Young Ash walked out of West Moose with the corner of his mouth twitching, thoroughly disgusted by older Ash's shameless attempt to dodge the dinner bill. Inside, Ashley J. Williams casually waved over their waitress as though he had a perfectly reasonable financial plan. The woman was a curvy blonde in her forties with Nancy printed on her name tag, and she approached the table with a professional smile. "All finished, or can I get you anything else?"
Older Ash looked at her name tag, then gave her the kind of smile that had probably caused trouble across several states. "Food was great, Nancy. Only problem is I'm a little short on cash, but I'm a big believer in creative payment arrangements." What followed began with a story about a friend who restrung tennis rackets, somehow turned into a lecture about natural talent, and eventually ended with older Ash strongly implying that his own greatest talent was something Nancy could supposedly experience personally.
Nancy's smile disappeared little by little. She crossed her arms and nodded toward the broad-shouldered man cutting meat behind the kitchen window. "That's my husband." Older Ash glanced toward the kitchen, nodded knowingly, and lowered his voice. "Got it. Complicated situation. We'll be discreet."
Nancy stared at him.
Older Ash leaned closer. "Men's room in three minutes?"
Her expression turned openly disgusted.
He gave her a wink anyway. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'd never wreck a happy marriage."
Nancy watched him swagger toward the restroom and silently decided that if the old creep tried leaving without paying, her husband could personally introduce his face to the toilet. Older Ash, completely unaware that his seduction strategy had failed before it began, disappeared through the restroom door. Outside in the parking lot, young Ash was sitting in the rented sedan when every instinct in his body suddenly screamed danger.
He straightened.
A strange wind was approaching from behind the restaurant.
Dust and dry grit spun through the darkness despite the still weather everywhere else, gathering into a twisting current that seemed to push directly toward West Moose. Ash stared at it for half a second before reaching for the shotgun resting beside him. "Of course. I spend one evening with older Ash and the apocalypse follows us to dinner."
He stepped out of the car and headed toward the entrance with the shotgun held low but ready. Several pedestrians immediately changed direction when they noticed an armed young man walking toward the restaurant, while a few others stopped at a safer distance and watched with nervous curiosity. From their perspective, Ash looked less like a federal agent responding to a supernatural threat and more like somebody about to settle a very personal argument.
Inside the restroom, older Ash had found another problem.
He had gone in expecting his ridiculous arrangement with Nancy to somehow work and instead found himself alone. After splashing water on his face, he crushed a couple of pink breath mints from the front counter, mixed them with a little water, and dabbed the improvised scent onto his neck as though this were a legitimate substitute for cologne. He admired himself in the mirror and muttered, "Still got it."
A teenager in one of the stalls heard him and wisely said nothing.
Older Ash eventually entered the neighboring stall, finished his business, and reached for the toilet paper.
Empty.
He stared at the holder.
"Seriously?"
A hand suddenly lowered over the divider with a roll of toilet paper.
Older Ash accepted it automatically. "Thanks, kid. Lifesaver."
Then he paused.
Slowly, he looked up.
The teenage boy was crouched across the top of the stall divider, but his expression was no longer human. His eyes had turned completely white, his face had twisted into a predatory grin, and something malicious was clearly staring through him.
Older Ash sighed.
"You have got to be kidding me."
The possessed teenager grinned wider. "Found you."
"Yeah, congratulations."
The Deadite dropped into the stall.
Older Ash had left his chainsaw attachment behind, but Pablo's custom mechanical hand was currently locked onto his right wrist. He barely had time to brace before the possessed boy slammed into him, driving both of them against the wall hard enough to crack the painted surface.
The restroom had been added to the old restaurant years later, and most of its interior walls were timber beneath plaster rather than solid masonry. Older Ash immediately used that to his advantage, catching the Deadite's arm with the mechanical hand and hurling him sideways. The teenager struck the wall, rebounded instantly, and grabbed the prosthetic with unnatural strength.
The two wrestled through the cramped space.
The mechanical hand punched through one section of wall when older Ash missed, while the Deadite drove him into another hard enough to shake the stalls. Splintering wood filled the restroom as the fight became less controlled with every second.
Then one wall gave way.
Older Ash and the possessed teenager crashed straight through it and rolled onto the sidewalk outside.
People nearby froze.
From their angle, they had just seen a middle-aged man in an obviously embarrassing bathroom situation burst through a restroom wall while grappling with a teenage boy. Then the teenager snarled with an inhuman face and threw older Ash hard enough to dent a parked trash can.
One bystander blinked. "Is somebody filming a movie?"
Another stared. "Maybe an exorcism movie."
The Deadite pounced again.
Back inside the restaurant, young Ash stepped through the front door and immediately noticed that older Ash was nowhere in sight. His shotgun frightened half the room on principle, and several diners pushed their chairs back while the staff froze.
Nancy was the only employee who actually approached him.
She looked nervously at the shotgun. "Sir... can I help you?"
Ash glanced at her and almost admired the courage required to ask that question. "You're either very dedicated or incredibly brave."
Nancy's fear remained visible for another second.
Then Succubus Affinity ×3 quietly did its work.
Nothing supernatural forced her thoughts or overrode her judgment, but the first impression Ash gave her shifted dramatically. Instead of seeing a dangerous armed stranger, she suddenly found herself noticing his calm voice, young age, composed expression, and the strange sense that he was someone who could be reasoned with.
Her posture softened.
"Listen," Nancy said carefully, "if somebody hurt you, let us call the police. You're young. Whatever happened isn't worth ruining the rest of your life."
Ash blinked.
Nancy continued before he could respond. "And if this is about money... we could probably work something out. We need another server, actually. I could even lend you something if you're desperate."
Ash stared at her.
This was ridiculous.
He was standing inside a restaurant holding a shotgun, and the woman in front of him had gone from frightened to offering him employment and emergency cash within seconds.
So this was Succubus Affinity stacked three times.
Terrifyingly useful.
Ash recovered and said, "I'm not robbing anybody. I'm looking for an older man, missing right hand, probably said something inappropriate within thirty seconds of meeting you."
Recognition immediately appeared on Nancy's face.
"Oh."
Her expression hardened.
"That guy."
Ash nodded. "Exactly."
Nancy pointed toward the back. "Restroom. And yes, he flirted with me."
Ash sighed.
"Of course he did."
Nancy studied the shotgun again and immediately reached the wrong conclusion. "So you really are here because of him."
"No."
"I'll call the police. Just don't do anything stupid."
Ash opened his mouth to explain.
Then the restroom wall exploded somewhere behind the building.
The sound of splintering wood was followed by a deep unnatural howl.
Ash's expression changed.
The strange wind outside hit the restaurant.
Every front window shattered at once.
Glass erupted inward.
Tables shifted, hanging decorations tore loose, and chairs skidded across the floor as the supernatural gust blasted through the dining area with enough force to knock people from their feet. Ash reacted instantly, throwing one hand forward as Demonic Power surged from his palm and expanded into a curved black shield in front of himself and Nancy.
Glass and debris slammed into the dark barrier.
Nothing passed through.
Nancy stared at the black energy in stunned silence.
Everyone else was less fortunate.
A man near the windows was thrown backward into a table as shards of glass buried themselves in his chest. Another diner was struck by a broken section of wooden trim, while a heavy decorative object ripped from the wall and struck someone across the head with fatal force. A vintage ice skate mounted as part of the restaurant's rustic décor spun through the air and embedded its blade deeply into another victim's skull.
At least five people died almost instantly.
More screamed from cuts and broken bones.
The supernatural wind kept howling.
Young Ash saw what nobody else could.
Five translucent evil spirits rode the gust into the restaurant.
They split apart immediately.
Each one dove into a living person.
Five diners convulsed almost simultaneously.
Their bodies jerked.
Heads snapped sideways.
Faces twisted.
White flooded their eyes.
The possessed customer closest to Ash slowly raised his head and opened his mouth in a hideous grin.
He found the muzzle of Ash's shotgun pressed directly against his forehead.
Ash smiled without warmth.
"Bad choice."