It was dark, certainly darker than most nights. The moon was just a small sliver in the sky as Sage and Sweet Pea trudged through Sweetwater Forest down to the riverbank after their first drop of the night.

They had met a few high schoolers from the Northside, the first stop of many. Sweet Pea, still grumbling as he trudged through the brush to the pathway, the meeting putting him in a sour mood.

"Douches! All of them! They have more in one week's allowance than I'd see in a lifetime! Thought they could honestly undercut us?" His hands flew up in the air in aggravation, as he shoved a tree branch out of his way.

Sage smiled sympathetically, "Not on your watch."

A proud grin broke across his face.

She pushed in front of him, staying a few strides ahead as they drew closer to the shore, the water lapping against the shore and the crunching of leaves and sand under their boots the only sound between them.

Times like this made her especially grateful for Sweet Pea. When conflict arose, he thrived on it. He was responsive and incredibly quick-witted. Maybe it was his height that gave him that extra leverage, or the permanent snake proudly displayed on his neck that gave a sense of intimidation but the minute the seniors tried to short-change him, or anyone for that matter, Sweet Pea became a force to be reckoned with. He usually ended up taking what he was owed and a little extra for the trouble. He favorably called this his Asshole Tax.

"With the extra, I got from those dicks, we should grab some food after this," he suggested, breaking the silence again.

She turned around to face him, walking backward slowly. "If you're paying, I'm in," she answered.

"Technically, they're paying. So, is that a yes?"

"Let's just see how long it takes us to get through all these drops tonight and th-"

Her words fell short as she tripped over something, knocking her right off her feet as she fell backward.

"Oof!" she groaned loudly as her back made contact with the soft, wet ground. She rolled to her side, pushing herself up to see what had tripped her. She caught a glimpse of Sweet Pea's face first.

He looked absolutely horrified, eyes wide and mouth slack-jawed.

Her eyes shifted down in front of her and saw… shoes? Legs?

What on earth?

She scrambled up to her feet hastily, ignoring the damp sand on her jeans.

Then she saw it. Her brain didn't process just what she was seeing at first and she surely wouldn't have recognized him if not for his fire-engine red hair. It was still just a bright, waving in the current of the water's soft waves. His face, his body, waterlogged and deformed, mouth agape, eyes half-lidded but rolled back…. and a silver bullet promptly placed in the center of his forehead.

It was Jason Blossom.

She heard a shrill, high-pitched scream cut through the night. It wasn't until Sweet Pea quickly yanked her back away from Jason's body and wrapped his hand around her mouth to silence her, did she realize it was her.

"Shhhhh…" he soothed, his voice low and tense, as he kept her hugged tight to his large frame. His eyes were fixed on the body in front of them again.
She nodded hastily, swallowing hard before he pulled his hand away slowly.

"Sage, we have to go now," he whispered. He didn't dare speak any louder.

She nodded again, numbly. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Jason, her feet frozen in place.

"Sage!" he hissed again, tugging on her arm gently. "Let's go."

She stumbled, finally breaking her trance from the corpse and met Sweet Pea's dark, alarmed eyes. "Y-yea. Go, I'm behind you."

Sweet Pea took off in a sprint. She followed him, just a few short paces behind him. The only sound was their cumbersome footsteps and heavy breathing as they rushed back to the parked car, hearts thudding against their chests as they tried to catch their breath again.

As Sweet Pea was unlocking the car door, a pair of headlights broke through the dark. A strange car slowly drove up the broken pathway and slowed to a complete stop. The headlights turned off.

Sweet Pea and Sage hurried into the car and locked the doors, watching from their safe distance. They didn't dare move.

Their presences seemed unnoticed. Two boys wearing varsity jackets, stumbled out of the vehicle, laughing boisterously. They shared a brief chaste kiss before one of the boys pulled the other further down to the shore making their way down to the water's edge, attempting to pull off layers of their clothes as they jogged. Their voices boomed against the quiet of the night.

"We have to go," whispered Sage. She shivered although she wasn't cold.

Sweet Pea furrowed his brow, frowning as he waited till it was safe and he was sure the boys were out of sight and the coast was clear. He turned on the car and promptly, yet cautiously drove in the opposite direction.

The rest of the drops for the night would have to be on hold.

Sage took out her phone from her coat pocket and texted one statement.

"We've got a problem."

She woke up from a restless sleep, her scream cut short as she snapped her mouth shut.

Someone pounded aggressively against the shared wall. "Shut the hell up!" They yelled with one more final bang.

She covered her face, groaning softly. Since that night, Jason's waterlogged body visited her every night. She had seen death before but the brutality and gruesomeness left her with gnawing stomach aches and haunting nightmares.

Jason Blossom didn't drown after all but was brutally and mercilessly murdered, over a week after his 'accident'. Furthermore, his body was dumped several weeks after his murder.

The last time she had seen him alive, was when he was picking up the keys from FP to an old station wagon.

This new bit of information left everyone, Serpents included, on edge.

Perhaps what Sage feared most of all, is that the Serpents had something to do with with the murder. The Blossoms were a powerful and vengeful family and if they caught wind of any foul play, they would destroy everything and everyone in their path without any sort of regret.

She also thought of Jughead, who at this point must be beside himself and on a writing binge. It put a small smile on her face as she pictured him huddled over his laptop, furiously typing the contents of his thoughts on virtual paper.

It definitely puts an interesting twist on his story. She thought to herself as she got herself up. She pulled on some fresh clothes and pocketed a few crinkled dollars in her front pocket before leaving her room.

Sleep wasn't going to be an option for her tonight anymore.

She walked to Pop's trying to shake off any remaining remnants of Jason in her head.

The doorbell jingled as she walked in, announcing her presence.

Immediately her eyes meet familiar dark one, looking at her.

"Twice in one week? Must be my lucky day." Jug sang smugly, pushing his laptop off to the side.

She caught herself smiling perhaps too big, and slid in the booth opposite of him.

"Apparently so."

"Couldn't sleep?" he remarked, bringing a cup of lukewarm coffee to his lips.

"No," she admitted. "But given the latest Riverdale news, it seems like nobody can." She gestured to his open laptop.

"The untimely tragic accident turned murder mystery literally overnight." His eyes lit up, his lips turned up in a smile.

"So who are the suspects, Detective Jones?" she asked, leaning back against the seat of the booth, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sage," he chided. "I can't give away all my secrets. But I've come up with the perfect title for the novel now. I'm going to call it, In Cold Blood."

She shuddered, a chill licking up her spine.

The observant boy noticed as she rubbed her arms uncomfortably. "Sage, what is it?" he questioned.

She sighed softly. "I know the town's talking about how that Moose-guy and the sheriff's kid found Jason, but uh, I was on a run with Sweet Pea and we found him first."

Jughead's eyebrows rose in surprise, his mouth dropping open slightly "What?"

Sage shook her head, shutting her eyes tight, willing the image of his body to go away. "Yea, I don't really want to talk about it either. It was just really, really awful."

Jug nodded slowly, processing.

She cleared her throat and looked up. Jughead was watching her wearily.

"Just... distract me, Jug."

He offered his cup of coffee to her. "Well, on another note, Archie has officially lost his mind. He's dating our music teacher."

This certainly distracted her. Her eyes widened as she gripped the mug's handle. "What! No way!"

"Yes, way."

"How did you find out?"

"With my exceptionally sharp journalist skills, of course," he teased which earned him another smile. "I walked by the music room and they were all cozy, holding hands and crap. I got into it with him later that night and he basically threatened me not to tell anyone."

"Whoa, I can't believe that! Is she old?"

"No, no. Well, too old to be dating a high school sophomore. She's in her 30's maybe."

"So illegal!"

He snuffed. "I know, just… explains everything too."

"How so?"

"He was being such a tool this summer. We had plans for this epic road trip and he blew me off a few days before we were supposed to go with some lame excuse. And then just stopped talking to me. My best friend just dropped me and fell off the face of the planet. We're not even friends now. I feel like I don't even know who he is anymore."

"Gee, I don't know what that feels like," she stated sourly, looking down at the mug.

"Sage…" he warned his face darkening for a moment. "That's not fair, and you know it."

"No, it really wasn't." she pressed.

"Really, Sage?" His eyes narrowed. "You want to do this now?"

Her face softened and she exhaled a huge whoosh of air from her lungs. "No, Jug. I mean, two nights where we've been civil, we can't break our record now."
She was teasing him but the scowl didn't leave his face.

"You know, I lost everything last year," he said bitterly. "Everything I considered home. Everything I considered safe."

"I know."

"You don't!"

She was quiet, her stomach churning uncomfortably. But he wasn't finished. "I needed you, I needed my family, I needed Archie!"

"I was always there, Jughead," she argued.

"No, made your choice when you sided with HIM!" he spat.

"He IS my family now! He helped me when no one could!" she shot back.

"I could have!"

"You couldn't, Jughead and you know it! We are not the terrible people that you have built us up to be in your head."

He scoffed angrily. "You chose him, over me. You chose that life over me."

"It was never like that, Jug. YOU made it out to be like that. Whatever issues you have with your father, they aren't mine. You can't harbor all your brooding teenage angst and take it out on me because I did what was best for ME!"

"So slinging drugs, getting arrested or-or getting trashed every night is what's best? Oh, how about a striptease on some STD ridden pole? Really, that's what's best for you?"

She exhaled shakily, anger surging up in her chest. She felt her fists ball up underneath the table, nails biting at her palms. "At least I finally have a place in this world finally, Jughead. Dare I say, a family? Can you say the same?"

The moment the words escaped her lips, she instantly regretted it. But her stubbornness wouldn't let the remorse show.

He shook his head, slamming his laptop shut and pulling out a few dollars to throw down on the table. "Then enjoy life with my lowlife drunken father, who put his crimes and his drinking and his drug peddling tricks above everything and everyone else. But sure, Sage, tell me I don't understand."

He gathered up his things, gritting his teeth as he stood up. "You're really going places, kid. Definitely way better off than me." he sneered, sarcastically. "Nice catching up."

The doorbell jingled as he stormed out, leaving her with a cold cup of joe and an empty booth.

She waited for the tears to come, but when they didn't, she sat silently there until the sun crept up from behind the trees and it was time to leave for school.