Ash stumbled back into the cabin, where his attention was immediately drawn to the cellar door. He swore silently under his breath at the sight of it hanging open and the metal brackets broken. He snatched up the shotgun from where it sat near the front door and checked, seeing that there was still two shells inside. He felt the loneliness close in around him, as if the very feeling was coming to life now... Cutting him off, making him feel like there was no world outside the small cabin.

He had to get the house secured.

Ash raised the shotgun and slowly made his way across the main room, trying to keep quiet in spite of the bad limp he'd developed after his fight with Linda outside. He tilted his head to look through the open pass-through window into the kitchen, but saw nothing. He also checked down the hallway for any movement, but there wasn't anything there either, so he made his way towards the bedroom door to the left of the hallway door.

His hand slowly reached out, his ears perked as he listened for any sound whatsoever, any hint of movement. Silence only greeted him, not a natural silence either, a dead silence, as if someone had pressed the mute button on a remote controlling Ash's life. He gripped the knob and slowly turned it, cringing at the sound of the latch, which in the silence seemed like every little squeak and jolt was deafening. He finally gave up on stealth and yanked the door all the way open, leveling the gun at the room... But it was empty.

The next door, leading into the bathroom was ahead and to his right, so he headed towards it, but stopped when he heard movement to his left.

Ash put his back to the wall and leveled the shotgun at the window, which was still broken and open from when Shelly had been taken. He slowly moved closer to the window, hoping he would be able to get the drop on Cheryl first. He felt sick thinking it, but knew that once he put down Cheryl for good, he would be able to find a way out in peace.

As he reached the open window though, he didn't see anything outside. Just the rolling fog moving across the grass illuminated by the small scarlet-colored light coming from the bedroom lamp. Ash kept the shotgun at the ready, peering around the corner of the window frame.

Suddenly, two hands clamped down on the shotgun from below the window, in the shadow of the sill. Ash recoiled and let out a startled scream, jerking the shotgun away from Cheryl, who cackled at him evilly.

Ash clenched his jaw and whipped the shotgun towards his possessed sister, squeezing the trigger. The gun jerked in his hand and let out a deafening "BOOM!" in the small room. Cheryl's shoulder exploded in a shower of blood and bits of bone as she was flung backward into the darkness. Ash rushed forward to finish her off, but arrived at the window just in time to see her stumbling around the corner of the front of the cabin... Towards the front door.

Ash raced out of the bedroom to the main room and quickly slammed the door shut, locking it. He then spotted the back door still ajar and raced all the way down the hallway, kicking it shut and locking it as well. Panting now, Ash frantically rushed back to the main room as the doorknob started to jiggle around. He pressed against the door to brace it as Cheryl's fists pounded violently and she roared like a beast outside. He held fast, and soon, she stopped. Ash paused a moment, trying to get his heart to stop racing, leaning his back against the door just in case she tried breaking in again.

The wood on either side of his head shattered, and Cheryl's rotten fists punched right through the door, closing around his throat. Her hands squeezed and Ash yelped in pain as the airflow was cut off. "Let me go, you bitch!" He chortled out, but she just laughed at him.

"Sorry Ashley, didn't mean to take your breath away!" She guffawed.

Infuriated by her sarcastically stupid pun, Ash growled loudly and pulled as hard as he could forward, hearing Cheryl's head smash against the door as he yanked her arms. Her hands slipped off him and he toppled forward from the sudden release.

The Shotgun landed on top of him and he rolled onto his side, taking aim through the holes she'd made. Her face was framed right there, so he squeezed the trigger.

BOOM!

The shotgun echoed, and Cheryl's face was blown out of sight, spraying blood against the door in the process.

Ash breached the shotgun, popping both empty shells out and felt his pockets, but found nothing. "Shells..." He said to himself, racking his memory. "Where did I see that box of shells?" Then it came to him, he'd left them downstairs where they'd found the book and the tape recorder. Ash quickly popped the broken cellar door open and descended, aiming the useless shotgun into the dark ahead of him.

A strange feeling of déjà vu came over Ash as he made his way down the stairs and through the main room of the basement. He recalled how only hours ago he'd been down here searching for Scotty, before the world had turned upside-down and dropped him into a land of insanity and horrors. It seemed almost like a world away to him now, as if he'd been in this new world forever...

Ash made his way down the steps, every time his left foot hit the tread, a new kind of pain was sent shooting up his leg, like the worlds biggest splinter. Ash didn't take a loose plank into consideration, which gave way under his foot, he slipped and the whole world turned sideways as he slid down to the earthy basement floor, thudding off of each and every step. Ashley opened his eyes, he seriously considered just lying there for a while. It just wasn't fair, he had to kill his friends, got beaten and bloodied on no less than six separate occasions and now he just fell down the goddamn, stupid ass, mother-fucking stairs.

"Get up" Ash sighed, whoever this voice was, he was always right. Ashley slowly climbed to his feet and took in the surrounding. During her stay in the cellar, Cheryl had really taken the place apart. Shelves and boxes had been turned over, the sheets covering various objects had been torn away, revealing more junk debris that had piled up down there over the decades.

He felt something liquid drip onto his face, and wiped at it, but paused, catching a glimpse of it in the low light coming down from the cellar door. It was red. He looked up, confused, and saw a pipe above him, sagging somewhat in the center of the length of tubing, and something was wrapped around it. He peered closer, and realized that it was wrapped in some kind of cloth, as though it was bandaged, and the cloth was completely soaked through with the same red substance.

Suddenly, a loud groaning sound echoed through the basement, and the pipe gave way, opening wide and a river of the disgusting liquid poured freely onto Ash's face. He was taken so by surprise that he lost his footing and toppled to the ground on his back. The blood flood continued and he desperately scrambled out from under it, trying futilely to keep it from getting in his mouth or nose.

After he was free from it, he feverishly wiped at his face, trying to get it out of his eyes, and screamed at nobody in sheer disgust and desperation. Then all around him, he heard Linda's sing-song voice again, disembodied, singing that stupid "we're gonna get you" song at him. "Shut up, Linda!" He shouted at the darkness, then got to his feet, limping through the rest of the basement. He suddenly went blind with white light, and held his hands up in front of his face. A moment of panic struck him as strange memories of people on tv talking about out-of-body experiences, and the tunnels of light they saw at death. Was this it? Had he somehow just died and he was going to the other side now?

Alas though, he heard a loud, whirring sound ahead of him, and turned, squinting to find a projection screen behind him. He gritted his teeth and turned back, barely able to spot the old projector ahead of him, and for a moment, was disappointed that he wasn't dead... For if he was, his troubles would have been over now...

As these thoughts crossed his mind, more blood dribbled from the ceiling all around him, onto the projector's lens now, making the light turn red on him. Ash pressed on, finally reaching the door to the office side of the basement. He painfully trotted to the desk, slamming the shotgun down on it and grabbing the box of shotgun shells.

"We're gonna get youuuu".

"Shut up Linda!" Ash yelled.

"Ash...I...don't wanna die" Scotty panted.

"Shut up!"

Ash popped two fresh shells into the barrels and snapped the gun shut, stuffing the rest of the shells into the breast pockets of his shirt. All-together he counted about 8 shells total, not much.

"Don't leave me!"

"Ash, so sweet of you"

"The act of...bodily dismemberment"

"Hit her...hit IT!" "

"I'll always love you Ashley"

Ash finally cocked the gun, the metal click cleared his thoughts, snapping everything back into focus. He turned and hurried out of the room, determined to get out of the basement from Hell.

As he passed, the projector, wet from the blood, sparked and exploded, forcing him to shield his eyes as he recoiled from the violent burst of sparks. As the projector died, the basement returned to silence again, and Ash looked around, nothing moved in the dark, nothing tried to kill him. He weakly trudged through the dampness of the blood-soaked dirt flood beneath his feet, climbed the stairs one painful step at a time, and reached the top, looking at the still motionless clock next to his head.

Ash kicked the trapdoor shut, promising not to go back there unless absolutely necessary.

The clock on the wall near the cellar started to chime, 5:00, less than an hour before sunrise. He checked the clock to make sure it was right, only to be horrified at the sight of the hands spinning like the blades of a fan, fast enough to be a blur, it was almost hypnotic. The pendulum thrashed back and forth maniacally, at a speed and force that threatened to tear the entire thing apart. He backed away as the thing seemed to slow down, finally stopping back at five o'clock. Ash backed away from the infernal chronometer until he heard a sound behind him. Sort of a cracking, snapping noise, like someone stepping on a large twig, or cracking a bone in half, or jarring a door bolt out of it's lock. He whipped around, gun at the ready. Nothing.

Stay calm, It's just your nerves. You're armed and you're scared. When animals are scared, they release adrenaline, keeps them alert. Keep you're head on a swivel and don't let them sneak up on you.

I am scared, I'm damn terrified. Ash stepped forward into the middle of the room. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears again. He felt as though someone was hanging him upside-down as his stomach clenched and unclenched. It suddenly felt as though something heavy and damp was sitting on his chest. Ash blinked the sweat from his eyes as his gaze flitted around the room like a moth. So many open windows, so many dark corners and that damned front door never did close right. The bedrooms are better fortified, less openings, get in there, find a chair, face the door and shoot anything that comes through. Okay.

The door to the darkened bedroom swung open noiselessly. A cold chill ran down Ashley's spine. There was something in the room. He couldn't see it, but it was there, he could feel it in his soul.

The ungodly thing lunged at him, flying through the air at the figure outlined by the rectangle of light. Ash barely had enough time to slam the door shut before the thing overtook him. But slam it shut he did, his back to the door, bracing for an impact that didn't come.

As though the thing had evaporated before reaching him, after realizing he had shut the door.

Now what?

The shutters of every window started to open and close, smashing shut and hurling themselves open, as though possessed by a terrible hurricane. Ash ran to the nearest pair, staring at them as they threatened to shatter the glass they covered. With the windows broken, he would be even more exposed.

Ash felt like yelling, so he did. The blood was pumping through his body harder, faster, his heartbeat thudding away in his ears.

Suddenly a horrible, blood-drenched, filthy apparition leapt into focus at his right. Ash wheeled around, raising the shotgun, ready to fire. He only found himself staring at his own reflection. The bloody figure was him, it appeared when he walked in front of the mirror. He was jumping at his own shadows.

Is that really me? He looked terrible, like something that had gone through a meat grinder. He brushed a few strands of hair from his eyes and reached out to touch the mirror. It was just a reflection, just a piece of glass. Except his hand didn't stop at the glass. Ashley's fingers passed through the surface of the mirror as its surface rippled like water. Things were coming completely undone.

Ash jerked his hand out of the still shimmering pool, staring at his wet fingers. Screaming time again.

A dark shadow flitted by the window to his left, letting off an unearthly groan. Ash simply raised the shotgun and fired. This act of horrified impulse achieved nothing but a blown out window. He had only hit the pane of glass. Ash backed away from the window, panting heavily, his whole body shivering. He leaned up against the front door, desperate for a moment of respite. Wood creaked, a slight gust of wind and silence.

Shotgun... Ash made a sound that meant something along the lines of "Right, of course" and hastily reloaded. Flattened against the front door, with no distractions to occupy his head, Ash started thinking of all the terrible things that could happen to him before the night was out. "C'mon, C'mon" he whispered to himself. "Don't do this to yourself, stay focused" All five of his senses were alert, prepared, the slightest kind of movement causing him to flinching, doubling over at the smallest creak. Hell, even something that smelled funny would put him on edge. Ashley's eyes rolled hastily his skull, his pupils bouncing around like ping-pong balls. Calm down, don't lose it now. "Easy for you to say, you're just a voice" I'm you, the part of you that won't let us go down without a fight. Now just calm down. Ash suddenly realized this entire time he had been arguing with a voice in his head. Hearing voices was never a good sign.

Ash's heightened senses picked something else up. A small something pressed against his hip, something in his pocket he had all but forgotten about. Linda's necklace. Ash pulled it out slowly, feeling pricks of moisture behind his eyes. He had always promised to keep her safe, but now she was buried in the middle of the woods, missing her head. "Linda" he muttered, Oh god Linda, I'm so sorry. Is this my fault? Did I do this?

The clock at the other end of the room suddenly stopped ticking. Ashley immediately turned, desperately trying to swallow with a dried out mouth. Silence, absolute and total. Great, what next?

What came next was Cheryl, unexpectedly and unpleasantly, thrusting both of her rotting arms through the wooden door, grappling with her brothers shoulders and face, her brother yelling in horror in panic at the sudden turn of events. "Join ussss!" Cheryl shrieked, baying like a wolf. Her hands wrapping around his throat. Ash managed to twist free, landing on the floor on his stomach. He rolled over as Cheryl withdrew her hands from the two holes punched in the door and peered through one of the openings. Ash brought the gun to his shoulder and, still on his back, fired at her through the aperture.

The impact forced Cheryl's desiccated form off her feet, blowing most of the left side of her face off. She writhed on the ground like a snake, blood pouring from her mouth and cheek as she scuttled on all fours back into the fog. Ash ran to the door, looking out through the other hole to make sure she was gone. Unsatisfied, he grabbed a small foot locker to his right and pushed in front of the door as a makeshift barricade. Alright, we're almost through. I told you we'd make it.

Behind him, unseen, Scotty's form stirred, slowly sitting up, his eyes fluttering open to reveal to blank, milky white pools; it's head slowly turned; the neck bones quietly popping as he turned it all the way around to look at Ash by the cellar door.

Scotty got to his feet, the noise of which caught Ash's attention finally. He looked, wide-eyed as his former friend got to his feet, eyes fixed on him, blank white now. Scotty's body turned to face the same direction as his head now, another horrific popping sound of the bones accompanying the turn.

Ash smashed a windowsill potted plant of azaleas over Scotty's head. Linda would have been devastated, she loved azaleas

Ash moved away from the cellar door, shaking his head angrily at what these horrible things had done to his friend. He raised the shotgun and prepared to fire, when suddenly the front door was hit behind him and swung open wide, smashing into his back.

Ash let out a loud grunting sound and toppled into Scotty, who grabbed Ash by the throat and started to throttle him. Ash gasped for air, pounding on Scott with all his might, but to no avail.

The possessed man did not give up, and Ash felt his head swimming as he was starting to pass out. With no other option available to his fading consciousness, Ash reached up, clutched Scotty by the sides of his head, and shoved his thumbs into those blank white eyes that were staring at him.

A sickening slippery sensation greeted him as he shoved as hard as he could, and a disgusting bursting sensation followed.

Ash felt the contents of the eyeballs squirt out of the sockets, but shut his eyes to avoid the visual as it seeped out onto Scotty's face. Scott let out a scream of pain and released Ash's throat, making him fall to the floor in a heap.

Scott fell to the floor a moment later, and clutched blindly at his face. Ash gasped for air, looking around for the fallen shotgun as he caught a glimpse of Cheryl out of the corner of his eye ramming into the table he'd put in front of the door to keep it closed.

With each hit, the table was knocked a little further away from the wall, and Cheryl was getting inside. Ash's vision still swam from the oxygen deprivation, and he saw the table shake violently, and the Book of the Dead, that horrid thing that began it all, flew off the table and next to the fireplace, the roaring flames close enough to singe it a bit. Ash heard Cheryl moan in distress and looked to find that her and Scotty's bodies were smoking now... Ash looked at the book, seeing that it too was smoking from the close proximity to the flames.

Ash quickly pulled himself across the room, an idea forming in his head, if the spirits they'd set free were still bound to the book, then the book must be their connection to this world. If he destroyed it, maybe that would kill the thing once and for all! He reached out to grab the book, but felt a hard, clamping feeling on his ankle, then looked down to find Scotty had blindly grabbed for him and had a firm hold on his ankle. Still on the floor, he pulled Ash backwards to stop him from reaching the book. Ash cried out in desperation and his nails raked painfully across the floorboards to stop himself, but it failed. He did however feel something get caught in his fingers, and looked up to find the necklace he'd given Linda laying on the floor, having fallen out of his pocket apparently.

Suddenly, a searing pain ripped through Ash's whole body, and he cried out, looking up to find Cheryl standing there, brandishing a fire-poker. She giggled in delight at his pain and raised it up, smacking him along the back with it once more. Ash again cried out in pain, and reached for the book again, but Scott held him firmly in place, then began biting into his leg just to add insult and injury to what was ALREADY an injury. Ash screamed in agony, kicking his leg furiously, but the Demon held fast.

A desperate plan hit Ash's pain-filled mind and he grabbed the necklace, gripping the chain and tossing the magnifying head out towards the book. The small glass disk bounced off the book, but did not catch. Ash cried out again as the poker smashed his back once more, and he grit his teeth, forcing himself not to pass out from the sheer agony of the attacks on his body, and pulled the amulet back again, tossing it once more. By now though, the Demons must have figured out what he was doing, and began pulling him back away from the book even further.

Ash looked down to see that Scott was now on his knees, preparing to lunge at him, and knew he was now well out of the necklace chain's range of the book. He looked away, up towards the book once more, but saw it MUCH closer than he thought.

Apparently the second toss had somehow snagged the book JUST barely by the "eyebrow" of the horrific flesh cover, and he'd pulled it WITH him.

Renewed with hope, Ash kicked Scotty in the face, head-butted Cheryl in the stomach, and dove for the book. Ash clutched it in his hand and reared it back, whipping it at the fire with all his might. The book slammed into the burning logs and instantly ignited, the alive-feeling flesh cover went up in flames and the two demons screamed in agony around him as their bodies were engulfed by smoke from beneath their clothes.

Suddenly, giant, inhuman hands burst from within the bodies of Ash's former friends, showering him with blood and gore as their mortal forms were ripped to shreds from within. As this happened, the monster hands ignited into flames as well, then receded back inside.

Ash watched in horror as the two bodies began to rot, the flesh peeling away from their bones, and Cheryl toppled to the floor, her skull hitting the floor and shattering, spraying her melting brain all over Ash's face. "Oh GOD NO!" Ash shouted, sobbing horribly as his sister finally died, not moving again.