Chapter 5

The next few days Betty and Jughead kept themselves out the way of everyone. They went for walks along the river, stayed in and watched movies, anything to give Betty some time to recover from the ordeal at Tomb. Some of the Serpents has popped round to see Betty and Jug had headed out to a few meetings, despite his reluctance to leave her alone.

As the early Friday morning light filtered in through the trailer curtains, Jughead sat on the end of the bed watching Betty sleep. He watched her body rise and fall with every breathe, hoping that at least while she slept her dreams would be peaceful. She hadn't been herself over the last few days. She flinched whenever he touched her without warning and he hated himself for making her feel worse. He couldn't imagine how it must feel; seeing her attacker again and bringing all the horrible memories of that night back again. She'd explained what had happened a little more over the last few days but she still found it hard to talk about and he hadn't pressured her. She'd assured him that with time she would be okay, it was just a shock to the system and as long as he was there she promised she'd be okay.

Standing up, he tucked the covers around her a little tighter and gave her hair a soft kiss. Leaving a note on the bedside table he pulled his jacket and his beanie on and headed out the door. Waiting in the drive for him was Sweet Pea, Fangs and Hunter.

"Let's go boys," Jug said, swinging his leg over his motorbike and leading the way towards the Whyte Wyrm. As the wind blew into his face his mind kept bouncing back to the sleeping girl he'd left in his bed, wishing he could be there next to her when she woke up; he knew though that this meeting couldn't wait.

A few moments later the small group pulled up into the car park of the bar. Parking up at the front they headed in, faced with a small group of waiting Serpents. They all stood at Jughead walked weaved through the tables and chairs stacked up.

"Morning boys, thanks for coming," Jug stood at the head of the table and firmly placed his hands on the wood. "I know I've been a little absent this week but I'm back now. I've got a mission that I need some help with."

He looked at the expectant faces around the table, feeling proud that he had such a loyal group of members.

"Anything boss," Fangs nodded, the rest of the group giving a synchronised agreement.

"I need surveillance on Joshua Morris-Adams. I want someone watching his every move. Dig up any dirt you can find on him, his friends. I want to know every single thing about him."

"Sure thing, but can I ask why?" Kyle asked from the back of the group.

"He…" Jug swallowed, unsure if he would be able to say the words out loud. "He attached Betty. That night he mentioned in the car park, he raped her."

The shook on the faces around him was obvious; then their expressions turned from shook to anger.

"You got it Jughead," Sweet Pea banged a fist on the back of a chair. "Betty is our queen and we will make sure he pays for what he done."

"Yeah we'll wipe that smug look of his pretty little face," Hunter growled.

Jughead shook his head quickly, "I don't want anyone to touch him. Not unless it's to protect Betty or in self-defence. I want to bring his world crashing down around him."

The Serpents nodded in agreement. The door to the bar creaked open and they all turned to see who it was. Jett walked through the door, sheepishly heading towards the group.

"Morning Boss," He greeted with a nod towards Jughead; who struggled to keep his anger contained. Right now Jett was not the threat, Josh was.

"Morning Jett, welcome to the team. You'll be working with Kyle and Hunter on infiltrating Josh's group of friends. They'll explain everything else. Keep a low profile and don't get caught!" He gave them each a fist bump across the table before turning to focus on the rest of the group. "Now Sweet Pea, Fangs you'll be my right hand men. I want you taking the lead on the surveillance. Direct teams wherever you need, I need to stick around to keep an eye on Betty but if you need me, Toni and Cheryl are happy to help."

They guys nodded in agreement, arms folded they looked like soldiers waiting to go into battle.

"Last thing, keep this quiet from Betty. She doesn't need to know about any of this. Not yet." The group nodded in agreement. Betty hated it when the Serpents started doing things that were risky or against the law; but he had to do something, he couldn't let Josh get away with it. And he had a feeling that this wouldn't be the end of it. Something inside him told him that Josh would be back very soon.

Meanwhile back at the trailer, Betty rolled over in bed expecting to roll into a warm body. Sitting up quickly, she looked around the room and through the door into the kitchen for any sign of Jughead.

"Juggy?" She called out questioningly, the sound of her voice echoing through the thin walls. Panic began to set in as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Glancing down to grab her phone she noticed a small folded piece of paper. Grabbing it with shaky hands she opened it.

'Morning Beautiful,

I've gone to meet with the guys, I'll be back soon. Breakfast is in the fridge.

Love you x'

Breathing calmly, she smiled; the panic decreasing. Placing the note back down she padded softly out into the kitchen. Pouring herself a mug of coffee from the still warm machine she looked out the kitchen window across the grass into the woods. The birds flittered about in the mid-morning breeze, playing with every wave of the wind, bouncing from tree to tree. She thought about how she'd dreamed of being able to fly when she was younger, to be able to take of from any situation and fly to somewhere safe and new. Smiling sadly at the thought of her childhood dreams and how her life had changed so drastically she took another sip of her coffee, the warm liquid trickling down her throat into her stomach, warming her insides.

Spinning round she walked barefoot over to the fridge and with her free hand grabbed the handle and pulled the rusting door open. Suddenly her whole body tensed. She let out a loud piercing scream as her hand failed to hold onto the mug and it slipped from her grasp, hitting the cold floor with a crash, sending hot coffee everywhere as it shattered into pieces. She stood frozen, eyes glued to the shelf in the fridge where her breakfast was supposed to be.

Instead sat on a plate, surrounded by freshly picked wild flowers and penetrated by a finely detailed hunting knife, was a bloody heart.