Chapter Eight : Six Days

Betty was leaning against the wall of the room, eyes shut halfway as she tried to sleep. Her throat was dry and hunger gnawed in her stomach. To say she hadn't thought about food in the past week would be a lie, but at the moment, it was the thing that was dominating her.

She felt, in a way, drunk, everything seeming so distant compared to the hunger she was feeling. She was hungry- no, she was sure it was safe to say she was starving- to a point where her stomach clenched and cramped up. It was as if her stomach was eating itself, which she knew was absurd.

Betty's hand patted the floor beside her before she realized with a sharp prick of dismay that her water had been left at wherever she had been held before. Now that it was brought to her attention that she couldn't drink, she felt her throat burn with a need for it.

Above all, she wanted Jughead's affection. Betty wanted the smiles they shared to be real and not a dream. She wanted his beautiful eyes to actually look into hers, not just her remembering how they looked. She wanted him to hold her and have it not be wishful thinking or an illusion. She wanted him to be real and with her.

Putting her arms around her stomach as her face twisted in anguish.

When her phone buzzed, she looked up at the roof as she opened her eyes. For a moment, it was like the hum of angels as they took her away, finally saving her from her pain. Then she looked down at her phone as he shook, the bandage sliding off of it as it vibrated.

Interest flickered in her eyes, and she glanced at the door, when she was sure Chic wasn't coming, she picked up her phone. Jughead was calling her. Her throat caught in her throat and she pursed her lips. Betty knew she'd be risking almost everything to answer the call. Yet, for the first time in days, she felt her heart warm at the thought of speaking to him.

Answering the call, she brought it to her ear, hands shaky with frailty.

"Betts?" At Jughead's voice, she felt her breath hitch. "Betty, are you there?"

"Yes, here." she rasped, finding it an inhumanly struggle to talk. Trying to remember the last time she spoke more than a few words, she came up short. Swallowing her saliva to water her throat, Betty listened to Jughead take a sharp breath.

"Oh my god… Betty. Are you okay? Where are you?"

Betty bit her chapped bottom lip as she thought of answers to his question. "No... and I don't know," she whispered into the phone. She was surprised that the call had even gone through. When she heard footsteps approaching the door she felt panic strike her as she quickly placed her phone under her leg.

Not a second after the footsteps the door opened and Chic walked over. In his hands was a water bottle, Betty felt her need for water wash over her like a wave.

"Your water," Chic mumbled and tossed the bottle towards her. It hit her arm and she bit back a hiss of pain. Shakily, Betty picked it up in her frail hands.

Using all her might just to unscrew the lid, she brought the water to her lips and drank the water. The moment the water hit her mouth, Betty was relief wash over her. After she had taken a drink, she put the lid back on and put the bottle on the floor. Looking back up at the man in front of her, she narrowed her eyes in confusion when he stared at her expectantly.

Oh, he wants an apology. She thought and decided against it, blinking up at Chic coolly.

"What do you say?" Chic demanded and she managed a smirk as she stayed silent. She saw the raw anger burn in his eyes along with a wicked look of joy. When his fist snapped against her jaw she felt her vision go blurry for a split second before her numbness was replaced with pain. "Are those tears I see?" Chic crooned, kicking her in the stomach.

After the kick, Betty felt her stomach convulse as she barely suppressed the need to throw up. It wasn't until he asked if she was crying did her hands go to her eyes. When her fingers were warmed with droplets of water she knew she was.

"Please…" Betty whispered, hating that she was begging, that she was weak. Days of no food, little water, and abuse had taken a toll on her.

"Please what?"

"Please get the hell away from me!" Betty snarled, feeling a spark of raw rage and defiance surging across her. She was bleeding, bruised, starving and alone but she was not going to die in silence.

Instead of answering, Chic grabbed a chair that sat neatly by a table and swung it at her. Betty's hands went up to protect her face and the chair splintered against her forearms. She screeched in pain, after everything that Chic had done, he had never attacked her with anything but his own fists or limbs.

Chic hit her again with the chair and she felt blood trickle down her arms, fear flashed across her a the thought that her face would have received the beating instead. For the first time in days, she truly thought she was going to die and it was a horrifying thought.

As the man kept hitting her, Betty closed her eyes, desperate to go to her happy place. It didn't work, the pain was too great to think at all. "Jughead!" she screamed, his name slipping out of her mouth and she realized that he was her safety net. As her vision blurred out she felt warmness cloak her, welcoming her in all the chaos. She welcomed it, letting herself drift towards the warmth.

She went silent, limp as she left her pain for the warmth.

When Jughead called Betty, he was sitting on his couch, looking at the phone with an unreadable look. He had needed to speak to her, and so he had called her.

When she spoke, her voice was so frail and dry that he felt his heart crumble. She was suffering, he was here pushing everyone away for his own wellbeing and she was dying.

"No… and I don't know." she had whispered when Jughead finally felt tears roll down his face. That's when the call went fuzzy and silent, checking to see that she handed hung up, he narrowed his eyes in confusion.

When Chic had spoken to her, a fresh feeling of rage had coursed through him like an avalanche.

When he heard knuckles hit skin, his stomach twisted.

"Please…" Betty whispered and Jughead sucked in a breath. She sounded so weak, so defeated it stung.

"Please what?" Even though he was listening through a call, he could hear the smugness in Chic's voice and he clenched his fists.

"Please get the hell away from me!" At these words, he wanted to feel proud of her but he couldn't. At the sound of something smashing against skin, his mouth went dry at her screams of pain.

Jughead took a shaky breath, face twisting as he cried for her. The sounds of wood hitting skin and Betty's wails made Jughead want to reach out to hang up, he just couldn't listen any longer. "Jughead!" When she screamed his name, his heart stopped. It had slipped from her lips so easily that he felt guilt course through him. He was her safe place and he wasn't there to protect her.

The line was silent for a moment, and Jughead found himself holding his breath, desperate to hear proof she was alive. When he heard Chic swear under his breath and whatever he used to beat Betty fall to the floor Jughead stood up. The door closed and then it was silent. Horror hit him like a bullet and she felt himself get lightheaded.

"Betty!" he yelled, she needed to answer him. "Betty, please! No…" Jughead's voice trailed off and his breath hitched as he sobbed. He needed to find her. When he looked at the phone, he felt an idea flash across his mind. He needed to track the call!

Jughead raced out of the trailer with his phone gripped in his hands tightly. He was going to save her before he...

...before he never saw her again.

Veronica knocked on the door of Archie's house. She loved him. With all the pain in her life, he was her only constant. Betty was… still missing and there were no leads. She needed Archie more than ever now.

The door opened after a moment and she looked up at Archie's shocked but delighted expression. Suppressing a smile barely, she pressed her lips to his. At first, he didn't kiss back, just went rigid. Then he relaxed and his hands cupped her cheeks, deepening the kiss.

When they broke apart, Veronica sighed slightly and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm not saying sorry, but can we get pass this?" she asked, looking up at him with eyes that gleamed like stars.

Archie smiled and led her inside the house, closing the door and looking to Veronica. He made her look at him using his thumb and she looked into his tender eyes. "I'm sorry. I never should have snapped." he insisted and Veronica smiled and nodded.

"Then we've got passed our fight because I forgive you." her voice was warm affection. "Just never yell at me again," Veronica added and he smiled.

"Of course."

When Archie's phone rang, Veronica raised an eyebrow inquiringly. He answered it with a confused and hopeful expression. She immediately guessed it was about Betty and she felt her heart thud in her chest.

"You've found her location?" Archie asked, voice a whisper of disbelief. Veronica pursed her lips and felt hope flare like a fire in her heart. Once Archie hung up, he wrapped Veronica in a hug and she laughed softly. "Ronnie, they know where she is. Jughead and the cops are outside the place now."

Veronica suddenly frowned, closing her eyes in agitation. "What if… what she's dead?" She felt guilty that it was the first time since Betty was missing that she had truly worried about seeing Betty. She wasn't good at handling grief, what was she going to do when she saw Betty's bloody, broken form?

Archie didn't answer, instead, he enveloped her in a warm hug.

As everyone would wait in bated breath, Betty was struggling to take a breath at all.

A/N: Thank you all so much for you're support! Betty and Jughead will be reuinuted next chapter! I'll post the next chapter after four reviews. What do you want to see more of?