Jughead drove them into Ghoulie territory in his father's truck. It was a sudden shift from the Serpent's tagged, well worn, trashed part of the Southside into boarded up windows and weathered empty looking buildings. It looked like a ghost town.

Sweet Pea and Fangs sat in the truck bed drawing together as they tensed, waiting for Ghoulies to crawl out of their holes and surround them. They suddenly felt foolish for not bringing weapons besides the knives in their pockets, trusting such a small girl could be of any help.

Out of the shadows bodies began taking form and Jughead slowed at Lane's quiet order, his heart hammering in his chest as his blood ran cold. The two in the back waited with bated breath as five boys emerged in front of where they were stopped.

"What do we have here," a Ghoulie called squinting past the headlights to see enough of who was inside the truck, "looks like some snakes wandered into our den. They must not know we're looking for their blood."

The passenger's side door opened and Sweet Pea's grip on the edge of the truck tightened. "Get back in the truck," he hissed low enough only she'd hear. She didn't and he growled as he jumped down behind her, feeling Fangs try to grab him. There were only five, it was possible between Jughead Fangs and him they could take them and walk away; even if they couldn't he at this point was invested enough he was ready to go down for her, or at least grab her and throw her in the truck.

The Ghoulie that stood at the forefront of this little group paused at the sight of Lane, only recognizing she was pretty. "Hell boys, guess the Serpents brought us a peace offering. Not sure there's enough of her to go around."

Behind her Sweet Pea seethed, but Lane pulled the glove off her right hand standing steady and calm. She raised her hand with her palm up catching a boy in each splayed finger, and they jerked into a straight upright position feeling like a string attached to them was being pulled taut from above. With a flick of her wrist she dropped her hand with her fingers hooked like claws and they dropped to the ground like dead weight.

"Holy shit," Jughead breathed his eyes wide and his mouth open. He turned to where Sweet Pea stood by her open door and asked, "did you know she could do that?"

Sweet Pea's face was slackened with the same awed shock, having at some point convinced his cynical self that she wasn't really that strong. "No," was all he could say as he watched her.

Fangs stood in the bed of the truck with a funny little grin while she stood over each boy and touched the tops of their heads, barely hearing their screams muffled behind mouths they couldn't open.

She felt something in one of them, an arrogance and self importance that came with a position of power. With a finger under his chin she raised his face to her seeing a burning hatred in his eyes in place of fear, and a smirk curled one half of her mouth. He'd be fun. "Dormir," she said his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell limp. She turned back to where Sweet Pea stood gaping at her and she looked from him to an incredibly proud Fangs. "This one."

Fangs jumped out of the trunk and he and Sweet Pea grabbed the guy she'd knocked out and threw him onto the bed before climbing up beside him. Lane finished whispering words to the four others to steal their memory of this before she once more sat beside Jughead and they drove back to their side of town.

The whole way Jughead asked question after question, mostly repeating the same one in a different way to confirm to himself whether what he'd just seen was real. When they were almost at the trailer park and he'd asked that question for the sixth time Lane turned to him with heavy eyes. "I've got more to do than answer you, what do you want me to say to get them to back off?"

He was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around her, but this was a direction he understood and he followed it. "They're never gonna back down completely, we just need to buy more time," he said more to himself as he thought it through. "Tell them you spoke to Malachai, that he said he wants his share of Serpent blood. They might believe that enough to not attack us without him." It wasn't perfect and they'd still have to deal with the Ghoulies, but it might be enough for now.

They pulled up to Jughead's trailer and she hopped out and walked away. Jughead climbed out watching her, wondering what she was doing, but behind him he heard Sweet Pea and Fangs dragging the unconscious Ghoulie out of the truck. They carried him into the trailer and threw him on a chair where his head hung forward as he began tipping, Fangs pushed him back so he wouldn't fall.

Less than a minute and Lane opened the door with the box stored under her arm and Hot Dog at her feet. Not looking at the Ghoulie with his head fallen back as he snored lightly she set the box on the counter and flipped it open. Jughead stood back watching her trail a thin finger down the page as though she were reading a list, all he saw was blank paper.

"It's charmed," Fangs said when he noticed Jughead watching her curiously. "If you're not from her family's bloodline it won't show you anything. Unless she shows you."

Jughead nodded like that made sense, like any of this made sense. But Sweet Pea, who stood by the Ghoulie, crossed his arms fixing Fangs with a heavy look. "Really?"

Fangs shrugged amicably. "You know, we dated for a month before we brought you in," he reminded Sweet Pea. He'd gotten his fill of Lane's magic, Sweet Pea was easily impressed with her snapping on a light before he led them to bed because he liked them too much to think of anything else.

"So," Jughead drew that word out as he looked from the girl who was pulling out various things from the box to the two boys, "the three of you are dating?"

"Something you wanna say?"

At Sweet Pea's gruff demand Jughead quickly shook his head, his eyes once more on Lane because her back was to him and she wasn't glaring let alone paying attention. "Nope, it's just you guys make a lot of sense now." He'd always known she was with one of them, he thought Fangs at first but then he'd seen her with Sweet Pea, then he'd seen Sweet Pea and Fangs together, and he couldn't settle on anything – until now. "What the hell?" he breathed watching Lane reach into the box shoulder deep and pull out an honest to god cauldron. And it was almost the size of the box she'd pulled it out of.

She then snapped her fingers and a fire lit beneath the handcrafted bowl. Jughead crouched down to see a small fire just on the counter, because why not, and then still without paying him any attention she moved around him to the Ghoulie and plucked a hair out of his head before dropping it into the bowl.

Fangs watched nodding appreciatively, but Sweet Pea crept closer to Lane as she began adding the ingredients she'd collected from inside the box. He looked inside seeing four sides and a bottom, a normal wooden box, then his gaze fell to the hand she offered him. Meeting her warm pale eyes he gently took her smaller hand in his, finding as always when he was this close to her he just wanted to kiss her, but he forced his stare off of her and his face slackened in amazement. Within the four walls an entire room seemed to be contained full of shelves with various vials and jars and other things too small to make out. Then something fluttered and he looked to see a little woman made of paper peeking out from behind one of the shelves.

Lane was once more focused on the potion as she stirred the appropriate direction the indicated amount of times before adding a strand of her own hair. Without looking at Sweet Pea she told him, "she'll cut your hand to ribbons if you reach inside."

He lowered his hand and stepped back letting her work and looked to Fangs. "Yeah, she gives a nasty paper cut," Fangs told him agreeing.

Reaching the end of the instructions Lane peered inside the cauldron with nothing more than the hope she'd done it right before she ladled the bubbling sickly green liquid into a cup. She grabbed the black stone bowl and returned it to the box, reaching far inside so that her shoulder brushed the edge as she set it on the floor. Then she replaced the false bottom and set the box inside before shutting and locking it; mostly because of Jughead, not that she thought either Fangs or Sweet Pea would let him anywhere near it.

The three boys stood back watching her move to stand in front of the still unconscious Ghoulie and she grabbed his chin forcing his mouth open before pouring the potion down his throat. With the glass empty she handed it to Fangs and stepped back waiting. "What happens now?" Jughead asked after a moment of nothing.

Lane looked at the older boy slumped in the chair not feeling any different, he didn't look any different, so far nothing was happening. "No idea," she answered with a simple honesty.

That wasn't what he expected and he was starting to realize she didn't really know what she was doing, and after a couple minutes Jughead started wondering if maybe he'd imagined seeing anything, if they were all crazy and he was too. But Lane's eyes glazed and a breath passed from her slackened lips before her lifeless body fell to the ground.

"Lane," Sweet Pea called dropping to his knees and getting a hand on either side of her cold face, feeling Fangs kneeling beside him. Her empty white eyes stared blankly, her chest still as death. The two shared a worried look.

Behind them the man suddenly heaved and they both jumped up whirling around, Sweet Pea pulling out his switchblade, and Jughead reaching for a knife on the counter. But Fangs looked at the Ghoulie blinking up at them seeing his once cold blue eyes were now a lovely shade of green. "Lane?"

She reached a hand to her aching head shaking out the weirdness of being in another body, of the faintly itchy beard, of something hanging between her legs. She was aware of Fangs setting a hand on her shoulder, of how quiet her mind was because she couldn't feel his thoughts – she thought she'd like that, but she felt blind. "Yeah yeah, this is gonna wear off I've got things to do," she said waving him away as she climbed unsteadily to her feet.

"That's our girl," Fangs said with a half amused smile, the other half was bewildered.

Lane reached a hand to brush her hair back out of habit but instead her palm grazed a shaved head and she sighed uncomfortably tugging at the front of her jeans. "Alright," she said turning to the three wide eyed boys. "I'm gonna get this done," she looked to Hot Dog and pointed at herself, "stay with my body. I'll be back when I'm back."

She didn't wait for them to respond and the door to Jughead's trailer slammed shut after her. "What now?" Jughead asked looking from Lane's body to Sweet Pea and Fangs, both of who kept glancing down at where she lay.

Sweet Pea turned to Fangs who shrugged not knowing anymore than he did. "We wait I guess," Fangs told them.

"Should we move her?" asked Jughead, still failing to wrap his head around any of this. But there was no way to convince himself he was imaging it this time, he'd seen too much.

"No," both Sweet Pea and Fangs answered. She didn't tell them to and they knew enough not to mess with anything unless she said they could.

So they waited. They tried watching TV but no one could focus, Jughead was very aware Sweet Pea still didn't like him and Fangs was a newer Serpent himself who didn't really know better than to side with his friend so there wasn't much talking. It felt like forever as the night grew darker and the hour later with no sign nor sound coming from the empty corpse lying on the floor a few feet away from them.

Until Hot Dog started pacing back and forth near her which set Fangs and Sweet Pea on edge, which in turn set Jughead on edge, and the three watched the dog grow more agitated as he began whining. Suddenly her back arched as though she'd been electrocuted and Fangs and Sweet Pea were on their feet rushing to either side of her looking down at her wide eyes.

She looked to be in pain, her jaw clenched tight, her body stiff as a board. "Lane?" Fangs asked bringing a hand to her icy cheek.

"What do we do?" Sweet Pea asked desperate for something, anything, to make this better.

"I don't know." Lane didn't tell them what to do if something went wrong, if they even could do anything. But it looked like she was in agony staring blankly at the ceiling above, her chest still, tears leaking from the corners of her nonblinking eyes.

Beside them Hot Dog barked loudly and Fangs tried to shoo him away, unable to think from how loud he was. The dog seemed to burst outward, the fur shrinking as its features grew into something thin and darkly humanoid. With long-fingered hands it shoved the boys away from its witch and slammed them on the floor on either side of her head leaning over her and shouted, "breathe!"

Her chest finally expanded and she sucked in the air she'd been desperately aching for. She found herself staring up at a pair of familiar pale eyes framed by a long alien face, and she exhaled heavily as a sense of safety warmed the parts of her body that'd grown cold in the hours she'd been gone.

With their backs pressed against the wall both boys gaped as that thing shrunk back into Hot Dog. "What the hell is that?" Fangs exclaimed in a too loud voice.

Jughead stood by the couch having observed quietly, feeling his concern dissipate as Lane's breathing evened and the color returned to her skin. This whole night had been one big shock, this wasn't that much more surprising than anything else he'd seen and it allowed him to roll with it the way Fangs and Sweet Pea were having a hard time. "Her familiar, I assume," he said, knowing enough about witches. Only now he knew they were real.

Her lungs quivered trying to work and she coughed rolling onto her side. "That was the worst," she groaned, feeling like this was the hangover after drinking an entire liquor store.

"Did it work? Are we good?" Jughead asked, needing to know if they were about to go to war.

"Yeah," Lane said grabbing onto the counter climbing awkwardly to her feet. "They were easier to convince than I thought they'd be. And then this guy's girl wanted to have sex so I did her and then she told me she was pregnant and she wasn't sure if it was mine, or I guess his, and she cried a lot." Lane reached a hand to her head that ached like it'd been split open, feeling Sweet Pea's hand on her back as he helped steady her. "It was a weird night, I'm gonna lay down.

With a hand still on the counter using it as a crutch she walked towards the bedroom on stiff legs, Hot Dog sticking close to her side. It left the three boys looking after her feeling as useless as they had all evening, but Sweet Pea and Fangs got up and followed her. Fangs clapped a tiredly relieved Jughead on the shoulder as he passed him saying, "hell of a night, huh Jones."

Jughead could only shake his head because this night had him questioning everything that was real. With a sigh he slumped back on the couch wondering what this meant, what they'd do from here, what he'd do from here because he still had to worry about his dad's trial. Shuffling his way to the room he paused in the doorway looking at where Lane lay with her face buried in Hot Dog's fur and Fangs pressed against her back holding her, and behind him was Sweet Pea who had a long arm stretched over them both. And Jughead sighed heavily before he returned to the couch.

…

The four teens stood in the overcrowded kitchen: Lane was making breakfast, Jughead had questions, Sweet Pea had his arms crossed glaring at Jughead daring him to speak, and Fangs was feeding Hot Dog bits of bacon he stole trying to convince him to talk. Jughead opened his mouth but Sweet Pea beat him to it. "There something you wanna say?"

His mouth closed seeing he'd have to wait until Sweet Pea, and maybe Fangs, wasn't around her – which seemed impossible because they were never far from her side. But Lane set down the spatula she was using to flip the pancakes and turned around having had it with the tense atmosphere between them. "We're gonna go on a walk," she declared in a stern voice that didn't offer refusal as she looked up at Sweet Pea's dark eyes. "You're gonna finish breakfast."

She shooed Jughead out of his trailer and held the door open long enough for Hot Dog to follow before she closed it after them. They left the trailer park, where there were more ears to overhear, and walked side by side on the sidewalk in that bitterly cold morning. "What have you figured out so far?" Lane asked him, wondering how much she'd need to tell him and whether she should.

He'd thought about before falling asleep and he'd been thinking about it since he woke up. "You're obviously here for a reason, and it feels like you're hiding which would mean keeping your head down."

She nodded pleased with his ability to think for himself, for not assuming she was obligated to him. "Something's after me, not sure what, and so far it doesn't seem like it knows I'm here." And she very much wanted to keep it that way.

"The more you do, the bigger scene you make, the easier it'd be to find you," Jughead said, the conclusion he'd come to on his own, and he didn't need to see her nod to know it was true. "I can't say the thought of having a witch on our side wouldn't make everything easier, but I get it. You can't be our first resort." The Serpents were protecting her, he was a Serpent now which meant he was protecting her too. She needed them, but she'd made it clear she was willing to help when they needed her and that kind of loyalty meant something.

Lane was mildly impressed, she hadn't really needed to say anything he arrived here all on his own. Which meant she was right in not taking his memories, he could be useful. "I'm glad you see it my way. It's not as much fun but it's easier if I don't have to make you."

He stopped at that and stared at her back curiously. "You can make people do what you want them to?" he asked wondering exactly what all she could do. Wondering exactly how useful she was, and how many favors she'd let him ask.

There was a gleam in her pale eyes as she turned to him seeing his face slacken as he got caught in her gaze, feeling his will bend. She stepped closer languidly like a cat stalking its prey. "I can make you do anything I want. I can strip you of every ounce of free will until you're only able to do what I say. And you won't even realize it."

With slow even breaths he stared at her eyes, they seemed to grow larger and he felt himself fall into them, so deep he saw stars. And all he could do was blink, letting her consume him. Until all at once his mind slammed back into motion and he was once more standing on the sidewalk with her not even a foot in front of him. "That was a neat trick," he said trying to shake himself from that strange daze. "But nothing happened." All he'd done was stand there looking at her, and he jogged himself out of it so she couldn't be that strong.

A car drove past and an outraged woman honked angrily. With furrowed brows Jughead turned from the car and looked at Lane seeing her grinning devilishly at him. "And you won't even realize it," she said again, watching him look down at himself to finally realize he was naked. "Put your clothes back on and keep up."

She turned leaving him to scramble to dress himself as she headed back to the trailer, and she looked down at Hot Dog to see his eyes dancing with the same amusement that shone in hers.

A couple things. The first is I don't know how clear I made it, and I tried to show it rather than just come out and say it. But when Lane was out of her body for those few hours rigor mortis was setting in, and that's why it was so hard for her to come back.

And second, the reason this chapter's short is because I haven't finished Chilling Adventures of Sabrina yet, but I had an idea that would cross Lane into that show next chapter. But only for one scene (it would include a past love of Lane's[he is an existing character in Sabrina, or he was (hint hint)], as well as a hint to how this season will end for Lane). So I'm gonna finish that show before I do next chapter.
Because, I believe Sabrina is taking place during the time season 1 and 2 of Riverdale did – and since I'm in November now it means Sabrina is currently happening while Lane is out of town. So I'm going to finish the show this week to see if my idea even works. Anyways, thank you for your patience, and I hope you still enjoyed this chapter even though it was short.