Chapter Five: Sympathy For The Devil
"My car's over here!" Martha yelled to her friends, pointing to the yellow Volkswagen Beetle nearby.
The trio quickly got into Martha's car, with Betty sitting in the passenger seat and Veronica right behind her. Martha started the car, before zooming out of her parking space, two police officers hitting the hood in the process. "Go go go go!" Betty and Veronica kept saying over and over again, before finally getting out of the school parking lot.
"Why can't I just have a normal life?!" Martha exclaimed.
"Calm down, Martha," Betty replied.
"Calm down?! One of my best friend's is trapped in the body of a serial killer, who now gets to murder people with her body! I also assaulted two cops with my car and I just turned 18! I could go to prison! SO, HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?!"
"Betty, can you move your seat up just a little bit, please?" Veronica asked innocently.
Betty moved her seat up slightly while answering Martha's question. "Look, we'll get out of this. We just need a plan. They saw us with her, so they'll be looking for us too."
"Well, that's comforting," Martha replied sarcastically.
"Betty, can you move up a little bit more?" Veronica asked.
Betty moved up her seat again while answering Veronica. "We need to get you a disguise, Ronnie. You can't be seen walking around with that face. Everybody knows who you are. Or rather, who you're supposed to be."
"Good plan," Martha admired.
"Hey Betty, can you just move up a little, teeny, weeny, bit more?"
Betty moved her seat with slight annoyance. Then, a police siren was heard behind them.
"Oh no," Martha said.
Veronica looked behind her and saw a police car coming in from behind.
But it wasn't just any police vehicle.
"It's my dad," Veronica said.
"Umm," Betty said while thinking of a plan.
"Hey Betty-" Veronica started.
"TELL ME TO MOVE THE SEAT ONE MORE TIME AND I WILL NOT HESISTATE TO KICK YOUR PENIS AGAIN!"
Veronica backed off after that.
Betty then came up with an idea. "Ooh! Turn left up here! We can mix into the parking lot," she said to Martha.
Veronica saw the place that she was referring to. "No, no, no, no, that's my mom-"
"It's our best chance! Go!" Betty yelled, before Martha turned left at a red light and barely avoided a truck.
"We're gonna die, aren't we?" Martha asked, panic evident in her voice.
"No! Nobody's dying today! Now, park over there!" Betty said.
"Here, put this on," Martha whispered to Veronica while handing a Freddy Krueger mask to her.
"Really?" Veronica asked.
"It's only temporary!" Martha whisper-yelled.
Veronica put on the mask, which only covered part of the Shredder's face, before her friends discreetly led her to a dressing room.
"Stay in here, Ronnie. Do not come out until we get you, ok?" Betty whispered.
"Ok," Veronica replied, before she closed the door and her friends ran off.
A few seconds later, somebody tried to open the door, to which Veronica slammed it.
Apparently, she had forgotten to lock it.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that anybody was in there!"
It just had to be the one person Veronica didn't want to run into here.
"No problem. Sorry, I just forgot to lock the door!" Veronica said.
"Oh, you all good in there?" Carol asked.
"Yeah, great, actually. Just trying on some polos," Veronica replied.
"Oh really? Cause I just happen to be a professional at helping men pick out polos. What do you say?"
Nope nope nope nope.
"No thanks, I'm all good," Veronica said, to which her mother scoffed.
"Don't be silly. Everybody needs a second opinion. How's the fit?"
Is this going the way I think it's going?! Veronica thought mortified.
"Oh, you know what? It's so funny. I bought my son a pink polo one year for Christmas, and he went pale as a ghost. 'Pink?' He wanted to be so macho. But guess what? It looked great on him. Brought out his beautiful blue eyes."
"I bet he loved it. I bet it was his favorite shirt," Veronica said, basking in memory lane.
"You're seriously going to wear that?" Veronica asked Vincent, baffled by his pink shirt.
"What's wrong with it? The dance is girls choice, remember?" Vincent replied.
"Oh, so you just assume that every girl likes pink?" Veronica asked, teasingly.
"And you assume that every boy likes blue?" He shot back.
"Touché."
"He passed away last year," Carol said, bringing Veronica back to reality.
"I'm so sorry," she replied, not knowing what else to say in this situation.
Carol scoffed. "Listen to me, Debbie Downer. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burden you with all-"
"No, no, no, it's ok. I, uh, lost my brother last year," Veronica said, somehow feeling more comfortable than she has in a long time to talk about Vincent's death.
"I'm so sorry. You must miss him so much."
"He was my whole world," Veronica said, wanting nothing more than to just open the door and hug her mom. But of course, the Shredder wouldn't let her do that.
"Nothing prepares you for this stuff, right? I mean, we're all just left here to pick up the pieces and-," she sighed before continuing, "my husband, he retreated into his work, while my daughter is so quiet now. I never know what's going on inside her head."
Veronica had never heard her say that before. "Maybe she just needs some space? Some time to figure who she is?" Without her brother, she wanted to add.
Carol slightly chuckled at that. "Yeah, I guess I do smother her. I don't mean to, but I'm just so scared. She'll be graduating high school soon, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to protect her. Just like my son."
Veronica just wanted to cry now. "I don't think your daughter blames you for what happened to your son," she said. "Also, she may move away, but you're her mother, and she'll always love you."
Carol chuckled again. "Thank you so much for that."
Charlie bolted into the area. "Carol!"
"What?" She asked, confused.
"Have you talked to Veronica since this morning?!"
"No?"
"She's not answering any of my calls! Go get your phone and call her! The killer was just sighted again!" Charlie said, before pulling his wife away.
"Good luck to you!" She yelled to the man in the dressing room.
A few seconds later, Betty and Martha showed up. Veronica opened the door and saw the mask they bought.
"Scary Aaron Rodgers?" She asked.
"We don't have time!" Betty whispered-yelled.
"You know football players?" Martha asked at the same time.
"I may hate sports, but Aaron Rodgers was Vincent's favorite quarterback," Veronica said, with a slight smile on her face.
"This is terrifying. I can't breathe," Veronica said on her way to Martha's car, wearing the Aaron Rodgers mask.
"It's all we had time to grab. Your dad's on to us," Betty said.
"I can't see anything," Veronica said before getting into the car. She took the mask off after that. "How do killers do this?"
"I'm trolling Insta. Somebody's got to know where the Shredder is," Betty said while pulling out her phone.
Martha then noticed Veronica in the back. "VERONICA, PUT YOUR MASK BACK ON!" She exclaimed, using her "teaching" voice.
"Ok, ok," Veronica said, defeated.
"Bingo!" Betty said.
"What?!" Martha and Veronica yelled.
Betty showed them a video of "Veronica" hopping around what looked like some sort of prom setting.
"Coming at you live, Sherwood's unofficial homecoming queen!" The Shredder said, to which others in the room cheered, while he showed them off.
"This sucks," Betty said once the video ended.
"How are we going to find him? Especially with the curfew?" Martha asked.
Veronica thought for a moment, before realization hit her. "The old mill."
"What?" Betty asked.
"It's where I woke up this morning. No one would look there."
"Well, it looks like we're catching a killer at the old mill tonight," Martha said, with a bit of relief in her voice.
A/N: Thoughts? Any constructive criticism is welcome!
Thanks to inkyfrosting3217 for beta reading!
