AN/ WOW, GUYS, JUST WOW... ALL OF THE SUPPORT ON THE LAST CHAPTER, THAT CAME UNBELIEVABLY FAST... THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I COULDN'T KEEP THIS FROM YOU GUYS ANY LONGER, BECAUSE HOLDING THE SUSPENSE WAS KILLING ME, SO HERE'S A LITTLE MORE FOR YOU... THE SHIT TRULY GOES DOWN HERE, SO ENJOY...
The watch on Veronica Lodge's left wrist was like a ticking time bomb.
Every second inched by at a painfully slow speed after Cheryl was led into the barn, and all eyes were on Veronica, every single person waiting for her to give the command, to say the time was up, to let them go attack.
With locked gazes on Veronica, everyone tensed when they heard a grunt, followed by the slamming of a door.
Jughead jumped out of the bushes, and approached Toni Topaz warily. "Toni," he began, "it's okay."
"What the fuck Jughead? Do you honestly think it's okay? My girlfriend has just handed herself over to the wolves and they'll eat her alive! Why did you let her do this?"
"Topaz," Sweetpea barked, his gruff voice showing little emotion, the sharpness of it forcing Toni to listen. "You need to calm down. We're not letting her hand herself over. We have a plan."
"And what exactly do you plan to do?" Toni snapped, letting her emotions flood out of her, beyond caring about what anyone thought. "Because right now, my girlfriend is in there with that monster. That monster, who had a fucking gun against my skull earlier."
"Calm down, kiddo," King drawled, his cowboy accent making him sound like something out a western movie. "We have a plan."
"That's why I'm worried," Toni confessed. "I mean, the defining trait of a Serpent has always been to act first, and think later."
"Then you'll be glad to hear that your girlfriend and I orchestrated this whole plan," Kevin interjected, walking out of the forest. "It's as idiot proof as it gets, because even Fangs Fogarty understands it."
Fangs scowled.
"Cheryl planned this?" Tony uttered, trying to work out her girlfriend's angle here. What game was Cheryl Blossom trying to play? "Are you serious, Kevin?"
"Yeah," Kevin replied. "Up to now, it's been going pretty well."
"Care to share this plan then?"
"We get you out, have evidence of Penelope confessing to murder (both real and attempted) and your abduction, than the Serpents, with the help of my dad and his crew, storm the place and Penelope gets a good dose of Karma."
"And when do you intend on storming the place?" Toni inquired, still not convinced.
Kevin glanced at Veronica who looked at the watch on her wrist.
"In approximately twenty three seconds," the raven haired girl announced. "Cheryl insisted we give her five minutes, and – now we've got what we wanted – we're more than ready to unleash hell!"
There was a slight cheer from behind the trio, and the others made their way out of the forest.
Jughead. Betty. Veronica. Archie. Kevin. King. Katya. Sweetpea. Fangs.
They were all here, all her friends.
"You guys really came for this?"
"Of course they did, Miss Topaz," A voice said from the back of the group, and the group parted to reveal Sheriff Keller, who was flanked by two deputies. "And I've come too. I want to see Penelope go down as much as you do."
"If it isn't Sheriff Clueless…" Toni scathed. "How do you expect him to help?" She demanded, asking nobody in particular.
Keller stepped forward. "Your girlfriend is one of the smartest kids I've ever met, Miss Topaz. She's let us attach a mic to her brooch, and while she was in there, she's got Penelope to confess to pretty much every accusation we have against her. As soon as the five minutes are up, we're arresting that woman – and the man – and putting them away for a very, very long time."
Toni nodded.
Veronica tapped her on the shoulder. "It's time," she called out, and the entire group approached the door, Katya edging closest and using the clip in her hair to burn the lock.
The door gave way and swung open.
There was a collective intake of breath as they all prepared for what was about to come.
Toni stepped forwards into the darkness. Raising a silent finger to her lips, she gestured for quiet, leading the group towards the room…
"And so, Cheryl," Penelope concluded, wandering dangerously close to her daughter, "I believe that is all you asked for. It is time now, my child, for us to move on. To leave this town behind, and move on to bigger – better – things."
Cheryl gulped, nodding almost nervously. She glanced at her wrist, and saw the watch face, seeing the tiny hand tick painfully slow. She just had to stall for a little longer. She just had to hope that she could hold out here long enough, that…
Penelope grabbed her daughter's wrist and tugged her towards the chair but mere minutes ago Toni had been tied in. "Be seated, Cheryl dear," she instructed, and Cheryl froze, resisting Penelope's pull.
"No," Cheryl refused. "I don't want to."
Penelope's eyes flashed dangerously, and the woman took a slow step forward, standing close enough to Cheryl that her heels allowed her to tower over her daughter. With a flourish, she pulled out the gun she had earlier, raising it to her lips to blow some imaginary dust off the barrel. She laughed lightly, caressing the weapon in her hands, stroking it delicately with her fingers. "In this life, one must do many things one does not want to do. You will learn that soon enough. But in the meantime, I need you to take a seat. We've got to wait for your father to return –"
"My father?" Cheryl interrupted, her face turning as pale as a sheet. "No… Daddy's…"
"Very much alive," Penelope said, finishing her daughter's sentence. "The real Claudius was the one swinging at the end of that noose. A rather creative idea, I must take the credit for. We needed to stage something like that to get away."
"But Daddy killed Jason." Cheryl mumbled, her shock making her pay less attention to her surroundings.
That was the thing Penelope needed, and it was as Cheryl turned away, desperately trying to believe Penelope's words were a lie, that her mother struck out, hitting Cheryl against her head, causing the girl to crumple instantly.
"What the fuck?" Cheryl swore, feeling something wrap around her hands, cursing when she realised what was happening. "You said –"
"I said I'd let that Topaz girl leave unharmed, and I kept my word, Cheryl," Penelope reminded her. "That immunity, however, did not extend to you. As I said earlier, you engaged in some vile actions, and it is now time for you to face the consequences."
The older woman stuffed a rag into Cheryl's mouth, putting tape over it, stopping any muffled sounds from being heard. Unable to fight, Cheryl was helpless as her mother pushed her into the chair Toni had been bound to earlier.
"Now sit still," Penelope instructed, pointing the gun at her daughter. With her free hand, she pulled a bottle out of her bag, a bottle remarkably similar to the one Cheryl had found at Sweetwater River earlier that day. As her mother unscrewed the lid, Cheryl recoiled at the pungent smell that instantly spread around the room. Her mother poured some of the colourless liquid onto another rag and turned to walk towards Cheryl.
The redhead's eyes widened, and she tried to scream, hoping to god someone would come save her, because she hadn't envisaged this happening. Surely the five minutes were up now… surely her friends…
"Get the fuck away from my girlfriend," a voice growled as the door to the room burst open, and Cheryl felt her chest swell with pride as Toni marched in, flanked by the others.
"What are you doing here?" Penelope groaned, exasperated beyond belief. "You had your chance to get away…"
"But I promised your daughter that I'll be here when nobody else will, so I need to stand by that," Toni declared, stepping closer to Penelope. She turned to Cheryl, blowing the redhead a kiss. "Just let me deal with your nightmare of a mother, Cheryl, and we're getting out of here!"
If Cheryl hadn't been so terrified, she would have laughed, or at least smirked at her girlfriend's antics in that moment. But she was terrified, and so she remained frozen, her face a picture of shock, horror and fear.
None of those emotions were on the face of her mother. Instead, Penelope sneered, taking a step closer to Toni. "Oh, Miss Topaz, you're going to regret coming back."
Glancing over her shoulder, Toni smirked as she watched Sheriff Keller's deputies ensnare Claudius in a pair of handcuffs. "Oh," Toni mimicked, "I don't think I am."
Penelope's jaw dropped as Keller himself made his way into the room, swinging a pair of handcuffs from his right hand. Toni laughed, turning her back to the older woman, making her way over to Cheryl, ready to free the redhead from whatever bindings the woman had forced her to be in.
"The game's over, Penelope," he began, inching his way closer to the woman. "Now, you can either come quietly or…"
Sheriff Keller didn't even get chance to complete his sentence.
Much to everyone's shock, Penelope Blossom walked straight over to him, her hands outstretched.
Keller leaned forward, preparing the click the cuffs onto her, his full concentration on her wrists.
Noticing the Sheriff's distraction, Penelope took her chance and kicked her leg straight upwards, hitting against Keller with a smack, causing the man to jump backwards. "Oh, I have no intention of coming quietly," Penelope chastised. "Not when I have unfinished business to deal with…"
Everyone realised what Penelope Blossom meant exactly one second too late.
The woman turned, a satisfied smile on her face, and pointed the gun directly at Cheryl's skull. "If only we hadn't been interrupted, my child, perhaps you would have had a chance at life…"
"No!" Toni howled as Penelope's grip on the gun tensed, and – as Keller grabbed her from behind – she pulled the trigger.
There was a bang as the bullet erupted out of the gun, and it hit its target, causing the body, though only just conscious, to collapse once again upon the floor.
There was a flash of sirens outside the barn that night.
There were firstly the sirens of the ambulances, which arrived to retrieve the unconscious body of Penelope's unfortunate victim, who – try as they might – would not be able to staunch the blood flowing from the chest of the woman, so did all they could to make her comfortable in her final moments.
There were then the sirens of the police cars, which arrived at the scene barely minutes after, whisking away Penelope and Claudius and taking them to their rightful home, the inside of a police cell.
The sirens disappeared eventually.
The noise died down as well.
Everything died away, leaving only silence.
Silence, and Toni Topaz.
All that remained in the room an hour later was Toni Topaz gripping on to an empty chair, holding it with all her might, hoping there was something she could have possibly done to help her girlfriend.
Cheryl had gone with the ambulance. The redhead would not be coming back to the barn, and that thought made Toni want to cry.
In this moment, when she'd just watched a murder unfurl firsthand, she'd been forced apart from the girl she loved, and was now stuck, desperately trying not to break.
How could this have happened? Why did it always have to be them? Why couldn't she and Cheryl just get their happily ever after?
It wasn't fair. That much was certain.
Right now, Toni felt like the carpet had been swept from under her feet, leaving her winded, breathless, causing her to hid the ground with a thump.
How could Penelope possibly have shot her?
It was all a blur after Penelope kicked Keller. Everything seemed to speed up at that moment, and all Toni could remember was the flash of Penelope's eyes, eyes that were in the grip of madness. Those tight, crimson lips pulling out of their usual sneer into a sadistic grin, a grin that promised death.
And, like Cheryl had said earlier, they had to trust in Penelope's word. Penelope Blossom didn't live on false promises or hollow threats, she always followed through. That was why Penelope had pulled the trigger then.
Penelope didn't believe in losing battles. Penelope always had to win, no matter what it cost.
And to Toni, it would be at a great cost.
She just didn't know it yet.
This wasn't the end.
She told herself that on repeat, desperately trying to convince herself those words were true.
It had little effect, because – as Toni watched the life bleed out of the victim's body – Toni knew there was no such thing as Karma, or god, or any type of supernatural force or being with a sense of righteous justice.
There was nothing out there concerned with doing the right thing… If there was, this wouldn't have happened.
With a single tear falling down her face, Toni picked up the scarf that had fallen from Cheryl after the gun was fired, and gently pressed it against her face as a source of comfort, ignoring the way it was soaked in blood.
It was in that moment, on the floor of the maple syrup barn, that Toni uttered her first words since the gun was fired.
"Kevin, I need you to give me a lift to the hospital…"
AN/ EVERYONE OKAY? WE ALL STILL HERE?
THAT WASN'T NECESSARILY THE SHORT AND SWEET CHAPTER WE WERE ALL EXPECTING, WAS IT?
NOW, THAT WAS A CLIMAX. PENELOPE FINALLY GETS WHAT SHE DESERVES, BUT AT WHAT COST?
WHO DID THE BULLET HIT? WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? FILL ME IN! I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOUR THEORIES ARE!
BECAUSE THIS CHAPTER IS HUGE, I'M GOING TO BE CHEEKY AND WAIT UNTIL I GET TEN REVIEWS BEFORE POSTING THE NEXT INSTALMENT. I NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE ALREADY FOR WHAT'S ABOUT TO COME.
I PROMISE THIS ISN'T THE END GUYS, NO MATTER HOW BAD IT LOOKS.
I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THIS.
