Ash was trying to wrap his head around the system naming itself. He felt like he was hit with a flood of emotions he couldn't understand in a minute.
"Horseman system. What the heck is that?"
The system wouldn't answer. Ash took it as a sign that it wouldn't answer his question as it had before. Ash gave up; he let the screen turn off, rubbing his face in anticipation of what he needed to do next. Thinking that he forgot a detail till it hit now. Lita was at the apartment last night; her bag was still in the room, too. Lita never visits unannounced unless it's an emergency for Ash, so what was she doing here now?
He got up to change clothes, even unpacking Lita's stuff for her later.
Ash wanted to go hunting again; he wanted to find stronger Kraegans to hunt down, maybe find Lucien if possible. His hunger was his biggest worry; no pain for now, but it would come back soon, and he knew it wouldn't let him off easily.
Ash was putting on his shirt when Lita walked in, carrying a plastic bag of snacks. She put her keys on the key rack when she saw Ash standing up, looking better than he did last night. She didn't say anything, not to spite him but to make him open up. She quietly placed the bag on the counter while Ash was quiet.
He was trying not to make a sound or do anything that would upset her more than he did yesterday, after nearly telling her to leave him alone. He raised a hand to tap her shoulder, but she brushed him off. She had to keep it up; Ash was not good at letting his emotions out willingly, unless he had an emotional outburst like he always did when he tried to bottle up.
"So, we're playing the quiet game now?" He asked her. Lita didn't respond; she was slowly unloading the bags, pretending not to care.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to brush you off like that last night. There's just been a lot going on lately, and I haven't been able to tell you yet. I'm sorry."
Lita tried to keep it together; she didn't want to break the character yet. She grabbed a bottle of Coke, popped the top off, and took a sip before she said a word.
"It's not that you tried to brush me off. How have you been acting lately? First, you somehow get bigger overnight after abandoning your bike, Isaac's bike! Then you nearly beat Casper to a bloody pulp, you act distant to me lately about how you all of a sudden have money, I know it isn't from your family's life insurance. Then you came back last night looking as if you had gone to a fight club. Answer me now, Abraham Van Raven, what the hell is going on with you!"
Ash knew he was in trouble now. Lita would never call him by his full legal name unless she were truly upset with him. Last time she did it was when Amelia died, and Ash was pretending to hang himself. He was standing on a chair, just rocking back and forth, acting like he was hanging, just going through the motions from his depression at the time.
Lita walked in and saw it; she assumed he was actually going to commit suicide that day and tried to rush him to get the rope off. She slapped him so hard that day that his mouth was bleeding.
Ash now understood she was angry with him because, amid everything, he wasn't being honest with her. He wanted to tell her everything, but if he did, what would be the consequences? The system gave him gifts for his loyalty; what would disloyalty grant him?
Ash took a breath, calming his nerves. He thought about what he would say to her, what he wanted to speak from the heart.
"Temple of Doom."
Lita gave a confused look. "What?"
"Temple of Doom. That's the movie we watched, remember." Ash slowly made his way to Lita. He leaned over the counter, just watching her drink more of her Coke in annoyance. "When my parents died, Isaac worked hard to support us. He barely had the money for Amelia's engagement ring back then. Amelia said we should do something fun to get his mind off things, so we went to the retro theater and watched the movie. You were there, you were by yourself cause your dad was thrown out for drinking. Amelia couldn't stand seeing you alone and crying, so she asked you to sit with us. You were nervous, I was nervous too, I wasn't in the mood to talk really at that time."
Lita was holding back her feelings; she was trying to stay strong.
"We started small talk when the dinner scene came up. I was cracking jokes on how bad the food was, and you were joking about wanting to eat it." Lita cracked a weak half smile, trying to hold it in. "When it was done, Isaac was answering his phone from his recruiter; he and Amelia didn't see us sneak into the next room, where they were playing Evil Dead II. We were loving that movie; it was the first time I'd had fun in so long. Then your dad came in and dragged you out. He beat you for sneaking into it. I grabbed that stupid toy chainsaw they were selling for the movie and started hitting him with it. I remembered his face, looking at me like who's this kid acting like a hero. Wasn't for Isaac stepping in and putting him in a chokehold, he would have beaten me, too. Isaac brought us home and had you stay the night. You couldn't say my name properly yet, so you called me Ash because you said I was cool like Bruce Campbell himself."
Lita kept trying to hold it in. It was getting harder for her to keep up the tough girl face. Ash was careful as she walked up to her. He got close and tenderly held her hand.
"Point is. You were the one who gave me that name. Issac and Amelia stopped calling me Abraham and started calling me Ash instead, especially since they learned it came from the old Aesc name, Ash Tree, meaning strength, resilience, and even protection. You've been there for me since we were kids, through the dark times and worst times, and you never complained. You're important to me, Lita, if there's something I'm not telling you, it's not cause I don't want to, it's cause I can't yet, not till I sort my affairs out first."
Ash pulled Lita in for an embrace, his arms wrapped around her. She couldn't keep the act up anymore; she broke down.
"I, I love you, kiddo, and I'll always be here for you, just like you've been for me. So just be patient, and I promise I'll tell you everything soon."
Lita let out a light sob, enough to mask her voice from Ash's hearing. Ash held her close. He moved a hand to soothe her upper back while the other soothed the lower, but as he touched her lower back, Lita let out a weak wince and startled from the touch.
Ash knew that wasn't a nervous one from flirting; that was a response to pain. He looked at Lita. He didn't see it before, cause her black lipstick covered it, but he knew there was a cut on her lip from how her skin looked different.
Lita tried to turn away, but Ash grabbed her chin, looking straight at her. He grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth, wiping just enough to see the cut on her lip clearer now. His teeth gritted, he lifted her shirt quickly enough to glance at the bruising on her back before she yanked the shirt down.
"It's nothing, leave it alone," Lita said.
Ash couldn't hold it. He was furious; her dad always hit her. No matter how much CPS was called, he always got away with it because he was smart enough to hide any marks or use fear to keep Lita in line.
Ash felt it inside, not just hate for her dad or disgust that he hadn't kept her safe, but that familiar feeling when he raged out at Casper.
'Take it, take his head. Take his soul. Take. Your. VENGEANCE!'