Author's Note: i had a character named Jason once. He was hella gay and loved whales.
this Jason... the former is questionable, but I don't think he's a fan of whales as much as he might be of human flesh...
When the Blossom murder case was solved, somehow, everything went back to normal, resolved. That spring night, however, none of us expected that the murder case was literally coming back to life.
I hadn't laid my eyes on him in person at the time he emerged from the ground, but I understood the gist of the story from the account given to the Register by the gravekeeper. Apparently, Jason punched his way out of his coffin—his knuckles were reported bloody—and dug his way out of the grave. It was all a little hard to believe.
But, I couldn't argue with the testimonies of Archie, Betty, and Veronica. They claimed to have seen the man in the rotting flesh, so who was I to deny the word of my friends?
Even still, the whole thing seemed suspicious, and evidence was piling up that it couldn't be true. Two weeks into the apocalypse told me that a bullet to the brain was the end of it. That was the mark of Jason's death.
Yet, here we were, sitting before a perfectly breathing Jason Blossom. His eyes, their color a reflecting emerald, were set far back in his head, making them appear to be glowing against a black background. His body was emaciated, and nowhere did that shine through better than his skull. There were parts of his flesh missing as if he cut off the parts that hung over the rest and his jaw had been sewn back on. His hair was still the brilliant red it had always been, reminding me slightly of Archie's, though Archie's was a tad darker. Jason was dressed in a crimson tuxedo, a white undershirt, beige jeans, and a maroon tie nearly hidden by the high collar of his suit.
Like Archie and Veronica, I couldn't help but stare at the bullet hole right in the middle of his head. Jason shone a toothy smile at us, but we couldn't look away.
He took a seat at the head of the table, kissing Polly's hand as he did so, but very reluctantly, I noticed. Still, he had the same charming aura about him as he always did from what I had seen of him, but even then, he struck me as untrustworthy as the rest of the Blossom's.
"I'm very glad you all have made it." Jason held his arms out with gratitude. "Everything seems to have been leading us to this moment! Let us have an enjoyable time."
"What a prayer." I made the snarky aside to Archie who was barely paying attention.
I was ready to ignore Jason completely and try not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but everything was just wrong about this whole scenario. I had to question it because Polly and Cheryl were indoctrinated not to, Veronica was scared out of her wits, and Archie was being too positive to look at the horrifying negatives.
"So, Jason, why did you call me here?" I asked, taking a bite of the salad afterward. It wasn't poisoned from what I could tell.
Jason looked up at me from his plate, startled and caught off-guard. He had been cutting a piece of turkey with a steak knife and my heart froze for a second, feeling that there was nothing stopping him from throwing it at me. When he was done staring me down, he licked his lips and returned his gaze to his plate.
"I've noticed you around and I thought it would be nice to actually invite you over to talk, Forsythe. You seem like an interesting guy. Besides, you were writing a book based around my death. What better time to converse than the apocalypse?" Jason responded.
I raised a brow. "That's all well and good, but riddle me this, why did you have to kidnap Veronica to do it?"
Veronica's eyes widened and she dropped her utensils, leaning back in her seat and staring at her plate blankly. Cheryl and Polly exchanged looks of worry. Archie held his breath.
"Oh, that? Merely a joke." Jason laughed with a calm air about him. He sipped on his glass of wine and continued, "My sister and I thought it was the only way to get you here. You naturally avoided us like the plague."
"A joke, huh? And burning down the Whyte Wyrm, that was just a joke too?" I pursued, my voice becoming tenser.
Archie coughed loudly and grabbed the bottle of wine. He poured himself another glass.
"No, it had already happened. Cheryl just so happened to be passing by on one of her scavenge hunts. She likes to look for mementos from our previous lives, you know, before all of this." Jason explained with confidence.
I rolled my eyes. "So, what happened to Penelope, Jason?" I inquired, not caring about stepping on anyone's toes at this point.
Jason stood abruptly, gaining everyone's attention and drawing it away from myself. "I suppose everyone's ready for dessert, then? Cheryl, be a dear and help me. Polly, I need you to fetch another bottle of wine." he winked at Archie who sunk in his seat embarrassedly.
I watched Polly and the redheaded twins disappear into the kitchen and turned my attention to Archie.
"Did you hear him? That made no sense! Kidnapping Veronica was just a joke? What in the world does any of this mean?" I burst out.
"Jughead, no one heard him say any of that," Archie said.
I furrowed my brow and laughed meekly. "No, you're just pulling my leg, Arch, right?"
"I'm sorry." Veronica apologized, cringing at my actions. "He never spoke a word."
"I wasn't just imagining it, I swear." I defended myself adamantly.
"Just stay quiet when he comes back." Archie suggested. I nodded, understanding his advice.
It was extremely awkward when he came back. I was silent, but I could've sworn he was still talking to me, trying to get some kind of word out of me. I could actually hear him, but when I looked up, his lips were sealed and still talking. They were simple phrases repeated and more like the whispers I heard from the kitchen. My mind wandered as I pondered over his pointed questions about myself. Memories I thought I had buried began resurfacing.
Finally, a voice which was too low of a whisper for me to identify asked, "You just can't get over her, can you?" My eyes widened and I choked briefly on a tomato. I squinted at Jason who sat across from me. He wore a devilish smirk as he avoided my gaze.
Abruptly, and gaining the attentions of everyone at the table, I stood, a cold sweat pouring down my face. "Jason, I think I'd like to retire for the night. You don't mind showing me to the guest room?" I asked.
Jason nodded, but still remained in his seat. He looked over to Polly. Again, I heard a whisper, "Take him away."
I heard another, "I'll gladly walk him up."
"No, it must be her. I don't want you two together, who knows what he might find out what with your big mouth," the previous voice replied.
Veronica looked between me and Jason with frantic eyes. She motioned her fork downwards as she glared at me. I sent her a confused look. "Sit down!" she said through her teeth. Apparently no one could hear this conversation either.
"It's fine, Jughead, I'll take you to the room the three of you will be staying in," Polly said, standing. She gave an unsure look to Jason who nodded for her to go.
Once we were upstairs and away from the rest of the table, I tried questioning Polly.
"Polly, didn't you hear him when I was talking to him?" I asked.
"I heard every word." Polly nodded. "You were stepping into some territories you'd be better off ignoring."
"Why didn't Archie or Veronica hear me?" I smirked, just happy that I wasn't going completely crazy.
Polly opened a door which I assumed was to the guest room. She hesitated before answering, looking down at the floor with a sort of sadness. "Jughead, they're just... not like us." Polly breathed, clenching her fists at her sides.
I grabbed her hands before she could dig her nails into her palms and held them up so she would stop. She released her tension and sighed, staring at our clasped hands.
"How did my baby sister die?" Polly asked, her lip quivering. I examined the situation. If I told her that Veronica killed her, she might go after her. Not that I had a problem with that, it was just the issue of us seeking shelter after we all would likely get kicked out. If I just told her she was bitten, that might raise suspicion. I figured it'd be best to just tell the truth and let the events flow as they should.
"She was bitten and asked to be put down before she turned." I winced inwardly at my word choice, but I don't think it would've helped if I had used "murdered" instead of "put down."
"'Put down'? You make it sound like she was an animal." Polly took her hands from mine and held onto the open door, her nails scratching into it.
I avoided her appalled gaze and tried to rethink things. "I'm sorry if it came off that way, but that's what happened to her."
"How? How did they kill her? Who did it?" Polly persisted. I'd have given her points for persistence, but it was really disadvantaging toward me.
"Seven bullets to the brain." I purposely avoided the last question.
"You murdered her, didn't you?" Polly seethed, digging her nails into the door further. "Jason said I can't kill you, but I'll make sure you know how it feels." she appeared ready to leave.
"Polly," I began, holding up a hand. She flinched and protected her head. I paused to take in the fear settled in her bruised blue eyes. "Polly, I know how it feels to have lost a younger sister. I wasn't there for her either. If you'd just let me explain..." I trailed off, staring away from her.
"I don't care. Nothing you can say or do will help me." Polly rubbed her eyes and turned away towards her room.
As I stood in the frame of the doorway, I thought of her words. Why would Jason not want me dead? I suppose her assuming I killed her sister was for the best because who knew what might happen to Veronica. Not that I cared, it just wouldn't have allowed me to rest at night, thinking of how I single-handedly ended her life by exposing her to someone potentially extremely dangerous.
I turned around to look over the railing of the second floor down at the foyer on the first. Veronica was being led up to the guest room by Cheryl.
"We all might have to drag Archie up. I don't know if he can even stand." Veronica tittered.
"I can't believe he had such a dirty mind. I suppose everything just comes right out after a couple of glasses of wine." Cheryl shrugged with a giggle.
"A glass? Cheryl, he nearly drank the whole bottle. Jason had to get another one and Archie almost ran off with it before Jason tackled him." Veronica shook her head, gingerly laughing.
Cheryl rolled her eyes. "At least he didn't drink two bottles. It's almost unfathomable that Jason can even hold a conversation with him right now. I wonder what they're talking about."
Veronica nodded and the two stood still. Veronica pushed up her hair and looked away from Cheryl, making the redhead only want to look into her eyes more.
"Listen, Cheryl, I'm sorry about what happened, and I can't take it back. I'm so sorry if you ever felt like—" Veronica choked. She became distracted by Cheryl's hand guiding her face to her own.
"Don't worry about it. You've done me more good than bad." Cheryl gave a small smile as she looked into Veronica's eyes, entranced. "Now, let me take you..."
Cheryl began to lean in, her eyes closed. Clearly uncomfortable, Veronica noticed me out of the corner of her eye. "Oh! Jughead, you're already here! I guess he can take me to the room, it's fine." Veronica waved the completly confused Cheryl away.
"Just tell me if you need anything. I'll be down here." Cheryl blushed and nodded, disappearing into the living room.
Veronica ran up to me and dragged me into the guest room. I was propelled backward onto one of the two twin beds which were rather neatly made. The whole room gave off the presence of that of a hotel. Veronica shut the door with a slam and pressed her body against it as if bracing for an attack. I raised a brow, curious as to why she had done all this.
"They're insane! You can't breathe a word of this to them, and I don't know if I trust you not to get me killed, but I definitely can't talk to Archie because he is as drunk as a skunk!" Veronica could barely pace her breathing or her words.
"The first thing you need to do is calm down. You're a little loud. Worry about you getting yourself killed before you accuse me." I waved my hands downward, trying to hint that she was acting hastily. "Now can you tell me what happened when Archie left the Whyte Wyrm? Only if you want."
"Yes, I was just getting ready to tell you. Archie chased after you when your dad asked him to, but I think he would've done it anyway." Veronica responded, a hush having come over her.
"Good to know he still cares," I said, referring to my father.
"Then, Cheryl came in, asking for you. When she heard you weren't here, she got kind of mad—well, at first it was kind of like she was scared but that's not the point. It was like a huge coincidence, but all of a sudden, this huge zombie horde came rolling in." Veronica continued.
"Coincidence? Are you sure?" I questioned.
"Yes, they were bursting through windows, and knocking down doors chaotically. There was no order to it. It was horrible. Cheryl dropped a note and took me here. I wanted to go after you and Archie, but she wouldn't let me. I was held at gunpoint, Jughead. I had a weapon, but I was afraid of being slower." Veronica wiped a tear from her eyes. She seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment.
"I would've done the same; you're okay." I assured her.
"We got here, and I saw Jason. Polly was here, but I could see why she would be. I was just curious about him so I tried to ask how he came back. I remembered seeing him at the graveyard, but I thought zombies with any kind of damage to the brain couldn't come back? Cheryl just waved me away. I couldn't help but overhear them talking about you though."
"What was said? Did you get any valuable information?" I asked, eager to know.
"I barely heard it, but they were talking about how they had been watching you from afar. They said you killed somebody. Apparently, you did something that made you special."
I nodded, thinking back to Ethel. Funny how I had seen her near the front door. I was sure that truly was a coincidence.
"Anyway, they also talked about just disposing of me and Archie—that we weren't worthy of their time. Cheryl started becoming angry that Jason wanted me dead, and that's when he noticed that I was listening. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to be in the kitchen. He made me—he made..." Veronica shielded her mouth and cried. "He thought it was a great—" she choked "—"opportunity because he had been wanting to punish Cheryl for something earlier... Jughead, I killed her."
I gasped at her, wide-eyed. "Killed her? She's alive, and not even in the zombie way, Veronica. You didn't. You couldn't." I shook my head. At this point, with a hole in her story, there was no way I could believe her. No one could be believed, it seemed.
Veronica removed her vest and showed me her undershirt, soaked in flesh blood. If it was from a zombie, it wouldn't have glistened like it did.
"It came from her heart." Veronica avoided my judging eyes. "He would've ripped it out with his teeth himself. She wanted a quicker death, but she just came back. He said it was as he had planned."
"I'm sorry you had to go through this... twice." I crossed my arms and looked down. I then thought back to her comment about how this all started. "Veronica, what's in the kitchen?"
Her face become as white as snow as if the color had drained from her face. Her breathing became scant and she stared at the bed diagonal from her. "I'm going to hit the hay." Veronica bit her cheeks. "I'm exhausted."
"Veronica, what's in the kitchen?" I repeated, louder this time.
She flipped the covers up and got in the bed, her back facing me. I nearly got up and yelled even louder, but common courtesy got the best of me and I let it go.
The door of our bedroom was soon kicked open. Jason led Archie into the room with a firm hand on the wobbling boy who was holding onto a bottle of wine with a hard grip. Archie fell into Jason's arms, surprising him.
"Archibald, please don't," Jason said with a repulsed snarl.
"I cannot thank you enough for everything, Jason, you're wonderful." Archie slurred, his smile wide as he spoke. "Hey, have you ever kissed anybody?" Archie reached up and locked lips with Jason.
I had to laugh at this, but Jason squinted and pushed Archie off of him, brushing himself off. He turned and looked at me with an expression of utter disgust. My face became serious at this.
"After you've assured that he's in bed safely, please see me in the den." Jason quickly regained his composure. He pulled up the cuffs of his tuxedo, and with that, he shut the door and left.
"What was that?" I chuckled with a smirk at Archie. Even though we had shared a moment at Pop's, I didn't really care if he was romantic with anybody else as I wasn't exactly trying to date him anyway.
"You've never heard of a thank-you-smooch?" Archie gasped. He tipped the bottle up to his lips before hesitating. He held it out to me, but took it back when I shook my head.
"Arch, you might want to put that down and sleep." I snickered. I was kind of glad that he was able to take it easy like this.
Archie nodded and kissed me on the forehead forcefully, nearly pushing me. My face scrunched up in laughter.
"That was a good-night-kiss," Archie said.
Since I was sitting on the edge of the bed on the left, Archie joined Veronica in the one on the right. She was sleeping up against the wall anyway. At least they seemed safe up there where no dead people were walking around.
I slipped out and into the darkness of the house. Once I was in the foyer, I noticed Cheryl lighting candles on the way to what I assumed was the den. I followed her path all the way to my destination. Once I was there, she took a left and disappeared where I went forward.
Author's Note: no one ever listens. This wallpaper glistens.