Fear Never Dies

*Chapter Two*

I sat in the middle of Charlie-Mason and Jack in the beat up 1976 Ford, with the permanent smell of peppermints, tobacco, and gasoline. The blue outer-coat was rusted and chipped, and the engine roared loudly, causing the seats to vibrate from under me. But Charlie-Mason was too proud of the piece of shit to get rid of it.

"Where are we headed?" I asked Charlie-Mason, raising my voice so he could hear me.

"I don't know, we'll keep driving until we decide to rest somewhere," he replied.

"Why don't we go east? I'm tired of looking at deserts," Jack suggested, looking out the window.

He was right, of course, there was nothing but deserts, small towns, and abandoned houses. It would be nice to go back east again, it felt like it was forever since I saw green.

"That's where all the cities are, we're trying to avoid those," Charlie-Mason reminded him.

"You do not know geology, there are plenty of small towns in the east, more southern states, of course, but small town nonetheless," I argued. "It has been a long time since we were in the east. Plus, cities are not that bad, small towns, everyone wants to know everyone, but in cities, no one would want to know who we are."

Charlie-Mason was quiet for a moment before Jack slung his body forward in excitement. "You guys, we need to go to Chapel Hill, North Carolina."

I laughed. "Yes because not only did Jack torment the poor souls in Whitechapel, but also the souls in Chapel Hill."

Jack looked pleased. "See, she understands, I feel as if I don't torment the souls in Chapel Hill, then my life will be incomplete. We can totally do a whole Jack the Ripper copycat."

"We're not going to copycat Jack the Ripper, Jack. But I will consider the vote of Chapel Hill," Charlie-Mason said.

"Does this mean I get to over-throw the King now?" I asked, raising my hand.

Jack snickered as Charlie-Mason quickly glared at me.

I slumped in my seat. "What? Too much power and it will start to get to your head, I am only trying to help you in the long run."

Charlie-Mason rolled his eyes. "Lizzie, if you weren't my sister, you'd be dead already."

"That just makes my heart tingle inside," I told him, making sure he would be able to detect my sarcasm.

My eldest brother was a self-controlled and patient person. He did not let our teasing or attitude bother him in any way. It always amazed me how much shit we could throw at him, and he would never once raise his voice or get angry with us.

"I'm getting hungry, Charlie," Jack pouted, rubbing his stomach.

Charlie-Mason looked over at him. "You're kidding right? We just ate and I don't have that much cash on me."

"In his defense, the diner you took us to was horrible and my food was burnt. Plus, you act like killing people is the only talent we have, I am ashamed of you. Truly I am," I crossed my arms, unable to believe that Charlie-Mason was going to let us starve or let the food settle and we would all have food poisoning.

"I can't believe I'm being overruled by peasants in my own kingdom, this is ridiculous."

"Your face is ridiculous," Jack muttered.

"Fine, we'll pull over somewhere and we'll get something to eat. Then will the two of you shut up?" Charlie-Mason asked. I could hear the heat in his voice, but it never raised.

I thought about it for a second. "We will not shut up, but we will stop bugging you about food, we will only find something else to bug you about."