Author's Note: This story takes place in an AU where Fred doesn't die and doesn't have that DUI btw, so Jughead does live with Archie now.
(And yes, I did draw the new cover myself! It might be a little bit-crushed where FanFiction has a 6/9 ratio and wattpad covers gave some odd number, but the full cover is on my art blog on tumblr(same name))
That night, I emerged from the hot, steamy shower a new person. The hot water resurfaced the memories of the hours before and made me contemplate my actions and the scales of their morality. There is nothing I've ever done that I regret; I'm a believer in the butterfly effect, where, if anything were to change, something would get seriously messed up. However, I did feel that I could've been less blunt with my feelings. Like always, I know I should keep everything to myself and go with the flow. It was only that once I truly felt open.
Betty, perfect Betty, was the only girl I ever had my eyes on. Girl next door to Archie, the two were destined to be a beautiful couple. Never would I have thought that I could've been anything to her. Always, I watched from afar as she and Archie awkwardly and inadvertently flirted. I couldn't imagine a world where Betty actually noticed me, of all people. Her silky blonde hair which was put in a tight ponytail, her big brown eyes, her dopey grin... but until we began working on the Blue and Gold together, I was just the boy next door's best friend. Now, I risked becoming this once again.
Still, I have no idea what happened that morning to make me snap so quickly. It was true that I didn't want to get involved in the drama all over again, because who knew what might happen. My father was already in jail due to our last excursion, so to attempt another investigation would only sink my life further. Even then, I felt an anger that was entirely not me surging through my veins.
Sighing, I peered into the foggy mirror above me. My reflection was completely gone, and nothing could be seen. I waved my hand across the glass, hoping to see my features, but it was still unclear and alien.
Coming out of the bathroom, I was dressed only in Bermuda boxers and a simple grey tank. Across the hall, I slightly pushed the door open to Archie's room which, for now, was also my own.
Archie was sitting at his desk by the window. His television was on the local Michigan news. He looked up from his phone to greet me with a small smile. I bit my cheeks and looked down, wiping the sweat off my forehead leftover from my shower. It was hard to avoid the judging eyes of my best friend. He was clearly still upset by my rejection of Betty earlier.
"Jug, should we go with them?" Archie asked, though I had no idea what he meant as I'm sure he could see by my troubled squint.
"With who where?" I followed up, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.
"Betty and Veronica are going up Thornhill to see what's going on with the Jason sighting." Archie explained, leaning back in his seat which made the chair itself lean back.
I scoffed and crossed my arms, laying back on the bed. "You must be deaf and blind if you didn't see and hear what happened this morning. I'm not getting involved. I wrote one book, it doesn't need a sequel," I said, and yet here I am, writing the sequel.
"Don't you think you should try and make up for what you did?" Archie reasoned, twiddling his thumbs and staring out of the window.
Sending a guilty sneer his way, I rose to my feet, my head tilted back. "As much as I want to be there for Betty, I can't let anything happen to any of us, Archie. When we meddled in everything last year, your father paid for it, my father paid for it, and tensions became strained with Betty and Veronica's parents. There wasn't a soul unchanged by the drama of the year of the Blossom's. Do you really want all of that to happen again?"
"Of course not, Jug. I just want to help them with anything they need." Archie stood and unplugged his phone from its charger. "I'm gonna go down to the graveyard with them, but you can stay here if you want."
I shrugged my shoulders and allowed him to pass by me. It wasn't my call to stop him. If he wanted to start everything back again, he was free to. Who was I to get in the way of his business?
But no, dear reader, I did not follow him. I already informed him I wouldn't be, no need to change my mind. Once I'm set on something, I'm set for good. I laid back on the bed and watched the news, safe in the Andrew's house, under the covers of Archie's bed and holding the remote.
Meanwhile, I later found out from Archie the true, unadulterated story of the graveyard expedition. He bolted to Thornhill on foot, owning no car. By that time, Veronica and Betty had shown up to the graveyard as well, both having just left from Veronica's apartment at the same time as Archie left our house. After hopping the gates, the three, packing flashlights, explored the dead-infested grounds without me.
Slowly, but surely, the three ascended the small hill up to Jason Blossom's grand grave, eclipsed by the waning quarter moon. As they approached, bats flew from their perches to greet them, frightening Veronica. Reluctantly, Archie offered to examine the magnificent gravestone and area surrounding it. The only thing that may have differed from the original burial ground was a pile of dirt that looked like someone had been digging and then gave up early.
"I think the gravekeeper might have made the story up for some publicity." Betty concluded from Archie's find.
"Honestly, I don't know why we're even here. If they really did find Jason walking around last night, he's probably gone by now." Veronica pointed with her thumb towards the entrance. Archie and Betty nodded in agreement.
Shaking everyone to their cores at the same time was an unearthly rattling of the gate. The light of the flashlights couldn't reach so far to uncover the mystery man or woman trying to escape and obviously failing. Archie volunteered bravely to lead the checking out of the scene. Veronica and Betty followed him close behind.
When he was near enough, he started to hear a raspy growling coming from ahead. Later, all he could recall was the sound of his heart beating in his ears as he crept at a snail's pace towards whatever was lurking in front of him. The rattling intensified, causing Archie to step back, elbowing Veronica's nose. She muttered a curse and shoved Archie, pushing him into a darkness without the light of the flashlight which he had dropped due to the force of the heave. Almost crumbling to his knees, he stumbled for a couple paces until a staunch scent sent him reeling onto his back.
"Archiekins! Are you okay?" Veronica rushed to his aid, her hand over her mouth due to the stench. She knelt beside him with worry, but when Archie pointed ahead, she focused her attention to what stood in front of the two. Betty shone her light on the creature.
Shaking the gate, a being composed of rotting flesh turned its head around like an owl to face the three. The rumors were true. It was indeed the decaying corpse of Jason Blossom. His once side-swept ginger locks were now fanned out as if a combover covered his whole head. His jaw was hanging by a thread and his forehead's skin wasn't much better as the area around the bullethole hung over his face. Like a drug addict, his emerald eyes were big and bulging. Parts of his skull and bones poked out throughout his emaciated body, most notably at his joints. The fancy suit and tie he was buried in were reduced to mere shambles. Jason had fallen so far from grace in this disheveled undead form.
"I vote we run." Veronica whispered to the rest of the gang, a tone of fear drenched in her voice.
"Seconded." Betty nodded, staring deeply into the undead creature's eyes with nothing but vile hatred, weirdly entranced.
"Is 'thirded' a word?" Archie smirked unsurely. If it were not for Archie's interjection, Betty may have beat the corpse's skull in with her flashlight; for she was gazing at it with such abhorrence.
Slapping the sideways grin off Archie's face, Jason whipped around to the group, ambling towards them with intention to kill if those guttural moans were to be believed. He wasn't the slow archetype you saw in movies, either. Though he dragged a broken leg behind him, he moved with a purpose.
Archie grabbed the two girls' by their arms, dashing towards another way out, another gate, wherever that might have been. Betty and Veronica tried their hardest to guide him using the lights they still held. At one point, Veronica accidentally steered Archie through some people's graves instead of the path, having been frightened by bats flying into her which she mistook for Jason who was in fact, far behind them by that time.
Shooting out of the ground like a blooming stalk, a decrepit hand groped Archie's leg, sending everyone tumbling down. Furiously, he kicked the hand off with the foot not being held down. From there, he was allowed a swift escape as Betty and Veronica had soon regained their composures.
Soon, they observed from the safety of the graveyard paths, the buried began climbing out of the ground like demons anxious to rise up out of the fires of hell. Bloody, skin and bones, and decayed, the dead directed themselves in the direction of the three living.
With such a slow gait they held, it was an easy escape. Breathless, Archie used the rest of his energy to break the lock of the back gate off with Veronica's flashlight. With it gone, the three were free to exit the graveyard. Their mistake that night was forgetting to shut the gate in their hie.
I awaited the trio at home. If not for the loud buzzing on the television screen, I would've still been dozing off by the time they arrived. Groggily, I rubbed my eyes and turned the volume down. I clutched the cover I was under and attempted to close my eyes. However, the urgent message trying to be relayed by the eleven o' clock news caught my ears so I turned the volume back up. I hadn't heard the beginning of the program, but the ensuing sentences held my attention.
"Three teens have been spotted near the site of the graveyard where Jason Blossom and others have been reported to have mysteriously walked out," the newscaster said. "It seems that the living dead have invaded our town and these three may have something to do with it. Authorities have been informed and investigations are under way."
I smacked my forehead. This was exactly why I had told them not to get involved.
My eyes fell upon the doorway, waiting for the moment when Archie, Betty, and Veronica would stumble through. When it happened, all I could do was laugh coldly.
"We just risked our lives running from zombies and all you're doing is laughing? Where's the 'I'm glad you're safe' or the 'Are you okay'? Didn't you worry about us for even one second?" Betty huffed, not wanting to believe my lackadaisical expression.
"I told you what would happen and that I wanted no part of it." I reminded her. "You know you guys are wanted criminals now? The police think you brought the dead back to life." I nodded my head towards the television.
The newscaster took a deep breath before continuing on with her script. "We are now being informed that the sheriff has gone on record saying that though there are no precedents for bringing the dead back to life, he will ensure that whoever is responsible will be brought to some kind of justice for their crime. One death has already been reported, that of the Cub Scout leader, Dilton Doiley. He was found wandering outside his home at night when a couple of the dead from Thornhill attacked, brutally murdering him."
"Already one dead, tsk tsk." I shook my head with a knowing smirk. "Looks like you're in deep."
"It was a mistake, okay? We can't exactly go back in time to fix it." Archie gestured to the screen, stating that, "At least Dilton has come back to life," as the newscaster reported.
"Listen, just don't get too caught up in this. Lay low. If you're thinking about pursuing this, just stop. Think about more important things like your family and friends and how their lives might be impacted." I made my attempt at sounding as if I knew any better than they did. Of course I did, it was just up to them to hear me out.
"Juggie, you know I have to find out why this is happening and what I can do to stop it. I have to inform the public. I want you to help me and be there for me when I do that." Betty pleaded once more.
Ready to explode, I leaned over with a tired expression, my hands clasped. I quickly caught myself before my temper detonated, reminding myself of the morning I had just had with a silent Archie on the way home, at home, and even now. "Bets, I can't follow you down this path you're taking. It's against everything I want right now. You need to respect that."
"I do." Betty gave an exasperated sigh. Finally, she understood where I was coming from.
"So what're we going to do now that we're prone to being arrested?" Archie asked. "I mean, how do they even figure we did the crime?"
"Just because you were at the scene. That's all it takes, Arch." I replied, making it sound as obvious as it was.
The newscaster's story just kept unfolding like a novel and it's chapters. "The mayor is proposing evacuation until city officials can get the mess cleaned up. We'll keep you updated."
"You guys should get some rest. I think we're in for a long day tomorrow." I rubbed my eyes, barely able to hold onto wake much longer.
But they were restless, and through the night they talked endlessly of possible causes. A necromancer named Sabrina casting a spell over the graveyard? No such person existed. The founder of Riverdale's brother laying a curse on the town on the day of its founding? Wrong date. A witch burned at the stake vowing revenge with her demon army? This wasn't Salem and those weren't demons.
Every suggestion created had to do with magic. I believed then what I know now; that they discarded all hopes of reality as they sat in a triangle on the floor, pondering over the events that had just taken place, and all so fast, too.
As for me, I laid in comfort, surrounded by the warmth of Archie's previous presence. I dreamt of those amazing pancakes and syrup I had that morning. Bliss.
Author's Note: but is anyone really going to miss Dilton tho
Also sorry these chapter are soooo long. I remember someone once gave me a review telling me that I wrote too much, actually.
and if there's any questions, just send them in a review. I'll answer them at the end of the next chapter