by A. Eggleston
Without a second thought, Ash followed the trail and walked towards the mirror.
Chapter Seven
He wondered how this possibly could have been happening to him. He never fell asleep. He barely even closed his eyes for more than a second. How could I possibly be dreaming? Was I nodding off when Anthony was talking to me? Or did I even wake up at all today? What if the past twelve hours had all been just one, long dream?
No, it can't have be. His normal workday up until now had been boring and monotonous, while these dreams were...something strange. Something surreal. They were apart from reality. He knew that he was inside the dream.
Cautiously, he walked towards the full-length mirror. Ash was completely defenseless, so he knew it was best to be alert. He tried his best not to overlook anything. He wasn't in his own world anymore. He was in someone else's, so he didn't know what kind of dirty trick might be played on him.
He walked closer, leaving a greater distance between himself and the dozens of young cadavers. The blood puddle sloshed quietly at he stepped, leaving dark stains on his work boots. He now stood at arm's length in front of the mirror. Ash didn't want to get too close to it. He knew what happened last time he came across a mirror that was obviously screwing with his mind. Maybe his reflection would come out and try to strangle him. Or possibly, it would smash to pieces, leaving little Ash's scattered everywhere and stab him in the ass with a fork.
This is where the little girl had been taken to. It must have led somewhere, a pathway of some sorts. It appeared normal, all he saw was himself and what was behind him: blood and darkness. Examining it closer, ever so slowly, he reached his hand out to tap
the mirror. Pulling his index finger back, preparing to gently hit the glass, Ash looked at his reflection once more to make sure nothing bad would come of this.
No funny business, you got me?
His own reflection smiled back at him. Evilly. Slyly. His eyes had suddenly changed from a dark brown to a bright blue. He cocked his head to the side, and leaped out at Ash.
Ash gasped and stepped back. The other Ash's torso and arms were completely out the frame, still grinning at the sight of his fear. This other Ash was no longer a reflection anymore. He wasn't mimicking the real Ash at all. The real Ash was terrified, with a mask of fear across his face. Meanwhile, the other was showing an astounding level of confidence and a sadistic grin upon him. That kind of arrogance could only belong to Freddy Krueger. His mannerisms and approach were the same, the only thing that differed now was his voice and appearance.
Ash swallowed down a potential scream and asked him, "Wha-what do you want from me?"
He grinned even wider. Smiling a cocky smile not unlike the one Ash had just a few minutes ago. "I want you to let me out. You mindless, little stock boy!" he bellowed.
Ash's eyebrows scrunched together, as he felt a mix of confusion and anger. That was the last straw. For most of his life, Ash has had to deal with pea-brained Deadites demanding to be let out, possessing everybody he loves, and forcing him to hack them up with various gardening supplies. Ash wasn't that dumb. Considering all he'd been through in his life, he'd survived with only a few scratches…and only one missing appendage.
Ash's fear had completely washed over him, and was replaced with pure anger. First, this guy scares the living hell out of him, fucks with his mind for over a week, and now he wants Ash to free him? He was determined not to let this guy get to him.
"No way, buddy. Go find someone else to do your dirty work." Ash said, bitterly.
The arrogant smile that shown on the demented version of Ash's face was gone. These evil spirits, no matter who they were or where they came from, considering how many times Ash had cut them up or blown them to bits over the years, always loathed it when he wouldn't comply to their demands. But then again, out of all the souls to devour, his was going to be the hardest to acquire. He jumped forward, and grabbed Ash by his collar.
"Oh? A little slow, eh?" he teased.
Ash's confidence never left him. He grinned back, taunting him. "Yeah, enlighten me. Let you out, or what?" he dared.
Ash could hear a low chuckle come from beneath his throat. "Or..." he prepared.
Wait a minute. Ash thought. His voice had changed completely. At first, it was still Ash's voice talking to him. But now, it was lower, graveled, like he was actually speaking to him from the dark, bowers of Hell. It was the same sinister voice that had been taunting him in his nightmares. It was Freddy's voice.
Still grabbing him by the collar with his right hand, with his left, he grabbed his own face. Digging in with his fingernails, he tore the flesh from his face. Skin and muscle had peeled off of him like a thick, leathery band-aid. Blood poured out of the edges of his face. He ripped it off like a mask, revealing the retched face Ash saw in his nightmare last night. "...else!"
Ash had never seen that trick before. His eyes widened in surprise, but he expected Freddy to be involved in this. "Freddy!" Ash accused.
Freddy laughed derisively as he pushed Ash away, watching him fall and land right on top of a display table full of kitchen knives. "Haaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Momentum caused Ash to topple right over it. He landed and hit his head on the checkered, marble tile. He rolled over on his back to see about a dozen sharp knives heading right for him. They each landed and struck the floor, missing him by a hair, like he'd been attached to the wheel of death in a magic show. But, the last blade was aimed right in the middle of his face. Luckily, Ash's reflexes kicked in right about then, as he prevented the knife from stabbing him between the eyes. He caught the kitchen knife by the blade with his metal hand.
When he looked up, he saw various S-Mart employees and shoppers circled around him. They stood there in disbelief, baffled at the fact that he didn't just get his face stabbed. Evelyn and Cooper were among the crowd. Evelyn stood with her hand covering her mouth. Even though she didn't know Ash that well, she was thankful he didn't get hurt. Cooper stood a few feet behind her, with his hands on her shoulders. He showed less concern for Ash than Evelyn did. Frankly, he was kind of disappointed that he didn't get not one scratch. In Cooper's mind, he would have deserved at least a slice on the arm.
Ash paused for a moment to breathe, dust himself off, and internally thank God that He let him not die a painful death just now. He was dumbfounded, he couldn't think of anything to say to justify himself. What could he do, say, "Sorry about that folks, I got sucked into a nightmare, and Freddy Krueger just tried to kill me...again. You all know Freddy, right? That little bastard's at it again."? The only rational thing he could think of was to laugh it off as Anthony helped him get back on his feet.
"What's going on with you, Ash?" he said, running his mouth at a hundred miles per hour. "You know you're not supposed to fall asleep on the job. You could have been killed!"
As Ash stood back up, he noticed that he was back beside the stack of boxes he finished earlier. It didn't make any sense. He remembered being way on the other side of the store. "Sorry." he apologized to Anthony. "It won't happen again."
Anthony, Evelyn, Cooper, and the rest of the onlookers left, and went about their own business. Ash was no longer in peril. Show's over, nothing to see here anymore.
Still looking at the pile of knives stuck on the floor, Ash kept thinking about how that could have been him. He waited until every last person had left him. "At least I hope it doesn't." he said quietly.
Sitting near the parking lot just outside of S-Mart, Cooper and Evelyn had just finished their shift, and were laughing. After the spectacle they had just witnessed, they had a lot to laugh about, at least Cooper did, anyway. Really, it was just good to be alone for a while. To be someplace quite. Someplace to get away from the crowd, all of the gasps and murmurs.
They sat on concrete step, Cooper had his arm wrapped around her shoulder. They exchanged pleasant conversation, and joked about what they saw earlier. Evelyn smirked as Cooper made fun of Ash falling asleep and
tumbling over. "I mean, I feel bad for him
and everything, but he's kind of weird, you know?" Cooper said.
Evelyn caught her breath, chuckled passively, but looked away the whole time. She did feel bad for Ash. She didn't know what was going on with him. She figured either he had a serious problem in his life, or he was just a major klutz. Evelyn rolled up the sleeves of her thermal green sweater until they were at elbow length. "That's not a nice thing to say about someone you don't know, Cooper." she said, criticizing him. "And, no, I don't think he's 'weird'." she said. "I just think maybe there's something wrong with him."
Cooper sat up a little straighter and smirked a little bit. He squinted his eyes at the glare of the sunset. "What, like he's mental, or something?" he joked.
"You know, that's what I really love about you, Evelyn. You never say anything bad about anybody, do you?" he said, not questioning, but assuming. "You're just...always really, really nice to everybody." He admired Evelyn in how kind and sweet she was to everyone. Even when it came to goofs like Ash, she always tried to see the good in them.
She turned and looked at him in the eye. "You know that's not true. Well...now that I think about it, yeah, I guess it is." she said with a timid smile. "It's just that," she prepared, searching for the right words. "It seems like he's got problems. Maybe his home like isn't that great. I know what that's like. I mean...You understand, right?"
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I understand. You had it pretty bad with your dad, way back when." he said. He turned to hug her tightly. "But you live with me now--well--you live across the hall from me now. Same difference."
Evelyn looked up at him, smiling and holding him.
Cooper looked into her eyes and grinned. "Don't look at me with that tone of voice."
"Stop judging me with your face."
Cooper laughed and continued hugging her.
Evelyn looked at the concrete below her. What they had just talked about had brought back some painful memories.
Her home life was, unsatisfying, to say the least. Having to grow up with an alcoholic father was difficult for Evelyn. It would have been difficult for any little kid. She was terrified of her own dad, the only thing she could do then was hide. Nightly, she would cower in her room, listening at her bedroom door, hearing her dad's drunken, heavy feet stagger around the house. Those bellowing footsteps would usually precede the vehement, angry shouting, always at her mother. Most of the time, to her, it just sounded like incoherent yelling, like he was shouting just to frighten everyone. But sometimes, she could make out a few words. It was always something profane. Funny, how the only words I could hear clearly from him were the ones with four letters.
Her mom didn't really do much, at least, not to Evelyn's knowledge. The only thing she would hear her do was try to stay out of his way, and remain calm even when she couldn't escape him. Not all the time, but every once and a while, during the nights when he would terrorize Evelyn's mom, she would be furious right back at him. Right after that, Evelyn would hear him punch her mom, following a great thudding noise. She always assumed that her mother had fell to the ground. Evelyn would lay there by the door, sobbing quietly for her dear mother, and stare at her bedroom window, fantasizing what it would be like to just pack everything up and run away. She was just nine years old at the
time.
One night, things became really bad. The screams had gotten more boisterous, the smacks became louder, and the words had become more hurtful. She was afraid that if she didn't do anything, something horrible might happen to her mom. Evelyn got up the courage to race out of her room and into the living room, and yell at her dad, "Leave Mommy alone!". She saw him turn around and look at her with those cloudy, soulless eyes, and that grimaced face. He grabbed the back of her tiny head, and hit her face against the wall. She fell right onto the floor. She immediately felt her nose throbbing, and when she felt it run, she touched it and looked. A single streak of blood dripped from her nose. Little Evelyn immediately ran back to her room as fast as she could.
As soon as she graduated from Springwood High, she moved out on her own and made a living for herself. There weren't a lot of options for a girl who was fresh out of high school, so the only thing she could find was some low-paying job at S-Mart. She met Cooper there, which, somehow, made the drudgery of working day after day as a check-out girl a little bit easier. She loved him. And even though he was a wonderful boyfriend who promised to protect her at all costs, she knew that, if a time ever came where she was alone, she knew how to protect herself.
The memory of that night ran over and over again, like it was on a loop. What finally broke the cycle was when she heard the sound of Cooper's voice.
"Hey, there's a party over at Steven's tonight. You wanna go?" he asked.
She jolted slightly and turned her head around. Heavily distracted, she wasn't sure what he said at first. She was off into her own little world for a second.
"Sorry,” she said. “I was daydreaming.” She pondered. “Um…“ She wasn't really in the partying mood. It was a Wednesday, after all. Who has parties on a weekday? She never started asking herself that question until she got a job. But, maybe she needed to have fun for once and go out. "Yeah, okay." she agreed.
Cooper beamed. "Yay." Before he left, he leaned over, below her chin. He asked. "Will you rub my hair real quick?"
Evelyn rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through his hair for the second time that day. She smiled as he looked up at her.
"You spoil me." he said.
"Yep." she agreed without a second thought. "Like a cat."
Cooper got off the concrete step, standing up straight. "Okay, I'll go warm up the car." He gave her a kiss and walked off over to the end of the lot where his car was.
Evelyn stood up and prepared to trail behind him when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ash not far from her, throwing yet another can in the trash. She stopped and turned around halfway. Ash was heading to his Oldsmobile, getting ready to leave. He seemed like a decent guy, but lately he appeared really upset and agitated. Evelyn wanted to at least find out what was wrong with him.
She quickly walked over towards him, he had opened the door and was about to get in. Evelyn waved her hand over to him. "Ash!" she called. "Do you have a minute?"
Gee, let me think...no. It was already sundown, soon it would be dark. Ash needed to get out soon before any Deadites started to show up in town. He saw her walking over to him. He thought he'd be quick enough to get in, slam the door, and pretend he didn't hear
a word she said, but he had already made eye contact. "Damn it." he muttered under his breath. He didn't want to be a jerk, but if he didn't leave soon, something bad might happen. Ash kept his right leg inside the car. "I really don't have a lot of time--"
"I just wanted to say 'sorry'." she blurted, rushing the words from her mouth. "About what happened today." she still kept a sympathetic smile. “We should have helped you or done something, but we didn’t. We just stood there, and I’m sorry about that.”
He started to become anxious, like every second that went by might as well have been an hour. He began ducking into his car. "Yeah, kid. Don't worry about it."
Evelyn stepped up closer, so that the only thing between the two of them was the car door. "Is something wrong?" she asked before he sat down on the seat. "You seem very nervous about something." She looked past Ash and grazed her eyes over to the inside of his car. She saw what looked like a bunch of stuff covered by a dirty, white sheet.
What she didn't know was that "stuff" was his chainsaw and double-barreled shotgun, among other weapons and various dried-up blood stains in the back of his car. Ash noticed her peeking around, shifting her body away from him slightly. He mimicked her movement, blocking her view. He chuckled nervously, and said, "Listen, kid--"
"Evelyn." she interrupted. "My name is Evelyn."
"Evelyn," he repeated. "what you need to do is to stop looking around in other people's stuff, and wh
at I need to do is to get the hell out of here, capicse?"
She was aghast for a moment. She was only trying to show some sympathy and be nice, and he just told her to scram. "Ash, I was just trying to be nice." she said.
Ash realized he wasn't going to get rid of her easily. He thought maybe he should have just slammed the door and kept driving when he had the chance. Being polite obviously wasn't getting him anywhere, maybe he should try another way. "Yeah, well, you need to scram, Evelyn."
As the minutes went by, they bickered at each other. Ash was losing daylight, literally. He didn't know what to do at this point, so he just kept shouting, hoping Evelyn would lose hope and walk away.
After some trial-and-error, Cooper finally got his car started. He drove a black, 1987 El Camino, and as the years went by, it took more and more attempts just the start the damn thing. After the fifth try, he had become a little irritated, his keys clinking with his many key chains. One of them was a logo from the band Slayer: red letters in front of a flaming pentagram. He kept the inside looking good, at least, he thought it was.
The tint on the windows had peeled off, making it look like a bad window cling. On the dash, there was an Iron Maiden "Eddie" bobble head in the far corner, shaking his angry, leathery face at him. He got out and looked around for Evelyn. He could hear voices coming from the other end of the lot. Looking across the way, he saw Ash yelling at her about something.
Immediately, he ran over to find out what was wrong...and beat the snot out of that Ash guy if need be.
Chapter Eight
From across the parking lot, Cooper could see Evelyn and Ash bickering at each other. He couldn't make out any specific words, but he could see the tension on Evelyn's face, and the way Ash was pointing at her, it looked like he was blaming her for something. As he walked towards them, he could hear their voices more clearly. The angrier he heard Ash get, the faster he moved.
