December 4th, 2019
Foghills, Arkansas

"Promise me you'll take care of your siblings," Kit demanded in a whisper when she pulled Jack into a tight hug.

"I promise," he responded firmly, eyeing his brothers and sister through the descending darkness over the old woman's shoulder as the full moon shined brightly overhead. They were arguing about who would sit where when they inevitably met up with the girls in a town just a few miles down the road.

"Good. I wanna hear from you at least once a week. Understood?" Kit's soft eyes were warm and full of worry.

"Got it. Bye, Kit." He shot her a quick reassuring smile before joining his siblings in the rusty, sky blue, Blazer, packed up and ready for a long ride.

"Is... uh, Mountain Charley still the same?" Will asked, just barely audible from the front seat, after they'd been driving for a few silent minutes. The closer they came to the town, the more anxious he seemed to get.

Ash chuckled. "What? You mean loudmouthed?"

"And vulgar," Jack added, refraining from laughing along with his oldest brother.

Will blushed a deep scarlet, turning to the window and propping his chin up with his hand. "...Yeah."

"Of course. She'll never change."

A black cloud blanketed Will's mood. "Great."

Ash smirked. "Just try to tolerate her. Okay? Just until we get out of the car. Oh, and she hates it when you call her Mountain Charley, so chill out with that."

Will scoffed. "Not when she's kicking me out of the front seat. You know how carsick I get."

"You'll be fine."

"Yeah, you'll be fine," Marley echoed Ash from beside Jack. "At least you're not gonna have to sit on the floor." Will shut up after that and the rest of the car ride through the maze of fields and trees and hills was mostly silent, except for the Black Sabbath tape crackling from the speakers.

Meadowood was one of those barely there, rinky-dink little towns that Jack would've missed if he'd yawned, but it was there they met Charley Page and Piper Kiszla, the only people brave enough to hang around Ash without being forced. Driving down the ancient pothole-ridden road, they pulled to a slow stop in front of the run-down post office that boasted eighty years of operation. Standing on the drooping steps beneath the eerie glow of the porch light, were two young women. The car had only been stopped for a second before Ash threw his door open and stumbled out into the dreary rain.

"Ashy!" The smaller of the two girls sprinted forward and launched herself into Ash's outstretched arms. Her strawberry-blonde hair blew messily around her face and her chestnut-colored eyes were wide and glistening.

"Pip!" Ash shouted back. He gave her a brief squeeze before setting her back on her feet gently. "How're you doin', kid?" He ruffled her springy red-blonde curls, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

The girl rolled her eyes, pulling away and shoving her hands into the pockets of her neon blue raincoat. "Great," she answered flatly. "Tell Charley it's cool to take a break every once in a while. She's convinced we always need to be on a job."

"Yeah, well tell Pip we need the freaking money." Charley tugged her hood over her already damp, long hair the color of raw honey. She was a little more than half a foot taller than her cousin when she sauntered over to stand beside the girl. "And last time I checked, nothing around here's free." She wrapped her wiry arms around Ash in a friendly hug, but when she stepped back, she punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Ash rubbed the sore spot, while Jack, Will, and Marley jumped out of the car to greet the new additions to their little group.

Charley shrugged. "Nothing yet. But I'm pretty sure you deserved it," she responded nonchalantly, earning a laugh from Marley. "Who are you?"

"Marley Slayer. And you're Charley, I'm guessing," Marley answered, acting just as standoffish and on-guard as she usually did.

"Yep. And this is my cousin, Piper." Charley nudged her younger cousin and grinned. "Now, are we planning on standing out in this shit weather or are we driving? 'Cause my tits are freezing here."

Jack laughed, loving every minute of her, he and Charley had always gotten along well. "You get the front, Char. Sorry, Piper, you're stuck in the back with me and Will." He pulled the rear door open while whistling for Keala, who'd darted off into the fields the second her paws were on the ground.

"I don't mind," Piper responded, her eyes falling on her feet, hair tumbling into her face, as she receded back into the shell Jack was so familiar with. "Where's Marley sitting?"

"On the floor with Keala." Marley's mouth twitched into an almost-smile when the dog barked at her and jumped up, placing her paws on the girl's shoulders. "Good girl!"

"Why don't you guys have a car?" Jack asked, shoving their bags in the back with Marley and Keala, and shutting them inside.

Piper rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Charley has a thing about keeping a car for too long."

Charley threw her head back and laughed as she jumped happily into the passenger seat beside Ash. "Don't let her fool you. It's 'cause I steal them."

"I just don't see why we can't buy a car. I've had enough money saved up for three months," Piper complained, quietly, her shell dwindling when she spoke to her cousin.

"It's not practical. What if we have overseas jobs? Where are you gonna store it? It's bad enough Ash has this piece of junk. Besides, this way, I save us a lot of money."

"Yeah, until we get caught." Piper turned her eyes to the window and propped her elbow up on the door.

"When was the last time that happened?" Charley twisted in her seat to look at her cousin who kept her gaze on the window.

"Never," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Charley heckled. "Didn't quite hear you."

"I said never," Piper snapped, her voice not rising even slightly.

"Exactly." Charley smirked.

"That doesn't mean it won't happen," Will pointed out suddenly. "Statistically speaking, the more you steal the more likely you are to get lackadaisical and end up slapped with multiple felonies."

Charley groaned from the seat directly in front of Will. "Come on, don't be a wet blanket, Willie."

Will slumped further down in his spot, locking his jaw and turning to stare out the window in aggravation, choosing not to respond. Jack thanked his lucky stars for that. Charley and Will were never any fun to be around when they started bickering like petty old women.

"What's the job, Ashy?" Piper asked, her voice almost indiscernible amidst the music coming from the speakers and the competitive I Spy... game Jack, Marley, and Will had started to keep him from getting carsick.

"You didn't tell them?" Jack stopped mid-game to glance at his brother incredulously.

"Tell us?" Charley laughed. "He never says anything over the phone." Piper snorted in agreement, her gaze drifting back to the passing scenery as she waited for Ash's answer.

"Marley's half-witch," Jack chirped, feeling more and more proud of that fact with every passing moment. His gaze moved back and forth between the cousins to gauge their reactions. Behind him, Marley peeked up over Jack's shoulder to see too. "Isn't that awesome?"

"H-how?" Piper asked, a crease forming on her forehead.

"My birth mom was a witch," Marley responded bitterly, slumping back down on the floor among the duffel bags and coolers. Keala whimpered, feeling the dour mood and laid her head on Marley's stomach.

"Oh, that's cool. We can train her to be one of the good ones, Ash." Charley elbowed him when she spoke his name.

"Shit! Do you have to be so damn violent?" Ash demanded, glaring at the road ahead of him and tightening his fists around the wheel. "Just because you're a girl, doesn't mean I won't hit you back."

Charley grinned. "I'll take my chances. So... the job?"

"A coven is after my dad and I," Ash confessed, running a hand through his hair. "We killed a couple of their members on a job awhile back." He paused for a moment. "And they want Marley. They think she's theirs 'cause her mom had ties to them once upon a time."

"Wait a minute! They're trying to kill me, too?" Marley cried, anxiety seeping through her voice as she curled further into Keala. "I thought they just wanted to imprison me for the rest of my life."

"Yes," Ash answered honestly. "But we'll be safe at the Lockwood place for a few days, while I try to find a new job."

Charley giggled. "Now I understand why you called us. Can't handle facing Lee by yourself?"

Ash remained silent, locking his jaw tightly as he pulled off the highway and onto a narrow dirt road. When the car stopped, he twisted in his seat and said, "Jack, you're driving. Will, you're up front." Without another word, he stepped out of the car and walked around to Will's door, waiting for him to move.

Jack scrambled out behind his older brother, not at all surprised by the turn of events. Ash had done it to him a million times throughout the years they'd road tripped together, ever since he was fourteen and capable of taking the wheel.

"Why can't I drive?" Will grumbled, sliding into the seat Charley had finally vacated, and pulling out his laptop.

Jack snorted. "You'd get us killed." He adjusted the mirrors and strapped on his seatbelt, while Ash and Charley settled in behind him.

Will rolled his eyes, staring at the illuminated screen in front of him. "I've never even been in an accident." But his protesting was futile. Jack and Ash refused to be in the car while he drove after a few very close calls.

"Ain't that a miracle?" Ash slumped down in his seat between Piper and Charley.

"So... are you ever going to tell me what happened with Lee that made you so scared of her?" Charley asked slyly.

Ash groaned, pulling off his leather jacket and draping it over his chest like a blanket. "I'm not afraid of her."

"Fine. But I'll get it out of you at some point." Barely a minute passed before she abruptly asked, "Hey, you have any weird jobs lately? Like where the monsters don't-"

"Fucking die? Yeah. It's really pissing me off. If it ain't bad enough we gotta deal with creepy ass witches and asshole ghosts, now we gotta deal with this fucked up bullshit too?"

"Piper and I tracked down a witch that Georgia told us about who had information on this new thing," Charley said as the stars glistened luminously in the sky above them.

That piqued Will's interest and he twisted around in his seat to look at her. "Oh, yeah? What?"

"It's a curse. Someone's going around casting this curse on towns all over the place. Whatever spell anyone casts in the cursed place will stick around after the spell-caster is dead. At least, that's what our source said."

"Who's your source?" Jack asked curiously. He wanted to know everything he could about the world they'd all kept hidden from him for so long. "I thought most witches were evil?"

"Most are," Charley agreed. "But the Lockwoods are connected to everyone – good, bad, and ugly. They're a diplomatic bunch. Got me in touch with a witch who calls herself, Emilia."

"Sure we can trust this bitch?" Ash threw an arm over his eyes and sank even further down in his seat.

Charley shrugged, digging through her purse and pulling out a granola bar. "Georgia wouldn't send me to someone she didn't trust to hold up their end of a deal. Any of you guys hungry? I think we should stop-"

"Holy shit!" Jack slammed on the breaks, sending everyone in the car lurching forward, except for Marley who stayed safely cocooned in her makeshift pile of blankets, backpacks, and duffel bags.

"What the fuck?" Will looked over at Jack bleary-eyed, while clutching his computer tightly to his chest.

"Something ran in front of the car," he said, breathing heavily as he attempted to slow the adrenaline pumping actively through his veins.

"What?" Ash squirmed around, trying to get comfortable again and closing his eyes. Behind him Marley's quiet snores were just audible and Jack envied her ability to sleep like the dead.

He squinted his clear blue eyes into the darkness, but saw only shadows beyond the glow of the headlights. "Not sure. Maybe just a deer." Taking one last deep breath, he put the car into drive, getting ready to keep going. Before he could even lift his foot off the break, though, shadowy figures morphed out of the darkness, surrounding the vehicle.

"What the fuck...?" Will murmured, stashing his laptop and staring wide-eyed at the things that were getting closer and closer with every passing second.

"Werewolves," Piper breathed, staring perceptively out the window.

"Fuck, Pip, you're right." Ash sat up, watching the shadows slink ever closer.

"Those don't look like giant lovable wolves to me." Jack's eyes caught those of a feral yellow variety.

"They're nothing close to that romanticized bullshit." Charley pulled a gun out of her purse along with a tin full of silver bullets. Piper and Ash followed her lead.

"How many are there?" Ash demanded, while Jack and Will stayed silent in the front seat, almost frozen. They'd been able to handle zombies, werewolves should've been no problem, right?

"I count eight," Will started, "no, nine. Ten. Fuck." His jaw dropped, and he sat stock still, barely even breathing beside Jack.

"Why are there so fucking many?" Jack's gaze was glued to the tall beasts as he felt for the gun that Ash always stashed within reach underneath the seat. The creatures stood on their long, thick hind legs, with clawed feet and hands and an elongated face with a long snout, sharp teeth, and hungry eyes. Their matted fur was patchy and caked with mud, sticking up in tufts all over their bodies.

"I have no idea," Charley responded, the telltale clicks, signaling the guns were cocked and loaded.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Piper pushed open the door to the Blazer just enough to slip out and slide under the car.

"Why the hell did she do that?" Will hissed, staring after the girl in shock. Jack shook his head, watching the creatures as they continued to close in on their car. They hadn't seen any other cars on the two-lane stretch of road in over fifty miles, so it was unlikely anyone would happen upon their predicament and help them out.

"What's going on?" Marley yawned and stretched, making Keala growl a little as she moved.

"Werewolves," Jack chirped when no one responded to her question. "Isn't that awesome?" He grinned, glancing in the rearview mirror at his shell-shocked younger sister.

Her gaze shot to the window and she climbed over the back of the row of seating, plopping into Piper's vacated seat and pressing her nose against the glass. "This is for real?"

"Yep," Jack answered while Ash and Charley whispered about strategies.

"Awesome."

"You guys have a really twisted sense of awesome," Will snorted, his shoulders loosening as he flicked open the glove box and extracted one of Ash's handguns. "How do we kill them?" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head.

"We wait," Ash replied stonily. "Pip will give us a sign, then we'll go out and sink as many silver bullets into the fucks as we possibly can. You'll be good at this one, Will."

"Great..."

"Do I get a gun?" Marley asked when Ash leaned over her to get a good look out the window.

"No," he growled in return, squinting his eyes and scanning the crowd of werewolves that had stopped moving a few feet away from the rusting Blazer. "Just stay here with Keala."

"That's not fair. Can't I just say some weird words and make them all explode?" She glanced down at her hands as if they were the sole source of her magic.

"No," Ash and Will snapped, while Jack and Charley shared an amused look.

Marley scowled. "Fine. Why are they just standing there?" She pressed her forehead to the window as she stared at the creepy beasts. "They're just... staring at us." A shudder punctuated her remark.

"It's a spell," Charley responded, sliding a knife into the holster inside her shin-high combat boots. "I've seen it before. I'll betcha anything there're like three times less werewolves out there than what we see. It just looks like more."

"Is that what Piper went to investigate?" Jack asked, as a shot rang out in the nighttime, striking dead the creature he'd been observing.

"That's the signal," Ash growled lowly, ignoring Jack's question, his gaze shooting from his brothers to Charley to Marley. "Stay here, Marley. Let's go, guys. Remember, shoot as many of those fuckers as you can. And don't let 'em touch you."

"Aren't they human?" Jack felt a little sick, even though he wanted to look tough in front of the others.

Ash shook his head apathetically. "Not anymore." He shoved the door open and climbed out under the light of the full moon. Lifting his gun, he aimed and fired one round after another. Watching him carefully, Jack followed his lead, as did the others. Except Marley, for once doing as she was told.

The moment the first shot rang out was like flipping on a switch in the crowd of werewolves and they all started lunging for the Blazer at the same time. Jack missed his first shot by about three feet, hitting a creature in the shoulder and causing it to whimper and cry in pain. He winced, narrowing his eyes and working on his aim as he attempted to shoot them dead with a single shot. He hated to see anything suffer.

Watching the werewolves spread out, Jack drifted into the shadows, working on getting the animals that were gearing up to attack his group from behind. Growls, gunshots, and cries of pain saturated the bitter cold winter's night, an eerie feeling settling over the secluded highway.

"On your left, Jacky," a voice whispered in his ear, making him jump and nearly lose hold of his gun.

A growl reverberated from his left side, and Jack had just enough time to turn and fire off a round before the wayward werewolf could bite a chunk out of his face. "What the fuck?" He gazed frantically around into the darkness, illuminated only by the silvery light of the full moon, but saw nothing except dead half-men/half-wolf beasts, and blood, a shitload of blood.

"Behind you, Jacky. Don't get complacent," the same wispy voice taunted in his ears.

Jack whirled around abruptly, taking aim at a particularly aggressive-looking creature about to lunge for Will, who stood on the hood of the car, taking out one bloodthirsty creature after another. Ash had been right; he was good at that.

"You're getting good at listening. Stick with me, and you'll be outta this mess in no time." The voice laughed in amusement.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jack growled, punctuating his words with a shot from his weapon, as he strayed further from the road and into the woods.

"A friend. My name is Dick Grayson-"

"Like from fucking Batman?" Jack chortled. A wolf growled and lunged at him from the shadows, scratching his arm with a claw before he managed to lodge a bullet in the creature's heart.

"What's Batman?" Dick questioned, his voice thick with confusion. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I died on this highway seventy-five years ago."

A worried frown marred Jack's face as he gazed around into the growing darkness, realizing he could just barely hear the commotion coming from the road through the thick trees that surrounded him on all sides. He'd stumbled deeper into the forest than he'd expected.

Schooling his face into a neutral expression, Jack fumbled for the bright LED flashlight clipped to Ash's car keys, flashing it around him. When he turned to go back the way he'd come, a man appeared in front of him so suddenly, he tripped backwards into the stinging snow. His heart thumped erratically against his chest and a girlish scream squeaked from his lips. "What the hell, man?" He picked himself up and dusted the snow from his pants, feeling around to make sure he still had all his possessions.

"Sorry," Dick muttered with a scowl. "Not used to people, ya know, seeing me."

Jack shrugged. "It's cool. Just, don't fucking do it again. I hate when shit sneaks up on me. Makes me feel like I'm in a goddamn scary movie. What do you want, anyway?"

"I just want to help."

Jack scoffed. "Right." He moved around the guy and back toward the noise of his family.

"Seriously," the ghost insisted, appearing in front of him again, and nearly giving Jack a heart attack. "I really just want to help, Jacky."

Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You think this is the first time I've heard that. What do you want?"

The ghost eyed him warily with ancient, dark eyes that told of long years wandering the highway. His clothes were of a style that had died out decades ago and his black hair was wild and tangled, just as weary-looking as the rest of him. "I just want to talk to somebody. It gets lonely out here."

"Oh, yeah? Then why are you just leading me in circles? Do you think I'm fucking stupid?" He rolled his eyes, moving closer to the road. "You fucking ghosts all think you're so damn smart."

"Oh, yeah? Can all ghosts do this?" The man in front of him darted through him before Jack even had a chance in hell of moving.

"Hey! What the hell?" Jack groaned, turning around to face the extremely confused ghost. "No. All ghosts can't do that. But what does that matter? It's not even cool."

"What? But I... It's worked on everyone else..." Dick stared at him like he'd just seen a ghost.

Jack started walking again, annoyed that he'd strayed so far away from the rest of the group. "What? Were you trying to possess me?" Nonchalantly, he kicked at the packed snow as he carefully continued his way back to the highway.

"It always works. Why didn't it work?" the ghost demanded, mystified.

"I'm a freak that way, I guess. It's not the first time one of ya'll have tried either. What were you planning on doing?" He let out a sigh of relief when he spotted Keala sprinting toward him.

"I have to get out of this place. The only way to do it is to possess someone. And it never lasts forever."

Keala barked ferociously, barreling through the ghost and into Jack, jumping up and licking his face. He laughed, pushing her off. "Good girl, Keals," he cooed, as movement stirred the tree branches and bushes.

"Freaking A, Jack. Just ditch us, why don'tcha?" Charley stomped his way and tackled him into the snow. "Leave us to do all the hard work, punk." She glared teasingly at the boy underneath her. She opened her mouth to taunt him some more, but something over Jack's shoulder caught her attention. "Hey! Cool coin, look." She scrambled over Jack to dust off an old half-dollar that balanced on the edge of a tree root sticking up out of the ground.

"Maybe we should just leave it," Jack muttered, picking himself up out of the snow, while Keala hopped around playfully, chasing squirrels and barking at birds.

"What? No. It's cool. We have to go, though, or Ash might have a coronary." Charley grabbed his arm and dragged him back toward the highway. "He was right, ya know? You're a freaking coward when it comes to killing monsters," she teased, gesturing to the cold dark forest. "Hiding? Really, Jack?" She threw her head back and laughed at him as humiliation danced across Jack's face. It wasn't his fault.

"Shut up, Mountain Charley,"he mumbled, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. He had a feeling she'd be hearingthat a lot as they traveled with the crazy girl that was, Charley Page.