Madison didn't know how long she'd been walking.

The minutes all seemed to blur together. Minutes. Hours. Days? She wasn't sure. Couldn't be certain. She just walked, her brain lost in a blank trance, her body running on some kind of survivalist autopilot mode. Was she high? No. This wasn't like some kind of acid trip, or a stoned high. She'd had plenty of those. Madison recognised that feeling well by now. But that was not right. There was no bliss. No feeling of transcendence. Just emptiness.

She thought she might be drunk, but that didn't capture the feeling accurately either.

Her vision felt blurry, out of focus, but that was not alcohol induced. It was just stuck. Like her brain had reached some kind of error, and it couldn't quite reboot. Like her eyes were too busy erasing another line of vision and got stuck before they could return to reality. This was not the feeling of being drunk. There was no sense of lost inhibitions. No wild desires leaping out of her bones.

Just a violent and terrifyingly blank daze.

She didn't know where she was.

She didn't know where she was going.

She just knew she needed to get home. Where was home? Did she have a home? How did she get home? Madison wasn't really sure, and she wasn't quite attached to reality enough to care about the long list of unanswered questions. There were too many unknown variables with no beginnings or ending. Too many thoughts she couldn't fully string together. So she kept walking, taking in the feeling of her feet moving one step at a time. Taking in the way her shorts chafed slightly against her thighs as she walked, the denim material moving stiffly against her body where the blood had left dark stains.

Most of the blood had dried by now.

She wasn't even sure how much of it was hers anymore. But if it wasn't her blood that meant it was someone else and she had no idea who. She didn't know how it got there, or how long she'd been covered in it. Long enough for it to harden, cracking slightly on her skin, stiffening her white t-shirt. The blood on her hands felt strange. It itched. It wanted to erase itself but she was too dazed to form the notion of removing it. There was no panic. Not really. She probably needed to panic, but she was past that point now.

She kept walking.

Dazed.

Blurred.

Lost.

Her mind seemed to clear a little around the same time that the trees parted ahead of her, revealing the road ahead, a road almost completely baron except for the old green car slowing down beside her, a small creak coming from the window of the driver's seat as it rolled down at the same time that the car came to a halt beside her.

"Hey Miss, you alright?" You look like you…Madison?"

The sound of her own name jolted something in Madison, her entire body coming to a halt on the side of the road.

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

A third time, just to clear her vision a little more.

It was almost like coming down from a high, her brain slowly catching up to her surroundings. But something was a little off. Inhaling, she felt her breath catch as she lifted her blue eyes to lock onto the familiar face in front of her. There was something wrong, like her brain hadn't quite cleared enough to put a name to the face. But she recognised it. Him. A man. A familiar man. Looking at her with a lot of worry. Concern.

"Hi Dad." Madison managed to speak after a moment, her voice hoarser than anticipated. Whether it was from lack of use or excessive screaming, she couldn't remember.

Hal Cooper stared back at his daughter, eyes wide. His gaze was flickering, as if he didn't know what to look at first, darting his eyes up and down Madison's lean frame.

"Madison, what happened? We've been trying to get in touch with you all week and you…What happened to you…" he trailed off as he finally climbed out of the car. He was moving slowly, like he was trying not to scare off an injured animal. Maybe she was the injured animal. That would explain the blood.

The blood.

Madison stared down at her hands, reality hitting her like a ton of bricks, slamming into her body and sending a horrific shockwave through her bones and deep into her chest. She was covered in blood. And she was in the middle of the woods. And she couldn't think of a single thing that caused any of it. No memory of how she'd ended up here.

"I- I don't remember." Madison stared, as her hands clenched and unclenched. "I don't. I can't. I-" She felt her heart constricting in her chest, the panic beginning to sink in as tears sprung to her eyes. She stared up at Hal, eyes wide with terror. "Daddy?"

"Hey, it's going to be okay, sweetie. You're going to be okay. I've got you. You'll be okay," Hal repeated as he stepped forward, embracing her in a tight hug, so unfamiliar and familiar all at once. Madison let her body take in a deep breath of air, her arms stiff by her side for a moment before reaching up to cling to her father, reality slowly washing itself over her.

"I don't remember. I don't remember anything. I don't remember," Madison whispered over and over again, her eyes wide as she stared over her father's shoulder back into the woods. Part of her wanted to close her eyes but something inside told her she might see something in the back of her eyelids that she'd rather forget.

Two months later…

"Madison? What are you doing here?"

"Doing a drug run for Poppa Tate," Madison replied drily as she attempted to walk past her younger sister, rolling her eyes. She hadn't realised Betty would be at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe diner, although it wasn't like there were many other places in Riverdale for someone as sugar-sweet like Betty to hang out.

Betty, unsurprisingly, was unamused by Madison's use of witty humour. She huffed a little in that classic Betty-way, her eyes widening slightly as the puff of air left her pursed lips, perky ponytail waving slightly as she shifted her weight across her feet. "Seriously, Maddy."

"I'm hungry. I'm buying a burger." Madison shrugged her shoulders. "What are you doing here?" She'd almost forgotten that Betty was even home, finally back from her internship, but then again Madison was barely home herself so she hadn't noticed the extra body back in the house. Madison preferred to spend her spare time as far away from the Cooper household as possible, although it had been particularly hard this summer given the events that had occurred.

Betty seemed slightly tense, more than she usually was around her sister. Her eyes kept flickering towards the door, like she was waiting for someone. "I'm meeting Archie here." Ah, well that explained it. She was probably planning to spill her heart out to Archie, which would explain why she seemed more anxious than usual. Yawn. "I haven't spoken to him since I got back from my internship. Can you just hurry up before you ruin it?"

Madison folded her arms across her chest, raising an eyebrow at her sister. "Ruin what? Let me guess, your grand plan to declare your love for Golden Boy? Why would I ever do such a thing?"

"I don't know," Betty said shortly, pursing her lips. "But that is your speciality. Ruining things."

"Wow, looks like that LA internship gave you some sass, sis. Better not let Mom hear you talking like that. Wouldn't want to tarnish your perfect persona." Madison smirked at Betty, inwardly relishing the way her comment clearly irritated Betty who was already fumbling for another comeback.

"Betty, sorry I'm late…" Both girls whipped their heads in unison as a familiar voice rang out from behind them, Archie's sweet tone well known to them both. He had just entered Pop's, one hand still holding the door open as he walked in, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the two Cooper sisters.

"Madison, hi." He stared at Madison, eyes widening a little. He seemed a little thrown off suddenly, like her presence had startled him.

"Andrews," Madison said shortly, raising an eyebrow slightly at him.

"Hey Betty, why don't you grab us a table?" Archie said, his voice softening slightly as he leaned closer to Betty for a moment, indicating towards a booth near the back of the diner. "I'll grab us some food."

Betty nodded quickly, eyes narrowing towards Madison briefly before turning on her heels, leaving Archie alone with Madison. There was an awkward silence, brief and tense as Archie frowned down at the blonde in front of him.

"Well I'd better get my burger," Madison said brushing past Archie and heading towards the counter. "Hey Pop! Same as always, thanks. And throw in some extra onion."

Pop Tate knew her order well enough by now that he didn't need to ask any further questions, the perk of spending half of her life in this diner. He nodded, giving her a friendly wink as he took her money and headed into the kitchen to prepare her meal.

"Are we seriously not going to talk about it?" Archie suddenly asked, his voice hushed as he spoke from behind Madison, his breath tickling her neck slightly.

Madison felt her body slowly coming to a halt, a slow icy feeling seeping through her veins as she rested a hand on the counter, eyes focusing on her chipped red nail polish. She'd gone all summer managing to successfully avoid any discussions like this. She didn't need to ruin that streak now. "Talk about what?" she asked, forcing a fake lightness into her tone.

Archie didn't relent though. "You know what. Fourth of July. The river." he pressed, his voice shifting something in Madison as she turned her head slightly to meet his urgent gaze. They locked eyes, Archie clearly seeking some kind of confirmation from her, but Madison refused to give in. Instead, she kept her face neutral, lips slightly pursed as she looked back at him.

"I have no idea what you're on about, Arch," Madison finally replied, running a hand through her dirtied blonde hair and tugging sightly at the knots. "You should hurry up and order. Betty won't wait forever." Without waiting for Archie's defeated sigh, Madison pushed past him, her shoulder knocking against his slightly and causing him to take half a step backwards.

Madison wasn't exactly sure what Archie was trying to do, honestly. What kind of answers was he looking for in the middle of Pop's diner? It was definitely nothing she could answer. She didn't have any answers. Not even for herself. The last thing she needed was someone else prying into her mind, something she hadn't even dared to do since that fateful day.

Shaking off the unsettled nerves in her bones, Madison made her way towards the other side of the diner, her black boots clacking against the tiled floor as she walked. She glanced over to where Betty was watching Archie, a mixture of uncertainty and pining in her eyes.

"Do I want to know, Coop?"

Madison shifted her gaze from Betty and over to the booth she was heading towards, a sly smirk slipping up her lips as she finally reached it. Jughead Jones, one of her closest friends and one of the only people who could be found at Pop's as much as Madison, was sitting in his usual booth. As always, his laptop was open, its bright light reflecting against his face as he raised an eyebrow up at Madison.

"Nothing to know, Jugs. Just saying hello to Riverdale's Golden Duo," Madison shrugged as she slipped into the seat opposite him, leaning against the wall of the diner as she lifted her legs up onto the seat, stretching out comfortably.

Jughead offered a lazy grin towards her. "If they're the Golden Duo what does that make us?"

"The Black Sheep? Dark horses? Riverdale's Hot Messes? Shit, I don't know. We're definitely not golden though," Madison quipped, reaching over to grab a fry from Jughead's overflowing plate. "How's the novel going?"

Jughead sighed, pulling his gaze back to his laptop again, squinting a little at the screen. "It's a work in progress," he said, his focus already half a mile away as he started rereading his work.

Madison nodded slowly, well aware that Jughead probably wouldn't respond to anything she said for the next half hour as he lost himself in his writing.

It was a comfortable silence, as it always was between them. They'd fallen into a nice pattern over the summer, Jughead writing his novel about the messed up town of Riverdale while Madison ate her burgers. She was usually slightly stoned and craving some munchies, but sometimes she was just content sitting opposite Jughead, watching the people coming in and out. Nothing really happened in here, but it was better than being alone with the mess of her own mind, full of blank spots and vague recollections of violent screams. And it was ten times better than being at home.

As Jughead typed away, Madison gazed around the diner, offering Pop up a grin as he headed over with her burger, sliding onto the table. She'd barely begun to dig in when the door to the diner opened, letting off a gentle jingle as the new customer ducked inside. It was a girl wearing a long black cape, looking far more glamorous than anyone wearing a cape should look. She had dark hair and dark eyes to match, and she was definitely not a Riverdale native.

Madison watched, intrigued, as the girl made a beeline for Pop who was still heading back to the counter after delivering Madison's big fat burger.

"I called in an order for Lodge," the girl said, her voice ringing out in the quiet diner. She had an aura of confidence about her, her accent crisp and direct as she came to a halt directly in front of Archie and Betty's booth. Madison couldn't see Archie's face but he was clearly staring up at the new girl, probably with some horny expression judging by the way Betty was now glaring at him.

The girl spoke to Archie and Betty for a few moments, a coy smirk sitting comfortably on her lips as she kept her eyes locked on Archie's while Madison watched the steam slowly seeping out of Betty's ears. Madison caught a few bits of the conversation, catching the girl's name, Veronica, who was apparently transferring to Riverdale High. She'd clearly shaken up something between Archie and Betty, even more than Madison had earlier which was certainly an impressive feat.

Finally Pop called out Veronica's order and she twirled around lightly on her heels, marching back out the door with a paper bag in hand and a satisfied expression on her lips. This girl was definitely trouble.

"Well tomorrow's going to be a shit show," Madison mused aloud, watching as Veronica exited the diner, taking in the way the room fell into a dull silence in her immediate absence.

"You're telling me," Jughead quipped back, his eyes following Veronica out the door. He glanced back at Madison, hands already hovering over his keyboard again. "If you want to keep pissing off your sister, looks like you've got some competition."

"Ugh, this is already too much drama. I need a smoke," Madison sighed, shuffling back out of the booth as she dug a cigarette out of her pocket. She wasn't sure why she had an odd feeling now, but it was there regardless. Still, maybe that was just the blank space in her memory nudging itself closer to the front again, reminding her of the large gap in her brain. Reminding her of the dark events she couldn't quite see. Looming, dark and tense.

Yeah, she really needed a smoke.

A/N: Hello folks I'm back already with the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed this as we start to see more of Madison and how she fits into Riverdale! This was just a little chance to meet some more characters but you'll learn much more about Madison's messy memories soon! She's definitely putting up a front but Archie has questions and she'll have to answer them eventually! Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this chapter and any theories you might have already. Reviews are always appreciated! Thanks for reading lovelies :) x