Ash vs. The Book of the Dead

Part 2

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, a few days after Ash woke up...

The ship rocked violently as it sailed across the ocean. Heaving violently as it rolled across the storm, thunder crashing into the sea around it.

A young boy of about fourteen years in age stumbled across the deck, clinging to anything he could to stay on as he moved through the desperate men working around him. Water crashed over the surface, violently tearing at all who were aboard. He kept his footing though, and made his way to a small door in the aft section of the ship. The boy managed to throw it open, and stepped into the darkness.

"Captain, you wanted to see me sir?" muttered the boy nervously as he glanced around. A single candle sat on the man's desk. The captain was standing with his back to him, his hands clutched behind his back as he stood there calmly. It was as if the storm wasn't happening at all.

"Aye, that I did lad. Come closer, I need to speak with ye," said the man in reply to the query.

"Sir?" muttered the boy fearfully as he stumbled forward. There was something wrong with the situation, and he tentatively moved forward.

The captain gripped his shoulder as he moved up next to him. The boy gasped in revulsion, his grip was cold, and skin was beginning to hang from his hands. "Sir?" his voice wavered.

"Come boy, try not to be afraid. All I want is your soul lad."

Outside, the storm raged on. No one heard the boy's screams, and the deck hands went about their work oblivious to it.

Ash jumped awake and glanced around. He was still in the hold of the ship. The slaves were huddled together fearfully around him, and the ship was remarkably still.

"The terrible storm has stopped, they haven't checked on us in days," said one of the other slaves to him.

"I'm sure they've been busy," muttered Ash in reply. "Sure is quiet up there though."

"Not a sound, for three days," said another of the slaves.

"Maybe they're all just tired?" commented Ash as he looked up with the others. Footsteps could be heard above.

After what seemed like an eternity, the hatch opened above them. A gray haze could be seen above them, and one of the men stared down at them for a moment in silence.

"Hey! Squid boy! What's goin on up there?" snapped Ash as he stood up and glared at him angrily.

"It's feedin time," snorted the man as he ignored the comment. He dropped a set of keys into the hold. They hit Ash in the face, and he stared at them for a moment.

"What's this?"

"The keys to your chains," said the man coldly. His tone was even, and had not yet changed.

"What's going on here?" snapped Ash.

"I wish I knew, everyone has disappeared but me," replied the man calmly. "All of them are gone, swallowed up by the sea. This hateful ocean..." He stared out over the side of the ship for a moment before looking back down at the group.

Ash unlocked his chains, and tossed the keys to the others before moving towards the ladder that led out of the pit.

When he reached the top, he wished he hadn't. "What the hell?"

The sailor merely stared out at the sea, a dead look in his eyes. They could see nothing, the ship was moving, but barely so. All around was a thick fog that shrouded the ocean from view. The entire ship was empty, save for the small group of slaves climbing out of the hold.

Ash turned towards the man and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, what happened here?"

"The captain, he... the screams... horrible screams..." muttered the man.

"Screams?" asked Ash.

"We haven't heard any sound for days," said one of the slaves.

"The captain. Is he still alive?" asked Ash as he turned his head and noticed the door to the man's cabin.

"Aye, he remains in his cabin he does," said the man as he looked at him in confusion.

"Still alive is he?" asked one of the slaves angrily. "Not for long he ain't."

A collective cry of agreement rose from the men as they started towards the door. Ash stood back with the crewman and turned to face him again. "What the hell happened here?"

The man ignored him as he started towards the angry mob of slaves. "No! Don't! He'll swallow your soul!"

Ash turned to look at the door in horror. "Don't go in there!" he cried as he started to move towards the mob. It was too late though; the entire group had entered the cabin, the unlocked door not barring them in any way.

He rushed to catch them before it was too late, but the door slammed in his face. He stepped away from it, cursing angrily. "Damn it! Help me get this open!" he cried back to the crewman.

"'Tis too late," replied the man as he simply sat down on the deck.

Ash stepped away from the door as the first of the screams started. Blood began to seep through the bottom of the door, pooling into a large puddle. "Damn it!" he screamed in frustration as he backed away.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a blood soaked man rushed out of the room, screaming in terror. An impossibly long arm reached out behind him; the flesh hanging from the bones in the arm was rotting away. It grabbed his head, and pulled him back inside the room.

The deckhand was screaming in horror behind Ash, and he backed a little further away from the door. A moment later, a geyser of blood shot out and hit him dead in the chest, sending him sprawling across the ground. He floundered a moment, trying to catch his breath as the blood soaked him completely, getting into his mouth and eyes. After almost a full minute, the geyser stopped. Ash opened his eyes slowly, still holding his arms in front of him to ward off the assault.

The deckhand had wet himself, and was still screaming in terror as Ash slowly rose to his feet and glared at the open door. Slowly, he turned around and stared at the terror-stricken man for a moment before he spoke. "You got any weapons?"

The man slowly stopped screaming, and looked up at the man dumbly for a moment.

Ash grumbled irritably and stared at what was laid out before him. A crude looking short-sword, and a revolver. There was also a little gasoline that he had managed to siphon out of the gas tank of the car. "This is it? What kind of pirates are you?" he snapped.

"We ain't pirates, we're traders. The weapons are kept in the captain's room. There's a closet in the room where we store em," snapped the man in retort.

"Yeah? Well, I got news for ya, you ain't tradin shit right now," said Ash as he glared at the man for a moment.

"It won't be enough," muttered the man in horror. "We'll die here!"

Ash ignored him and grabbed him by his collar. "What about the stuff I brought with me? The chainsaw, and the shotgun?"

"Your weapons are inside the captain's cabin," replied the man dumbly.

Ash nodded and put the sword inside his belt; he then picked up the revolver and cocked the hammer back. "Right."

"What are you doing?" gasped the horrified sailor.

"I'm going to get my stuff back," said Ash with a hard looking frown on his face.

"This is madness! You'll die!" gasped the man in horror.

"Yeah? What were you planin on doin? Waiting until that thing comes out to get us after dark?" he replied coldly. "Don't worry about me, I do this sort of thing all the time."

"You are a demon hunter?" gasped the sailor in shock.

"Yeah, somethin like that," replied Ash as he gave the man a sidelong glance. "Wait for me here." He paused for a moment and seemed to notice something. "What about that?"

The sailor looked at him in confusion for a moment, and turned his head towards what the man had pointed at.

Ash stood in front of the doorway to the cabin and frowned. "All right ugly. Let's see what you've got."

"Good luck sir!" called the sailor from behind him.

He nodded and walked into the room, inside was a puddle of blood and body parts. They were strewn around the room carelessly, there was not a single whole body remaining, except for one.

The rotting form of the former captain was sitting in the chair behind the desk, grinning at him grimly.

He glanced around, noticing his shotgun hanging from the wall just behind the man, and his chainsaw was sitting on the desk in front of him. He reached out and picked up the chainsaw carefully, slinging it across his back and keeping his eyes on the dead man as he did so. His eyes fell down at what had been under the weapon and he frowned. "Shoulda known." His portion Necronomicon was lying there with a new page on top of it. He picked them up, and stuffed them into his shirt pocket. He glanced up at the wall and nodded to himself. "Shotgun."

"You shouldn't have taken me book lad," said the captain to him.

Ash turned to look at him. "Sorry, it's overdue, and I have to take it back to the library." He fired the revolver into the thing's head as it started to stand, and it was laid out across the floor. He calmly lifted the shotgun off of its wall mount after shoving the revolver into his belt.

"I'll swallow your soul!" roared the thing as it jumped to its feet in front of him. Its arms and legs growing to insane proportions, forcing it to lean over as it crawled through the room, filling it up almost completely.

Ash raised the shotgun up and squeezed the trigger, earning a dry report. He cursed and backed away, opening the weapon up for loading, there were no bullets inside.

"Die!" cried the thing as it swiped at him with its hand, catching him across his jaw and sending him sprawling into the pile of bodies. He rolled out of the way of the next strike and backed into the wall.

"Give me back me book!" it snarled angrily as it reached for him.

Ash pulled the sword from his belt and hacked the thing's arm off at the wrist as he dove for the door. He rolled out as it attempted to close on him and managed to make it outside. He looked up and lay flat on his back. One of the monster's hands reached out the door for him and he screamed. "Do it now!"

A low hissing noise started, and caught the dead captain's attention. It looked up and hissed angrily at what it saw.

The deckhand was standing next to one of the ship's cannons, and it was pointed directly at the door, and the remains of the captain.

The report was deafening, it roared across the silent waters. The entire outer hull of the captain's cabin exploded into the water as the thing exploded through the wall and fell into the sea.

Ash rolled over pushing himself up and groaning painfully. He staggered to his feet and looked at the remains of the room as the deckhand jumped up and down excitedly.

"We did it! God be praised!" exclaimed the man as he rushed up to Ash excitedly and grabbed him into a joyous hug. "The evil is destroyed!"

"Yeah, yeah, leggo will ya?" muttered Ash irritably. He walked over and took the chainsaw off of his back, filling it up with the gas. He then began to work on placing it back onto his severed wrist. After a moment, it was firmly back in place. He walked over too the car and opened the trunk, digging around for a moment until he managed to find a box of shells for the shotgun.

"'Tis time to start the grim work now," commented the deckhand as he walked up to the door and peered inside the room where the remains of his crew lined the floors and walls. "Gods! What the?" he muttered in horror. The stench was terrible, but not half as bad as what he saw. He took a step back and covered his mouth in an attempt to keep himself from being sick.

Ash looked up at him and frowned. "Stay away from that door!" he called as he watched the man bend over and start to heave.

"What was that lad?" gasped the man as he managed to bring himself under control.

Ash glanced up at him again, his eyes wide with horror. "Look out!"

The man turned and screamed. Dozens of arms and a few legs were reaching out of the cabin for him. He tried too run, but it was too late. They grabbed him and pulled him down, dragging him into the cabin. His screams lasted almost a full minute, and Ash could do nothing but watch from a short distance from the door.

He could hear the faint giggling of the things inside the cabin, waiting for him to grow careless.

Ash turned his head, and saw the sun slowly sinking into the horizon.

He jerked his arm, bringing the chainsaw roaring to life, and stared into the cabin. "Come and get it, baby."

TBC...

C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com

Previous parts can be found at Http://www.fanfiction.net and R&C Books International Fanfic Company at Http://www.rcbooks.org

Ja!