December 11th, 2019
Sioux City, Iowa

"Ooh, good choice, Mars," Ash praised, as he pulled into the parking lot of Sioux City's Asian Bistro, a fancy name for a hole in the wall dump.

"This looks like a shithole." Will threw open his door and jumped out into the cool winter evening. He pulled his jean jacket tighter around himself and brushed his hair out of his face, only for it to fall right back into his muddy green eyes.

"Shut up, man. I haven't had Asian food since a job I did in Sakura Square in Denver last year." Ash smacked Will upside the head as he strode in front of the rest of them.

"Go with the flow, Willie." Marley linked her arms through both his and Jack's, dragging them forward, despite Jack wincing from his injuries. "This'll be fun, you'll see. We never get to go out together."

The deep scowl never left Will's face. "We've been out on the road long enough for me to know that Jack has a thing for blondes, Ash sings while he shits, and you can do scary stuff with your mind. I think we've spent too much time together."

Marley grinned mischievously. "Well, get ready to spend a whole lot more with me, 'cause we still have almost three weeks to go."

"Great," Will murmured, though Jack thought he saw a thin smile tug at his brother's lips.

"Oh, don't pretend like you weren't having the time of your life back at the compound with Piper." Marley giggled slyly at the stunned expression deepening Will's frown lines. "What? You think I didn't notice the lovey-dovey eyes and the way you followed her around like a lost puppy?"

"Shut up." Will's cheeks flamed bright red and his eyes narrowed with distaste.

Marley cackled as they entered the bistro, where Ash waited for them impatiently while he smiled flirtatiously at the young waitress stiffly holding four menus and watching the group expectantly. "You're just mad 'cause I noticed," Marley teased, nudging him slyly, while they followed behind the woman, who led them through the over-decorated restaurant toward a table in the back.

"Someone will be over to take your order." The hostess's accented voice was both soft and apprehensive. Her dark eyes flickered briefly between Marley and Jack before she turned and bolted back to her stand without waiting for any kind of response.

"Dick's gonna be pissed that we aren't high-tailing our asses up to Ridgeview Falls to investigate that Interstate Blues fiasco," Jack whispered, once everyone had settled into their spots. He left Dick's coin in the car to be sure they could talk in private once they finally stopped for something to eat. His entire body ached like a sonofabitch, but he ignored it in favor of getting food into his famished stomach.

"We're never going to get a break from this shit, are we?" Will demanded. "Ever since we left home it's been nothing but moving from one place to the fucking next. How do you do this all the time, Ash?"

Their older brother shrugged, his eyes focused on the menu in his hands. "I like it," he responded simply. "Anyway, Dick can shut the fuck up until we need him. The monsters might get iced by someone else for all we know, we're not the only ones out there. Our first priority is getting back to Kit's and finding out what the hell happened to Dad."

Jack relented easily, even though he couldn't help thinking about all the people those monsters might kill in the time that their attention was focused on something else, something they had no control over. But his siblings wouldn't have seen it the same way if he'd said anything.

"Did you guys see the way that lady was looking at us when we walked in?" Will changed the subject while he held his menu in front of his face.

Marley smirked knowingly. "We look like we just got out of a bad riot. She's probably worried we're escaped convicts."

Ash snorted. "Yeah, right. Who knows what she thinks? I'm more interested in finding out whether or not you managed to snake Sophia Knight's number, Jacky." He grinned slyly and his dark eyes twinkled mischievously.

Jack's head snapped up at the mention of her name. "What? Why would you ask that?" He couldn't stop the blush that coated his cheeks, instantly giving away his thoughts.

Marley rolled her eyes, brushing long strands of dark black curls behind her ear. She traded a knowing smirk with Ash before shaking her head. "They must think we're as oblivious as they are."

Ash laughed, choking on the sip of ice water he'd just taken. "Our brothers are hopeless, Mars," he mocked cheekily. "Jacky, Sophia Knight is known for being the coldest bitch in the game." He closed his menu and placed it at the edge of the table on top of Jack and Marley's.

"What? Sophia's nice!" Jack defended, attempting to keep his voice down as a different, equally as timid waitress, came to take their order.

She trembled noticeably while they told her what they wanted, seemingly unnerved by their wide smiles and friendly demeanor. Maybe Marley was wrong after all, maybe it was something else entirely that had the women frightened of their (mostly) harmless little group. Jack shrugged it off after she whirled around quickly to put their orders in to the kitchen.

"Sophia's nice to you, Jacky," Ash insisted after the woman was out of earshot. "I think you charmed the granny-panties off the chick. You did get her number, right?" He didn't even try to hide the pride in his voice.

Jack stared down at the wooden tabletop absently. "She said to call her if I ever wanted to take a break from you guys and do a job with her and Stix."

Ash hooted a loud laughter that had everyone else in the restaurant shooting them wary looks, while Jack elbowed his brother firmly, wincing as the movement caused pain to radiate throughout his body. They'd stopped at a gas station an hour or so outside of Johnston to clean the blood off themselves and change clothes, but Jack knew he still looked like he'd gotten jumped and beaten up in a city alleyway. They all did to some degree.

"That's my boy!" Ash praised, and if it was any other day, Jack knew his brother would've thrown an arm around his shoulders and gave him a noogie for old time's sake. He did the same thing any time Jack confided in him about girls.

"Seriously. Sophia's not like people say. She's misunderstood, I think."

"Defend her all you want," Will muttered, "she's still kind of a cold bitch to everyone except you and Stix. Piper told me a story about working with them on a job in Canada last year. There's gotta be something wrong with that girl."

Ash shrugged. "Eh, she's good at what she does. That's all that really matters. Right, Mars?" His question made her jump.

"Huh? I wasn't listening." She took a long gulp of water before she would meet Jack's gaze.

"What is it?" he asked, seeing the stricken look that flashed in her eyes.

"I think we should go." Marley straightened up stiffly, and next her, Jack felt her panic start to rise.

"Why? What's wrong?" Will's hand shot out to check her temperature in case she was getting sick and she swatted him away gently.

"Please, just trust me. We have to leave. Now." Without another word, all four of them stood up and walked away without ever getting their food, retreating out into the night, while the hostess had her back turned, whispering fervently to a man wearing a chef's coat.

"Dammit, I knew we should've just gotten takeout." Ash sounded genuinely saddened at the thought of leaving without eating.

"There are other Asian restaurants," Marley reassured as they all jumped quickly back into the Blazer where Keala was waiting for them with her hackles raised.

"What's wrong, girl?" Jack soothed, scooting in beside her as Ash revved up the engine and hit the gas before anyone inside even knew they'd left the building. "Somethin' has her spooked."

"It's that whole place, Jack." Marley's gaze was locked on the restaurant they'd escaped. "It's full of witches. I've never seen any of them before, but I could feel their power."

Ash snorted derisively. "Those girls were terrified, kid. I've never known a witch to scare that easy."

"Yeah," Jack responded gravely, "well you also never had the half-breed who's supposed to take down high powered witches and raise the real monsters back from the dead, tagging along with you before either."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Will twisted around in the front passenger seat and shot him a bland look.

"Sophia was telling me about it. Apparently, half-breeds are illegal because one is prophesized to destroy everything. A witch named, Annabeth, is so paranoid about it that she has every half-breed out there killed before it can mature." He watched powerlessly as the blood drained from Marley's face and horror glazed her eyes.

"Fuck." Ash tightened his grip on the steering wheel as they sped further and further away from the town. "This means people out there know who you are now. Shit."

Marley sank back into her seat. "I'm sorry. I should've kept quieter-"

"It's not your fault," Ash assured, before Will or Jack had the chance to jump in. His eyes met hers through the rearview mirror and he shot her a thin smile. "It was bound to happen eventually."

"Yeah, but now we're all in danger. They were plotting our deaths."

"Someone is always plotting our deaths." Ash laughed. "It's how the job works."

"We're all in it, Mars," Will told her with a hard edge to his voice. "We won't let them get to you."

Marley smiled softly as Jack reached over and squeezed her hand gently. "Thanks, guys. But I'm still not so sure about going out in public anymore." Her face brightened up half a second after she spoke, her eyes twinkling rascally. "But I could always dress up in an elaborate disguise!"

"No." Jack, Ash, and Will groaned in unison.

Marley pursed her lips indignantly. "I'm going to anyway."

Ash shook his head. "Kids, man. I hope I never spawn any."

"Hey! I'm awesome. You'd be lucky to have a kid as cool as me, buddy."

"Better hope Lee feels the same way," Will remarked with a teasing smirk.

Ash narrowed his eyes out the windshield, one had a cut above the brow and the other was swollen shut, but he'd assured Jack he could still mostly see. "I do. Alright, what do you guys say we grab some Chinese takeout from a place not owned by people trying to kill us, and find a place to camp out off the highway? I've got a few tents stashed under the seats."

"It's gotta be at least ten below zero out there," Will pointed out, "and you wanna sleep outside?"

"Or we could risk running into a family of zombies who own a motel and know our faces," Ash mocked. "Besides, my tents are the fancy thermal ones designed specifically by Haru. These things'll keep you warm and toasty in Antarctica."

Jack snorted. "How much did those set you back?" He was still kinda bitter about having to pay his brother's girlfriend for ammo without even getting the friends and family discount.

Ash shrugged. "Couple grand a piece, if I remember right. But I'm pretty sure I paid 'em off after two jobs in Georgia."

"Was that when you and Daddy were after that witch doctor?" Marley questioned, perking up as soon as he mentioned the state.

Ash thought for a moment in silence. "Huh. Yeah, I guess it was that time, wasn't it?"

Marley smiled fondly. "That was the weekend Dad took me to the carnival."

Their oldest brother shook his head disparagingly. "You must remember it differently than I do." His voice was gruff as he pulled off an exit that promised Twin Dragon cuisine and a nice deserted highway. "I recall that being the weekend, I pushed Dad into using you as bait and it nearly got you killed."

Marley smirked darkly in the backseat. "Oh, I remember that just fine. But it's still the only time I ever got to go to a carnival, so I choose to ignore that part."

Ash shrugged, guilt shining brightly through his dark eyes. "For the record, I'm sorry about that. It was a dick move."

"To be fair, the doctor was after kids, not adults."

"Don't try to justify it. You were a six-year-old kid who couldn't take her eyes off the pretty lights and fun sounds and I tricked you into going into the "haunted" funhouse."

Marley laughed. "If I remember right, I put itching powder in all your underwear and scrubbed a motel toilet bowl with your toothbrush." Ash grimaced in disgust, while Jack and Will laughed heartily.

"Touché." He slowed the Blazer to a stop in a strip mall parking lot and snapped his fingers rapidly. "Quick, tell Will what you want and he'll run in and get it." He didn't even bother to turn off the car. Marley and Jack laughed, shouting out their orders while Will groaned, but he dragged himself out of the car without arguing.

"You guys owe me for this." He collected a wad of cash from Jack and slammed the door shut before

he stomped through the ornately decorated front doors. He came out almost half an hour later loaded down with bags full of the food Ash had been talking about since they'd ditched the Riverside cabin earlier that afternoon.

"Oh, hell yeah," he moaned when Will jumped inside the Blazer, and the scent of fresh-made Chinese food wafted throughout the vehicle.

Ash drove down the highway a little until it split off onto a secluded dirt road. He parked, when they were sure the car was sufficiently submerged in the shadows and immediately started pulling cartons of food out of the paper bag, doling it out to everyone as he dug through.

With their mouths full of MSG-riddled, greasy, Chinese food, the four of them let the rest of the world fall away as they talked and laughed about whatever came to mind. For one night, they collectively decided to ignore all the shit mounting on their shoulders, all the beasts and impossible creatures lurking in the shadows, and the growing seed of fear that had been planted in their stomachs, and just focus on being siblings, being young, and being together.

Somebody stomping around outside the cozy tent he'd shared with Ash, jolted Jack awake early the next morning. Out in the cold he heard the telltale sign of someone trying to pry open the Blazer's left side passenger door, without success, while at his side, Keala's hackles lifted along her spine. Rising to her paws, she crouched in front of the zippered door, glancing back at Jack with a low questioning whine.

"Ash." Jack nudged his brother roughly. "I think someone's outside." Ash sat up in an instant, a knife gripped tightly in his fists and his eyes scanning their small tent for immediate danger. The rustling near the truck drew his attention the same way it had Jack's and his eyes narrowed into slits.

Throwing on a dusty shirt and shoving his feet into his sturdy steel-toed boots, he slid on his leather jacket and loudly unzipped the tent, his knife drawn and held cautiously at his side. While Ash slipped out, Jack held Keala's collar tightly, shoving his feet into his untied hiking boots and throwing his coat on inside out.

"What're you doing to Cheech?" Ash shined a flashlight in the stranger's direction, almost the exact moment the man did the same.

"Teller County Police, drop your weapon, sir," the stranger growled back, flashing a badge in their direction. As Jack's eyes adjusted to the fresh rays of sunlight streaking across the sky, the man's face became clearer. He was young, probably new on the force, and his eyes were narrowed darkly to mask his fear.

Ash jumped when he spotted the badge, holstering his knife and raising his hands defensively. "Whoa, man. We're just camping here for the night, I swear." Jack always thought it was funny seeing his brother deal with cops. He acted halfway between sketchy and irritated. There were probably a couple of arrest warrants on his record that he didn't want dredged up.

"You're not supposed to camp here. This is private property." The officer squared his shoulders and eyed Keala warily when she growled at him.

"Sh... Keala, it's okay." Jack soothed her easily, scratching the spot right behind her left ear that always calmed her down. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you." Confidently, he straightened up and let his dog run off into the shadows. He knew she wouldn't go far, she was much too protective for that.

The officer eyed them stoically, the dark bags under his eyes becoming more and more apparent as the sun started to rise above the trees. "You know I'm supposed to give you boys a ticket," he muttered, pulling his jacket tighter around his thin body when a brisk wind blew flakes of snow from the massive pines. "I won't though. Pack your stuff up and get outta here, got it? My shift ends in two minutes. Technically, I'll be off the clock, so writing ya'll tickets would make for a stack of paperwork and overtime hours that I just don't got it in me to do. Please, just clear out and I'll escort ya'll back to the main highway, we can say ya go lost or somethin'."

Ash grinned. "Works for me, sir. Youth in revolt, fight the power." Jack punched him in the arm the same time the cop shot him a wary look.

"I'm sorry about my brother, officer," Jack apologized. "Sometimes he just says things when he's delirious from sleep."

The officer raised an eyebrow questioningly. Gesturing warily in Jack's direction, he said, "Make sure you're the one driving, kid." He turned and left without another word, yawning as he stepped into his car and waited for them to wake Marley and Will and pack everything back into the truck, which didn't take long.

"So..." Jack glanced slyly over at Ash in the passenger seat as they started following the police cruiser back to the highway. "You named your car, Cheech?" He snickered as he spoke.

Ash cut his eyes in Jack's direction swiftly. "Hey!" he defended over Marley and Will's spluttering chuckles from the back seat. "It's a Blazer, I thought the name was appropriate." They all laughed harder at him.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Jack finally pulled up to Kit's scrap yard, a place full of Kit Westing's "famous" metal sculptures. More like infamous, really. The way he'd heard it, one accidentally fell on a guy installing it into an exhibit she'd attended once, and another just about scalped some poor kid. Her rusting sculptures had been banned from art shows ever since, sentenced to spend the rest of their days scattered across her land in no real pattern or sense of order.

Pulling into the spot where they usually parked the Blazer, Jack jumped out eagerly, thrilled as ever to see the badass old lady he'd thought of as a surrogate grandmother his entire life. "Kit!" he called, abandoning his stuff in the car and following Keala through the maze of crap piled in front of the old lady's house.

As the pair jumped onto the creaking porch, Keala stopped short, her hackles rising ominously, and Jack almost felt the shift in the air. Something wasn't right. Normally Kit was at the door with her shotgun in hand before anyone even stepped foot outside their car. So, where was she? Jack's gaze flitted uneasily over the exterior of the house. He froze where he stood when his keen eyes landed on a pale face staring at him forlornly from the window next to the front door.

"What's wrong, Jacky?" Ash grunted, stopping short beside him. "What's wrong?" The expression on his face must've scared his older brother, 'cause the slap came out of nowhere and jolted him back to reality. Sort of.

Jack whipped his head around to shoot his siblings a warning stare. "Stay out here." His voice was hoarse and cracked a little as he spoke. "Please. Just stay out here." In a daze, he turned his gaze back to the apparition beckoning him into the house with the sullen expression and soulless black eyes.

"I'm sorry you have to see it like this, kid."

"It's not your fault." Pushing the front door open, he absently noted the broken locks and stepped into what had once been Kit's living room. The entire place had been turned upside down and torn apart. It didn't stop there, either. Wading through the wreckage, he found chunks of dinner plates, half-shattered glasses, and old family portraits strewn about, along with clothes, bedding, and cushion stuffing.

"Caught me in bed, the little shitforbrains."

Keala stayed loyally at Jack's side as he slowly trekked up the stairs toward the old woman's bedroom. Everywhere he looked, her things had been destroyed. Staring around at it all, he felt like some kind of spell had taken him over, as if he was having an out of body experience as he followed the shimmering little woman up to her bedroom. One by one emotions stacked up against his chest until he thought he'd explode at any moment, until it felt like his lungs couldn't take in any more oxygen, until he could hardly stand.

"Not yet, boy. You still have work to do. Come on. You promised me you'd look after the rest of them. Don't fail me now."

Taking deep, gasping, breaths and staggering down the last bit of the hallway, he made it to the entrance of Kit's bedroom. It was dark, with rays of light spilling dimly through the cracks in the blinds and flooding in through the hall just enough to illuminate the spotless hardwood floor that she'd been obsessed with keeping clean. Sliding his hand along the wall, he flipped the light switch, immediately wishing he hadn't.

There, slumped over half in her bed and half hanging off was Kit. Her throat jutted out at an awkward angle, her head twisted too far to one side, and her clear green eyes were open, staring blankly in his direction. Jack sank to his knees, unable to move his gaze from the sight of the woman, even though he knew it wasn't right for the others to see her that way.

"Why, Kit?" Tears filled his piercing blue eyes and spilled down his rosy cheeks as he dropped his face into his hands.

"I can show you," the ghost offered, a sinister undertone in her sharp voice.

Jack's head whipped up so he was face to face with the spirit, her black eyes gleaming with an unfamiliar malice. "Please, please don't." He scrambled back on his hands and tried to scoot away from the apparition. But she was faster.

The temperature in the room dropped so low that the windows frosted over and Jack felt his toes starting to go numb. A wicked cackle erupted from Kit's throat as she succumbed to whatever evil had touched her, to whatever had made her so vicious so quickly. She appeared behind him, reaching an arm through his chest and squeezing his heart.

"Stop!" Jack cried, while images of her death barraged his mind. "Please, please stop!"

"I'm sorry, Jacky. I can't help it. They did something to me. They-"

"Jack!" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ash light a pouch of herbs and toss it at his feet. The old woman screamed in Jack's face as she disappeared, taking the sensation of her fist crushing his heart with her. She dissipated into a plume of thick nasty smoke, leaving only a lifeless body in her wake.

He collapsed to his knees, breathing deeply as tears ran uncontrollably down his face and he clutched at his chest, willing for his heart to beat normally once again. "I s-s-saw-"

"It's okay. Take deep breaths, man." Ash dropped stiffly down beside Jack and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

Jack shook his head, brushing away stray tears and willing himself to stop the rest before Marley and Will walked in on them. "I s-s-saw him, Ash. I saw his face." He hiccupped, lifting his red-rimmed eyes to his brother sullenly.

"Who?"

"The man who killed her." His answer was sharp as his older brother dragged him to his feet.

"Wipe your eyes, kid. We still gotta bury her," Ash muttered, swallowing thickly and rubbing away his tears so quickly Jack wasn't sure he even saw them.

Jack took a deep steadying breath, steeling himself against the despair that clawed at his insides. "You're right." He stepped forward to yank the sheet off Kit's bed. He and Ash gently wrapped the old woman and carried her body out into the backyard, hiking over to the small Westing family graveyard. Both Charley and Piper's parents were buried there, along with any other fallen relative that had been in the life.

"What happened?" Marley gasped, her eyes zeroing in on the body between them as she trailed after. Will abandoned his spot on the porch to follow them as well, a look of concern plastered across his face.

"We'll talk about it later," Ash said, his voice hollow but not hostile. "Jack, Will, grab a shovel. Mars, get the sage, please."

"Okay," they all answered in unison.

Jack grudgingly took a shovel from the tool shed near the entrance to the small, old, graveyard. Inside, a small plot had already been marked off for the old woman, with an ornate sculpted metal headstone missing only the death date. "I hate digging graves," he muttered under his breath, stabbing his shovel into the solid earth and starting his least favorite chore in the world.

"Would you rather clean toilets?" Marley shouted over her shoulder, jogging toward the Blazer.

"Yes!" Jack called back, grateful to his sister for having the uncanny ability to tease him no matter what the situation was. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the thoughts jumbled around in his head already.

"You're such a pansy," Will jested, putting his head down and getting to work. For some reason, he never minded digging.

They dug in mostly silence after that, falling into a routine they'd had since they were eight and deemed old enough to help. When they were finished, Ash and Marley blessed Kit's body with an old Pagan prayer and purified it with sage and white magic that Ash had been taught the day he buried his first friend. To Jack, even though it wasn't much of a ceremony, it was the most beautiful he'd ever seen.

"What do we do now?" Marley asked solemnly, her gaze drifting to Ash questioningly.

"We gotta call everyone, let them know that she's gone. Then, we've gotta clean her house up. Exterminators are gonna be flooding in from all over the world for the party." There was a hard edge to his voice and steel in his dark eyes.

"What party?" Will asked skeptically.

"The party we're gonna throw for Kit."