Amanda Fisher quickly explained why she had followed Ashley J. Williams all the way from Michigan to New York. She and her partner had responded to a violent incident involving the woman older Ash had been drinking with shortly before the Deadites returned, only to discover that the woman was already possessed. During the confrontation Amanda's partner became possessed as well, leaving her with no choice but to shoot and kill the man she had worked beside.
The Michigan State Police had no explanation for demonic possession, so from their perspective Amanda had simply killed her own partner during a bizarre crime scene. She was pulled from active duty while the shooting was investigated, but instead of sitting at home, Amanda began tracing every strange detail surrounding the case. The trail eventually led back to older Ash, and once he left Michigan, she followed him all the way to New York.
Young Ash listened to the entire story before slowly turning toward the older man.
Older Ash raised his hands. "Don't look at me like that."
"You opened the book."
"I know."
"You released the demons."
"I'm aware."
"And now a cop crossed several states because her partner died cleaning up your mess."
Older Ash sighed. "When you put it like that, it sounds bad."
"It is bad."
Amanda looked toward young Ash. "Special Agent Williams, let me help you. I need to see this through."
Ash studied her for several seconds. "You understand that these things aren't normal criminals. They can possess people, use corpses, imitate voices, and keep moving after injuries that would kill anyone else. If you come with us, there's a real chance you die."
Amanda did not hesitate. "I know."
"You're still coming?"
"My partner deserves justice."
Ash had already given the warning. Amanda was an adult, an experienced law-enforcement officer, and she understood the risk well enough to make her own decision. He gave a small nod and said, "Fine. Get in."
After checking in briefly with the AIIB personnel still working around the condemned building, Ash climbed into the RV with Amanda, Pablo, and Kelly. Older Ash took the driver's seat while young Ash settled into the passenger side and gave him the address of the Upper West Side apartment. "First we stop at my place. I need my greatsword."
Older Ash glanced over. "Then what?"
"Then we go to the Bureau and let people with actual intelligence databases help solve this."
Pablo nodded from the back. "I like that plan."
Older Ash looked offended. "My plans work."
Kelly answered, "Eventually."
As the RV moved through Manhattan, young Ash called Raymond and gave him a condensed report about Amanda, the second Book of the Dead, and older Ash's connection to Edwin Williams. Raymond was silent for several seconds before finally saying, "Why does it feel like supernatural incidents have multiplied since you joined the Bureau?"
Ash answered with complete seriousness. "That sounds superstitious, Director. We're federal employees. We should trust evidence."
Raymond snorted. "You killed a demon with black supernatural energy this morning."
"That is evidence."
"Get back here."
"I'm working on it."
Raymond sighed. "I'll contact the Church again and see what they know about the books."
The RV soon pulled up outside Ash's apartment building. Older Ash immediately reached for the door. "I'll come with you. Edwin told me about your family years ago. Least I can do is say hello."
Ash blocked him.
"No."
Older Ash frowned. "No?"
"You're staying here."
"I was your father's friend."
"You were a man my father met in a bar."
"We bonded."
"You probably got drunk."
"That doesn't mean we didn't bond."
Older Ash pointed toward the building. "Besides, didn't Edwin and his wife take in a girl? Gwen, right? I should meet her."
Ash stared at him.
Then his eyes moved toward the older man's chainsaw, shotgun, beer belly, and permanently inappropriate expression.
"Absolutely not."
Older Ash looked offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're staying in the RV."
"I can behave."
Kelly burst out laughing.
Pablo looked away.
Amanda remained completely silent.
Young Ash opened the door. "That reaction answered the question."
He went upstairs alone and found Gwen and Heather getting ready for their own schedules. Ash gave them the shortest possible explanation: another supernatural problem had appeared, AIIB was involved, he was safe, and he needed his father's sword. Gwen naturally wanted more details, while Heather immediately recognized from his expression that the situation was still active.
"You just got home," Gwen said.
"I know."
"And now you're leaving again."
"I know."
Heather folded her arms. "Federal monster hunting is really doing wonders for your schedule."
Ash smiled faintly. "Benefits are good."
Gwen gave him a look that made it clear salary would not stop her from worrying.
Ash retrieved the silver-white greatsword from beneath his bed, secured it in its custom scabbard, and headed back downstairs before older Ash became impatient enough to invite himself inside. When Ash climbed into the RV carrying the weapon, Ashley J. Williams immediately whistled.
"There it is."
Ash glanced at him. "You recognize it?"
"Of course I do." Older Ash looked at the silver-white hilt with genuine interest. "That was Edwin's pride and joy. He showed it to me once and then practically threatened to remove my other hand when I asked if I could swing it."
Ash raised an eyebrow.
"He wouldn't let you touch it?"
"Nope."
"That was probably smart."
"Very funny."
Older Ash started the RV again, and under young Ash's directions they headed toward Lower Manhattan. The vehicle eventually turned into the rear alley of an old federal building marked as part of the Federal Archives Storage Center – Branch 3, where Ash presented his credentials to the security system. The industrial gate opened, allowing the RV to descend the concealed ramp into the AIIB's underground parking area.
Pablo stared through the windshield. "This is seriously a secret government base."
Kelly looked around. "Try not to sound too excited."
"I'm allowed to be excited."
Amanda remained far more restrained, though even she studied the hidden facility with obvious interest.
Ash led them through the internal elevator and into the lower-security reception lobby. "Wait here. Don't wander into any doors marked restricted unless you want federal security explaining why that was a bad idea."
Margaret Henderson appeared from behind the reception desk and immediately began arranging drinks for the visitors. Coffee, bottled water, soda, and several other options appeared with the quiet efficiency Ash had already come to associate with her. He left older Ash, Pablo, Kelly, and Amanda in Margaret's care, then carried both Books of the Dead and Father Marcus Littleton's records deeper into the facility.
Raymond was waiting in the tactical communications room.
Ash placed the two grotesque volumes on the table between them, followed by the old recordings. "Everything we recovered. Any progress with the Church?"
"Not much."
Raymond looked frustrated.
"They confirmed that an artifact matching one of these books was examined by clergy in the early twentieth century. It was quickly classified as an evil object, and Church authorities ordered everyone involved to stop reading or translating it."
Ash glanced toward the Evil Dead Rise volume.
"And Father Marcus Littleton ignored them."
"That's the working conclusion. The Church says the book disappeared after the original dispute, and nobody knew where it went. Based on these recordings and where Danny found it, Littleton most likely removed it himself and continued studying it secretly."
Ash tapped the table lightly. "So they know what it is but don't know how to shut it down."
"Correct."
"That's incredibly useful."
Raymond gave him a tired look. "They're being more cooperative than they were several hours ago."
"That somehow makes it worse."
Raymond continued, "Their surviving records are limited precisely because senior clergy prohibited further study. They understood the object was dangerous and chose containment over experimentation."
Ash looked between the two books. "Can they reseal them?"
"Not with anything they're willing to guarantee."
Ash sighed. "So what exactly are we supposed to do? I can't just chop a Book of the Dead in half and hope for the best."
Raymond paused.
Then his expression changed.
Ash noticed immediately.
"No."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking it."
Raymond looked toward the greatsword resting against Ash's chair. "Your weapon is Church-blessed, carries engraved Latin prayers, and already proved capable of destroying at least one embodied demon."
Ash stared at him. "I was joking."
"It may still be worth testing."
"You want me to hit the evil demon book with the holy sword and see what happens."
"When you say it that way, it sounds less scientific."
"It is less scientific."
Raymond leaned back. "The Church gave us one useful piece of information. According to their interpretation, demons are not actually stored inside these books."
Ash's expression became more attentive.
"The books function more like supernatural contracts or gateways," Raymond continued. "The entities remain elsewhere—Hell, another dimension, whatever terminology eventually proves accurate. The written incantations establish a connection that allows them to cross over."
"So destroying the book might destroy the connection."
"That's their theory."
Ash looked toward the grotesque covers.
"And if the theory is wrong?"
Raymond shrugged slightly. "Then we learn something valuable."
"You'll learn it from a very safe distance."
"Naturally."
Ash rubbed his forehead. "Can't the Church just neutralize whatever power is inside the books?"
Raymond's expression became more complicated.
"The bishop I spoke with was surprisingly candid. Whatever you want to call divine power is apparently increasing again, but not quickly enough to make every old religious method effective against threats of this scale. Their current exorcism rites are designed for possession and individual entities, not something like the Naturom Demonto."
Ash frowned. "So the Church is useless?"
"I didn't say that."
"You heavily implied it."
Raymond shook his head. "I don't believe they're actually helpless. I believe they have options they consider too costly, dangerous, politically sensitive, or internally controversial to use unless absolutely necessary."
That made more sense.
The Church was not one unified person making decisions. It was an enormous institution filled with competing authorities, doctrines, jurisdictions, and people who did not necessarily agree on how openly they should cooperate with a newly formed American federal agency studying supernatural threats.
"They don't want to set a precedent," Ash said.
"Exactly."
"So if our plan fails?"
"They'll take custody as a last resort."
Ash stared at the two books for a moment before sighing. "Every organization in this world is just waiting for somebody else to solve the problem first."
Raymond smiled faintly. "Welcome to government."
"I thought joining would make things easier."
"It gave you a grenade launcher tonight."
Ash considered that.
"Fair."
He stood and picked up both Books of the Dead. "Fine. I'll test the sword."
Raymond nodded. "You have operational authority over the immediate investigation."
Ash pointed toward him. "If the book explodes and fills headquarters with demons, I'm putting in my report that this was your idea."
"Noted."
Ash left Father Littleton's records behind for the tactical team to copy, analyze, and preserve. With the two books secured under his arm, he headed back toward reception.
He heard older Ash before he reached the lobby.
"So there I was, kid trapped behind me, Deadite coming from the front, and I knew somebody had to make the sacrifice."
Ash stopped in the doorway.
Older Ashley J. Williams was leaning against Margaret Henderson's reception desk with what he apparently believed was irresistible charm. His left hand rested casually near the chainsaw attached to his right arm while Margaret listened with a polite smile that suggested she was enjoying the story for reasons very different from those older Ash imagined.
"That's how I lost the hand," older Ash finished dramatically. "Saved the kid, lost the limb. Hero business."
Margaret adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses.
"That's interesting."
Older Ash grinned. "Most of my stories are."
Margaret glanced toward the terminal in front of her.
"Your file says your hand became possessed, attacked you, and you cut it off yourself with a chainsaw."
Older Ash froze.
Pablo immediately looked at the floor.
Kelly covered a laugh with one hand.
Amanda's expression barely changed, though the corner of her mouth twitched.
Older Ash slowly looked toward Margaret's computer.
"You people know about that?"
Margaret smiled pleasantly.
"We're a federal intelligence agency."
Young Ash walked into the lobby carrying both Books of the Dead.
"Having fun?"
Older Ash pointed toward Margaret. "Your agency is terrifying."
Ash nodded.
"Now you're learning."