment, trying to find the source of the sound.
He slowly looked up, and saw the silhouette of the child sitting in the tree. Her legs swung casually off the branch. She observed him with a bizarre sort of amusement.
"Hey kid you better get out of here. There's lots of strange stuff going..." his words died as the child jumped from the tree and landed, agile as a cat, on the lawn in front of him.
She was the most bizarre looking child Ash had ever seen. A pair of large bat wings sprouted from her back, and a smaller pair grew from the top of her head. Her red eyes gazed at him curiously. In a strange way, she reminded him of the woman he had encountered earlier.
"I'll be taking those items, if you don't mind." She said, holding out her hand, open palmed.
"No way" Ash said, quickly drawing his shotgun from its hostel on his back. "No way in hell are you getting that book. You'll have to kill me first."
"As you wish" she said. It was all Ash could do to dodge the twin fireballs, shaped like bats, that flew from her hands. They slammed into his car, which instantly exploded, flying into the air and landing in the street with a deafening crash. Ash looked sadly at the remains of his classic.
"Nobody...nobody touches my car!" he shouted. He spun, taking aim, but she moved at a speed he had thought impossible, up in front of him in an instant, punching in the face with a strength he would never has suspected. It threw him out into the street, landing on the pavement.
"Now then, do we have to keep playing?" She asked as she took flight, hovering up above him. Before Ash could give her any response, something knocked her out of the air, crashing her to the ground.
"Thank you Lillith. I think that will be all from you now." The familiar voice purred. Ash felt the straps of his backpack, torn from his body. He looked up to see the woman he had met at S-Mart, but different now. She was dressed similar to the girl, except her revealing costume was black and purple instead of red and blue. She also had large wings coming from her back and head. She held the backpack up with a triumphant smile. "Thank you for this lovely gift, human. I am sure I can find many uses for it." She held up a piece of paper that Ash recognized quickly as being from the book. She read the passages inscribed upon it, a language few would recognize. As she read, the wind picked up, lighting cracked, the earth trembled, and finally a hole tore open in the fabric of reality itself. It crackled with energy, its force like a tornado, picking up anything in sight. The door from Ash's home, the remnants of his car, and the fire hydrant on the curb were all torn from their place and sucked into the vortex. She flew off into the portal, to only God knows where.
"Morrigan, you get back here!" Lillith shouted before taking off into the vortex after her sister.
Ash remained, struggling to cling to the ground beneath him. He crawled desperately up onto his front yard and wrapped his arms around the tree that grew up in front of his house. He held on as tight as his strong arms could, screaming as he felt his legs lift up off the ground, felt the vortex sucking him in. And then he felt the tree itself, starting to move. Ash closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and uttered a silent prayer as the tree was pulled from the ground, straight up from the roots, and flew into the vortex, carrying Ash along with it.
Ash looked up. He had seen some pretty unbelievable things in his life. But the one that was seemed to put them all to shame. The woman was absolutely gorgeous! And not the average kind of pretty that you see on a regular basis on the street, but drop dead, just stand there and breath, thank Heaven for putting her on earth beautiful. Ash could not help but gawk for a moment at her.
She was tall, at least six feet. Her long hair, dyed green, a strange choice in his opinion, tumbled over her shoulders. Her deep eyes held the sort of seductive promise that wet dreams were made of. She had long arms and legs, and the most fantastically curvaceous body that Ash had ever seen. She obviously was used to the type of reaction she was getting from him, for she offered an amused smirk.
"Uh...yeah, sure. What can I do for you?" he stuttered, trying his best to force himself to gaze into her eyes, and not down the front of her loose fitting shirt.
"I'm looking for a book," she said in a voice that sent a chill up Ash's spine.
"Um, books should be in aisle twelve, toward the back of the store. Shop smart, shop S-Mart!" he said, flashing her his best charming grin.
"Oh, I don't think I'll find what I'm looking for there..." she took a step closer, placing her hands on her hips as if she were deliberately trying to make him drool over her sexy form. Ash took a reflexive look around, making sure there were no managers nearby; it was against regulations to talk with, especially flirt with customers. "I'm looking for a particular book..."
"Well, maybe I can help you look for it." Ash offered, lowering his voice a notch, trying to sound masculine and impressive.
"Oh, I know you can" she leaned in closer and whispered "And I can make it worth your while..."
Ash suddenly began to feel uncomfortable in this woman's presence. Something about her suddenly seemed foreboding and sinister. Her eyes narrowed in a way that was seductive, but at the same time made Ash more than a little tense. She stepped even closer to him, ran a slender finger down the front of his chest. "I'm looking for the Necronomicon."
"How do you know about that thing?" Ash gasped, stumbling backward, his back bumping against the shelf behind him. She stepped even closer, trapping him.
"Oh, I know many things mister..." she stole a glance at his name badge, "Ashley Williams. Fitting that the Book of the Dead should fall into the hands of such a strong, handsome man..." she leaned in close, pressing her torso against his. Ash quickly scrambled to the side, getting away from her.
"Get out of here lady, you don't want to know about that thing." He warned, trying his best to sound imposing.
"Oh, but I do. And I want to know about you. Won't you let me?" she winked, implying limitless possibilities. But now the things she was offering were far from Ash's mind.
"Just get out of here...don't make me call security."
She laughed briefly, as if the idea of security guards rushing down the aisle didn't matter to her. Then she smirked at Ash.
"Consider what I'm offering you, Ashley. It will be a lot more pleasant than what some others would give you in return for the book. Think it over." She blew a kiss at him as she walked away, her hips swaying softly from side to side as she went.
Ash collapsed back against the display shelf, struggling for breath.
There was someone in his house!
Ash sat up in bed, his eyes quickly flicking from one darkened corner of the room to the other. He strained his ears, listening to the silence, struggling to pick up something.
He had heard a thud, that much he was sure of. He began to slowly reach one trembling hand out for the switch to his bedside lamp. As his fingers brushed against the plastic of the button, he heard a faint creek. Soft, squeaky, almost inaudible, but definitely there. Ash's hand paused, waiting for several seconds, and then began to switch directions, moving down, reaching for the shotgun that leaned against the wall next to the bed...
With a horrendous cry it leapt out of the dark. It flew through the air on large, bat-like wings, soaring toward Ash. Ash took aim as quickly as he could and loosed off a single shot. It stopped the creature in mid- air, knocking it to the floor. Ash scrambled from his bed as the creature rose back to its feet. It pointed one clawed finger at him, cackled like a Hollywood witch, and charged across the room, ramming itself full force into the next shot Ash fired. The buckshot tore into the creatures face, splitting its head in a fountain of blood, flesh, and bone. It twitched on the floor for a moment as the blood drained from it. The gore that had splashed everywhere did not bother Ash, experience having taught him to ignore it.
"The book!" he thought aloud. He hurried to the closet, tore the door open, and reached in. He pulled the chainsaw from its perch against the wall and scrambled to put it into its proper place, at the end of his arm, over where his other hand had once been. It putted and then roared to life.
Ash ran down the hallway, leapt down the staircase, landing in the front hall downstairs. The moment his feet landed, he was thrown to the ground by an unseen force. His attacker leapt down onto him in a writhing mass of limbs as they struggled to overpower each other. Ash grunted and drove his knee hard into its abdomen, but it kept coming, tearing at his flesh. Ash shouted and slammed the butt of his shotgun into its face, driving it back for a moment. As it leapt to its feet, ready to press the attack again, Ash fired his shotgun, emptying both barrels. As the creature stumbled back, thrown by the impact of the shots, Ash jumped to his feet, charged forward, slamming himself into it, throwing it back against the wall. It slammed hard against the wood, its skull cracking with the impact, and then slid down into a sitting position, leaving a long trail of red on the wallpaper.
He hurried down the basement stairs, throwing the light-switch on, and ran across the room to the safe. He moaned with despair when he saw its door, wide open, it's inside completely bare. He went down on his knee before the safe, trying to see if even a single paper had been left behind.
"What a nice book. Lord Demitri will be most pleased." a crackly voice croaked from behind him. Ash spun around. Standing at the staircase was another of these monsters. A pair of large bat wings jutted from its back. Its beady red eyes gazed at Ash from its rat-like face. In one hand it held the Necronomicon, under its other arm it held the recorder and the file of papers. The dagger was tucked under its filthy trousers.
"What the hell are you?" Ash said as he stood up cautiously.
"The last thing you'll ever see!" it screeched as it charged him. Ash swung his chainsaw-arm hard, slashing the hand that held the book clean from the wrist. The creature screamed, so focused on the pain of its severed hand that it dropped the other materials. Ash stabbed it through its chest with the chainsaw, its screeches rising over the sound of its bones being torn to pieces. Blood flew in all directions, thoroughly painting the walls with its red sparkle.
Ash gathered up the book, the dagger, recorder, and the documents, and hurried upstairs. He changed from his pajamas to his day-clothes as quickly as he could manage. He had to get out of Deerwood.
He gathered up the cursed items, tossing them all into a backpack. He slung it over his shoulder and dashed down the stairs and out the door. As he fumbled in his pocket for the keys to the car, he caught the sound of laughter. It was the soft, sweet sound of a little girl giggling. Ash looked around for a moment, trying to find the source of the sound.
He slowly looked up, and saw the silhouette of the child sitting in the tree. Her legs swung casually off the branch. She observed him with a bizarre sort of amusement.
"Hey kid you better get out of here. There's lots of strange stuff going..." his words died as the child jumped from the tree and landed, agile as a cat, on the lawn in front of him.
She was the most bizarre looking child Ash had ever seen. A pair of large bat wings sprouted from her back, and a smaller pair grew from the top of her head. Her red eyes gazed at him curiously. In a strange way, she reminded him of the woman he had encountered earlier.
"I'll be taking those items, if you don't mind." She said, holding out her hand, open palmed.
"No way" Ash said, quickly drawing his shotgun from its hostel on his back. "No way in hell are you getting that book. You'll have to kill me first."
"As you wish" she said. It was all Ash could do to dodge the twin fireballs, shaped like bats, that flew from her hands. They slammed into his car, which instantly exploded, flying into the air and landing in the street with a deafening crash. Ash looked sadly at the remains of his classic.
"Nobody...nobody touches my car!" he shouted. He spun, taking aim, but she moved at a speed he had thought impossible, up in front of him in an instant, punching in the face with a strength he would never has suspected. It threw him out into the street, landing on the pavement.
"Now then, do we have to keep playing?" She asked as she took flight, hovering up above him. Before Ash could give her any response, something knocked her out of the air, crashing her to the ground.
"Thank you Lillith. I think that will be all from you now." The familiar voice purred. Ash felt the straps of his backpack, torn from his body. He looked up to see the woman he had met at S-Mart, but different now. She was dressed similar to the girl, except her revealing costume was black and purple instead of red and blue. She also had large wings coming from her back and head. She held the backpack up with a triumphant smile. "Thank you for this lovely gift, human. I am sure I can find many uses for it." She held up a piece of paper that Ash recognized quickly as being from the book. She read the passages inscribed upon it, a language few would recognize. As she read, the wind picked up, lighting cracked, the earth trembled, and finally a hole tore open in the fabric of reality itself. It crackled with energy, its force like a tornado, picking up anything in sight. The door from Ash's home, the remnants of his car, and the fire hydrant on the curb were all torn from their place and sucked into the vortex. She flew off into the portal, to only God knows where.
"Morrigan, you get back here!" Lillith shouted before taking off into the vortex after her sister.
Ash remained, struggling to cling to the ground beneath him. He crawled desperately up onto his front yard and wrapped his arms around the tree that grew up in front of his house. He held on as tight as his strong arms could, screaming as he felt his legs lift up off the ground, felt the vortex sucking him in. And then he felt the tree itself, starting to move. Ash closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and uttered a silent prayer as the tree was pulled from the ground, straight up from the roots, and flew into the vortex, carrying Ash along with it.