Riverdale Signs

I really need to find her.

I keep my head on a swivel as I walk along the gravel path, watching for anything that might be a sign.

I hope she didn't disappear somewhere back to wherever she came from. But I can't believe that she would be around that much if it wasn't some kind of sign. It's been weeks and it keeps happening. It can't be a coincidence. It just can't be.

Looking down, I pass by the rock where I first saw her.

It doesn't make any sense otherwise. Why else would a cat be following me around? It was just sitting there, almost like it was waiting for me. At first it seemed cute, I just made a new friend on my way to school by taking a new path. Then I noticed it was following me to school. After that, I just kept seeing it everywhere. At school, at Pop's, even around my home. One night I was woken up by her at my bedroom window.

Then it started to get weird. I tried to find out where it was coming from and it lead me to some weird places. First there was a weird place in the woods with a bunch of rocks with a weird red paint on them in a strange arrangement. Then there was a place with dead birds in a circle. And finally some weird signs made with sticks that were almost like dreamcatchers. That can't just be a coincidence. There has to be a reason, and if I can just figure out where they came from, I'm sure I can figure out how it all fits together. All I have to do is find her.

All of the sudden, I hear it. That simple meow that I've heard so many times before. I look towards the sound in front of me, and it's right in front of me.

"Hey there little one."

I lean down to meet the black cat at their level.

"Where have you been?"

She meows at me and it makes me smile. I reach out to try and pet her, but she backs up.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

My new friend adds distance between us when I try to reach out again but stops not that far away from me.

"What is it?"

Is it happening again?

She meows at me and goes a little further away and then looks back.

"You want me to follow you?"

Again I get a meow before she turns and starts walking slowly in front of me.

I guess I got my answer.

I stand up and start following it.

I hope this doesn't have anything to do with Griffins and Gargoyles and everything Jugg and I have been dealing with. But I have to at least find out.

The black cat turns into the forest off the main path.

Looks like we're going to another weird place.

I look around at the trees as I walk into them.

Nothing weird yet.

I make sure to keep my focus on the cat in front of me, because of how quickly it's moving and the way it's blending into the brush so well despite how light out it is.

I can't let her get away. This might be the time that she finds its way home and I figure out why it kept finding me.

She stops suddenly when she gets way too ahead of me.

I guess it's going to be as easy as it was before.

She meows at me as I get a few steps from her before she turns again and dashes to wherever she's going. I look up to see something like a building through some of the trees.

Is that? I think it is but it's too far away to really know for sure.

The black cat meows at me and I notice that she's heading towards the building.

I guess I'll find out.

Speeding up a little, the building comes into better view.

It is... it's Pop's... but something's wrong.

The trees start to part as I get closer to the edge of the forest and see the cat heading towards it.

Something's painted on it. I... what is it?

I finally get out of the forest and see Pop's in all its glory.

Or close to it anyway.

The cat meows at me and I look down to see that it's looking up at me.

"Is this what you wanted me to see?"

I take a better look at Pop's and it has a pentagram painted on it's front.

Who would've done this?

Again the black cat meows at me and I look down just in time to see it take off to the other end of Pop's.

"What is it?"

She goes right past the entrance and I don't know whether to follow it. All of the sudden, I hear a voice.

"Hey there little one, where did you come from?"

Is that?

"Veronica?"

Not long after I call out, V comes around the corner with the black cat in her hands.

"B? What are you doing here?"

She looks at me kinda confused.

Okay, how do I explain this exactly?

"I was... I saw this cat and followed it here."

I guess that makes the most sense. It's true.

"This little girl?"

I'm still trying to figure out how to spend time with her. It's still weird after everything. That weird hallucination I had at the wave made it hard to talk to her, even though I wanted to. Then there was the time we ran into Santa... or at least someone claiming to be Santa at least. She started acting really weird after that for some reason. I tried to ask her why but she's been kinda stand-offish about what exactly happened.

"Yeah, is she yours?"

Veronica pats the cat in her hands before shaking her head.

"Nope, it's the first I've ever seen her around here."

"Weird..."

Probably a good idea to focus on the obvious.

I look at the pentagram on Pop's.

"Who did this?"

She shrugs as she moves closer to me, standing close but facing the sign in front of us.

"No idea. I came in to open up and found it on the front. I'm definitely going to find out though."

That might not be the right thing.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, they painted a pentagram on your place V."

"It's probably just my father trying to scare me."

"But what if it isn't? With everything that Jugg and I are investigating? It's got me starting to wonder."

A voice calls out from behind us.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that."

What?

Both of us turn around to see a blonde with an extremely red coat on coming towards us.

"Um... who are you?"

"That's not important."

"Uh, it is to me if you're the one who painted the pentagram on my business."

"I'm not, but that's why I'm here."

V and I look at each other.

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard about Dilton Doiley and his friends. So I came to take a look."

"At the pentagram? How did you even know about it?"

"Salem told me."

Salem? The town?

Veronica asks the question in my head.

"Salem?"

The strange blonde points to the cat in Veronica's hands.

"Come on Salem, let's go."

The black cat, apparently named Salem, jumps out of Veronica's hands. She kneels down and picks up Salem in her arms. She then stands up and turns away from both of us.

I can't just let her walk away.

"Hey, wait!"

The woman stops and turns around to face us but doesn't say anything. We close the distance between us and her.

"Who are you?"

"A friend."

Veronica asks the obvious.

"And how do you know I shouldn't be worried?"

"Because your friend is wrong. It's not mystical in nature. Nothing magical about it."

"How do you know?"

She smiles about both of us and Salem jumps out of her arms and kinda wraps themselves around the back of the woman's legs.

"I have some experience with this type of thing. Trust me..."

She reaches out and touches both of us and something weird happens. A flash of images suddenly goes through my head. The time she kissed me when we auditioned for the Vixens. Her leaning on me when she was feeling bad. The image of Veronica standing in front of me at the club. The look she gave me when driving in the car with Santa. Suddenly, an image I don't recognized flashes in my head. The image of a box being opened. Then some odd photos of V and I being held by someone.

What the hell?

It makes me stumble back and shake my head when I get light headed. When things get a little more normal, I get my baring again and see Veronica has stepped back too. I turn to the woman.

"What was that?"

A grin comes over her face as she looks at me, then at Veronica and she chuckles.

"A glimpse."

A glimpse?

Veronica gets to the question before I do.

"A glimpse of what?"

She turns her back to us and starts walking again. Her cat Salem follows her.

"That's up to both of you. But I would recommend figuring it out soon."

She gets to the edge of the forest and raises one hand, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, a pair of buckets land on the ground in front of us, full of what looks like soapy water.

"To help with the clean up."

Then she disappears into the forest with her cat. Veronica and I look at each other.

What the heck was that? What did she mean? How did she get those things in our head?

Veronica smiles at me nervously.

"Up for a little cleaning work before school B?"

I look down at the buckets before looking at her and smiling.

"Sure."

Was that a glimpse of what's to come? Maybe I don't have to worry so much what she will think if I actually bring it up to her?