December 26th, 2019
Purplecrest, Oregon

"Wow..." Marley gasped, her nose pressed to the window of the Blazer as they drove through the spread out town of Purplecrest, Oregon. "It's so beautiful here." The entire place was practically a postcard. It was a small town in the middle of the Cascade mountains, with a drive-in theater that was doing one last showing of A Christmas Story, as they passed.

"What will be even more beautiful," Charley grumbled, "is if they have a diner full of greasy terrible food that will fill my stomach." As Ash turned the corner onto 3rd Street a building caught the woman's gaze. "Yep. Now it's beautiful," she said with a grin as they parked in a lot overlooking a rushing river that separated Purplecrest from the next town over.

Piper giggled. "Charley, not everything always has to revolve around food or monster-killing." She slid out of the Blazer after her older cousin.

"It can and does," Charley disagreed wholeheartedly, skipping into the diner and leading the way toward the back booth, while a waitress grinned at them cheerfully.

"Hey, folks! How're ya'll doing today?" The older woman's eyes were bright and her voice dripped with enthusiasm.

"Great!" Jack said back, grinning at her with almost as much perk as he could muster. "Can we get started with waters and a huge plate of blueberry pancakes for each of us?" He looked around at everyone for confirmation. They all nodded along, eager for the waitress to put in their order so they could begin their discussion on how to find Interstate Blues before they struck again.

"Sure thing, I'll be right out with that, Hun." She whirled away before they could say another word to her.

"So... I think we should each take a bar," Piper spoke up as soon as the woman was a safe distance away.

"How many are in this town? There can't be more than a few," Charley pointed out, while they all leaned in to whisper to each other.

"I looked it up already. There are two bars, a restaurant with a stage, and little concert venue."

Ash nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, Marley and Jack can take the restaurant since they can't drink anyway. Piper and Will can take one bar, Charley, you take the other. And I'll take the music venue," he decided right as the waitress came back with their waters.

When she took off again to help other customers, Jack smirked over at him from across the table. "You just wanna go to cross it off your weird list of things you do in every new town," he teased, earning a sharp look and a well-aimed kick to the shin. "Ow! Damn. Your directions really are fucking good." He reached down to rub the sore spot, while Charley laughed so hard water went squirting out her nose.

"Just do what you're told," Ash groaned, but Jack suspected that he was having a better time than he tried to lead them to believe.

"Aye, aye!" He saluted, rolling his eyes.

"What do we do if we find the band?" Will asked, checking his phone for notifications from Haru. They'd been in fairly constant contact since they met, trading codes, programs, and other nerdy technology-related things.

"We'll all have our phones with us," Piper suggested, wincing before she even said it out loud. "We could start a group text. That way if one of us finds it, we'll all know at once."

Charley groaned. "If any of you abuse the privileges of the group text, I'll shank you in a soft fleshy part of your body, and not even feel bad about it."

"Dully noted," Ash grunted in return. Before anyone could say anything else, their waitress arrived with plates full of stacks of pancakes. After she'd set down the food in front of the family, they each ordered a savory plate to go along with it.

"Ugh! I don't think I could eat another bite!" Charley exclaimed with a satisfied sigh as she leaned back against the booth, a contented smile playing at her lips. Will silently slid the last bite of his breakfast sandwich toward her and she dragged herself back into a sitting position with a shrug. "Okay, you're right. I do have it in me to eat more." She accepted his silent challenge, devouring the morsel and whatever leftovers the others weren't going to even try to finish.

"Can we please just pay and get the hell out of here?" Will pleaded, glancing around the diner when it felt like half of them were watching Mountain Charley eat like a starved dog.

Ash nodded, a mild hint of pride in his voice when he said, "Yeah, there's no more food for her to eat anyway."

"Stop looking at me like I'm a freak." She waved off their disgust easily. "I just happen to have a healthy appetite for eating and working out."

Will shook his head, pretending he didn't know her as they left a pile of cash on the table and exited the establishment, while Marley shrugged. "I thought it was bloody cool."

Charley laughed. "Thanks, kid. Now... what do you guys say to getting a hotel room and kickin' back for a while until we have to scope out our locations?"

"Sounds fucking brilliant to me," Jack agreed tiredly, untying Keala from the post outside the diner and letting her lead him back to where they'd parked the car, while he mostly just stumbled along behind her. "I'm beat."

Later, when they all entered the one room they'd booked for a few nights, Piper said, "Oh, Jack, your dream catcher is in your backpack, by the way, I didn't leave it back at the house."

He snapped his head up, his clear blues eyes shining with surprise. "Really? That's awesome! Thanks, Pie." He spoke almost incoherently, stumbling to the couch and digging through his backpack for the one thing that helped him sleep at night.

"I'll put it up for you!" Marley volunteered, and before her hands even touched the dream catcher, Jack had passed out, sleep consuming him in endless dark waves.

"Jack! Wake up, man." Ash spoke loudly, shaking his shoulders and backing up, when he sat up, shoving him away and staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Is it time to go? Already?"

"Yep. You slept through a whole day and a half. You need to rest more." Marley's expression was serious, not a shred of childish enthusiasm anywhere on her face. "We're going to face monsters tonight." The truth of her words rang out in the small dingy motel room that they would only spend a few hours in, if all went well.

Jack stared at the equally as somber expressions on the rest of his family's faces and he ducked his head. "I'll get more sleep," he promised, not mentioning to anyone the fact that either the magic was wearing off the dream catcher, or his abilities were getting stronger. Because the nightmares were starting to break through in confusing bits and pieces.

"Good," Charley said quickly. "Now, that you're up, we all know which places we need to scout. We did some recon while you were out, Jack. This town seems pretty quiet for the most part. If they are coming, they're definitely going to be surprised to see us."

"Charley's right," Ash spoke up as he shrugged his signature leather coat on, and laced up his dark brown, worn, steel-toed boots. "For the first time since this shit has been going on, we finally have the drop on these guys."

"Me and Will went to the restaurant yesterday, Jack. I know right where it is, so we can go whenever you're ready." Marley stooped down to pet Keala who was lying protectively at the end of the couch Jack had been sleeping on.

"Okay." He slowly got up, trying to figure out where all his stuff was and shove it all in his backpack. "I'm ready."

Marley shot him a dark look and wrinkled her nose. "At least take a shower."

"Let's just get this over with as soon as possible. Come on, Piper," Will said, checking for a third time to make sure he had everything they'd need.

"Be careful, guys," Ash told them all seriously. "I want every one of us making it back from this trip in one piece. I won't accept anything else."

Will and Piper were the first to leave, with Charley heading out not long after. While Ash chose to stick around and wait for Jack to get out of the shower.

Ash and Marley were glaring at each other when Jack finally emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, freshly cleaned and more awake than he'd felt in weeks.

"I will get it," Ash snarled, his fists clenched at his sides as Keala looked back and forth between them warily.

Marley shook her head, her expression rigid and stony. "You won't."

"What are you guys arguing about this time?" Jack shook water droplets out of his hair and glanced over at them with nearly the same expression on his face that Keala wore.

"We're not arguing."

"Yeah," Marley chimed in, her gaze never leaving their oldest brother. "I told him a riddle that he's never going to get."

"Just because I didn't get it in two seconds flat, doesn't mean I'll never get it," Ash growled out, a bitter note in his voice.

Marley laughed, while Jack slipped on his jean jacket and slid his backpack on his shoulders. "Alright, let's get going, Mars. Stop torturing him with lateral logic puzzles."

"I will get it!" Ash called after them when Marley started to follow Jack and Keala out into the parking lot. A cool wind blew around them, but it was warmer than he'd expected it to be. After all, they'd just come from the Rocky Mountains where the snow was plentiful in late December.

"I know!" Jack shouted in return, letting Marley lead the way toward the restaurant, after he'd clipped Keala's collar and rope around her neck.

"Why don't you like putting her on a leash?" Marley kicked at the rocks on the sidewalk as they walked through the busy town. "She doesn't seem to hate it nearly as much as you do."

"When Dad first got her, she never listened to him, so he kept her outside, locked up on a leash for days at a time. I remember begging to take her off his hands so I could raise her and take care of her. He told Mom he wanted to teach me responsibility, and that's why he gave me the dog, but really, I think he was glad I rescued her." Jack let Keala get as far ahead of them as she wanted, until it started to annoy the other folks walking alongside them. "She's always been wild," he added proudly when he whistled and she came trotting back to where they were.

"Oh. I don't remember that."

Jack shrugged. "He didn't like letting you go outside a lot when you were little. I think he was worried someone would see him with this baby and put the pieces together. He kept you away from people for a long time."

"I... guess that makes sense," she muttered hollowly as the restaurant came into view.

"This is the place?" Jack asked when she stopped in front of the Throwback Pub and Grill. On a chalkboard set up on the sidewalk they advertised their specials, chili cheese tater tots, a baked potato soup, and some local brand of dark ale, as well as live music every weekday.

"Yep." Marley waited patiently next to him, while he tied up Keala just around the corner in the alley between the restaurant and the yarn store next to it. "I want to try those tater tots. Let's go."

Jack laughed, hurrying to catch up with his sister. "Sounds good to me. Let's see what else they have too. I still have a ton of money from that case in Johnston."

Marley shot him a grin over her shoulder. "Will would only let me get one thing yesterday."

The restaurant was warm and inviting when entered, and the hostess smiled pleasantly at them. "Good evening? Table for two? Right this way."

"Thanks." Marley turned to Jack and elbowed him in the side to get his attention. "Wanna know the riddle I told Ash?" She smirked at him conspiratorially.

"Here ya'll go," the young hostess said cheekily, setting their menus in front of them. "Your waitress will be with you shortly."

"Thank you." Jack was relieved she'd sat them at a table in the back with a clear view of the stage and a clear path to the exit. "Uh... sure... what is it?"

Marley smiled brightly, clearing her throat dramatically and saying, "I can kill people, or cause great pain. You eat me. I can mean you're crazy. I hold things together. I help climbers stay safe. I can replace a swear. And I'm on a violin. What am I?"

Jack was silent for a long time as he thought over her words. "That one might actually take me a little bit," he said, and Marley's whole face lit up. After their dad dropped her off with them when she was eight, they'd bonded over riddles and lateral logic puzzles.

"See what I mean, though? Ash is never gonna get that."

Jack shrugged. "I don't know, he's gotten a lot better over the years," he responded diplomatically as he read over the menu in front of him.

"Oooh." Marley practically salivated as she read over all the dishes the restaurant offered. "I know what I'm getting."

"Me too." Jack took both their menus and set them down on the edge of the table.

"Great! Well I'm Andrea, and I'm ready to take your order," their waitress said suddenly, having overheard their comments. She quickly wrote down what they wanted and whisked away their menus, promising she'd be back shortly with their drinks.

"Do you think we're gonna have be to here for a long time?" Marley asked, taking a sip of her lemon water after the waitress had returned briefly to set them out.

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. This place isn't as secluded as the other places have been."

"Yeah... But I've got this bad feeling, ya know?" She kept her voice low as she leaned forward, even though there weren't very many other people at the tables surrounding theirs.

Jack shot her a serious nod. "I know exactly what you're talking about," he answered stoically, keeping his eyes on the stage as the lights dimmed a little.

"Alright, everybody!" A girl stepped up to the mic, full of bubbly energy. "Get ready to put your hands together for our entertainment this evening. As many of you know, the local band, Friction, was supposed to play tonight, but unfortunately they've all become violently ill. So, please welcome our last-minute addition to the line-up this evening, Interstate Blues!" The people in the restaurant all cheered as if they'd heard of the band before, while at the back of the room, Jack's heart dropped.

"Holy shit." Marley whipped out her phone and typed rapidly into the group text thread they'd put together.

"They're really here." Jack watched in awe as the five-member band filtered onto the stage, their hands full of instruments.

The frontman was a round-bellied guy with a large beard and mustache, and a guitar strapped to his chest. "Hey, everyone! How are ya'll doing tonight?" He spoke into the mic and the crowd all cheered noisily. "Great! I'm Jamie, and like that wonderful young lady said, we're Interstate Blues!"

As soon as they stepped onstage the energy in the room changed. It was like people were automatically more willing to drink and cheer and just generally be happy. The grumpy couple Jack had noticed when they'd first walked in a few tables away from them, were both grinning and getting along like they'd never been upset to begin with.

"The vibe in here changed. Do you feel that too?" he asked as their perky waitress came back and set all the food they'd ordered down in front of them, and he thanked her sincerely, even though neither of them were hungry anymore.

"Uh-huh. It's like they made everyone drunk," she pointed out, while the band began playing the first few notes of their first song.

"Are the others coming?" Jack tried not to seem suspicious as he picked at the tater tots in front of him. They were actually really good, and any other time he probably would've devoured them in seconds.

"On their way now."

"Alright, well before any of this crazy shit happens, I have to go to the bathroom. Will you be alright by yourself for a few minutes?" He moved to stand up and head in the direction the sign pointed.

Marley shot him a bland look. "I'm thirteen, not three, Jack."

He grinned, messing up his little sister's hair, before walking back toward the kitchen where the restrooms were located. He was only gone about five minutes, but by the time he returned, the restaurant was filled with twice as many people as were there when they'd arrived. Where the place had once been quiet and almost peaceful, it now resembled a crowded raucous party, while the band played Bluesy Rock.

"Damn, when did all these people show up?" He slid back into the booth across from Marley, whose gaze was fixed on the band finishing up their second song and getting ready to play their third as the crowd cheered, a rowdy, disjointed sound.

"Like, right after you left. A flood of them came in for a couple of different parties," Marley responded a stony look on her face. "We have to save all these people, Jack."

"We will." He turned in his seat so he could watch Interstate Blues. Something about the music they played, and the way they moved on stage was mesmerizing, it was hard to look anywhere else. The melodic sounds from their instruments were captivating, seeming to fill every crevice in the room, surrounding all the people who could hear it.

Jack turned to the front door, to keep his eyes out for Will, Piper, Charley, and Ash, but as he watched, a man who towered a few heads over the rest of the people in the room, probably standing about seven feet tall, lumbered toward the front doors, and flicked the locks with a sinister grin. As he turned to look out over the crowd, Jack swore the guy's eyes flashed a sickly yellow color.

"They locked us in. We won't be able to get out that way. But I thought I saw an exit where they take out the trash in the same hallway as the bathroom. I'll go try to prop it open with something." His voice was hardly over a whisper in the loud room, but Marley nodded in understanding anyway.

"I'll tell the others to meet around back."

"Our next song is called, From the Dust Returned. 'Cause we're coming back folks!" Jamie, the frontman, shouted gleefully, and the crowd erupted in cheers along with him.

Jack made quick work of sliding a credit card he'd snatched from someone's bill sticking out on the table into the door jam, so while it looked closed, it wasn't locked. By the time he got back to the table, though, the big man who'd discretely locked the doors, was leaning over it, his keen eyes focused on whatever Marley was saying to him.

"Hey, Jack!" She perked up when he arrived, standing rigidly at his little sister's elbow, since the guy was blocking the way to his seat. "This is Jacob. He works with the band!" She squealed, sounding like an overexcited fangirl. "He said we could meet the band later. Isn't that so cool?"

"Wow!" Jack coated his words in excitement that he didn't feel. "That's awesome! This will be the fourth band we've met in person this year!"

"Our brothers are going to be so jealous," Marley told the man who was looking back and forth between them.

Jacob laughed heartily, holding his big hairy mitt out for Jack to shake. "Jacob Haynes, a' personal driver," he introduced himself, gripping Jack's hand so tightly, he felt the bones start to rub together a little.

"Nice to meet you," he responded, impressing his sister with his spot-on acting skills, as the band began playing one of their last songs of the night.

"The pleasure is mine." Jacob shot the siblings a slimy grin that showed off his rotting teeth. Without another word to them, he slunk back into the crowd, moving unusually stealthy for a man of his size.

When he was out of sight, Marley shuddered, while Jack took his seat across from her. "That guy is one of them." She rubbed her arms where goosebumps had risen on her darkened skin. "He looked like he was smelling me."

Jack nodded, his brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure that one is a werewolf," he muttered, his voice low so only Marley could hear him, even though the loud music masked a lot of their conversation from prying ears anyway.

The girl perked up at the mention. "Really? I thought he'd be more..."

Jack rolled his eyes and groaned. "Please don't say handsome."

Marley shrugged. "Okay. How 'bout sexy? Hunky? Hot? Man-"

"How 'bout none of them?" he growled out, just as the song finished.

"Thank you all so much for coming out to hear us play tonight!" Jamie hyped the crowd up even more every time he spoke into the microphone. "Give it up, everyone, for Roger on the drums! Jackson on the bass! Our pianist and vocalist demon, Isaac! And finally, our talented vocals and sax player, Memphis!" With each new introduction, the crowd roared their praise and applause, shaking the building wildly. "And now..." Jamie's voice went from friendly and inviting to sweetly sinister, "for our final act... we'll make everyone disappear!"

While Marley and Jack stared at each other wide-eyed, gripping the backpacks they'd stored underneath the table with all their gear, nobody else even seemed to notice the implication in the frontman's words. He jumped off the stage, lithely into the crowd and slid his guitar around, so it was on his back as sharp, jagged teeth, ripped the tops of his fingers open and a long pointed rod rose above the others, looking deadly.

"It's a leech." Jack watched in horror as the man grabbed a woman close to him and pierced the flesh on the back of her neck with his hands. Initially screaming, as soon as he touched her, she fell limply into his arms, a hollow smile pulling at her lips.

The other band members, abandoned their instruments on stage and went after the crowd, which finally seemed to realize something terrible was happening. People were screaming and stampeding in every direction trying to find a way out, but Jacob, the werewolf had sealed off most of the emergency exits, keeping people trapped in place.

Pulling out a gun, Jack grabbed Marley's arm and dragged her toward the bathrooms, they could hold up the back hallway while they waited for their backup to arrive. But the werewolf was right behind them. As they reached the narrow entryway that led toward the restrooms, he snatched Marley's other arm and yanked her toward him.

"Not so fast, kids," he sneered, his right hand wrapping around Marley's throat and lifting her up to admire her, while people screamed as they were torn apart by the other members of the monster band. "I knew ya'll were up to no good." He brought his pointed nose to Marley's throat and sniffed her like a dog.

"Let me go, you sick freak." She kicked and struggled in his arms, while Jack tried to find the perfect shot that would kill him, but wouldn't injure her.

Jacob laughed patronizingly. "You silly fucking, human. I'm going to rip you apart and I'm going to enjoy every second of it, because you smell delicious." He fixed his yellow gaze on Jack. Sniffing the air, he frowned, confusion marring his hairy features. "You're not scared." Questions danced in his eyes as he spoke.

"No," Jack responded evenly, right as Marley stopped struggling in the man's arms. "I'm concentrating." The second the words were out of his mouth, he pressed down on the trigger and launched a silver bullet directly into the man's giant skull. Marley shrieked as the werewolf fell to the ground, but the sound was drowned out by the other screams of terror reverberating around the building.

Jack grabbed his sister and pulled her away from the man as he collapsed in a heap onto the ground, glancing up and catching the gaze of another of the monster band members. The drummer, Roger. He grinned at Jack, while he pushed people to the side and stalked toward them.

"He's coming for us, Jack!" Marley hissed as he shoved her behind him and toward the side hallway that led to the exit he'd scoped out earlier.

"Don't worry." Jack backed up slowly, following her. He'd gone into it thinking they could stop all those people from dying, but they couldn't. They couldn't save everyone. They couldn't save anyone.

"You killed my driver, man," Roger called out to them, ignoring the chaos behind him. Somewhere in the kitchen screams erupted and clanging metal added to the noise of the slaughter. "That wasn't cool, bro."

"What're you?" Jack mocked, continuing to back toward the door. "Stoned?"

Roger shrugged, a smile playing across his lips as he brushed back his blond hair and his light green eyes sparkled with humor. "You'd be surprised how much greasy food and beer saturates a person. See, the rest of them, like the taste of the blood and meat better that way, but Jamie and I like to eat the spinal fluid and brain matter. It's more... tasteful."

"So you're a leech too, then?" Jack shared a look with Marley. At least they knew.

Roger grinned, his teeth perfectly white and straight. "Something like that. So, how'd you kill Jacob? He's not an easy man to put down." The guy spoke conversationally, like he wasn't thinking of feeding off them.

Jack smirked, trying to think back to when Will told him about the leeches and if he'd mentioned anything about how to kill them. Cocking his gun behind his back he answered just as casually, "Silver bullet to the head." Before the creature could move, Jack whipped out his gun and shot the monster in practically the same place he'd shot the werewolf.

Roger fell to the ground right as pounding started on the door they stood just a few feet away from, and Marley swung it open. While she tore outside, dragging the others along with her, Jack went for the leech. His body still moved and twitched a little like the thing was still alive. Before any of his other band members caught a whiff of what was happening, he started dragging the leech toward the door.

"What are you doing?" Ash hissed, storming in to help.

"I think he's still alive. Let's take him back to Foghills. We can't save anyone in here." The despair he felt weighing down the pit of his stomach, bled into his voice as he spoke.

Instead of protesting, Ash helped Jack drag the limp monster out toward their car, the only exit slamming shut behind them, trapping the rest of those people inside with the remaining members of Interstate Blues.

They tied their captive's arms and legs with iron chains, and cuffed his hands and legs together. Throwing him in the back of the truck, they had Keala curl up at Will's feet in the very front of the car, and Marley squeeze in with Piper, Charley, and Jack, while Ash drove.

"What the hell happened back there?" Ash demanded the second they'd started driving away from the restaurant as fast and as far as they could.

"We thought we could save them..." Marley's voice cracked as tears filled her eyes. "B-b-but, the monsters just stormed the crowd, and there were people everywhere, and... it was chaos." She swiped at her eyes and folded her arms around her legs.

"I killed a werewolf. He was the one who locked everyone inside while the band was onstage. He went after us first. I put him down with a silver bullet. They were quick, though. It all happened so fast. One second everyone's having the time of their lives, and the next second, there are twenty bodies on the ground."

"You did good, guys. You did what you could and bagged two monsters. Two that'll never again hurt another person. That's something." Will, Piper, and Charley all murmured their agreements, while Marley and Jack remained silent. He couldn't stop thinking about what they could've done differently. There had to have been about forty people in that place. And not one of them would survive the massacre of that evening.

"Somebody's going to notice all those missing people." Piper wrapped a gentle arm around Marley's shaking shoulders. "They're getting braver."

"They're getting sloppy. We're going to get all of them. What else did you notice about the band itself?" Ash sped through the winding roads, driving back toward Kit's sprawling property, crossing through at least six other states on the way.

"There were five members and the driver," Marley answered, her voice slightly muffled by Piper's jacket.

"One was a werewolf, two were leeches, one was a serpent thing like you said, Will, and I'm not sure what the last two were. I only spotted those four."

"But we got all their names," Marley interjected before anyone else could say anything. Closing her eyes, she said, "Roger, Jamie, Isaac, Jacob, Memphis, and Jackson. Jack killed Jacob, the werewolf. And Roger is tied up in the back."

"Okay, good." Ash nodded his head, his gaze fixed on the road. "That's some good intel, guys. We'll get these bastards, I promise."

"But first..." Charley said, yawning, "let's get home."