AN/ WOW, GUYS! THE SUPPORT I'VE HAD ON THE LAST CHAPTER WAS UNBELIEVABLE, I'M SO HAPPY YOU GUYS LIKED IT. SHOUTOUT TO BORIS YELTSIN, FOR GIVING ME SOME AWESOME INSPIRATION THAT WILL BE MAKING ITS WAY IN LATER ON IN THE STORY. THIS IS THE FIRST OF THREE PARTS THAT GO ALONGISDE THE EVENTS OF THE WILL READING, SO THE SAME AS LAST TIME: 5 REVIEWS ON THIS PART, AND I POST THE NEXT PART.

OAKY THEN, READ, REVIEW, ENJOY...


Eating her breakfast the next day, Cheryl noticed the uneasy silence that had descended over the dinner table. She was sat opposite her mother, with her Nana Rose to her right, at a table that could easily have sat eight people comfortably. The only sound was that of cutlery gently hitting against the china plates, and the room simply exuded darkness.

The food offered little interest to Cheryl. She would chop it up and move it around the plate, but other than that, she didn't touch it. The prospect of the events that would take place later that afternoon sickened Cheryl to her stomach, and she couldn't bear to make that feeling any worse.

"Stop playing with your food." Penelope muttered, giving Cheryl a disapproving glare.

"Or what? What can you honestly do, Mother, to make my life any worse than it is already?"

Slightly taken aback by Cheryl's answer, Penelope pursed her lips, turning her gaze away from her daughter and focusing on her mother in law.

"Guests will start to arrive in an hour," Penelope drawled, "so we must all be presentable by then. Greeting them will be necessary, of course."

Cheryl rolled her eyes as her mother spoke, hating the way her mother wanted her to behave. It slightly amused Cheryl to think about the awkward interactions that would take place in the room later that afternoon: every single one of her mother's… clients… lived in and around Riverdale, which meant there was a high chance they'd all be there for the reading. Not only would the men be there, though; their wives would be too. The wives, many of whom resented the guts of Penelope Blossom; the ones who had a massive score to settle with the woman who effortlessly tore their marriages to shreds.

Alice Cooper was one of those women, and Cheryl knew firsthand just how toxic she was. Veronica Lodge had once fallen foul of the ex-editor of the Riverdale Register… it hadn't ended well. Alice Cooper was toxic: the fact the woman had bribed Jason's coroner for intel and leaked the result of her twin brother's autopsy to the world in her newspaper sealed the deal. Recently, Cheryl had heard that Hal Cooper had told Alice that he wanted a divorce. Hal had recently been one of many amongst Penelope's… clientele… and Cheryl was willing to bet that Alice finding about his endorsement of Penelope's 'services' had been instrumental in his decision to call it quits on his marriage. He'd also sold the Register to Hiram Lodge, so his wife (ex-wife?) was now out of a job. That would mean Alice Cooper would be in a vengeful mood; and a vengeful Alice Cooper had a mean streak a mile wide.

That notion did little to calm Cheryl's already growing anxiety around the whole affair. Anticipating drama - and being a witness to the overwhelming tension at the Blossom breakfast table – Cheryl wanted nothing more than for this whole thing to be over. Clifford Blossom had more than his fair share of enemies in Riverdale, and now, his wife had just as many; this will reading was set up to interesting, to say the least, but Cheryl didn't want any drama.

Cheryl had had enough drama to last a lifetime. All Cheryl wanted was some peace, some time, and some space to figure out who she was. To make friends. To get to know Toni better, to figure out if – maybe – Toni might like Cheryl in the same way Cheryl liked her. Cheryl had suspicions that Toni might, but then again, Toni was naturally flirty and charming. She might just be being nice to Cheryl. But still, Toni didn't exactly go around calling just anyone sensational…

Making her way up the stairs to her room, Cheryl felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Pulling it out, she smiled at the message Toni had sent her.

Parked bike in woods and walking up drive. What happens now? xxx

Three kisses? That's far more affectionate than Cheryl thought Toni Topaz was capable of over text message. Smiling, Cheryl ran to the window, and sure enough, there was Toni. Ecstatic, Cheryl made her way towards the door, being extremely careful not to draw the unwanted attention of her mother. Holding her breath, she slowly opened the door, slipping through the gap onto the path outside.


Toni saw Cheryl stood outside and beamed, fully prepared to run over to join the redhead, but stopped seeing the way Cheryl held her finger over her lips. It was a gesture begging for silence. Toni raised an eyebrow in confusion, and Cheryl mouthed 'mother' in response.

Immediately, Toni understood what she meant and quietly made her way to Cheryl. Cheryl smiled and briefly hugged her in greeting, but quickly gestured for total silence again, the fear she had of her mother evident in her eyes.

Cheryl silently nudged the door open a crack, and the pair entered the house. Hearing the door click softly behind her, Toni quietly pulled off her boots, picking them up and carrying them silently up the stairs to Cheryl's bedroom.

As the pair made their way through the house, Toni was struck by the darkness in the atmosphere: you could have cut the tension with the knife. Never had Toni Topaz ever been intimidated by a household before, but that quickly changed as she wandered through Thistlehouse.


If I were to tell you that Thistlehouse was like something out of a Stephen King novel, you would call it hyperbole and not believe me. But to Toni, entering Thistlehouse was like accidentally walking into the Shining, except it was ten times scarier than what she'd anticipated. There was very little light within the house, due to the dark, thick curtains draped over the windows. The furniture was made predominantly of leather, and anything that wasn't leather was made of shiny, dark wood. Surprisingly, all was not black within the house. In some rooms, the walls were painted red, and in others green, but all shared the same thing in common: every single room was consumed by darkness.

Toni took in a deep breath as the pair walked past a painting on the landing. The painting was an old oil one, and the people within it were quite clearly long-dead members of the Blossom family. They all had the signature red hair of the Blossoms, along with the cold, haughty expression on their faces. The likeness of these people within the painting was disconcertingly realistic, but that wasn't the thing that scared Toni the most. The thing that terrified Toni? It was the way the cold, dead eyes of the people in it seemed to follow her as she moved.

Toni moved a tiny bit closer to Cheryl, suddenly desperate to make sure that there was something else alive in this house. Forget the idea of it being a haunted house, Thistlehouse was more like a crypt. The deadly silence and the lack of light made Toni feel as if she was a tomb, with the darkness of the house threatening to choke her. Bumping into Cheryl, she heard the redhead curse, and Toni jumped as Cheryl broke the omnipresent silence.

"What are you doing?" Cheryl hissed sharply, looking at Toni with a slight glare. "Do you want her to hear us?"

Toni silently shook her head, and gestured at the house around her, trying to articulate how scared she was. But how could she put her fear into words? This was Cheryl's home, and as much as Toni knew the redhead hated it, she wasn't going to let Cheryl see that she was scared: not when she was supposed to be a tough girl. She was terrified of this environment, and she had never been in a place that was so hostile before. And she was a Southside Serpent, so that said a lot. How did Cheryl manage to live here on a daily basis? It was no wonder that the redhead so desperately wanted to escape.


Turning down a corridor to the right, Cheryl softly opened a door, revealing a bedroom, which the two entered. This room differed from every other room in the house. For all it might share the cold, dark interior adopted by the Blossom's for their households, the curtains had been flung wide open, letting as much light as possible into the room. There was a queen-sized four poster bed in the centre, which – in the same way as furniture elsewhere in the house – was made of dark oak wood. The rest of the bedroom furniture followed suit in the way it was made.

Unlike everywhere else in the house, Toni got the impression that this room was the only one that had actually been lived in. It might be pristine and scrupulously tidy, but there were little signs inside that it held an occupant that wasn't a member of the undead. Roses featured here and there, such as on the wallpaper, and on the bedding. The red wallpaper didn't seem as oppressive as it did in other rooms. Slight touches in the room also immediately made Toni think of Cheryl. The organisation of the closet. The eclectic collection of matte lipsticks in various shades of red on the dressing table. The way there were pencils, and a sketchpad, scattered over the seat in the window.

"You draw?" Toni asked, slightly bemused that Cheryl would have such a - well - normal, hobby inside this house.

"Surprised, Topaz?" Cheryl replied, looking at Toni with a smile. "What did you expect? Voodoo dolls and skeletons?"

Toni shook her head, smiling, and relief flooded her as she felt the two easily slip into their normal banter. The tension in the atmosphere seemed to dissipate when it was just the two of them, when they were both far away from the earshot of anyone else.

Sprawling out on Cheryl's bed, she asked, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Live here. Seriously, Cheryl, this house is like something out of a horror film."

"It's not as bad as Thornhill was, Toni, and I thought we already established that I don't really live here."

"But still, it just seems so normal to you, whereas it's really freaking me out."

"Scared of the ghosts, Topaz?"

"Not so much of the ghosts as I am of the person living here."

"Aww, Toni, you don't ever need to be scared of me," Cheryl mused, "except after midnight," she winked suggestively, turning away from Toni to look in her closet. "But really, I get what you mean about this place being scary. I hate it, and with my mother haunting the hallways, sometimes it really feels like the dead are wandering around."

Toni nodded, and the two fell into comfortable silence as Cheryl continued to look through her clothes, clearly in search of something.

"Cheryl, you don't need to change your outfit; you look perfect."

"Oh, it's not for me," Cheryl said nonchalantly. "I had something in mind for you."

Slightly offended, Toni was torn between being angry and amused at Cheryl's indirect request for Toni to change her outfit. Smiling softly, Toni pointed out her opinion. "Cheryl, I agreed to come to this will reading, I didn't agree to a makeover."

Cheryl smirked at Toni's words, pulling out a black, lacy blouse out of her wardrobe. Turning on her heel, she presented the blouse to Toni as a means of silent response to Toni's objection.

"Unless it involves that blouse." Toni added, smiling at Cheryl's choice because – as much as the Serpent hated to admit it – Cheryl Blossom had fantastic fashion sense, and that blouse would look perfect with her outfit.

"Nice, right?" Cheryl replied, making her way over to Toni, who was still sprawled across her bed. "For the record," Cheryl added, "J'adore your flannel-mash aesthetic. I'm merely," Cheryl paused, looking at Toni with a smile that appeared to be almost longing, "augmenting it for the occasion."

The pair stood close to one another, as Cheryl handed Toni the blouse. Toni smiled at Cheryl, who did that thing where she smiled almost seductively at the Serpent.


Their peaceful encounter was disturbed only seconds later by Cheryl's bedroom door being forcefully flung open by her mother. Both girls were snapped out of their moment as they turned to observe how Penelope Blossom was storming into the room.

"And what is going on in here?" Penelope demanded, walking up to them; her face a clear picture of distaste and suspicion. Receiving no immediate reply, the woman turned to her daughter, narrowing her eyes. "Cheryl…"

Toni quickly picked up on the way Cheryl had tensed beside her, and felt a surge of anger towards the woman standing in front of her. Penelope Blossom was a stone cold bitch. In Toni's eyes, she was pure evil, and she contemplated giving the woman a piece of her mind. But looking at how Cheryl was almost frozen in terror, Toni knew that this was neither the time, nor the place. Today was already going to be tough for Cheryl; there was no need to make it any harder for the girl.

Deciding to play nice, Toni opted to engage in conversation with Penelope. For all she was desperate for the older woman to feel the wrath of Toni Topaz's fury, she needed to keep Cheryl safe first, and that meant behaving respectfully. But whatever happened, there was no way Toni was going to let Penelope Blossom intimidate her.

"Mrs Blossom." Toni said, injecting her voice with fake cheer and hoping it sounded genuine. "Hi, I'm Toni Topaz." She stole a glance at Cheryl, who was still stood stiffly, and whose eyes were shocked that Toni wasn't buckling with fear in the presence of her mother. "I'm a friend of Cheryl's from school." Darting her eyes at Cheryl, Toni noticed the way the redhead beside her looked almost proud of how she was handling the situation. "And she's lending me an outfit for the will reading."

In response to Toni's words, Cheryl lifted up the blouse ever so slightly, silently confirming Toni's words.

"And why would you be there?" Penelope asked pointedly, her words dripping with distaste.

"I invited her," Cheryl said, doing everything in her power to keep her voice even, "to be my emotional support."

Penelope looked at her daughter with a piercing glare, carefully deciding what to say next. Opening her mouth, she went to say something insulting to her daughter, but picking up on the way the Serpent girl's fists were clenched, decided that specific interaction could wait for later; when the two were in private. There was no need to make a scene, not with that… Topaz… girl around anyway.

Turning her gaze away from the Serpent, she focused directly on Cheryl.

"Just make sure you're downstairs before the guests start to arrive," Penelope drawled, completely ignoring Toni and turning to leave the room. "We need to present a united front against those scavengers."

Penelope gave Toni a stone cold glare, and turned on her heel, strutting out of the doorway.


Toni couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved by the older woman's presence, and – judging by Cheryl's sheepish silence – knew the redhead felt the same way. But she couldn't let that on to Cheryl, not when she'd just acted like Penelope's intimidation game didn't affect her. Cheryl needed someone around her who could be strong, someone who didn't crack under Penelope's oppressive presence. Carefully choosing her next words, Toni decided it would be a better idea to act nonchalant about the encounter.

Waiting until Penelope was well out of earshot, Toni turned to Cheryl, and said "Ugh. She's a nightmare."

A ghost of a smile flickered on Cheryl's lips, and the redhead turned to look at Toni. "Isn't she though?" Cheryl asked in a bored voice, rolling her eyes as she thought about her mother.

Toni reached out and took Cheryl's hand into hers, gently squeezing it to let Cheryl know she was okay. Cheryl smiled softly at Toni, relaxing now that her mother was gone. A familiar sense of peace descended upon the pair, a peace that would last merely minutes, and be disturbed quickly by the sound of footsteps and the slamming of car doors outside.

"Well," Cheryl deadpanned, "it's time to go see how badly Daddy has screwed us over."


Letting go of Toni's hand, Cheryl led the way out of her bedroom, Toni following closely behind her. Once again, the pair walked back through the eerily dark house, which – despite the sounds of the living from downstairs – seemed to have got ten times more terrifying since their encounter with Penelope.

Arriving in the foyer of the house, Cheryl turned and smiled softly before going to greet some of the 'guests.' Knowing it probably wasn't a good idea to be standing too close to Cheryl, Toni noticed Jughead's girlfriend Betty Cooper had arrived with her sister and waved at them. Walking over to join them, she felt a strong gaze on her back, and turned on her heel to see Penelope staring at her from the corner of the foyer.

Penelope was stood in the shadows with an ageing man, a man who looked remarkably similar to Cheryl's late father, Clifford Blossom. Toni dismissed it as coincidence that he looked almost identical, because it was pretty likely he was just some relative. And people who were related look alike, don't they? That's how genetics work, right?

Shrugging her unease off, she ignored the hateful glare she received from Penelope. There was something weird about the way the pair were talking. Why were they hiding in the corner? That alone made Toni suspicious about them. They clearly had something to hide, a secret that they had no intention of anyone else knowing.

Greeting Betty and her sister - Polly, was it?, she engaged in a light conversation about the Southside, and about how Jughead was certain Hiram Lodge was buying Riverdale piece by piece.

The lawyer guy walked out of Thornhill's reception room, and announced it was time for the will reading. The whole crowd dispersed into the room, at least, everyone except the man whom Penelope was conversing with just minutes earlier.

He just seemed shrink back into the shadows at the bottom of the stairs.


Cheryl approached Toni, and looked at the distracted face of the Serpent.

Toni turned her focus onto Cheryl. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Cheryl replied, her anxiety and doubt flooding her voice.

"Hey," Toni replied soothingly, "let's get this over with. It's going to be okay, Cheryl."

The way Toni spoke gave Cheryl the impression that the Serpent was just as uncertain about this whole affair as she was. Toni glanced over her shoulder into the shadows of the foyer, only to find the man had disappeared. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be worrying about random people. Toni knew she needed to focus; someone had to hold it together if Cheryl couldn't.

But still, there was something familiar about that man. Something sinister.

It was going to be an interesting afternoon…


AN/ OKAY GUYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW: IT ONLY TAKES 5 TO GET THE NEXT PART!