Ryder was walking to school the next morning, excited to JB. He was going to ask her to the formal that was in a few weeks. He headed to the student lounge after he had put his bag in his locker, his eyes peeled for his girlfriend.

"Hey, Ry", greeted Sweet Pea.

"Hey", Ryder replied sitting beside him on an empty section of the couch. Jughead walked in.

"Hi, Jug", Ry spoke up. Ryder looked behind them. "Where's JB?"

"What do you mean?" Jughead looked confused. "She stayed at the Cooper's last night, didn't she?"

"Well, I dropped her off at the trailer last night", Ryder started to worry.

"Maybe she left the trailer before you got home to go to Betty's" Sweet Pea suggested.

"Maybe", Jug said. Betty and Tyler walked into the lounge. "Hey, Betts, did JB come to your house last night?"

"No", Betty tipped her head. "She told me at the Wyrm last night that she was staying at your trailer."

"Well, she didn't come there last night" Jughead looked really worried now. "So let's get this clear. Ryder, you were the last person to see JB last night when you were dropping her off at our trailer, correct?"

"Yes", Ryder nodded.

"So did you see her walking into the trailer?"

Ryder thought for a moment. "No, I didn't. I just saw her to the gate of the trailer park."

It was Jughead's time to think for a while. Everyone looked around at each other, scared for JB and wondering where she was.

"Ok," Jug finally spoke, "we should call my Dad and get the Serpents involved. If JBs' been kidnapped, we'll need all the help we can get."

…oOo…

I woke to a man dragging me across the ground, roughly pulling at my arms. I stayed relaxed, letting them think I was still knocked out. When the man hauled me up on a chair and yanked my arms behind my back to tie them, I flexed my hands into a fist to make the rope loser when I unclenched them. Since the room was so dark, I don't think the man noticed. The man left the room through a door to the side of the room. Once I was sure I was alone, I lifted my head a looked around.

The room I was in was small, with plain brown walls and only the one doorway to the side and a small window that was high on the opposite wall. The only furniture in the room was the rickety chair I was sitting on. I was contemplating whether I could untie myself, pull the chair up to the window and climb on it to escapee, when I heard voices and footsteps coming to the door.

I quickly reasoned that it would be best if I acted like I was still asleep and dropped, my head and closed my eyes.

There was a jingle of keys at the door, then it swung open. The voices came louder as they walked towards me. I felt water being poured on my head, their way of waking me up. Little did they know I was already awake.

"Wake up, you scum", a harsh sounding woman's voice demanded.

I raised my head acting as if I had just woken up, looking franticly around at my surroundings. The more they thought of me as a helpless teenager, the better.

I focused my gaze on the blond woman standing in front of me. "Who are you?" I asked with a shaking voice that I didn't have to make up. "And what do you want with me?"

"Well, Jellybean Jones," the woman mocked my name.

"How do you know my name?" I questioned her.

"Oh, I know everyone's name", she said. "I know your brother, Jughead, I know your boyfriend Ryder, and I know your father, FP". She seemed so proud of herself.

A thought came to me. "Caddy", I mumbled under my breath, hoping that she was safe and alright.

The woman looked confused. "Whose Caddy?" She demanded.

I realised the woman didn't know about my sister, and that that was for the best. "She's, uh, um… my friend, from Toledo", I stumbled.

The woman still looked uncertain, but thankfully she let it pass. "To answer your earlier question, I'm Penny Peabody".

She said the name like it was supposed to mean something. It didn't to me. I let that show on my face. Penny scowled.

"I was a Serpent once", she told me. "About a year ago, you brother and a few of his friends shoved a sack over my head a took me to Greendale. In a ditch there, Jughead got a knife, and cut off my Serpent tattoo."

I gasped at this and the woman smiled evilly, pulling up her sleeve to show the scar. "So you see, your brother isn't as nice as he seems".

I knew that if this horrible woman was even telling the truth, that Jug would only do such a hurtful thing if Penny was threatening or hurting their family or the Serpents.

"Why don't you answer my second question then?" I said, putting on a face that showed that what she had just told me hadn't frazzled me. She scowled again. "What do you want with me?"

"Your family- the whole Serpents- owe me." She had that evil look on her face again.

"What exactly do they owe you?"

"They need to take some of my deliveries for me".

"And why do you think they would do that?" I questioned her.

"Because I've got you", Penny replied, still smiling. "If they want you unharmed, they'll do what I say".

"Isn't there a rule that says Serpents can't hurt their own?"

"Oh that rule was erased when your brother cut my arm with a dirty knife and left me alone, bleeding in the middle of the night in a ditch."

I winced. I can't believe Jughead would do that, but maybe he thought it was the right thing to do at the time.

Penny motioned to the two men beside her. "See these guys?" She looked proud that she had people under her control. "They're Ghoulies, another gang in the Southside. They also have a grudge against the Jones and the Serpents. Something about them putting the Ghoulies in jail for street racing or something. Anyway, they're out of prison now, and they want payback on the Serpents as much as I do. So, when I went to them about joining forces, they happily agreed. They want to expand their drug business, and I have connections to do that. Of course, they don't want to get busted again by delivering the Jingle Jangle themselves, so we came up with a solution where the Serpents do all the dirty work for us, with you, dearie, being the hostage."

This woman was truly evil.

"And how are you planning to tell the Serpents of your plan?" I asked, hoping that she would divulge her strategy with me, like the villain does in every movie: tell the prisoner their plan, thinking they would never escape and tell the heroes, but that's always what happens.

"Oh, don't you worry about that", Penny replied. "I've got that all covered."