Riverdale's lost girl chapter 37
Jughead had to get to her, but he couldn't show up alone. And he definitely couldn't take Alice…
He ran down the stairs and then out of Alice's house, the door banging shut behind him and he hesitated for one moment before he made up his mind to run over to the house next door. But he didn't move. A hand grabbed him from behind and held him stuck to the spot. He turned and found Alice still holding onto him. She turned him around fully to face her and grabbed his other wrist. He met her panicked eyes.
"Jughead, you need to tell me something, what's going on?"
He shook his head, feeling panic grip hold of him.
"I..I don't know myself. But she might be in danger."
He said frantically and Alice's eyes widened in shock, her hand on his arm going slack. He hated doing it but he had to go. He pulled himself free from her loose grip and ran to Archie's house. Had he gone with her or was she there on her own?
He jumped over the steps to the porch and charged for the door, throwing himself at it, banging against the wood. He was breathing hard and refused to admit the possibility of something having happened to Betty. He couldn't stand wasting a single second.
He heard running footsteps and Archie opened hastily, bat in hand. Jughead stared at the bat for a second, did he think he was? A burglar? Why would a burglar knock?
He forgot the unimportant matter and spun around hastily, walking away, leaving a confused Archie following.
"Jughead what is it?"
He asked concerned and Jughead headed towards the garage,
"Get your keys, we need to use your car."
Archie obeyed without further questions and ran inside as Jughead jogged over to the garage door and opened it, almost losing his grip of the wet handle. He'd just gotten the big door up when Archie ran past him, bat still in hand and headed inside, jumping into the car. He waited for Jughead to get in too before driving out of the garage at top speed.
"Head for the lake."
Jughead demanded and Archie made a sharp left and drove down the familiar road through Riverdale. He wasted no time getting to the point.
"What's going on Jug?"
He asked and Jughead explained, looking out of the window nervously, watching the houses zap past at a too slow speed. Come on, faster.His stomach ached at the thought of Betty at the river with whoever had done this. Alone.
"You need to ask Betty for details, but the letter you passed on…It said she had to come to the lake, to meet the sender."
"And who's that?"
He asked confused, his eyebrows scrunched together.
"We don't know."
Archie abruptly turned his head away from the road and stared at Jughead in shock and confusion.
"What? Why would she agree to…?"
He asked and Jughead interrupted him frustratingly.
"Whoever it was threatened her."
He grumbled, angry with himself. He should have figured it out, he should have…
"She had to come to the river or something would happen."
He said, feeling himself shudder at the thought. Archie didn't ask any more questions and the car shot forwards, picking up speed.
Had he looked behind him he would have seen Alice run out of the house and stop at the end of her drive way, staring after the boys as they drove off. She turned back in panic and went to go back inside, needing to call Betty, to get some answers. She had no no idea what was going on and it worried her. What could that letter have possibly said?
But when she ran inside the house a new idea came to her. She grabbed the house phone and fumbled with the bottoms, trying to recall the phone number. She punched it in quickly and paced hurriedly as she waited for the response.
"Hello?"
Fp's voice came through the phone and Alice's breath hitched in relief.
"Fp, I don't know what's going on but Betty's…I think she's in danger. Jughead went after her with Archie. Wh-what should we do?"
She said helplessly and held the phone closer to her ear to catch his response. For a moment, he said nothing.
"Hang on just a second Alice,"
He said and she paced the room impatiently as she waited. She checked the length of the call and at least a minute past before he spoke again.
"Right, sorry Alice, I had to tell Jellybean, I'm walking through the hospital now. Where are they?"
"I...I-I don't know."
Alice said and only as she said it realised how stupid she'd been. She ran back up the steps and back into Betty's room. She picked up the letter Jughead had read out and gasped at the harsh, brash words.
Demand.
"Fp, she's at the lake! Oh my God. She's at the lake!"
She cried and Fp tried his best to comfort her.
"Alice, Alice, it's okay, she can handle herself and Archie and Jughead are going after her, right?"
She shook her head sobbing.
"Y-yes. But please Fp, hurry."
"Of course."
He said and hung up. Alice threw the phone onto the bed and began searching through the letters, even as tears fell down her cheek. She had to find out what was going on. Was Betty in serious danger?
A few streets away in Riverdale hospital a Jones' heart sped like a beating drum. Her father had just picked up his phone and she'd watched him cautiously, having coming to know phone calls as always bad news. This time was no different as his face twisted to a thousand different emotions, none of them good. Jellybean waited impatiently but dreading for him to tell her what was wrong. He listened intently until finally he lowered his phone. She stared at him expectantly from her hospital but he still said nothing.
"Dad, what is it?"
She asked as calmly as she could manage.
"Hang on just a second Alice,"
He said into the phone before addressing her again.
"Jellybean, I need to go. Betty might be in danger and Jughead went after her."
He said as he collected his stuff together, his voice on the verge of panic.
"You're going after them?"
She asked but she already knew the answer.
"Yes, of course."
He said, already reaching for the door. But she stopped him just before he could open it. She knew it was stupid and she was wasting his time, but she had to ask anyway.
"Wait dad, take me too. Please,"
She had no idea how she could be any help but she couldn't just lie here.
"Jellybean, no. You're recovering and…"
He stopped but she knew what he meant to say. She understood. There was no way she could help, she wouldn't even be good in a fight. But there had to be something…
"I know, but isn't there anything…"
"Jellybean," He looked at her with a serious expression, his worry replaced with determination. "It's alright, I got it. I'll help them but they know how to look after themselves and you're better off staying right here. Where everyone knows you're safe."
He said and she nodded, he placed his hand on the doorknob before changing his mind and turning around. He quickly came up to her bed and leant over her, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again to say goodbye, he was gone. The last thing she heard him say he yelled from the hallway, barely audible through the slightly open door.
"Your mom will be here soon!"
She didn't bother responding and fell back into the pillows. She wondered what awful trouble Betty and Jughead had gotten themselves into and prayed it wouldn't be too bad. She stared up at the ceiling and hated herself for not being able to help, for only being able to lie here. She sat up abruptly as she suddenly realised something.
Her mother.
Her mother was coming here while Jughead was…
She didn't know what was happening to him, that he might be in danger. No one had told Gladys. She threw of her blanket and made to swing her legs over the side when she stopped herself. She stared at her cast and remembered the embarrassment the last time she tried to walk. She wasn't going to go through that again.
Instead she reached over and pressed the red button by her bed. She knew it wouldn't speed anything along but she couldn't help pressing it three times. Soon enough a nurse came in, walking quickly towards her bed, glancing over her to make sure she was alright.
"I need to borrow your phone."
Jellybean said urgently, surprising the nurse but she nodded and handed Jellybean her phone cautiously. She dialled the number and waited for the nurse to leave before pressing the phone to her ear. She tapped her bed nervously until finally the constant ringing hitched.
"Hello? Mom…"
She said and told her everything not thinking exactly what her mother would do knowing her son was in danger.
Betty knew what she was doing was crazy. She knew she should have at least called Jughead to tell him about the letter. But after talking to Veronica…
She didn't want to think about it. And the letter had demanded she come alone. Not that that meant she wouldn't come unarmed. She pressed her arm against her side like she'd been doing every few meters and felt the familiar hard shape of the gun digging into her side. She breathed out in relief, like she's done every time.
If anything unexpected would happen she'd at least be able to defend herself. She hoped. She increased her pace and stuffed her hands into her pockets. She carefully stepped over a root sticking out from above the dusty leaves on the path and continued on. The path she took cut through the forest and was the quickest was she knew that led down to the river. She'd glanced the deep blue of the lake and the light sparkling off it a few times in the breaks of the trees to her right, but tried not to think of it. She'd quickly avert her gaze, not wanting to face whatever it was her blackmailer wanted here at the lake any sooner than she had to.
She continued moving through the woods at a steady pace until she felt the ground slope beneath her. She was beginning the final descent down to the beach.
She had no way of knowing whether this was even the right place. The lake touched the borders of Riverdale in quite a few places and the blackmailer had mentioned nothing of a beach. She wished she was wrong, but dare not think of the possible consequences to her mistake.
This beach seemed to be where everything happened. Where Cheryl and Jason said goodbye, where Archie and Mrs. Grundy heard the gun shot…
Everything seemed to come back to this spot. It was almost poetic. She wondered whether the sender of the letters knew that too, had planned it that way.
She came down onto the beach and saw there was no one there yet. She stood on the beach at high alert, looking over her shoulder every other second to see if there was someone there. There had been no time on the letter, so she'd just assumed to come straight away. She stood for a while longer before her panic began to fade and she sat down instead. She sat against a large stone and tried to get comfortable. She was perfectly placed so she could see anyone who came down onto the beach the same way she had. She only wished there wasn't another path she didn't know about.
She sat for a while, so long she thought he or she must not be coming. Her mind began to wonder to other things when she heard a noise.
Immediately her mid sharpened and she listened more intently, drowning out all other noise but the one she just heard. But no matter how hard she listened she heard nothing. But she'd placed where the sound had come from. Very slowly she turned her head, looking over the stone she lay against just as the new comer descended onto the beach and the only sound was his boots on the soft sand, coming towards her.
Jughead knew the shortcut Betty had taken, they'd walked down it together before. He guessed correctly in thinking she would go down it now again. She could cut through while he and Archie would be forced to drive around. Jughead gave Archie directions even though the ginger knew the way well himself. But he didn't say anything. Jughead was staring out of the window, as if hoping he might just see her when his phone vibrated. He realised it had never even occurred to him to call anyone. He opened his phone to find a text from an unknown number, not what he expected. He tried to recognise the number but he'd never seen it before. His surprise only increased when he read the message.
"Don't follow. Please,"
And that's all it said. He stared at it for a long second and couldn't understand why anyone would send it. Who knew about this meet up apart from the blackmailer and Betty?
He called for Archie's attention and read the message aloud. The ginger was just as confused as he was.
"Who would send that? It definitely doesn't sound like the blackmailer."
He commented and Jughead nodded in agreement.
"But who then?"
He asked and Archie turned to him for a brief second, his own expression matching Jughead. Neither of them knew.
Jughead shook his head and motioned to a road going off to the left.
"Just keep going,"
He said and Archie turned down the road he indicating, increasing his speed as the deep blue lake came into view.
Fp pushed his bike harder and sped down the twisted road leading to the lake. He left the road in a sharp turn and continued down a dirt path, only just wide enough to fit his bike through. He was forced to slow down as he skittered between stones and swerved to avoid roots. He cursed his loss of speed but didn't dare go any faster. Finally, he saw where the path came to an end. And beyond it he knew the lake would lay by the pebbly beach.
Betty scrambled to her feet as the new comer approached her. She stared at him in shock for a second before remembering how to speak. She couldn't believe he was here.
"Wh-what are you doing here?"
She asked in surprise, debating whether to take a step forward or back. He continued approaching, his face set in an expression she couldn't quite understand. He didn't answer her question.
"Did you get a letter too? Were you also being threatened or…"
Betty froze as the 'or' hung between them, his expression darkened and he answered her question.
"No."
Sweet Pea said and Betty realised with what felt like a punch to the stomach what that meant. She stared at him in shock, for a moment refusing to believe him…Until it all made perfect sense. She swore guilt flashed over his face but she barley registered it under her own anger and hurt.
"You!?"
She accused him in horror and disbelief. How…How could he have done this?
"You did this!?"
She cried out, her hands moving to her head to make fists out of her hair. They moved on their own accord and she hardly registered the movement. All she heard was his response.
"Yes."
He said, his face flat as stone. She felt tears burn behind her eyes but she refused to let them form. She pushed them down with her anger.
"How could you?! How could you do this?! I trusted you! I-I helped you. I-I thought we were..."
She screamed at him but didn't let herself finish her sentence. She felt close to falling to the sand beneath her.
"You thought what, that we were friend?" He said, mocking her, "You thought I actually liked you?"
"You're nothing but a filthy Serpent!" She accused him. "You used me and I was stupid enough to want to protect your stupid paper!"
He stood completely frozen as she yelled at him, his jaw clenched but face still and emotionless as stone.
"Who trusts a Serpent?"
He mocked her but his voice was flat as his face. She would have damned the consequences and slapped him had a thought not suddenly occurred to her.
Why would he give away who he was now, before he'd even had the chance to get what he wanted from her, whatever that may be?
She titled her head ever so slightly and a new found confidence filled her.
"Why would I do anything you tell me? You have nothing over me."
"Because I can do much more than threaten to release a paper."
He said and her heart plummeted. For the first time, she realised, she was actually afraid of him. He put his hand into his jacket and she held in her breath as she waited for what he would pull out. Her breath came out strangled as she saw the gun in his hand. He lifted it higher and pointed it straight for her head. She didn't even glance or risk reaching for her own. She'd be dead before she touched the metal. This wasn't some teenage boy in front of her, this was a Serpent and possibly a killer. She took a deep breath to try and get her thought straight, but the gun made it hard. She took one more staggering breath before trying to speak.
"Why bother with all the letters, the blackmailing if you could just stick a gun to my head."
She tried to sound as confident as she could but she heard the slight shake and squeak in her voice.
"I just needed to get you out here, by yourself and very, very scared."
He said, but the gloating words came out completely flat.
"But most importantly I needed you to care."
What he didn't know was that the only thing keeping her calm was her anger, so she focused on that and sharpened her mind. She tightened her hand into a fist.
"Why me, why go after me?"
She said, hiding her panic as he began circling her, his gun never wavering, never leaving its target.
"You're Jughead's sweetheart, an easy target and so impossibly easy to get you to care for me, to think we were friends."
She was forced to turn as he circled around her, she wasn't going to leave him out of her sight. She met his mocking smile and bared her teeth. His grin only widened and when he clicked off the safety, she couldn't help but flinch, to his obvious delight.
"But enough talking, here's my first demand…"
"Coming here was your first demand,"
She said boldly, as if it would make any type of difference.
His grin only widened and it made her want to be sick.
"Oh, that was merely a suggestion, now it begins."
He stopped walking and froze, standing before her once more.
"As I was saying…"
He trailed off for a second, letting the fear pool in her gut and fill her veins. But then she caught him, for a slip second, glancing to his left. He turned to her again and it happened so quickly she thought it might just have been nothing. Something he'd heard, like a bird taking flight…But maybe not.
And that look, it had seemed like he'd been searching for conformation, for whatever he was about to do next.
She didn't give herself away by looking but her mind spun as it tried to imagine who he'd been looking at. Had Jughead come and followed her somehow? What would happen if he had?
"My-" He continued in his calm voice, "-first command is…Run!"
He suddenly yelled, his eyes wide in panic and urgency. She jumped in shock and he suddenly pointed the gun down to the sand and shot. It happened so fast she only registered the sound and the puff of sand that was blown up from the beach. Without thinking about it she turned and ran, not even considering she'd actually followed his order. She ran down the beach, her feet too slow as they slapped the sand beneath, slowing her down.
And then the second shot rang out. She flinched and almost tripped at the sound. She couldn't even hear where it was coming from. Was he firing at her? She ran faster, heaving frantically as adrenaline pumped through her, the only thing keeping her going. She almost froze when she heard a scream, a pained, dying scream. But she pushed forward, almost stumbling as she ran up the hill and up the dirt path. She risked a single glance behind her and her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. Sweet Pea was still on the beach, on his knees, clutching his hand to his stomach. Had he shot himself? She asked herself in horror as she turned her gaze forward again and continued running.
Her mind wasn't even working properly; she could hardly form complete thoughts.
But who had shot Sweet Pea? The words rang in her head on repeat. He couldn't have done it to himself, he'd have to be insane. She couldn't bear to look over her shoulder again.
But then a noise made her freeze. Not a noise, a voice. A voice calling her name.
"Betty Cooper!"
She…She knew that voice. Hated and feared it. She turned around and looked down the path she'd just taken. Looking back onto the beach she saw the unbelievable sight of Penny Peabody, no longer wearing a Serpent jacket. Betty stared at her and all her hope plummeted once more. There Penny stood, on the beach where Betty had stood minutes before only she was holding a gun, Sweet Pea's gun and pointed it to his head. Betty's gaze flickered between the two in confusion, switching between Penny's triumphant but angry expression and Sweet Pea's pained one.
''Come on down Betty!" Penny yelled across the beach in her familiar sing song voice. Betty felt like she was in a trance as she took a single step forward. She managed to take another when Penny's spoke again.
"Common Betty, hurry up!"
She said and instantly she began walking quickly down the path even as every bone yelled for her to run. Run away from this mad woman.
She'd almost reached the beach when Penny growled in frustration.
"Hurry, or the shot flies!"
She threatened and Betty ran the rest of the way back to Penny but didn't dare come any closer than a 10 feet.
"I don't understand,"
She said and Penny almost seemed disappointed by her comment.
"It's not that complicated Betty. Just think."
She said with a cruel smile that sent chills down her back. She tried thinking, tried branching everything together but it was too much, just out of reach. The gun was too close to Sweet Pea's head for her mind to think rationally.
But even then a little voice in the back of her head spoke to her.
He's a traitor, let him die.
But she knew if she listened to that she'd never forgive herself.
"If you won't think, listen."
Penny continued and Betty tore her gaze away from Sweet Pea's half crumpled up body to meet her cold gaze again.
"Do as I say or he loses his brain, understood?"
She asked and Betty forced herself to nod.
"Good, now put those on."
She said and nodded her head to something up the beach. Betty turned her gaze to where Penny had shown and found there was a bag Betty hadn't noticed before lying by a stone. She didn't ask for conformation and turned and began walking towards the bag. She slowly fell to her knees before the bag and with shaking hands opened it, pulling the zip as her heart raced. She couldn't quite see what was in the bag and pulled it out carefully. She slowly looked at what she was holding and gasped as she understood what it was.
But she didn't put it back, she couldn't. She followed Penny's orders and pulled her own shoes off and put on the boots from the bag. But she knew from the weight those weren't ordinary shoes. They were weighted ones, with lead in them. She fought back tears at what her wearing weighted shoes and a lake would lead to. She sniffed them back as she stood up again, her legs shaking tremendously. Crying wouldn't help her. So instead she tried an old trick Polly had taught her, to count down from a hundred. She mouthed every number as she steadied herself and began walking back towards Penny.
100…99…98
She could feel the weight of the shoes as she walked, the extra effort she needed to lift her feet.
97…96…95
With every number she took a step, with every number she took a calm breath and held her head higher. She could feel her thought begin to clear, feel her mind working to think of ways to get out of her situation.
91…90…89
She looked down at Sweet Pea and could see the blood seeping into his fingers from where he clutched his wound. His shirt had darkened around the area but she had no way of knowing when a person was losing too much blood. She didn't know whether he'd live or survive. He lifted his head to meet her gaze and his pain, despite everything hit her like a slap to the face, but she refused to let it show. But beneath that pain and agony she saw an apology. An apology and plea for forgiveness.
"He…He didn't do any of this, did he?"
She asked, thinking aloud and brought her eyes up to meet Penny's gaze.
"It was all you?"
She didn't mean to but it came out as a question. She completely forgot about counting as she started to piece things together.
"You placed the blame on Sweet Pea, had him come out here on gun point, probably told him what to say and shot him when he warned me."
Betty said and Penny nodded,
"Good girl, now you're using your head. But enough of that. Start walking."
Betty froze as she tried to comprehend what Penny was saying.
"I said, start walking!"
She yelled, all smiled forgotten. She wasn't playing games anymore. She thrust her arm towards the lake, telling Betty where to go. Her right arm. That meant there was no gun to Sweet Pea's head but Betty knew the opening was too small. She'd never get the chance to draw her gun…
She obeyed Penny's orders and walked with unsteady steps towards where the beach met the water. She continued counting as her breath began to quicken.
77…76…75
She sucked in a breath and kept going. Kept putting one foot in front of the other, waiting for the order to stop.
72…71…70
She was so close now, so close to the water. She remembered as a child she would go running down this beach and run into the water, splashing and laughing as she ran. And then she'd throw herself into the water and start to swim. She knew she wouldn't be able to swim now. Those memories seemed so far away.
63…62…61
Her toes touched the water and for a moment she couldn't feel the water but as she stepped further the water began to seep into her shoes.
56…55…54
She waited desperately for the command to stop but Penny stayed silent, so she walked deeper and deeper. Her ankles where completely underwater when she finally heard a voice from the beach.
"Stop."
Penny said, not loudly but Betty heard it perfectly clear. She bit on her sob as she came to a halt and with her back to her blackmailer waited for her next command. She couldn't bear think about what would happen if she'd have to choose. If she'd have to choose whether she should live and Sweet Pea die or she kept walking to her doom. She could imagine herself pulling out the gun and turning, perhaps she'd get a chance to shoot Penny or perhaps she and Sweet Pea would both be dead by then. She had no idea.
"Get up."
She flinched as she heard Penny's commanding voice, but it wasn't directed at her. Sweet Pea groaned and she guessed he was standing up. She didn't risk looking over her shoulder. Soon after she heard footsteps, two sets. Penny and Sweet Pea where coming closer.
"Far enough."
Penny said and with a thud Sweet Pea fell back to the sand. This time he stayed silent.
"Right." Penny said, her voice coming from much closer. "The way this works is I ask you a question and you continue walking until you've answered it. That's it, very simple. Sweet Pea here is only for insurance."
The words cut like a blade in Betty's mind, forcing their way in, causing her to shake in fear.
40…39…38
She'd lost count.
It seemed less reassuring now, less like a calming agent then a countdown to her death. She continued counting anyway. It was the only thing keeping her from collapsing.
32…31…