HELLO!!!

I have missed you all so much!! It's so nice to get back into writing, and you guys have been supportive while I was on my littls break.

Here is out poor little darling Toni's side of Cheryl's essential kidnapping by her mother. This starts at almost exactly where the last chapter started, so I suggest going back and reading the start of that if you have forgotten.

Now, may I present to you... *drumroll please* CHAPTER 20 OF MISSING PIECES!!

\--/

Toni paced the hospital lounge. She couldn't believe she had let Cheryl's monster of a mother take her away. She had promised Cheryl that everything would be ok, and she should have been able to keep that promise.

"Toni... you need to head home," Veronica pleaded. "I know you're worried about Cheryl; we all are, but you can't help her if you're falling asleep on your feet!" Toni shook her head, frowing, only to be interupted by a huge yawn, absolutely destoying any point she had been trying to make.

"Toni!" Veronica demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "I will drag you back to your trailer if you don't agree to get in my car right now!" Toni scowled at her, but there was no real malice in the expression. Toni was just tired, so she pushed past Veronica, heading towards the girl's car.

\--/

Waking up the next day, Toni was quick to get dressed, almost running into the door as she hurried out of her trailer.

Although it was only 9:30 by the time she was up, but Toni had already planned out her day. She had to check in with Veronica, but after that, she would jump straight into looking for Cheryl. First stop: Thistlehouse.

\--/

Killing the engine on her bike, Toni looked around the deserted driveway. Cheryl's car was still there, but that was the only trace of the girl. Toni walked up to the imposing double doors, ringing the door bell multiple times.

After the third ring, a grumpy looking Penelope Blossom appeared in the doorway.

"Mrs Blossom, hi!" Toni said, trying to be polite, whilst trying to keep her temper. "I'm looking for Cheryl? She wasn't the hospital with her Nana..." Toni crossed her arms, tilting her head expectantly.

"No, she's gone. Boarding school in Switzerland," The older woman explained. "She left just last night." Toni didn't for one second believe this woman's bullshit.

Mrs Blossom, that doesn't make any sense!" She scoffed.

"Don't come here again," Mrs Blossom demanded, smiling forcefully at Toni, before slamming the door in the serpent girl's face.

Toni took a step back, annoyed but unsurprised with Mrs Blossom's reaction. She obviously knew exactly where her daughter was, but Toni was not going to be getting any more information out of her without backup. So, jumping back on her bike, she decided to head to school, knowing that there would be people there willing to help her out.

She zipped down roads on her bike, rushing into school, even though she was already at least an hour late. Teachers didn't really care though, so long as you did actually arrive. That attitude was very useful for situations like this: Toni could definitely not afford to receive any detentions.

Stashing her bike near some of the other serpents', she grabbed her bag and headed into class. There was no way she was going to be learning anything, but it helped to have time to sort out the facts. So Toni spent the entirety of third period physics brainstorming all the possible places Penelope "Bitch" Blossom could have stashed her daughter. In all honesty though, it wasn't much help. Toni just suceeded in making herself more desperate and angry.

Taking out her phone as she moved to maths for fourth, she texted Veronica and Josie, needing to talk to someone who could help her with Cheryl. Unfortunately, there weren't many options, so she managed to get the two girls to agree to a catch up at lunch in the gym, right before Vixens training started.

It was a very long 90 minutes for Toni to listen to Mr Pargetter lecture the class on the finer points of parabolic equations, but, miracle of miracles, she managed to get through it alright.

\--/

As soon as class ended though, Toni practically ran to the gym, needing to share her suspicions.

When she stumbled into the gym, a few of the girl's were already there, warming up. Two of them were sneaking glances at Toni, whispering together. After a minute, one of the girls approached Toni.

"Hey," she said smiling adorably. "I'm Lucia. You're Toni, right? Topaz?" Toni nodded, distractedly. Lucia was admittedly RIDICULOUSLY hot, but Toni just wasn't in the mood for flirting.

"Uh, yeah, I am. And you're cute and all, but I have a lot going on, and maybe a girlfriend, sorry," Toni told the freshman, trying to let her down easy. The girl looked a bit put off, but smiled anyway, moving back to her friends, and luckily for Toni, Josie and Veronica arrived right then.

"Toni? What's wrong?" Josie asked, carefully eyeing Toni's concerned face.

"Cheryl's missing..." Toni breathed.

"What do mean, Cheryl's missing?" Josie demanded, sounding worried. Veronica, of course, already knew that though.

"Do you remember how paranoid Cheryl was at her slumber party, saying her mom and uncle were out to get her? Well, I think they did sonething to her!" Toni explained, desperately, looking between the two girls.

"What kind of something?" Josie asked confused.

"Her mom said they sent her off to some all girls boarding school in Switzerland...?" Toni told them.

"Well that's easy enough to check," Veronica remarked. "There's only one. Surval Montreux."

"Please," Toni scoffed. "If Cheryl were on the Swiss Alps she'd be posting parka selfies every hour. But her social media's been dead for days..."

"Wait..., that's a sure sign of foul play!" Veronica exclaimed.

"Yeah."

"What ever you need, Toni. I'm in!"

"Me too." Josie confirmed. "Even if we have to storm Thistlehouse!"

"Thanks you guys. It means a lot," Toni said softly. She was so glad these girls were willing to help. There was no way she would have managed to find Cheryl on her own. Smiling gratefully at the pair, Toni turned and made her way out of the gym, heading to find the guys, needing to recruit as many people as possible.

\--/

Arriving home to her trailer at 11:00, Toni was absolutely exhausted. After talking to Sweet Pea, Fangs and the gang at lunch, Toni had decided to skip and head over to Thistlehouse.

She had taken her bike there, ditching it before climbing the back wall up to Cheryl's bedroom window. When she had gotten inside, she had desperately searched the entire room for any trace of her almost-girlfriend. It had been hard, looking around a room that had just a few days ago been full of life. But Cheryl's bedroom had felt just like every other room in the house: cold, dead and loveless. Essentially, everything Cheryl wasn't. At least, that's what Toni hoped.

She had refused to even contemplate the idea of Cheryl being... gone. It was just too hard. Falling onto the couch in her uncle's trailer, Toni started to cry.

As a rule, Toni Topaz never cried. A life of hardships had made her strong, and there was no room for weakness when you were in a gang. With the serpents, it was always ride or die, so Toni had very quickly adapted to the harsh nature of it all.

Now though, with no one around to see her, Toni was free to cry. There was just too much pressure, and she was falling apart. She needed to get Cheryl back. She couldn't fail her again, and wouldn't be able live with herself if she didn't do anything to help.

Sobbing, she wiped her eyes, getting up, and stumbling into her bed. She crawled up towards the pillows, grabbing one and burying her face in it to muffle the sound of her screams. Rationally, Toni knew she was not in even half as much pain as Cheryl probably was, but with all the emotions, the only thing Toni could really do was yell and cry.

"Cheryl...," she sobbed into the pillow. "Cheryl. Where are you? Where did you go, Cher, where did they take you?" Toni hoped that wherever she was, whatever had happened to her, maybe she would know that people were looking for her. That people cared. "Cher, I miss you. I need you to come back. I need you to be ok. I... I need you... I need to..to tell you... I..I love you. Oh god, I love you. So much. So so much," she sobbed. "Just please be ok... just please... please come back to me, Cher..."

It took almost an hour for Toni to fall asleep. When she did, it wasn't pleasant. All she could think about was Cheryl and what her mother had done to her. About if Cheryl was ok. If she was... alive..

\--/

Waking up in the morning, Toni checked her phone, realising it had already been 2 whole days since Cheryl had disappeared. A single tear slipped down her cheek, but Toni wiped it away, refusing to cry when there was still hope.

She had decided to use Josie's idea and "storm Thistlehouse" to try and get information out of Penelope and Claudius. It was a long shot, but the other girl's were willing to try, and Toni was getting desperate.

Grapping her phone, hat and black serpent jacket, Toni bolted out the door, heading to Pop's for a quick breakfast before meeting Veronica and Josie at Thistlehouse.

"Morning, Pop..." Toni greeted, smiling slightly, eyes still red from crying the night before.

"Good morning, Miss Topaz. Any word from little Cheryl yet?" Pop asked kindly, sliding a menu onto the counter Toni was approaching. At the mention of her friend, Toni's smile faded, and she dropped her gaze.

"Nothing yet, but I'm staying positive. I plan on having her back here by the end of the week," Toni explained, looking at the floor. Pop Tate sighed, knowing how upset Toni had been when the red-head had disappeared. Toni had spent quite a long time just sitting at the bench, exactly like she had done when she had been here with Cheryl. It was horrible for Pop to watch, knowing her couldn't do anything to help this tiny, surprisingly conscientious serpent girl.

Sitting down at the counter, Toni took hold of the menu, perusing the options, before deciding to just grab some waffles. She hadn't been eating as much as she usually did, mostly because of the stress of looking for Cheryl, so she was incredibly hungry.

After scoffing down the food, Toni dropped some cash on the counter, yelling a quick thank you to Pop before running out the door. She hopped on her bike, quickly texting Veronica to check they were still on, then popping the stand and speeding off towards Thistlehouse.

\--/

Upon arrival, Toni ditched her bike off to the side of the driveway, purely out of habit. Josie was already there waiting, and after a few minutes, Veronica arrived too.

When they were all ready, Toni rang the doorbell, standing back as the huge double doors swung open.

The girls were treated to the sight of one very pissed off Penelope Blossom standing in the doorway.

"Hello..." Toni said, and Veronica smiled grimly.

"You!" Penelope cried, "I already told you not to come back here. Take your girl scouts and leave, Pinkie." She demanded, crossing her arms and scowling. Truly, it was a menacing sight, but Toni and her friends had obligations to fulfill and one grumpy bitch wasn't going to stop them.

"We are coming inside to ask questions. You are going to answer them," Veronica told the demon in the doorway, frowning before pushing past Penelope as the others followed behind her.

Penelope slammed the door shut behind them, gesturing for them to sit on the couch in the parlour.

"Now that you've barged your way in, go ahead girls, ask your questions," Penelope told them snarkily.

"You said Cheryl was away at some... boarding school?" Toni accused leaning forward. Penelope sighed.

"Honestly, I'm not in the habit of explaining to schoolgirls," she told the inquisitive group. They watched her carefully, not prepared to leave until they gathered some information from this woman.

"Maybe not, Mrs Blossom, but you might have heard my mother is... *dating* Sherif Keller," Josie said with a shudder. "If you won't tell us the truth, then maybe you'll tell him."

"Alright then. The truth is that Cheryl started exhibiting strange, deviant behavior. So i sent her abroad to a private wellness institute where they're trying to help her. You don't have to be believe me, but here, let me show you something." She handed Josie a folded piece of paper from a box on the mantlepiece. Unfolding it, Josie froze.

"Oh my god," Josie gasped, her eyes wide, face pale.

"She's drawn dozens like it," Penelope smiled evilly.

"I don't understand," Toni exclaimed, thoroughly disorientated by this strange turn of events.

"No, but Josie does, don't you?"Josie just stared down at the picture.

"Cheryl was obsessed with you. To point where I was afraid she might hurt you, or herself, or both. So if you would like me to tell that to your mother and her... boyfriend and show them and the rest of the town Cheryl's drawings of you, I'd be happy to. But hopefully you girls have the dencency to keep this matter private."

It only took a few seconds after that comment for Josie to be up off the couch, rushing out the front door. The other two exchanged a glance before running after her, oblivious to Penelope's smug grin.

"Josie! Wait up!" Toni yelled after her. She didn't slow.

"Slow down. We need to regroup!" Veronica added. Josie turned, anxiously fidgeting with her hands, her face still white as a sheet.

"If what Mrs Blossom said is even a tiny bit true, that means that Cheryl threatened me," Josie exclaimed. "Sent me a bloody pigs heart. I'm out, you guys. I'm done."

Turning around again and practically sprinting away, Josie left. The other two girls could only watch as she disappeared down Thistlehouse's long drive. Toni turned to Veronica, desperately shaking her head, and her friend smiled softly at her, determined to keep Toni from falling apart.

After a moment or two, Toni blinked, turning to Veronica again and saying goodbye, promising to talk at school.

She left, hopping on her bike and waving to Veronica before returning to the trailer park to think. She wasn't in the mood for school today.

\--/

A day after the incident at Thistlehouse, Toni was sitting in Sociology when a voice rang out over the speakers.

"Antoinette Topaz, please report to the principals office. Antoinette Topaz to the principals office."

Toni looked around, confused, before grabbing her stuff and heading out the door. Veronica and Josie watched her leave, exchanging a worried glance.

When she entered Principal Weatherbee's office, Toni was handed a phone and informed that there was a call for her.

"Hello?" She said warily, holding the phone to her ear.

"She's not far away," a croaky voice answered from the other side of the line.

"Cheryl. She's not far away." The voice said again, and Toni realised who she was talking to.

"Nana Rose! Nana Rose, where is she?" Toni demanded, desperate for any information on Cheryl's whereabouts.

"She's with... the Sisters of..." The old woman cut off.

"Hello? Nana Rose? Nana Rose?" Toni asked, confused and panicked. She pushed the handle on the handset, trying absolutely anything to get more information about Cheryl. After approximately 30 seconds, Toni gave up. Her shoulders slumped, and her head fell forward as tears gathered in her eyes. She blinked them away, refusing to cry yet again, and picked her bag up off the floor, shouldering it, before turning around and walking numbly down the corridoor.

She made her way to the gym, climbing the bleachers so she could sit as far up as possible. Toni sat down, taking off her bag and chucking it onto the seat next to her. It hit the plastic with a soft thud, the noise reverberating around the room empty hall. She dropped her head into her hands, leaning forward as the tears in her eyes slipped down her face.

It was just so frustrating. Toni was trying everything, and it had still been almost a week since anyone had seen or heard from Cheryl. But she knew she couldn't give up, because if she gave up, Penelope Blossom won. And then, she would never be able to see her friend again.

Wiping frustrated tears from her eyes, Toni stood up, pacing the aisle between seats. She ran a hand through her hair, before deciding it was probably time to regroup.

Picking up her phone, she scrolled through her messages, unsure of who to text. Eventually she decided on Veronica, and she quickly typed out a message, telling her friend to meet her in the gym during their shared free.

Just as she was about to shut off her phone, it buzzed in her hand. It was Sweet Pea.

UglyHagMan (12:53): Toots! V txtd. U were called 2 WBs office? She thinks ik wats going on. But id. So wats going on?

Cursing, Toni dialled his number, knowing he would just play the bathroom card to get out of class. She knew she needed to explain, but due to the drama with Cheryl, Toni had somewhat neglected her best friend, forgetting that he too cared about the red-headed northsider.

After a few rings, Sweet Pea picked up, and Toni stopped her pacing to talk to him.

"So? What's going on, Tiny?" His voice said from the other end of the line. She sighed into the phone.

"Hey Sweets... It's just Cheryl. You know how she's been kinda MIA the past week? Well turns out her mother most definitely did something to her." She replied, and there was silence from the other serpent.

When he eventually spoke, there was a slight edge to his voice.

"What are we gonna do about it?" Toni sighed again, holding the phone to her ear.

"I don't know. I just texted Ronnie and we are gonna see if we can figure something out. Come join us, she won't mind. When's your free?"

"Not til after lunch. I'll just come as soon as this class finishes." Sweet Pea told her.

"Sweets!" Toni exclaimed. "The whole point of being at this stupid Northside school is that we get better education than we did at Southside High. You can't skip like that!" She demanded. She knew it was incredibly hypocritical of her, but Sweets didn't have as good grades as she did.

"Hey! I want to help look for Cherry. And when we find her, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help me study. Just cos she's your girl.."

"NOT my girl!" Toni interrupted. "Just at least wait until lunch before skipping class. Otherwise, I'm not telling you squat."

Sweet Pea huffed down the phone, thoroughly unimpressed with this turn of events. Thankfully for Toni though, the door to the gym opened, and in walked, sorry, no, strutted Veronica.

"Whatever, SP. Ronnie's here now, and I gotta go. Talk later." She finished, hanging up the call and putting her phone back into her bag.

"V! You won't believe who just called me!"

\--/

"So it was Nana Rose Blossom who paged you?" A confused Veronica asked some 5 minutes later.

"Yeah, it was. But we got disconnected before she could say too much beyond the fact that Cheryl was nearby, and that she was with the Sisters?"

"The Sisters? What Sisters?"

"I don't know. Maybe there's a re-education camp called the Sisters?"

Veronica, furrowed her brow, sitting up straighter.

"Well, there's the Sister's of Quiet Mercy, but that's more like an orphanage. I don't think they do gay conversion there..."

"Well who would know for sure?"

"Oh my god, of course!" V exclaimed. "Come with me, quick. There's someone we have to find.."

\--/

'"Yes, it absolutely could be the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. They're one of the only places in the country that still does conversion therapy, off the books of course."

"What the hell decade is this!?" Toni practically yelled in frustration. The fact that this was still happening to this day horrified her, but she knew first-hand how down right evil some people could be.

"During Prohibition," Kevin continued, " the Sister's ran a distillery in the basement. They used to smuggle booze out to Sweetwater River via a tunnel that still exists today."

"Wait? A tunnel we could use to get to Cheryl?" Veronica cut in.

"Potentially. Gay boys in the program use it to hook up with perfectly nice young men like myself in Fox Forest."

"Wait, Kevin, can you lead us to this secret gay-hook-up tunnel?

"I can probably find it... But we should go at night!" Kevin said adamantly, and Toni frowned.

"At night! We should go now!" She cried, not even bothering to acknowledge Kevin as he opened his mouth to speak. "If we leave now, we can be back in Riverdale by 4:00."

Veronica put a hand on her arm, and gestured for Kevin to wait.

"Toni, I know you want to get to Cheryl, we all do, but we can't rush this. If we get caught, the nuns there will tell Penelope, and she might ship Cheryl off to somewhere else, and then we'll never get her back," the girl said, Kevin nodding along.

Suddenly, Sweet Pea walked up to them, breaking there little group.

"Toots! People said you were in the gym, but you weren't. Anyway, I'm here now. What can I do?" He said.

"Oh and Hi Keller, uh.. Hi Veronica.." He finished, almost nervously, looking at the ground.

"We have a plan," Kevin answered him.

"Half a plan," Veronica amended, smiling softly, and Toni nodded.

"We're going to the Sister's, where Cheryl is, and we're gonna break in to rescue her," Toni explained to her friend.

"Cool, so what's my job," he asked, and Toni stared at him incredulously, Kevin and Veronica exchanging a worried glance.

"Sweets, you're a gang member with a criminal record! If you were to get caught, you can say bye bye to any hopes of university. You'll be detained!" She exclaimed, and Sweet Pea frowned, understanding her reasoning, however unpopular. "I get that you want to help, I'm grateful, and I'm sure Cheryl will be too, but I can't risk you in there, ok?"

He nodded, slumping slightly.

"Ok.."

Turning back to her other two friends, Toni smiled slightly, happy to not have to put anyone else in danger. Their operation had the potential to do more harm than good, and the less people to get hurt, the better.

"Now, let us finish that plan."

\--/

At about 8:00 that night, Toni and Sweet Pea were sitting on the steps of his trailer, waiting for Kevin to pick Toni up.

They had decided to use Kevin's dad's old truck, as Veronica didn't have a car, and they couldn't take Toni's bike.

So when the truck crunched up the gravel in the trailer park, Toni jumped to her feet, grabbing the bag of various weapons and assorted lock picks, crowbars and hammers she had stolen, wait no, borrowed from her uncle's tool kit.

Chucking the bag into the truck before clambering in beside Kevin, Toni waved to Sweet Pea, before anxiously playing with the cuffs of her jacket. They were both silent as they made their way to Veronica's house, where Toni jumped out, grabbing the bag for Veronica to add things to, before leaving Kevin and heading inside.

It was only about five minutes before Veronica walked down the corridoor, and they were on their way again.

I assume this was a good enough return?

XXX

-G