Ch 5) Family Games And Life Or Death Situations

Veronica's P.O.V.

After Jughead had gone back home, everything got worse. The tension during their breakfast remained, only broken by mundane small-talk. When they got back to the lodge, things seemed to be brightening up. Archie and her were back to normal. His anger at Jughead and her almost kiss had faded to nothing. And the trio had even enjoyed a few games of truth or dare. As well as played a few rounds of uno, and yahtzee. Things were great, and then everything went to shit.

They were in the middle of a round of uno, when there was the distinct sound of shattering glass. Before they knew what was happening, the trio was surrounded by 3 different men, all wearing ski masks. "Is there anyone else here?" One of them questioned, loudly. He pointed a gun at her, daring them to try anything. Veronica was terrified. She'd never been in a situation like this. It didn't help that now there were only 3 of them, and of course it had to be the gang-banger who was the one missing. Thinking of Jughead helped Veronica realize that she really has not hung around him since she moved to Riverdale at all. The thought that they may never be close friends if she did not make it out of this alive made her sad.

She wondered if his affiliation with his gang gave him an edge in this situation like she had previously considered. Sure Archie was tough, but he was also reckless. She turned to the boy. Please don't do anything stupid Archie. She prayed to God that he wouldn't. Her attention was brought to her other friend. Veronica could see out of the corner of her eye that Betty was shaking. Huh, you'd think her experience with the black hood would have made her numb to this sort of thing.

Since nobody answered, the man he asked again, much angrier this time. "I asked you if anyone else was here!?" Veronica turned back towards the man, and the gun that was pointed at her.

"No, there is nobody else?" The man put his gun down,and let out a sigh of relief.

"Good," he pointed the gun back at her. "Give us all the money and anything valuable you have here." Veronica wasn't sure what was making her brave, or stupid. But she shot the man a look that seemed to say, 'are you dumb?'

"We don't have any money here," she scoffed under her breath. "This is one of my family's vacation spots." Her eyes widened slightly, when she thought of an idea to get rid of the men. They didn't seem to notice the change. "But I might have a few things of value upstairs." The man's eyes rose momentarily. "If you just let me go and get them, I'll be right back. They'll fetch you a pretty penny at the jewelry store." She gave all the men a glance. "Or pawn shop," she added as an afterthought. "Whatever you miscreants prefer." Seriously what was making her act so brave right now? Here she is, possibly about to be killed, and she has the gall to mock them.

The man standing in front of Veronica, took a few steps towards Betty. "Be back here in 2 minutes," he demanded. "Or your pretty blond friend gets a bullet in the head." The man emphasized his point by pressing the barrel of the gun to Betty's temple. The girl instantly stopped shaking, probably paralyzed with fear. Archie turned a glare on the man, and if looks could kill, Veronica figures they'd all be dead.

"If you lay a finger on her," Archie threatens, gritting his teeth. All three men look unimpressed by the red head's threat.

"You'll what?" The man pulls out a second gun, and points it at him. A dark chuckle escaped his lips. "What are you going to do, boy wonder?" Veronica could tell that Archie was scared, but his desire to keep Betty safe seemed to give him strength. Would Archie be that protective over her? What is she even thinking? Of course he would. He would be protective over any of his friends if they were in danger.

"I promise I'll be right back down," she assured the men. Veronica left the room and headed up the stairs. She stopped when she heard a voice behind her. It was one of the men.

"Wait a minute." He came up beside her. "I'll go with you, and make sure you don't try anything stupid."

Veronica turned toward him. "Suit yourself." She continued walking up the stairs, with the man following close behind. When she got inside the room, he warned her that he'll be staying in the doorway, and watching her closely. Dumbass, she chided in her mind. Waiting at the door makes her plan much easier.

Veronica walked over to the other side of the bed, and knelt down in front of a small dresser. She opened the bottom drawer. By the grace of God,the jewelry that she had left the last time her family visited was still there. As she was taking it out, she slid her hand underneath the drawer and activated the silent alarm. Thank God her father always had security precautions wherever he went. She turned her head away from the man, and a small triumphant smile crossed her face. Shadow Lake police will be here in 5 minutes. Now she just has to stall the men until they arrive. "Here they are," she says lifting her hand with the jewelry, so the man could see. He nods in confirmation, and gestures for her to head back down stairs.

The ravenette stands up and allows the man to lead her back to the living room. Once in the living-room, he gestures for Veronica to sit back down, and not to move for any reason. In her peripheral vision, the girl notices that Archie was about to make a move. She frantically shoots him a look that she hopes tells him not to do anything.

The man holding the guns, lowers his weapons and walks back in front of Veronica. Why was he so focused on her specifically? It's like he already knew who she was. "Why are you doing this?" She asked. Her voice trembled,and her throat seemed to close up. Her previous bravado was failing her now. Ironic considering the circumstances. The police should be here any minute now. And thanks to her Father's influence,they knew to be discreet. All 3 men glared at her.

"Because I am sick and tired of people like you and your family." He started to circle around the trio. "You come in and just do and take anything you want. Who cares if people are hurt in the process." Veronica's brows furrowed in confusion. "Your Father, Hiram Lodge. He ruined all our lives," the man explained, waving his gun at his companions,and then gesturing to himself. "Our parents worked for him, and they lost everything when he went to jail!"

Now it all made sense. "But how did you know I was here?" The man looked at her, an evil grin on his face.

"It just so happens, that when you were having breakfast at the diner, so were we. We overheard the waitress mention your name was Lodge. And everyone knows your family owns this place. So we figured you must have been staying here for the weekend." His grin became more sinister. The man pressed the barrel to the center Of Veronica's forehead. "How lucky we are that we get to take revenge on Hiram Lodge, by killing his precious princess?" Veronica's courage returned to her at the moment. A smug grin took over her face.

"Are you sure that is such a good Idea," she replied. Just need to stall for another minute or so. "My daddy is not a very forgiving man." Her tone was on the border of calm, and threatening. "If you hurt me, he would most definitely make it his goal in life to hunt you down like the dogs you are, and have you killed." Veronica made a show of standing up. The gun was still pressed to her forehead, but she could see even through the mask that the man was nervous. She stepped even closer to him, showing him that she did not fear him one bit. "Go ahead," she dared, smiling up at him through her lashes. "Pull. The. Trigger," she dares once again, emphasizing each word.

The next moment went by in a flash. The man lowered his gun, obviously too afraid to incur the wrath of Hiram Lodge. The cops snuck through the back door and tackled his two accomplices. Before they could grab him though, he dropped the gun and bolted out the front door.

Archie took advantage of the situation, grabbed the gun the man had dropped, and ran after him. "Archie, Wait," both Veronica and Betty called out, chasing after the red-head. They lost track of him in the darkness and headed back into the lodge. After what felt like forever they heard the sound of a gunshot ring through the air. Archie returned moments later, and Veronica released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Both girls wrapped their arms around him in a sort of group hug.

After Veronica released him, she slapped him in the arm. "What the hell were you thinking?" She reprimanded. " You could have gotten yourself killed!" Betty nodded in agreement with the ravenette. Archie reached behind and scratched the back of his head, a nervous look on his face.

"Look I am sorry, okay." He put his arms up to placate them. "It's just when he threatened you guys, it made me angry. So I wanted to make sure he couldn't get away." Both Veronica and Betty shook their heads in disapproval.

"We heard a gunshot," Betty replied. She was anxious, Veronica could tell. There was a quiver in the blonde's voice when she spoke again. "You didn't shoot him, did you?" Archie looked at both girls like they were insane.

"No, of course not." He shook his head at them. "It was Andre." Veronica's eyes widened in response. "He stuck around to make sure we stayed safe." The red head focused solely on Veronica. "Your dad ordered him to," he explained. Veronica let out a sigh of frustration.

"Of course he did." She would never admit it but she was thankful. The man probably would have gotten away, had Andre not been there. Or worse, he might have hurt Archie. She gave the red-head a soft smile. "I am just glad you are safe, Archiekins. Just don't scare me like that, okay." She turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was one of the cops.

"Maam, do you know any of the people who tried to rob you?"

"All they said was that they lost everything because of my Father," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm afraid, there was nothing else that told me anything. They never even took off the masks."

"Would you be able to identify them without the masks?"

"Doubt it," Veronica replied, with an apologetic smile. "But I guess I could try." Veronica looked behind her at the men who had recently had their masks removed. They were glaring daggers at her, but the sight of them in handcuffs removed any fear she previously had at what they could do to her. She shook her head. "Sorry, don't recognize them."

The cop nodded, giving her his thanks anyway, and left out the door. His partner followed shortly behind, ushering the cuffed men outside and to their squad car. Veronica wondered once more about how Jughead might have dealt with the situation. Would he have scolded her for acting so stupid in the face of possible death? Or would he have done the same thing? She smiled at the thought that he would have probably done something even more crazy than her. Veronica was brought out of her musings by one hand on her shoulder, and another hand grabbing hers.

She looked up to see both of her friends, with twin looks of concern on their faces. Betty spoke first. "Are you okay, V?" She started to rub the ravenette's arm up and down in a comforting manner. Veronica stared at the blonde, blinking at her, owlishly. "You were spaced out for a while there," the girl explained, a small relieved smile on her face. Veronica shrugged Betty's hand off of her.

"I'm fine, B," she replied with a gracious smile on her face. "I appreciate the concern." Archie's hand was still on her shoulder. She grabbed it and held it firmly, intertwining their fingers. "I say we call it a night though. We've had enough excitement for now." She smiled at Betty once more, and then she was pulling Archie up the stairs, toward their shared room. "See you tomorrow, Betty," she called back over her shoulder, as the bedroom door closed.

"Night guys." The blonde's muffled response came through the door. Archie and Veronica walked over to the bed, got under the covers and were asleep instantly. It had been a long day and neither of them had enough energy to change into their pajamas. Veronica figured she would regret it in the morning. But for now, she couldn't be bothered.

Alright guys, that's the end of this chapter. I know that the thugs had no connection to the Lodges in the show. But they do for the sake of this story. Let me know how you liked it, or didn't like it. More specifically let me know if I captured Veronica's personality well. As well as how I could have done better. Have a great day, and I'll see you next time.