Chapter Six: Alice Cooper and Vittorio
To the average people, Alice Cooper was no more noticeable than their next-door-neighbor. She wasn't very well known for acts of kindness, but she was not a despicable person either. But even a middle-class American mother had secrets to hide, even from herself.
"You know your daughter will be asking questions, right?"
"Why? Dear Betty has her own life out there; she ain't got time to investigate her own family."
"It'll be a matter of time before she realize something is amiss with Hal."
"No. Absolutely not. When I say everything is fine, that means everything is fine!"
Alice's Daemon, an atlas beetle by the name of Vittorio, was fully aware how his human's husband was into some illicit activities as of late. There were suspicion against him being a robber of some sort, but none were deemed convincing enough to declare Hal Cooper as a criminal. Not Betty, though; she began to suspect that things weren't as they seemed.
Every time Hal and his fox Daemon came home, he'd greet his wife and daughter like any other normal, hardworking father. Back then, his smile was always genuine and his hug very warming. Now, Hal looked like he forced himself to smile when he got home and his hug was brief, as if he didn't want to spend time at home anymore.
"Alice, do you know that you're playing with fire right about now?"
"What are you talking about?!"
"You know damn well what I mean. You are sheltering somebody who might have done a crime!"
"Oh, please. You're not referring to the shootout at the local burger diner, are you?"
The greenish beetle Daemon didn't answer, instead opting to hover before his human. Alice, feeling tired and apprehensive from this conversation, walked to a window and shuttered it, making sure that nobody was peeking in.
Sure, the middle-aged woman was thinking about how Riverdale slowly descended into fear and mistrust. Back when it first started, it all began with the death of Jason Blossom, followed by the local gangsters becoming more active as time went by. Now Fred Andrews, the owner of the local construction shop, got attacked by a man with a black hood.
"Maybe you should consider talking openly with Hal, you know. Try to clear up all misunderstandings?"
"What misunderstanding, Vi? Like I said before, the Cooper family has no secrets to hide. Everything is normal!"
"Then what about Betty? She's doing investigations around town while pretending to study. Isn't that a little abnormal?"
"Betty is just studying with her friends! She's preparing for her SAT exam, remember?"
If the beetle Daemon had a mouth, he would've snapped his jaws at Alice's response. Still, Vittorio knew that Alice tried not to worry too much about her own daughter's safety, even when a gunman was lurking around town.
Indeed, why were they arguing like this, when back then Alice and her Daemon would never throw accusations at each other? But then Vittorio remembered; there were times when Alice demanded him to stand guard outside rooms while she and Hal spoke inside, talking about weird topics. The husband's fox Daemon would be allowed in, but not the beetle.
The Daemon couldn't recall what exactly they were talking about, but once they were done, Alice would come out and told the beetle not to ask anything. He used to comply, but as time went on, he got more and more curious.
"I think it's time you stop asking questions," the woman made up her mind.
"You can't hide information from me forever."
"Just because you're my Daemon?"
"Because I'll truthfully answer every question that Betty will ask of us. And I promise you; I am no liar," the Daemon stated.
For a split second, Alice was tempted to stuff her Daemon in a glass jar, but then she realized that, yes, Betty wasn't a fool. There might come a time when all their skeletons would fall out of the closet. However, how would she explain things to her beloved daughter without her turning against the family?