Slasher Pantheon

Chapter 2 - From the Ashes

Ash Williams opened the fridge and grabbed a can of cold beer, drank it all in one go and then stacked it on the pile of other beer cans beside the couch, he sat down and gave out a powerful belch. He turned on the tv and zapped through the channels, nothing seemed to pick his interest, a horror movie called STAB 3 on one channel, a women's cooking show on an other: The two o'clock news had just started on channel 6 so he sat back gazing at the tv with a boored and blank look on his face.

The anchorwoman on the news was talking about a bunch of students in a university who had mysteriously vanished without a trace while attending class, some teachers were claiming they heard screaming originating from the class room. Ash wasn't paying much attention, he got up and grabbed another beer, the Anchorwoman on the tv continued to speak and said '' a lot of conspiracy theorists and occult aficionados already claim that supernatural forces are the cause of the student's disappearance, regardless of the theory the police are searching further proof to solve the vanishing of the students.''

Ash smirked and said ''occult aficionados uh? Where the hell were these guys when I needed them to back up my story''. His head felt dizzy, wich wasn't surprising since he went through a dozen tins in five minutes.

Ash's life was going to waste, it had been that way for a few decades now, since the events of the cabin, being labled a murderer wasn't exactly his life's primary goal: Before then he'd been a regular guy, had a girlfriend, a steady job, two hands and an excellent sense of humour, Now it was all gone, well not exactly, the sense of humour was still there albeit turned to a highly cynical kind. Then came the two years in jail and subsequent freedom for absence of tangible proof on behalf of the feds since no body was ever found. Nowadays he was looked upon as somewhat of a bad joke, the people that recongnized him either backed away in fear he might do something crazy or laughed at him as if he were a clown.

He lived in an Airstream mobile home, an old battered car was attached to the front of the Airstream, he called it his ''oldsmobile'': He always kept on the move, city to city, never staying long enough in the same place , not giving himself time to make new friends or bedding the same chick; He made enough money working in hardware stores of the same branch to afford the bare necessities and then move on; He frequently told himself he was living the American dream by connecting to his nomad side, but deep inside he knew the reasons were very different.

Ash turned off the tv and took a good look at himself in the mirror, his hair was thinning on the sides, he had a belly the size of a barrel, his once chiseled jaw now looked more like a rooster's wattle and he had a fake right hand, ''at least you're still the handsome one'' he said and gave out a toothy smile, his Ego was probably the only thing about him that hadn't aged one bit.

Someone knocked at his trailer's door, he took his gaze off the mirror and went to greet (or not) whoever was disturbing him. He opened the door and looked down on an elderly man, quite short, staring at him: The old man asked in a british accent ''Ashley J. Williams, I suppose?'', ''Who's asking?'' Ash replied: The elder gentleman reached out for a handshake ''Sam Loomis''; Ash returned the handshake with his prosthetic hand, Loomis glanced at the fake hand and exclaimed ''Oh, it is you indeed, I know a lot about you mister Williams, so much so I could even tell you how you lost that hand'', Ash fastly pulled away and replied sarcastically ''Sure pal, old people's home is a few blocks away, probably you should check it out, have a nice day'', he then shut the door on Loomis, the elderly man shouted out '' I can help you mister Williams, I can give you back your life, you don't have to run any longer. Just let me in and I will explain'', Ash paused for a second '' who the hell is this guy? And how does he know so much about me?''. Loomis continued ''I can help you find the dagger and destroy the book'', Loomis was reffering to the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, the cause of the horror Ash experienced at the cabin, he believed if he could find a way to destroy it he would free himself from the curse that had been following him all these years, he would be free from the clutches of the evil he ran from. Ash still possessed the book, trying many times to destroy it but unable to do so by natural means. He knew the only object powerful enough to destroy it was the Kandarian Dagger, as ancient and evil as the book was; What he didn't know was it's location. Could it be possible the old man at the door knew where to find it? He slowly turned to the door and opened it, ''How do you know about the dagger and the book?'' he asked, loomis slightly evaided the question and begged Ash to let him in and give him a chance to explain. ''Ok old geezer, you have ten minutes, if you don't make any sense in five you're out of here ASAP'' Ash was very irritated but nevertheless stud aside to let Loomis enter. Loomis politely nodded and stepped inside.