*Johns POV*
John was in the dark, hiding. He was in a long hallway, in front of him was a large white door which was open just a crack. It was through this crack that John saw his target, a dark-skinned woman with long brown hair. She was having a frantic argument with a grey-haired man, Sheriff Keller. They both had their backs to him, as they were reading some kind of map that was on the table. Now was his chance, from the inside of his coat he pulled out the pistol he'd been hiding. It was cold in his hand.
Grasping the gun tightly he stood and kicked open the door making both Sheriff Keller and the woman jump. John aimed and fired at the sheriff, the first shot hit him in the shoulder and he went down screaming. John fired again, this time hitting the Sheriff in the head. Silencing him.
In Johns head he was screaming at himself to stop but it was like he'd been locked away in his own head. He watched through his own eyes as the brown-haired woman cowered in front of him. John pointed his gun at her, his hand shaking.
"Don't do it!" John tried to scream at himself but it didn't work. John watched in horror as he pulled the trigger again and again and again until the gun clicked empty. Suddenly John was back in control. He dropped the gun and backed away from the body that was now bleeding out onto the floor.
He went to run but stopped in his tracks when he turned to see Archie and his Dad.
His Dad shook his head at John "what have you done"
Tears began to flow down Johns face "Dad I didn't have a choice..."
"But you pulled the trigger" Archie countered
"You're no son of mine" His Dad yelled as John broke down completely...
"JOHN!"
John's eyelids flickered open, Malachai was stood over him and he looked annoyed.
"Fucks sake man you sleep like the dead"
John sat up and took a deep breath "What do you want Malachai"
"Well I kinda need you here for the planning but I've also heard you screaming 'It's not my fault' in your sleep"
John got up and slipped on his Ghoulies Jacket "It's nothing"
"John, you know why you have to do this right. If you don't our families suffer. Your Dad dies, my Gran gets crucified...it's the end for us"
"I know what's at stake Malachai, get me the plans on the Mayor's house, I want to go over them again"
*Jughead's POV*
He'd given Archie, Betty and Veronica places to look for John but if he was honest, he'd pretty much sent them on a wild goose chase. There was only one man who knew the gangs in this town like the back of his hand and only Jughead would be able to get close to him because only Jughead knew his secret. He had to see his father.
His dad was a leading member of the Serpents, if anyone would know what gang John had joined and what their plans were, it would be him but he hadn't talked to his father for over a year now. Not since he'd left home to get away from him. That's why, at the door to his father's trailer, he hesitated. There was no question that linking back up with his dad was worth it to save John but there was still a part of him that didn't want to see his father ever again.
"Well well, this is a surprise" said a familiar voice from behind him.
Jughead turned to see his father, half drunk and stood at the bottom of the stairs that led up to his trailer.
"To what do I owe this pleasure, Jug" his father said staggering up the steps towards him.
Jughead backed away "I need your help, well, your intel at least"
"My intel?"
"I know the Southside Serpents must keep tabs on all rival gangs in the area, have you ever seen a gang that flys the flag of a skull"
His dad chuckled "yeah loads but here in Riverdale there's only one, the Ghoulies. They're a small bunch of people but they used to be a part of a much bigger clan called the Deadfalls"
"Well what happened to them"
"Well when Riverdale's very own Sierra McCoy announced her candidacy for Mayor of Riverdale the Deadfalls were hired to ruin her campaign. They were the reason that the election was so hard for her. When she finally got elected, she came down hard on the gang and pretty much dissolved the whole thing"
"The Ghoulies were the only survivors? Dad somehow John Andrews has managed to get involved with them, you didn't happen to hear anything through the grapevine about that did you?"
His dad rubbed his chin and paced past Jughead "Well no, but we did hear that the Ghoulies were going to make a move on someone big in Riverdale and that they were going to use two fresh members to do it. I'm assuming that must be John and another...as for who the target is, well, I couldn't tell you but my best guess would be Mayor McCoy"
"It would be an obvious move, they have a big motive" Jughead sighed and started to walk away when his father grabbed his shoulder.
"You can't go after him. If they've set him up for assassination there's no telling what he might do"
Jughead snorted. As if his Dad actually cared "I'm going after him dad whether you like it or not. He's been there for me, when you weren't. Even if I can't stop him, I have to at least try"
His dad sighed "At least check in with one of my spies, Joaquin. He's set up outside the Mayor's residence to see if anything actually goes down and to make sure they don't pin it on the serpents. Don't go in blind"
Jughead nodded and pulled away from his dad, walking away fast as tears pricked at his eyes...
*Betty's POV*
"They have to be making a play for Mayor McCoy" Jughead explained.
Jugheads information was suspicious but it did make a lot of sense. Betty made a mental note to ask Jughead later about where he'd sourced his information. After what had happened to John, she knew that anything suspicious was definitely worth investigating but one problem at a time.
"Are you sure the information's good?" Betty asked.
"Trust me, the guy I got it from is a dick but he's trustworthy on this" Jughead replied giving her a look that begged her not to ask any more questions.
"Well it's the only lead we have" Archie said defeatedly "Everywhere we looked, he isn't there and I've tried calling him a hundred times but it just goes straight to voicemail"
"So, what's the plan" Veronica asked.
"We camp out the Mayor's residence and wait to see if he shows up unless we manage to find out anything else. My guy's spy says there's a secret way into the building through the disused wine cellar underneath. The hatch is sealed but it wouldn't take more than a crowbar to loosen it" Jughead said.
"That's where we camp then"
"No Veronica, we need to make sure that we don't dedicate our recourses to one place. You and I will be back on research. Maybe your mom might know of some other high-profile targets in Riverdale that fit the bill...although how we'd ask her, I have no idea"
"So, me and Arch, camp out the place and you ring us with any developments. It's the only plan we've got so it's worth a shot"
Jughead gave Betty the location of the cellar entrance then he and Veronica left, leaving Archie and Betty alone to catch John before he made the biggest mistake of his life.
*Archie's POV*
Archie sat with his back against a tree, trying desperately to stay awake. He and Betty had been sat in the same spot at the mayor's house for hours, if they hung around for much longer, daylight would break. Jughead had called earlier to say that he'd had a really awkward conversation with Veronica's mom but found out very little. Turns out that a lot of Riverdale's rich and famous didn't tend to hang around in Riverdale this time of year. There was the Blossoms but the Deadfalls had never had any grudge with them so it didn't make sense.
Just as Archie thought he was going to doze off his phone vibrated in his pocket.
"It's Jughead" he told Betty.
"Tell him to bring blankets and some coffee" she groaned.
Archie chuckled and answered the call only to be graced immediately with Jughead's panicked shouting.
"Archie? Hurry up and answer"
"What's up Jug"
"Archie he's coming your way, we were coming back to you when this van going way too fast, just nearly hit Veronica out of nowhere but Veronica swears on her life Arch. It was John in the driver's seat"
Bright lights flashed behind Archie and he turned around.
"Uh Jug, that van. What colour was it?"
"Green" Jughead panted.
"Shit, he's here. Betty, we have to hide, Jug get here"
Archie stretched out his arm and grabbed Betty's hand pulling them both behind a large 'Private Land' sign. They watched as two men in ski masks and Ghoulie branded black, denim jackets climbed out of the van. One of them held a crowbar and immediately sought out and went to work on the hatch.
"We need to get to them" Betty hissed trying to move but Archie held her back.
"No, that guys got a crowbar and last time I made John angry it wasn't good, if we're gonna face them then let's do it inside the Mayors house where we can sound the alarm if things go sideways"
Betty nodded reluctantly and turned back to watching the two men who were struggling to open the hatch. Finally, with a lot of effort they managed to lever it open and climb inside.
Archie held Betty back for a few more seconds before whispering
"Now, go"
Together they snuck over to the hatch and climbed inside. The wine cellar was pitch black but like a true detective, Betty managed to fish a torch out of her backpack. It was clear that the room hadn't been used in decades and as Betty shone the torch over the floor, the footsteps of his brother and the other man were marked clearly in the dust. They followed them through the room and up to a door that was open a crack. It had been pried open from the inside and a faint light from outside of the door highlighted the evidence.
Archie went first and crept out of the cellars and into a short hallway, slowly he looked around until he felt cold metal touch the back of his head.
"Don't move, hands where I can see them" a whispered voice from behind him said.
Archie complied, giving Betty a signal to stay hidden as he did so.
"Who are you" The unmistakeable voice asked.
"Someone who's trying to save you" Archie said calmly, turning around to look into the wide eyes of his brother.
"Archie?" John hissed "What the hell are you doing here"
"WE followed you" Betty said, coming out from behind the door.
"Betty? Fuck" John hissed "You both need to leave, now" John gestured with his gun.
"We can't do that bro, I know what you're going to do and if I have to stop you, I will"
"Archie if you don't leave, I will fucking shoot you okay? You don't understand anything, I'm doing this for all of us. If I don't do this then you, dad, hell even you Betty, will all die. Anyone I care about won't be safe if I don't do this"
"We'll figure it out John, just please come back with us. The John I knew would do the right thing every time even if it meant sacrificing everything, you don't want to do this" Archie said placatingly while moving to block John's way forward.
"Archie" he warned, the gun in his hand shaking and tears forming in his eyes.
"If you want to get to the Mayor then you have to go through me" Archie said defiantly.
"wrong" came a menacing voice from behind him followed by the click of a gun being loaded.
"Malachai" John said to the guy behind Archie "Back off, he's my brother"
"Are you kidding me Andrews, this guy's gonna blow our whole operation, I won't condemn my family to death over your brother"
John lowered his gun and moved to stand next to Archie, who was still facing the wrong way.
"I said back off" John growled.
For a moment there was silence, then all hell broke loose. Archie was shoved aside into a wall, he looked up to see John and Malachai locked in a deadly wrestle. Johns gun must have been knocked out of his hand because it was on the floor now and Betty was scooping it up to stuff into her bag. Archie had only looked away for a second but that was all it took. A loud bang echoed through the hallway, Archie looked back at John just in time to see him collapse to the ground clutching his side as Malachai ran off down the corridor.
Archie and Betty rushed over to Johns aid but it was immediately clear that he was beyond their ability to help. John grasped Archie's hand tightly.
"Stop him, do the...right...thing" John said through gritted teeth.
Archie looked at Betty "Get him out of here, the same way we came"
He didn't give her anytime to argue with him and tore off down the corridor after Malachai, checking each door to make sure it wasn't open. The gunshot would have woken up the entire building so Malachai would be looking to make a quick kill while Mayor McCoy was still in bed and defenceless.
He turned a corner and heard a familiar scream from up ahead. Josie. He sped up until he found the open door leading into Josie's room. Inside he saw Josie sat up in bed, her eyes full of tears and terror as Malachai pointed his gun at her. Archie charged him from behind and tackled him, sending them both toppling to the carpet. Malachai was the first to react but when he couldn't find his gun he turned and made for the open window. Archie made a grab for his leg but Malachai kicked out at his face, making him roll out of the way. When Archie got up again Malachai was gone...
*Narrator*
Moments after Malachai's unfortunate escape Mayor McCoy and her doorman found Archie and Josie in that room, Archie did his best to explain away the incident with a story about how he and his friends had been trying to track down someone who had mugged him earlier that day and that the trail had led them to here. Seeing that Malachai was going to break in Archie, his brother John and his friends had decided to take matters into their own hands and follow him. Unfortunately, Malachai had caught them, shot John and got away. After that Josie corroborated the story of how Malachai had threatened her and just like that, John was on the right side of history.
At least that's what the town thought as he received treatment at Riverdale General for his injury but as he lay in hospital John knew what he had nearly done and he was also all too aware of the consequences that he had now incurred upon his loved ones as a result of his failure to complete his orders.
However, as the long nights turned to day three times over that weekend John's anxiety began to ease as he began to believe that maybe, he was finally free. He couldn't have known the fury that was about to be brought upon him.
Meanwhile Monday brought a day of reckoning for Archie, who's focus now returned to telling Principal Weatherbee his darkest secret but he would instead find himself watching as Cheryl Blossom was brought in for questioning, giving only one explanation to her class mates, that she was guilty...
_AUTHORS NOTE_
Hi everyone, sorry that this part was a bit shorter than the others but I didn't want to do a massive part that was completely off script because that's when we start deviating a bit too far from the source material. Anyway how do you like how John's story with the Ghoulies is turning out? I'm quite excited with this new direction that we we're going in and if i'm honest I've got some major re-thinking to do. Originally I was going to have John kill someone for the Ghoulies but as I was writing this I kinda went back on myself because it didn't feel right for his character. Ghoulie or not, John is still an Andrews and that means that at his core he is a good person.
Anyway I said I was going to address a few things in this note so lets get right onto that. First up there was a question from the wattpad version about Johns casting so for credits sake here's the casting list for all of the main six too because they are all talented people that I love:
Veronica Lodge: Camilla Mendes
Betty Cooper: Lili Reinhart
Jughead Jones: Cole Sprouse
Archie Andrews: KJ Apa
John Andrews: Eddie Redmayne
Kevin Keller: Casey Cott
Cheryl Blossom: Madeline Petsch
I'll do a full cast list at the end of each season to give maximum credit to the talented people that have worked on the real show.
Another thing I wanted to address was couplings in the story, I have got some loose plans for relationships outside of the regular script and how they're going to pan out. John's first romantic storyline for example is coming very soon but as I said in the book description I am also taking suggestions on what couplings you'd like to see as we go along. I will try to pencil them all in somewhere as long as they aren't completely ridiculous and yes I get to be the judge of that ;p
Finally if any of you have any characters that you have made and you love, that you want me to write into this story then please hit me up in the comments or elsewhere and give me a description of them and what role you'd like them to play within the story. I will try to include them all but obviously I will have to draw the line in some places eg. please add the Master Chief.
Thanks for reading , please don't forget to comment as I love reading and replying to them.
See you in the next part and Terrah.