Prologue

The girl's bathroom was quiet with the only sound being Kevin Keller's yells from outside as he threw himself repeatedly into the door. Betty Cooper flinched at every thump, every creak, as Kevin got progressively more violent. Betty stood over the porcelain sinks lining the wall and took a deep shuddery breath. Her hands were shaking and she clenched them tightly into fists and gritted her teeth. She could totally do this. Betty's gaze left the floor where she had been meticulously scanning each tile as if each one held a key to the creation of the universe. Or some people might call it stalling. She glanced into the mirror stuck to the wall. There were smudges of lipstick where girls had leaned forward and given their reflection a quick kiss before heading to class. She used to be one of them girls.

But beyond the cherry red lipstick stains was her own reflection. Betty winced, frowning at her reflection which was fragmented from the two inch crack splitting the mirror and her face into jagged fractures. It was like looking into a fun mirror or she was the poster girl for the latest edgy teen YA novel. She still didn't look like herself even if she was pretty much one of the last "normals" in Riverdale High. Betty would normally have her hair in a tight ponytail and wear something simple like a pastel pink sweater and skirt but normal had crashed and burned.

Instead, Betty hadn't bothered brushing her blonde hair and let it fall to her shoulders in rats tails. She was wearing her pyjama shirt under some sweater she had taken out of Polly's room and some old scuffed jeans stained with paint. Betty wasn't going insane however. She wasn't planning on joining the masses and giving into peer pressure, even if that meant getting Archie and Veronica back. No. This was a mission, the clothes and look was a façade and she was sacrificing herself. Her sanity. Life. Whatever. To get to the bottom of the drug that should have been impossible. It should have had its own Sci-Fi movie or Television series with mediocre teen actors. Yet it wasn't. It was real. It was happening to her, and she felt like she was the only normal kid left. Well. There was Kevin too. Who had repeatedly insisted he would do it instead but Kevin Keller was one of her closest friends; there was no way she was going to watch him lose himself too.

Of course there was that small voice in her head. Just like the one that had cemented itself inside her consciousness at 13 when Cheryl Blossom had offered her a cigarette. Maybe I'll be cool . She had thought, as she had awkwardly stuck the cigarette between her lips and took a few shaky drags before nearly hacking up her lungs… but that was seventh grade. That was Betty trying to act cooler than she was so Cheryl Blossom would accept her. This voice, however? It was different. This one was louder and dominant.

If I take the drug- Archie and Veronica will talk to me again. Though that was her selfishness speaking. Yes, she wanted to snap her friends out of it but she also wanted to know what the hell the drug was. How had the Serpents come into contact with it? And what the hell had it done to her friends and the majority of the Student Body? Betty felt her heart leap into her throat when there was another loud bang. Kevin's shoulder VS the girl's bathroom door. She wasn't sure who was going to win. After all, before all of the craziness, her friend had been taking regular trips to the gym.

'Betty, you do realise what you're doing right?' Kevin shouted. She could hear him pummelling his fists on the old hardwood door, desperate to get in. 'Betty, open the goddamn door!' But she ignored him. The girl's bathroom might be run-down and have no toilet paper and a broken mirror but it did have a pretty sturdy lock installed which made it even easier for the popular girls to abuse it. Kevin wasn't exactly The Hulk but she was starting to get wary of his strength. She could practically hear the lock mechanism groaning under the boy's weight. She considered locking herself in one of the stalls just in case he actually got through. 'Betty!' With every thump, Kevin's voice was getting louder which was surely going to attract a teacher. Fuck. Though the faculty at RHS had made it clear they wanted no part in all of the craziness. Either that or The Serpents had blackmailed them. 'Betty, I swear to God, if you touch that stuff, I'll never forgive you-'

Her breath came out shuddery.

'Shut up,' she said shakily but her voice was so quiet she could barely hear herself. And then she repeated it; 'Just shut up. Shut up!' Her hands came down and she was gripping the edge of the sink, breathing heavily. She had to do this now. Betty swallowed hard. If she didn't, she never would and would regret it for the rest of her life.

Betty reached into the pocket of her sister's sweater and pulled out a small baggie, holding it up in front of her face and peering at the mound of white powder sitting at the bottom. It totally looked like Cocaine. She wrinkled her nose. Betty had never done drugs and was pretty sure she never would do drugs. That was until Jingle Jangle. Until her best friends Veronica Lodge and Archie Andrews had gone to the dark side and Riverdale High had turned into Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

Betty couldn't stop her hands shaking as she neatly poured out the powder from the baggie onto the edge of the sink before digging into her bag and pulling out one of her text books. I can't believe I'm doing this. Kevin's shrieks from outside made it almost impossible for her trembling hands to roll a piece of her torn textbook into a feasible tube before she ducked down and held her breath. Just do it. She thought. Her heart slammed into her chest in sync with Kevin as he battered on the door relentlessly.

She stared at the white powder and dug around in it with the paper tube, fashioning it into a little line. Betty's stomach twisted with nausea, her chest ached but she had to do it. She leaned closer and quickly before she could hesitate, snorted the entire line before stumbling backwards with a yelp. Her nostril burned. Like she had just stabbed a hot rod up her nose. Betty held her hand over her nose for a second, breathing heavily. She expected to feel… different .

But she didn't. She whipped around and stared at herself in the mirror. Same old blue eyes staring back. Same pale face. Twisted lips. She caught a smear of the stuff on the edge of her nostril and wiped it away with the brush of a fingertip. Betty stood there for a few seconds staring into the bathroom mirror before the door flew open, making her jump backwards. None other than Jughead Jones was striding through followed by Kevin who looked dishevelled. Well he would do. He had been fighting a door for the last half an hour. Betty attempted to compose herself and cleared her throat, biting her lip. Her nostril continued to burn away and she started to feel sick. Jughead frowned at her, squinting at her through her crummy disguise. Before he seemed to snap out of it, straightening up.

Jughead Jones had been one of the first to be drastically altered by Jingle Jangle. Going from a quiet kid always sitting on his laptop to the leader of The South-side Serpents. Also; the assholes who had sold Archie and Veronica life altering drugs. Jughead was handsome, she had to admit that. He had dark hair which was always a mess, underneath a knitted beanie. He wore his black serpent jacket and jeans as well as the permanent look of irritation clear in his eyes and twisted on his lips. Kevin stood next to him looking like he was two seconds away from ripping her head off. He shook his head of dark hair and only scowled at her.

'Did you take it?' Jughead demanded, his dark eyes glowering at her. Betty didn't back down; she glared right back.

'Oh, so now you want to help me?' She spat and he looked momentarily taken aback. The boy hissed out an annoyed breath.

'It's a simple question, Cooper.' He growled, spacing out his words like she was a baby. 'Did. You. Take. It?' Betty shuffled uncomfortably. She took a few steps backwards and found herself pressed against the wall. The two boys only advanced closer.

'This is the girl's bathroom,' she ended up choking out, lamely. Her eyes were on the clear baggie which had landed on the floor in her panic. Jughead sighed, his tone softening.

'Look, all I want to know is if you've taken it.' Betty hesitated for a second.

'Yes.' She murmured, unable to meet his gaze. 'Yeah, I took it.' She kept her eyes glued to the floor. Her head was starting to thump. She started to panic. Oh god, why did I take it? 'Because you wouldn't help me.' She growled at the boy. She hated the way she sounded, like she was a little kid trying to explain herself. When she finally looked up though, to her surprise, she was met with two completely different expressions. One was Kevin. Staring at her in mute horror, his eyes wide… and then there was Jughead. His lips had curved into what she could only presume was a smile. She had never seen him smile. There was a glint in his eyes which was suddenly strangely enticing.

'Nice.' He smirked, losing the look of horror- of terror- that he had entered the girl's bathroom with. He looked Betty up and down before shrugging a little, his smirk fashioning into a fully fledged grin. 'Welcome to The Serpents, Betty Cooper.'

CHAPTER ONE

It was so cold Betty was sure her hands were going to drop off, even when she had bothered wearing gloves. She blew out a shaky breath, momentarily fascinated as it swirled around her like smoke. She tugged the hood of her sweater over her blonde hair and squeezed her arms tighter around her chest. Archie was late which was ridiculous because they were next door neighbours. She stood on his lawn by the sprinkler and did a little shuffle dance to keep warm. It was only the middle of October yet she was pretty sure her nose had turned a bright pink and her fingers were five minutes from shrivelling up and dropping off.

This was all Veronica's fault. Betty thought bitterly towards her best friend, who was also Archie's girlfriend. If the girl hadn't have sent her a cryptic text with just a time and a place- she wouldn't be outside in the freezing cold staring up at Archie's window. He had texted her that he would "Out in ten minutes" but in Archie speak; it really meant half an hour which she was sure was the amount of time she had been standing there like a fool for. Betty let out a quiet puff of irritation and pulled her phone out her pocket, glancing at the list of notifications lighting up her screen. The text from Veronica was still there. She frowned at it, pursing her lips. Why exactly had Veronica texted her and Archie in the dead of night? If Betty's Mother realised she had slipped out at 3am, she would surely ground her but the curiosity was killing her. Betty read and re-read the text over and over again.

Ronnie: 2:54am - Aspen Field. 3:15. I'll explain when you get there. That's all it said. There was no string of kisses like normal or an emoji heart. It was just a vague instruction. Thankfully, Archie had been awake. He had been binging some crime TV drama on Netflix. All she had to do was wander over to her window. He had his curtains open so she got the full view of Archie Andrews sprawled on his bed with his laptop balanced strategically on his lap as he stared dead-eyed at the screen. Though it was like he had some kind of sixth sense. He glanced up, not even a moment after she initially began her one-way stare off, waiting for him to realise. It only took one look and he was jumping up, clumsily knocking his laptop off his bed before pulling a shirt on.

That had been almost twenty five minutes ago. Veronica's text said 3:15 and it was 3:07. Thank god for small towns. Aspen Field was an old football field the community had turned into a desolate patch of land. Or, what Archie, Betty and the kids of Riverdale called it; The closest thing they had to a park. It was just on the other side of Riverdale which was only a five minutes drive. Though she would definitely make Archie step on it. A few minutes later while she was scrolling through Instagram, the Andrews door finally flew open as Archie Andrews hurried out, wrestling to get his jacket on with one hand. He rushed over and all of her irritation at the redhead dispersed when she realized he was holding a steaming cup of hot cocoa.

'Sorry I'm late!' Archie looked flustered. He had pulled a navy beanie over his dark red hair and she could hear his teeth chattering.

'Jesus, Betty, why didn't you just come inside?' She took the mug gratefully, sipping the hot liquid before grasping it with both hands. There was a sunshine painted on the side. Oh, how she missed the sun.

'I didn't want to make noise.' Betty quickly drained the hot cocoa and Archie dumped the cup back inside before the two of them hurried down his lawn, Archie tripping over the sprinkler and Betty letting out an ugly snort of laughter. 'You do that every time!' Archie rushed over to his beaten up truck. The one his dad had gotten him for his sixteenth birthday.

'So, what's all this about?' The redhead asked. Betty sighed and yanked open the passenger door.

'Ronnie is at Aspen field at 3am and that's about as much as I know,' she snorted, and the boy shrugged.

'Sounds about right.' He smirked at her. The two of them climbed in Archie's truck and he thumbed on the heating, and Betty let out a breath of relief as warm air blasted her in the face. Archie started the truck and she leaned back with a sigh, glancing out of the window to see if her Mother had come out to shout at her but the Cooper household was quiet and dark. The car started to cruise forwards and she sighed again, leaning her head into the soft upholstery leather.

Archie flicked on the radio and the two of them engaged in small-talk and occasionally sang along to the all night pop station blasting from the airwaves, though Betty could tell the redhead was apprehensive and maybe a little tense about the whole situation. Betty kept going over the reasons why Veronica would be in an abandoned field in the middle of the night. Her stomach dropped and she shuffled uncomfortably on her seat. Was something wrong? Did Veronica need help?

If it was an emergency though, she wouldn't give them a specific time. Betty lay her head on the window, occasionally lifting it to shoot amused glances at Archie who was getting way too into an AC/DC song. Though the mood dampened as they grew closer to their destination. The streets were desolate, dotted with lampposts emitting a warm orangeade light. Archie let out a sigh and gripped the steering wheel.

'I don't get it,' he turned down a lane leading to the ancient parking lot that had long since been abandoned. 'Where are we even going?' Grass was starting to sprout through the cracked concrete from years of neglect. Betty sat up when Archie parked up, and the two of them briefly exchanged glances before jumping out of the car. Archie tapped his phone, flicking on the flash-light, shining it directly in Betty's face. She shaded her eyes, giggling.

'Dude, get that out of my face!' He lowered the beam, chuckling. 'So, it's this way right?' Betty muttered uncertainly. Archie nodded.

'Mm.' The two of them started to traipse through the the undergrowth spewing from the uneven gravel. They made it over to a wire fence and Archie grabbed it, shaking the structure. 'How the hell are we supposed to get over here?' He groaned. Betty heard his phone vibrate in his jacket and he let go of the fence, pulling it out. Betty frowned at the fence. It was way too high to attempt to get over. How had Veronica managed it?

'She says we need to backtrack..' Archie let out a hiss of frustration, stumbling a little. 'Ronnie?' He shouted. 'Hey, stop playing games and come out!' He started forwards again, and Betty followed anxiously, wincing every time her boot caught a dead branch or she stamped in bog. The two of them were standing bang smack in the middle of Aspen Field. Betty stood shivering in the October chill as it blew her hair around billowing strands in her face. She folded her arms and gritted her teeth. Trying to squeeze as much warmth into her chest as possible. Archie stood next to her and frowned, playing with his beanie. His gaze wandered aimlessly around the field of long grass and weeds. 'Where is she?' He muttered, before his phone illuminated once again with a text.

Betty felt her heart leap into her throat. What game was Veronica playing? She leaned into Archie for warmth, peering at his phone. 'What does it say?' She hissed, before whipping her head around at the sound of something snapping. Just a twig. She thought. She turned back to Archie who was staring down at his phone. 'Archie?' She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Archie looked up, looking confused. His brown eyes were wide in the torch light. He tipped his head back, strands of his dark red hair falling in his eyes. He peered at the midnight sky dotted with stars. 'It just says one thing.' He murmured; 'Look up.'

Betty followed his gaze. At first there was nothing, and she felt like an idiot. If Veronica was planning on jumping out at them and scarring them for life, that would be the perfect time. But then she heard the breath catch in Archie's throat, and he squinted at the sky. 'No way.' He murmured. Betty grimaced. 'What?' She couldn't see anything.

'Archie, what are you talking-'

But then she did see it. But it wasn't an it. Betty felt all logic, every answer to science and evolution she knew fly out of her brain like a plug had been pulled. She was staring at Veronica Lodge, her best friend, floating- hovering above her. Though there were no strings attached, nothing suspending her. She had no wings. No...anything. Veronica was staring down at them grinning wildly, her dark hair whipping around her face. Archie didn't say anything, only stumbling backwards with a breathy gasp and Betty was speechless.

The two of them only continued to stare upwards at their friend, and Betty blinked once and then twice. But she wasn't dreaming. The bitter breeze still played with her hair and tickled her neck with gooseflesh. No, she wasn't dreaming at all. What she was seeing was real. She was seeing her best friend, captain of RHS cheerleading squad. Veronica Lodge.

And she was flying.

flashback

'Ow!'

Betty flinched every time Veronica let out a hiss of pain. But she couldn't do anything about it. Her hands were shaking as she delicately picked out grey and white feathers which were jaggedly sticking out of her best friend's back. The sight was straight out of a horror movie. Veronica was sat, perched on one of the desks in a classroom they had managed to barricade. It had taken Betty at least an hour to pick up the courage to tear off Veronica's shirt. It had been bad enough with it on. Two ugly jagged gashes had seemingly appeared just on her bra-line. They were only narrow at first. Though that was where the problem only began. It only got worse. The gashes had started to expand and Veronica had started to itch irritably at them, before her hand had come back streaked with red and covered in tiny white and grey feathers.

Veronica held her breath when Betty gently plucked out another feather which had protruded from the left gash. She felt the girl tremble as blood slowly seeped down her smooth olive back. 'Is it bad?' Veronica whispered. Betty couldn't answer. She had seen this before. Well, kind of. In fiction at least. Two wounds exactly the same length sticking out of her best friend's back. And then there were the feathers. Betty was almost certainly sure it had something to do with Veronica's sudden ability to be able to fly. Somehow- this all made sense. If the girl could fly- then….of course she would start to grow wings. Betty cringed when she pulled out another feather. This time it was a big one. It was stained scarlet. She swallowed hard and dropped the feather onto the floor with the rest. The two of them had been sitting there for almost all of fourth period. Veronica had texted her when she had been in Biology with a string of exclamation marks and gibberish text. Of course she had panicked and made an excuse to her biology teacher, before hurrying to find her friend and finding…. this.

At the time, Veronica had been crying and squeaking out in pain, her fingernails dripping claret as she ripped at her back, clawing at her baby-pink t-shirt that had been dyed a terrifying red. She had been pulling out fluffy feathers that were flying in a whirlwind around her. Betty had managed to catch a hold of herself, and calm the girl down before attempting to remove the feathers herself. It wasn't going as well as she had hoped.

'All done.' Betty whispered. She had lost the ability to use her proper voice. Veronica was definitely not "all done". The wounds in her back were only expanding more and more. But the feathers had stopped- for now. Betty stared at Veronica's back, and her gaze flickered to the girl's ruined shirt crumpled on the floor. The shirt was done for. Whatever had sliced two gashes into her back had also done the same to her shirt. Wings. Betty thought dizzily.

'Where's Archie?' Veronica asked softly. Betty's chest tightened. She wasn't actually sure. The last time she had seen him was this morning, outside his locker. Before his Bulldog team-mates had dragged him away. 'Classes.' She replied coolly. But he hadn't been at their usual table at lunch, or in English Literature. She made a mental note to text him.

Veronica hopped off the desk and turned to her. Betty held her breath. Veronica Lodge seemed even more beautiful than she already was. Her golden skin seemed to glow. But her expression was twisted. Terrified. The girl's eyes were wide. 'What's happening to me?'

Betty had been meaning to ask. She just wasn't sure how, but now seemed like the perfect time. She shuffled uncomfortably, crossing one leg over the other. Veronica folded her arms across her chest. She looked ridiculous standing there in her bra. Yet somehow she also seemed to resemble a Greek goddess. 'Ronnie, How exactly did you…' Betty trailed off with a sigh. But Veronica seemed to understand. She ducked her head, her dark hair hiding her face.

How had she managed to fly. That question had been bouncing around Betty's brain ever since she had witnessed the phenomenon for herself with Archie, three days ago. Ever since, Archie had thrown himself into research, desperately trying to find an answer. They were all looking for one. But all they had managed to do was watch the film "Chronicle" three times. Veronica had of course embraced her new ability. How could she not? That was until feathers had started growing out of her, and now her back was splattered with gore. Bloody feathers poking from her golden skin.

'Jingle Jangle.' Veronica murmured. Betty swore she hadn't heard the girl right. 'What?'

Veronica sighed. 'Some guy from my History class approached me the other day and asked if I wanted to buy some "Jingle Jangle" or whatever. He said it'll make me fly.' She snorted, lifting her head to look at Betty. 'I didn't think he meant literally.'

'And what's Jingle Jangle?' Betty whispered.

Veronica shrugged. 'I thought it was some kind of Legal High. Clearly I was wrong.' The girl's lip curled slightly. 'Well, I was kind of right.'

Betty stared at the girl, ignoring the pun and was unsure whether to yell at her for buying drugs or yell at her for not telling her sooner. In the end she took a shaky step forwards and wrapped her arms around the trembling girl. 'So, you think the drugs did this to you?' She asked, after stepping away. She pulled off her own sweater she was wearing over a checked shirt. 'Put this on.'

Veronica took the shirt gratefully and pulled it on gently, careful not to trigger whatever the hell had sliced neatly through her back in the first place. 'I think so?' The girl murmured, smoothing down the sweater. Her expression brightened. The shirt suited her pretty well. 'But...I've been hearing rumours about kids who take the drug,' Veronica said, sitting back down on the desk. She itched her back irritably and stared down at her blood stained hands. There were still bits of feather stuck to them. Veronica sighed. 'Betty, The Jingle Jangle, or whatever it is- it's doing something to the kids that take it.'

Betty smirked. 'No kidding.' She muttered. Veronica rolled her eyes.

'No, listen to me. Reggie Mantle threw his teacher into a wall. Cheryl Blossom? She jumped from the top floor of the school and didn't break every bone in her body!' she hissed. 'Betty, it's like kids are-' Veronica trailed off and Betty frowned, confused. But the girl carried on, pressing her fingers to her temples. Betty could sense Veronica was in pain.

'Okay, Do you know that loner kid Jughead Jones? He…' she lowered her voice. 'Apparently he burned some kids fingers off.' Betty found herself shaking her head. Surely the girl was messing with her. But how could she not believe Veronica when she was pretty sure the girl was growing wings? 'Do you mean the Cinephile kid?' She spluttered. 'Ronnie, he's harmless.' But the girl laughed, an edge to it. She caught Veronica's expression wrinkle with pain, her lips curling. But the girl bit her lip and forced a smile.

'That's what I thought! But now he's a Serpent- Betty. Even weirder? He's the leader of the Serpents.'

Betty frowned. No way. She knew Jughead Jones. Well, kind of. He had smiled at her once in History, and on June 15th, he had asked what date it was. She only remembered that day vividly because as soon as she had whispered it to him, her nose had started gushing blood and she had to spend nearly an hour in the nurse's office with a Kleenex pressed against her face.

'But he's…' Betty trailed off. She was about to say 'Uncool' but she didn't want to sound stupid. But Veronica nodded. 'Yeah, I know. He's a freak. And now he's the leader of one of the most dangerous gangs in school...who are dealing this "Jingle Jangle"

Betty had a million questions on her tongue. Most of them regarding either Jughead Jones, or Jingle Jangle. But instead of speaking, she let out a squeak when Veronica jumped up and tugged off the sweater she had given her. 'Oh god!' Veronica paled and tried to twist her head to see her back. 'It's happening again isn't it?'

Betty held her breath and forced herself to check the damage. Veronica was right. It was happening again. Once again her sweater had been sliced up the back. Betty stared, as if in a trance. Veronica was shaking. 'What is it? What's wrong?' Her voice trembled.

Wings. Just like she had guessed. There were two growing wings sprouting from the girl's back. But it was funny. The wings weren't pearly white, like she would see on the films and TV shows. Instead, Veronica's wings were a beautiful golden brown, the feathers lightly tinted a scary scarlet. The wings were getting bigger, she realized, before snapping out of it. 'Ronnie,' her voice was choked at the back of her dry throat. 'You're either an Angel or a Faerie, I can't tell which one.' She spluttered out a hysterical laugh.

'What?!' Veronica hissed. Betty managed to compose herself. 'Angel.' She said, clearing her throat. She held her breath before exhaling, quickly. 'V, I know how you can fly. You have…' she struggled to get the words out, and Veronica became impatient. 'I have what ?' She whimpered, before crying out. 'Ow!' She squeaked. Betty watched the wings slowly start to unfurl, and she swallowed. 'Veronica, you have to say calm, okay? Just…' Betty clawed at her ponytail, resisting the urge to scream herself. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. Veronica let out a shrill scream and Betty realized the dark haired girl had seen the tatty feathery appendages growing from her back. 'Oh my god, what the fuck?!' Veronica cried. 'Are they-'

'Wings.' Betty whimpered. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears.

It was taking all of Betty's self control not to start screeching herself. 'Veronica, listen to me, okay? You need to imagine them shrinking.' She had no idea what she was saying, only spluttering out what sounded like the logical thing to do. Veronica nodded desperately and squeezed her eyes shut. But nothing happened. The wings had stopped growing, but they only stayed there, suspended. Betty blinked rapidly. Dreaming. You're dreaming. She told herself. But no, just like Aspen field, this was real. Veronica Lodge stood shaking in her bra and jeans, her expression wild. While two giant tatty golden wings sprouted from her back.

Betty hadn't realized she had her own back pressed to a desk. She hadn't even realized she had backed away from her friend. Veronica seemed to be frozen with fright. She kept twisting her head to see if they were still there, to see if she had imagined the whole thing, but yes, they were still very much real. Veronica's voice was a shrill squeak. 'How do I get rid of them?'

But the second the words left the girl's mouth as she now seemed to be less panicky, to Betty's surprise, the wings slowly started to shrink, before delicately enveloping themselves back into the slits in Veronica's back. Betty let go of the breath she had been holding, and Veronica collapsed onto her knees with a sigh of relief. The two of them stayed sitting in a comfortable silence before Veronica finally looked up. 'I have wings.' She said in a monotone dry voice. Betty found herself nodding. 'You have wings and you can fly.' She managed to get out.

The bell rang, startling the two of them and Betty helped the other girl up. Veronica looked to be in a trance, before she snapped out of it. Her eyes widened. 'I don't have a shirt!'

Shit. Betty thought. Veronica's wings had torn through both her and Betty's shirts. She looked the girl up and down. Veronica stood with her arms over her chest, shivering. Betty pulled out her phone. 'I'll call Archie.' She said. But before she could dial his number, the door flew open. Which startled the two of them because they had spent ten minutes barricading the damn thing with chairs and desks. Betty jumped back when the sturdy barricade of classroom desks were gently pushed aside- by an unknown force. Veronica let out a shriek and covered herself up. But it didn't stop a group of kids barging in. Betty lost her breath. It was The Serpents.

The kids who had sold Veronica Jingle Jangle. Betty narrowed her eyes.

She recognised a bunch of kids she would normally see in their respective cliques. The most surprising was Cheryl Blossom. Who had been a River Vixen cheerleader with her and Veronica. But now she stood with a bright lipstick smile, her blood-red hair cascading down her back. She had swapped her Blue and Gold cheer-leading outfit for a tight black dress complimented by The South Side Serpent's' signature jacket.

Veronica let out a scoff. 'Cheryl?!' She hissed. The girl only smiled sweetly.

And before she knew it, Jughead Jones, the sweet kid who was a known Cinephile, stepped forward. Gone was his tattered denim jacket and overalls. In their place was a Serpent jacket bearing the entwined on the back. Jughead had his arms folded, a smirk curled on his lip. His dark hair was a mess, still sitting underneath that damn knitted beanie. But he somehow managed to pull it off. Betty took a slow step backwards and grabbed for Veronica's hand, yanking her back also. But the kids were already looking at Veronica, and more importantly; the twin slits in her back and the bloody feathers all over the floor. Betty managed to speak first, her voice weak. 'What the hell are you doing?' she started to grow more confident. 'You can't just-'

Though Jughead shut her up, automatically. 'Shut it it, blondie.' He growled. He was looking almost hungrily at her friend, and Betty swallowed the urge to yell at him again.

Veronica was silent next to her. Jughead Jones moved closer. His gaze glued to the dark haired girl. 'How are you doing, Veronica?' He asked, his eyes flashing with amusement. Betty felt her stomach twist. He knew. Veronica sent her a panicked glance before forcing a smile at the boy. At the snake, who looked ready to pounce. Betty couldn't find any of the boy she used to know in Jughead's expression. The timid smile, sad-eyed look or occasional sarcastic eye-roll.

'I'm okay.' Veronica said stiffly. Her expression darkened. 'Why do you ask?'

'No reason.' Jughead said lightly. He cleared his throat. 'Just know, Veronica, that if anything weird is happening to you. Anything out of the ordinary, you come and see us. Got it?'

Betty thought Veronica was going to laugh at him, but the girl only nodded slowly. Jughead shot her a shark grin. 'Cool.' He shot a smirk at Betty, before he started to back away. Veronica swore under her breath before letting out a sigh. 'Jughead, Wait!'

Jughead hesitated for a second, and Betty caught his grin.

Betty turned to stare at her friend. She already had the words "Don't" on her lips, before Veronica sent her apologetic eyes. 'I'll be fine!' The girl wrapped her arms around Betty, sniffling into her shoulder. 'They know what's happening to me, Betty. I have to know.'

Betty found her voice. 'Wait, No!' She whispered desperately. But Veronica was already running over to join Cheryl, who slung an arm over the girl's back like they were suddenly best friends. None of them seemed fazed that Veronica wasn't wearing a shirt.

Betty attempted to run after the group, but Jughead turned around with that same stupid smirk, blocking her way out. She let out a frustrated hiss. 'Move it!' But her voice was a shallow breath. He only raised his eyebrows before smiling lazily. 'Don't worry about your friend,' He said. 'We'll take care of her.'

Betty was speechless. But Jughead stayed for some reason. He lingered by the door, his dark eyes shining with glee. She realized how entertaining this must all be for him. Betty scowled at the boy. 'What did you do to her?' She demanded, after a moment of trying to regain her ability to speak. Though Jughead only shook his head with a smirk. 'We didn't do anything to her.' He replied, coolly. But he had another bombshell.

'Say, Betty,' He murmured, fiddling with a straying curl of his dark hair hanging in his eyes. 'Not to worry you or anything. But have you seen Archie lately?'