Sugar finally rolled up the window when the cold air began to hit her skin. She crossed her legs, turned away from Parker and sat in silence.
"Was it worth it?" Parker questioned as they made their way down a desolate road.
Sugar didn't reply.
"Hmm?" Parker pressed. When he was, again, met with silence, he muttered, "You've always been ungrateful."
"You're wrong," She finally mumbled. "I'm grateful for a lot of things, my brother, our trailer, the truth-"
"The truth?" Parker cut in.
"You're lying about FP," She challenged.
"Yeah, he's not Sweet Pea's dad," Parker admitted so nonchalantly, it was as if he'd said they were out of milk. He had manipulated her as a way of tracking her location. Sugar felt an overwhelming disappointment that she was dumb enough to fall for it. "He did have a kid young, though. Some Southside crossover."
"How do I know you're not lying about that, too?"
"I have access to records and files that you wouldn't believe. If you ask the right questions and get the right samples, you'll always come up with answers, Sasha." Parker looked over at her for a split second as they pulled up to the asylum.
"You can't leave me here," Sugar started to feel the uncertainty creeping up on her.
"The Sisters of Quiet Mercy will offer you a completely under the radar adoption process," Parker informed her as they pulled into the sally port beneath the building. It was rarely used, but the newest addition to the building. Sugar could only assume it was for quieter transfers. "You and I both know that you can barely take care of yourself. This is it for you."
He threw the car in park and unbuckled his seatbelt. Sugar sat still as she watched out of the windscreen.
"Let's go," Parker unbuckled her seatbelt for her. When she still didn't move, he got out of the car and walked around to the other side. Parker opened Sugar's door and, more or less, forced her from the vehicle.
"Mister Peabody," Sister Woodhouse called into the echoing room. The warm smile on her face was out of character.
"Sister Woodhouse, thank you for meeting with me so late," He greeted her, taking Sugar by her upper arm and dragging her toward the door.
"It's no trouble at all," She assured. "Especially when you're dealing with such a deviant sinner."
"You love that word, don't you?" Sugar glared at Sister Woodhouse. "Did you know it's a sin to wear wool and polyester together, but here you are."
Instead of retaliating, Sister Woodhouse gave Sugar a slowly drawn smile. That was worse than a slap, Sugar thought to herself.
"Fear not, my child," Sister Woodhouse cooed. "We will get you all squared away." She took a small step back and a plethora of orderlies seemed to appear out of the darkness.
"What the fuck?" Sugar jumped so hard, Parker was forced to let her go.
"I'll remind you that we do not use such words, Miss Peabody." Sister Woodhouse cocked her head.
"Eat shit, Woodhouse," Sugar spat as her final act defiance. The orderlies began to descend on her like a pack of hungry piranhas. "Stay away from me," Sugar began to back up, but hit a wall. She turned to see one of the nurses as he placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Get off of me!" She kicked her foot back as hard as she could hitting his knee and hyperextending it.
She went to continue her fight, but felt a sharp prick in the side of her neck. "Ow!" She raised a hand to feel the spot, then drew hand away. "Blood…" She observed out loud without meaning to. "What did you do?" Sugar questioned looking from one creepy nun to the next.
She started to feel dizzy and the world began to turn over. The gaggle of ravenous nurses continued to make their way toward her. "Stop," Sugar reached out a hand and waved it around. Her eyes could no longer gauge the proper distance of any object around her. Sugar started to swing wildly throwing herself off balance. "I said…" She tried to speak, but started to fall to the ground. "Get back…" She ordered weakly as a pair of arms caught her.
Sugar's head fell back and her eyes clasped shut.
#
When her eyes blinked open, she attempted to wipe them with her hands. Her wrist stopped short causing her eyes to fly all the way open. She looked over and found herself attached to the bed frame with leather cuffs. Sugar began to panic and tried to rattle herself free. Even folding her thumb over and attempting to slide the cuff off like a bracelet.
"It's good to see you awake, Miss Peabody," An elderly feminine voice observed.
"Sister Livingston?" Sugar tried to sit up.
"You remembered," She stepped further into the room allowing Sugar to see her face.
"Let me out of these," Sugar commanded rattling the chain her shackles against the metal bed frame.
"You nearly broke one of our staff member's knees and you slapped Sister Milo," Sister Livingston reminded her. "You won't be getting up from this bed until we really feel that you've repented, Miss Peabody."
"You can't do that," She argued. "What if I have to pee?"
"Don't worry, poor child," Sister Livingston loomed over Sugar. "We'll mark your incontinence and get you cleaned up."
"It's not incontinence, you can't just make things up about people."
"Unfortunately for you, no one seems to care about teenage whores." Sister Livingston spat revealing her true feelings.
"Sister, with all to respect," Sugar took a breath. "I feel the one reason any woman chooses use that word against another is because they're repressed." She looked upon Sister Livingston from her prone position. "Or is jealousy?" Sugar knew each word she said angered Sister Livingston more and more. "If that's the case, Sister, all you have to do is strip the habit and spit out your teeth. No need to be shy." Sister Living took a few more unnecessary steps closer to Sugar, growing uncomfortably close; Looming over her.
"Be careful, child," She warned. "Or I'll remove that hedonistic tongue from your mouth."
Sugar studied the nun carefully as she choked back more insults. She knew the only way out of the restraints was to obey. Something that Sugar has clearly never been good at. Instead of being agreeable, she decided the easiest thing to do was to stay silent.
"That's a good girl," Sister Livingston informed patronizingly as she stood erect once more. "I'll be back to check on you."
Sugar laid her head back and stared at the old stone ceiling. There was moss and mold growing in the divets and cracks. The rain began to hit the glass windows and clink against the metal bars. The silence was beginning to grow tense and uncomfortable around her.
Sugar let her mind to drift back to Riverdale. It took her to the diner and sat her before a delicious plate of Pop Tate's food. She could smell the fry grease in the air. She listened to the chime of the bell over the door and checked over her shoulder to see who had entered.
It was Sweet Pea. He greeted her with a smile and clapped his hand on her shoulder. Sweet Pea slid into the seat next to her and reached a hand out for her fries.
Sugar listened to his satisfied giggle as he stuffed a handful of food into his mouth. When she reached out for him, he started to disappear.
Sugar exhaled a soft breath and scrambled to grasp onto him. Her breathing started to pick up as the bell over Pop's door sounded off again. She looked over and saw Parker beckoning her forward. She swallowed hard, refusing to stand and greet him.
He stalked toward her menacingly. She tried to stand - to run - but found herself frozen in place. Sugar forced her eyes shut. He gripped her shoulders so hard it felt like her arms were going to pop out of their sockets. Sugar started to scream out loud. The burning her shoulders on grew worse.
Then she felt a gentle pressure against her shoulders. The hands lifted into a gentle caress. Sugar opened her eyes very slowly to see Rachel Pelham standing before her.
Rachel gazed over Sugar for a moment before lifting her hand and beckoning Sugar forward. Sugar looked at her surroundings. She had gone from Pop's back to the Pelham's garden.
She stood from the lone chair and felt the prickly grass beneath her feet. She could smell the fresh cut blades and see the soft grey clouds hiding the sun. There was a visible white mist that seemed to float around her until small twinkles of light began to sparkle around her.
"What is going on?" She whispered, but Sugar's voice sounded like it was echoing off the walls of mist.
She became lost in the lights until a blue one caught her attention. The rest of them were yellow.
"Why?" She wondered as she followed the blue beam. It zipped through the thick fog, so Sugar gave chase. The little light disappeared and when she ran through the heaviest cloud, she was brought into Sunnyside Trailer Park. "Why am I…" She went to gaze up at the sky and found herself looking at a ceiling.
When Sugar looked back down at her surroundings, she was standing inside FP Jones' trailer. There was a hard knock against the wall startling Sugar. Her feet padded quickly against the carpet until she got to Jughead's room. She turned quickly on the door slamming it behind her.
"Hey," Jughead's fatigued voice greeted.
Sugar turned quickly around and pressed her back against his door. Her hand was idly searching for the handle while the opposite cradled her stomach. It felt larger than before. She looked down at it and gasped. She was huge.
"What's wrong?" He soothed.
Sugar looked up to finally address Jughead. This time he stood directly before her. His head cocked every so slightly to the side, his brows drawn together and lips parted gently. Her searching hand reached frantically for the door knob, but couldn't seem to take purchase.
"Are you okay?" Jughead questioned reaching for her fidgeting fingers. He grasped her hand in both of his and leaned into her. An unexpected wave of relief washed over her. No one comforted her like he had. "Why are you crying?" He wondered.
"I'm not," She answered drawing her free hand to her faced. She was surprised by the moisture that coated her cheek. "I am."
"You don't have to," He informed her taking her jaw in his hands. His fingers wrapping around the back of her neck and his thumbs resting against the tags of her ears. "You can just tell me."
"I can't," Sugar wrapped her hands around Jughead's wrists. "It's better this way."
"For who?" As soon as the question left his lips, it felt as though there wasn't a valid answer. Her thoughts collided like mis-scheduled trains and sounded off like oversaturated fireworks.
Then it struck her. For the first time, her conscious mind came back to her.
"This isn't real," Sugar whispered dropping her hands to his chest. "You're not real." She gave him a sturdy shove.
Jughead to a step back as if it hadn't affected him in the slightest. "When was the last time you slept?" His voice grew lower and lower as his face began to melt into itself.
"Get away from me." She tried to pull her hand back, but found it soaking into his body. Taking a breath and calling out for help, Sugar tried to escape.
A/N: I usually message anyone who leaves a review, but a very kind visitor left me a review, so I'm unable to message them. Thank you for the kind words, Mae. Your review gave me drive to work on this some more between other projects! ~ YellowFlower
