Chapter 5: Nursery Rhymes (Part II)

Jughead drew in a shaky breath and forced himself to look into the interior of the coffin. He picked up the piece of paper and lifted it to his misty eyes. He groaned, "It's another riddle."

Archie and Veronica wiggled out of the drainpipe and shakily stood up. "Jughead," Archie said, looking back at his friend who was still sitting in the pipe, his legs folded up to his chest next to the coffin. He held out a hand and pulled Jughead up.

"It's another stupid trick," Jughead scoffed. "Chic is a dead man."

Archie pulled out his phone. 4:03 PM, the screen glared back at him. He looked at Jughead, "What's it say?"

Jughead held out the note and the three teens leaned over the top of it:

"Three blind mice. Three blind mice.

See how they run isn't it fun?

The box is a clue to door number two

Where Betty's got a room with a view.

Did you ever see such a sight in your life?

Those three blind mice.

"Ugh, this man needs to stop writing poetry," Veronica chided.

"Ronnie!" Archie retorted.

She looked down. "Sorry, this is just… stressful."

Jughead grunted, "Blind mice… he's taunting us from behind a freaking riddle."

Archie yelled, kicking the casket.

"Archie!" Veronica pulled him back. "Calm down, this isn't over yet. We still need to keep our heads."

Jughead nodded. "Okay, okay, so I think this one's easier. 'The box is a clue to door number two.' Where do you find coffins?"

"The cemetery?" Archie ventured. "He's sending us to the cemetery."

"That is where she brought Chic to the Black Hood, it would make sense." Jughead crossed his arms. "Doesn't make me feel good, but it makes sense in this sick game."

"'Where Betty's got a room with a view'. What does that mean?" Veronica wondered.

"Not sure yet, but it sounds like she's actually there this time." Jughead twisted his heel in the mud. "We better get going. We don't want to waste any more time."

Blurry. The whole world was blurry.

Betty blinked as she slowly regained consciousness. "Urrff," she managed to choke out, her throat dry and sore. The last thing she remembered was staring up at Riverdale High, and then the prick of a cold needle being shoved into her neck as a gloved hand covered her mouth. She hadn't even had time to scream before darkness swallowed her. Now she was lying on a hard, unfamiliar floor.

The blurs began to take shape through the kaleidoscope diamonds that were still hanging in the corners of her vision. She tried to move; her body felt awkwardly heavy and her head was pounding. She moved her arms and then her legs. No restraints, that's good, she managed to think, I can move around. Betty brought herself up on an elbow and looked around. She sat on a wooden floor that matched the paneled walls around her. A small, blue couch sat underneath a window, where faint light trickled in through the bars across the glass.

Okay, she thought, so it's daytime. Betty's eyes drifted across the rest of the room, then darted back to the window. Wait, bars on the windows? She shifted her weight until she was sitting fully upright. She shuffled over towards the couch, grabbing the edge, and pulled herself to her feet. "Ow…" she groaned as a burning sensation ran down her arm. Her vision swam in and out and her temple began throbbing. A large cut stretched down her arm and a few sections of it were still tender and open.

She bit her lip and pulled her eyes away from the injury, staring back up at the tiny window. She blew a few pieces of limp hair from her eyes, gazing at the black steel bars covering the window. Betty's heart began to pound as she turned away and surveyed the rest of the room.

There was a small kitchenette on one side of the room and only one other piece of furniture besides the couch. A wooden rocking chair sat in a corner next to a brick fireplace. There were no pictures on the walls - just plain wooden panels contrasted by a chipped white door. "What…" Betty breathed as she walked slowly towards the door. She wrapped the doorknob in her fist, turning and tugging, but the door did not give way. She placed her shoulder on the door and rammed a bit harder, and this time a muffled rattle of metal sounded from the outside.

Betty's heart thundered in her chest. Wherever she was, it was clear that she wasn't meant to get out.

Jughead slammed the door to Archie's car and jogged up to the black gate surrounding the cemetery. His heart pounded; all of Chic's allusions to death were not sitting well in his mind. Archie and Veronica jogged up beside him.

"Okay, so we're at the cemetery. 'Where Betty has a room with a view' is the next part of the riddle. Is it another play on words?" Veronica asked.

Jughead looked out across the gravestones. "Uhh, well a room seems pretty straight forward, but a graveyard doesn't have rooms."

"You don't think she's…?" Archie's voice trailed off as he stared at a freshly dug grave nearby. Jughead's eyes followed.

"No. No, Archie. I don't think so." He swallowed, trying to convince himself as much, as the same thought had crossed his mind. "Maybe she's somewhere around the cemetery. Like an apartment or something and he's alluding to the cemetery being the view."

"Okay, well, let's just start looking," Veronica begged, swinging open the gate. "I don't want to just stand around." Archie and Jughead slid in behind her and the three walked in silence, eyes peeled for anything that would help their friend.

xxx

Veronica walked quietly beside Archie, periodically shooting him nervous looks. Archie's face was bright red and his breathing sounded uneasy. "Archie?" she asked. He kept walking, not noticing Veronica's question.

"Archie!" Veronica said louder. The redhead jerked, his eyes turning toward her. "Archie, what's wrong?"

Archie stopped and put his hands in the pockets of his varsity jacket, letting out a long sigh. "The last time I was here was to bury my dad."

Veronica's face dropped. She grabbed one of Archie's hands out of his pocket and wrapped her own around it. "Archie, I'm so sorry. It's probably still so fresh for you."

He nodded. "It is." A ragged breath whistled out from between his teeth. "And to be back here, in this kind of situation, it's really weird." The corner of his eyes watered. "I don't want to have to bury Betty, too."

"Don't talk like that! We are not going to have to bury Betty! She's fine." Veronica gulped back a cry. "B is fine."

Archie wiped a hand across his face. "Do you remember the night that Betty and I thought we got the Black Hood? You know, when it was actually Svenson?" Veronica nodded. "The Black Hood made me climb into a grave and forced Betty to bury me alive," Archie swallowed, " I-I don't want to have to dig up Betty, either."

Veronica looked down, now holding back tears herself. She had tried so desperately to block any morbid images of Betty from her mind. It was just too much to think about, and besides, someone had to keep a clear head. It certainly wasn't going to be Jughead, and Archie reacted too emotionally in any situation, but now everything was rising to the surface. "It's okay, Archie," she choked out, "that won't happen." The two stood there, holding hands, tears slowly rolling down their cheeks. "Come on, Archiekins, we need to keep moving."

xxx

Jughead was on the other side of the cemetery when he noticed Archie and Veronica stop. At first, he thought they had found something, then he noticed their entwined hands. He sighed and kicked a bit of loose dirt away from a grave. His hands dug into his pockets where the two taunting riddles resided.

He looked up, scanning the buildings and billboards surrounding the graveyard for any fleeting answer to the location of his girlfriend. Then he found it - a name etched into the top of a marbled gray mausoleum halfway across the cemetery from where he stood. "Guys! Over there!"

Jughead saw Archie and Veronica swing their heads in his direction as he raced towards the large mausoleum. They dropped their hands and ran after him. Jughead held his arms out, skidding to a halt in front of the vault to keep Archie and Veronica from colliding with him. "AVIEW" was etched above the large heavy door.

"It's a family name," Jughead breathed. "A room with a view was another play on words."

"A crypt?" Veronica panted, coming to a stop beside Jughead. "That creep is keeping Betty in a crypt?"

"It's way better than underground," Archie responded, rushing forward to the large, black door. "Jug, come on, help me open it."

Jughead began to step forward but felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He looked at it before holding it up to his ear. "Dad?"

"Jug," FP sighed, wiping a bit of blood from his knuckles. Chic sat slumped over in his chair, blood dripping from his snarled mouth. "Are you okay? Have you found anything?"

"We figured out the first riddle. It just led us to another note, another riddle."

FP grunted, closing his eyes, "Again?"

"Yeah, I know. But we figured out the second clue and we think we've found it. Betty's close. We're at the cemetery."

FP froze. "The cemetery. Jug, is-?"

Chic spat, laughing through red teeth. "They're just now at the cemetery? Wow, they're even slower than I thought."

"Shut up!" FP yelled at Chic, pulling away from the call. He put his phone back up to his ear, but continued to glare at Chic.

"We think so. It's okay, we're just about to get into the crypt now. Anything useful out of Chic?"

FP straightened up, placing a hand on his belt. "Not so much. He won't talk, keeps denying that he knows where Betty is." He got up from the bed and walked over to another corner, turning his back on Chic. "But I did learn that he escaped from Hiram's prison, not Shankshaw."

"What?" Jughead exclaimed, stealing a small glance at Veronica. "That's… interesting."

"Yeah, and he had no idea that Charles is alive. But he seems scared of something. He only lets it show slightly, but I can see it."

"Yeah, I noticed that too when he was outside the house. He's still hiding something."

"Jug, please be careful." FP lowered his voice to a whisper, "I'm gonna come meet up with you, I'm not getting anything out of this-," FP's voice cut off as Jughead heard a yelp and a thud on the other end of the line.

"Dad?" Jughead yelled. "Dad!"

FP lay unconscious on the ground, blood trickling down the back of his neck. Chic dropped the metal chair to the ground with a harsh clank, throwing down the ropes from his wrist with it. He stepped over FP's body and grabbed the phone.

"Jughead," he darkly cooed, "told you that you made a mistake. Betty's going to pay for that."

Click. The line went dead and Jughead pulled the phone away from his pale face.

Archie was still trying to wrench open the crypt door, but Veronica looked curiously over at Jughead, noticing his ghostly demeanor. "What is it?"

"Chic's loose," he said slowly, "and I don't think Betty's in there." He rushed forward, jamming himself in front of the door next to Archie, and pulled with all his might. A small crack appeared and the two dropped inside the opening, pushing and straining against the heavy door, its' base scraping against the marble floor. Archie groaned and sprinted inside as soon as the door opened wide enough. Jughead and Veronica followed.

The interior of the vault was dark and dusty; only a small ray of sunlight from the cracked door reached inside. Veronica clicked on her flashlight and swept the beam around the chamber. A few large alcoves sat sunken in the two side walls with five or so grubby urns situated irregularly amongst the cubby holes. Cobwebs lined most of the cavities, but one seemed recently swept clean. Jughead reached his hand in and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper tied around the middle with a ponytail holder.

"Dammit!" he yelled. "He's still jerking us around, and now he's free. He said Betty's going to pay for our mistake!"

"Then we get to her first!" Archie roared back as he stepped out into the dying sunlight.

Jughead looked at his phone. 5:56 PM. They had about an hour until sundown, probably even less time now that Chic was on the loose again.

Jughead gently rolled the ponytail holder down the paper and placed it into his pocket. He unraveled the paper and scowled, "Another nursery rhyme." He read:

"Row, row, row your boat

Gently across the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Her life will end in a scream."

"And there's a picture of what looks like a cabin," Jughead noted, handing the paper to Archie, who studied it with an upturned brow.

"Sweetwater River! She's across Sweetwater River!" Veronica chanted. "That has to be it. We have to cross the river and look for some sort of cabin."

"Yeah, before Chic finds her," Jughead puffed, already racing back to the cemetery gate.

Archie's car screeched into the parking lot of Riverdale's boat rental. The three shot out of the car and over to the locked door of the dark storefront. Jughead backed up and read the small sign in the window. "Closed for the season. See you next summer!"

"Great, useless. Just like everything else!"

"Jughead, calm down. They still keep some canoes out by the docks, we'll just borrow one," Veronica said steadily, laying a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, aren't you deputized? If anyone asks, you're commandeering it for police purposes," Archie added.

Jughead gave him an exasperated look, then proceeded to head down the steps towards the docks. His phone once more went off. "Dad!"

"Jughead, Chic escaped," FP slurred in a dazed voice. "Whacked me real good, too."

"We know! He said Betty's going to pay, and we found a last riddle in the cemetery. She's across Sweetwater River, in a cabin in the woods somewhere. We're getting a boat now. Can you get over here, too?"

"Yeah, Jug. I'll be over as soon as I can."

Jughead shoved his phone back into his pocket and stumbled onto the wobbly dock. Archie and Veronica were pulling a large canoe from a rack and placing it in the water. Jughead grabbed a few paddles, threw them in the boat, and hopped in with a thud. Archie and Veronica climbed in more gently in front of him. Archie grabbed a paddle and pushed it against the side of the dock, floating the canoe into open water. The three friends began rowing across the merciless waters of Sweetwater River as the sun sank lower and lower in the evening sky above them.

xxx

An eerie, still silence hung over the river, broken only by two paddles slicing through the cold, churning waters. Archie stared straight ahead, eyes locked on the looming shore ahead, his paddle pumping through the water. Veronica sat in the middle staring compulsively at the riddle and drawing, her phone in hand. 6:23 PM. Jughead read as he looked over her shoulder while paddling in the rear of the canoe, causing him to accidentally splash the side of the boat with his choppy strokes.

"Hey!" Veronica hissed as a spray of water droplets fell over the note. She turned around to find Jughead staring aimlessly at the water. She softened her tone. "Jughead, we're almost there. Everything is going to be fine."

He looked at her, the bags under his eyes darkening with his glare. "Is it? Do we know that?" He plunged his paddle into the river and pushed. Veronica frowned and placed a hand on his.

Jughead pulled his paddle over his lap and looked up at Archie, who was intensely, but steadily, paddling. Jughead lowered his head and his voice, "Veronica, my dad got something interesting out of Chic. He said he escaped from your dad's prison."

Veronica pulled her hand back and lowered her eyes away from Jughead. "That… that doesn't make any sense. He only has high-end security, and no doubt they are all still in his pocket. He wouldn't let any prisoners escape, it would look bad for his already tarnished reputation."

"Yeah, that's the thing. Everything you said is probably correct, including the guards in his pocket. So how-," he leaned closer to Veronica, "did Chic get out if not on purpose?"

"No, he doesn't even know Chic as far as I know. He has no vendetta with Betty – the three of us, yes – but not Betty."

"Hey! A little help, Jug?" Archie called from the front of the canoe, which had started to spin.

"Sorry," Jughead murmured, resuming paddling. He looked back at Veronica, "Well, what if that's just it? He's trying to get back at all three of us at once and Betty happened to be the bait that connects us all?"

"He wouldn't stoop to that. No… he wouldn't." Veronica shook her head as if trying to shake away the dreadful thought.

"He tried to have me killed by Ghoulie and he sent Archie to prison for a crime he didn't commit," Jughead retorted darkly. "Kidnapping doesn't seem so far-fetched."

Veronica shook her head even harder. "No, this is Chic. He's the one with the grudge, my dad isn't involved." She turned her back to Jughead, fiddling with the edges of the paper in her hand.

"I hope you're right," Jughead muttered to himself, turning his gaze to the rising tree line ahead of them. "But still, Chic is smart, but not this smart…"

"Guys, we made it! Come on!" Archie cried as he hopped from the canoe into the shallows, pulling the boat onto the sandy bank. Jughead did the same and pushed the boat forward. As soon as it hit the shore, Archie helped Veronica out and raced up to the edge of the tree line.

"Now what? How do we know what direction to look?" Archie panted.

Jughead scanned the forest, then lifted his eyes to the sky, his gaze landing on a thin, grey tendril outlined against the orange sky. He pointed towards it and yelled, "There! Smoke! It might be from the cabin." The three darted into a forest for the second time that day, chasing after a distant wisp of a smoke trail.

Betty climbed on top of the couch and peered out the small window. Green, brown, and yellow leaves filled her view as trees and bushes swished around in the slight breeze. She pulled at the metal bars over the glass, which unsurprisingly gave no budge. She hopped down and closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. She could just make out what sounded like rushing water, but it sounded jumbled and distant.

"Okay, Betty, think…" she said to herself. She racked her brain trying to remember any details from the night before, but her mind still felt fuzzy. I was at the school, to get my laptop. She remembered dropping her keys as she tried to grab her phone. A second hand had grabbed it from her, flinging it to the ground as she fell into unconsciousness. Then everything else was black, just black.

Male, she thought, I'm pretty sure it was a male. "Which makes being locked in a creepy cabin in the woods even worse," she mumbled. Betty got up and walked back over to the door. She pounded her fists on the wood and screamed weakly, her voice still hoarse. "Hey! Is anyone out there? Help!" She stopped and listened. She was answered only by the indistinct trickle of flowing water. She beat her fist on the door once more and softly placed her forehead to the wood, then twisted, turning her back up against the door and slowly dropped to the ground.

Betty pressed the palm of her hands to her forehead and steadily breathed in and out, trying to slow her thumping heart. No one knows where I am. I don't know where I am. She looked up at the fading sunlight streaming through the window. It's been almost a day, people have to be looking for me. Jughead has to be looking for me. She let her gaze wander over the bare room once more, this time noticing another door on the opposite wall.

She stood up and slowly walked over; it was another wooden door, but less worn than the first. Betty grabbed the handle and turned. The knob kept turning and, click! She sucked in a piercing breath and cracked the door.

Jughead, Archie, and Veronica ran swiftly towards the stream of smoke that was just visible through the thick canopy of trees. Mud and thistles caked the teens' pants as they barreled through the woods. "Betty!" Archie called into the trees, stumbling over a fallen log.

Jughead stopped, realizing he had lost sight of the smoke amidst the long branches above him. "Crap! Can you guys see it?" Veronica stopped and Archie jogged in a small circle, both of them looking up at the sky. Jughead looked between the trees and sucked in a breath. In the distance he could just make out a small, black outline, a billowy shimmer rising from it. "There!"

Crack!

A loud snap bounced around the forest, causing a few startled birds to scatter into the sky. All three friends froze and whipped their heads in the direction of the sound. Bushes rustled. Something was moving and it was headed directly towards them. Archie pushed Veronica behind him as Jughead whipped out his knife. He put his finger to his lips while he slowly and silently inched forward.

The rustling grew closer and closer until a man came lurching out of the bushes with a raised gun in his hands.

"Dad!" Jughead hollered, dropping his arms to his sides. "Dad, you sounded like a freaking bear!"

"Yeah, well you kids weren't any quieter." FP lowered his weapon. "Did you find it?"

Jughead pointed to the silhouette in the distance. FP glanced in the direction of the cabin, then turned back to his son and nodded, raising and cocking his gun. The four took off in the direction of that lone cabin in the woods.

Betty slowly peeked around the half-open door. The room before her was dark, but she could make out a bed and another open area - a small bathroom. She stood in the doorway with her arms spread out against each doorpost and hung her head. Letting out a small huff, she walked back into the kitchenette and began yanking open all the cabinets and drawers. Nothing. There's nothing here. Each new drawer she opened gave her the same result; empty.

She slammed her hands down on the counter, letting out a frustrated cry. Then she froze.

Voices. She could hear the faint sound of voices outside the cabin.

FP and Jughead stood staring at the front of a plain log cabin where a steady stream of smoke was emitting from a brick chimney. Archie and Veronica circled around the side of the cabin. FP raised his gun and slowly walked up to the wooden steps leading to the front door. Jughead raised his knife and followed.

Archie and Veronica jogged up behind them and Archie nodded at FP, giving the all-clear. FP wrapped his fingers tightly over his trigger and looked over at his son. Jughead returned the look, the two locking eyes. Then father and son rushed forward. "Police!" FP cried, shooting the large lock on the door. Jughead lurched forward, ramming himself into the door.

Betty gingerly edged forward, trying to listen to the voices outside. "Jughead…?" she stammered, coughing through her words. She put her ear up against the door. Footsteps clambered on the wooden porch out front and stopped in front of the door. "Jughead!" she cried a bit louder.

She heard a pop as something hit what she assumed to be a lock outside. The large door creaked and Betty took a jumpy step back.

Jughead shoved the door with his shoulder and it swung open, creaking on its rusty hinges. The four swarmed the inside of the cabin and gasped. "No…" Jughead let out a small whisper.

In the middle of the room on a wooden chair sat Chic, with his hands tied behind his back and a gaping bullet wound in his head. Around his neck hung a bloodied piece of parchment. Jughead stepped forward cautiously and raised the piece of paper to his eyes with a trembling hand:

"Made you look."

Archie yelled and kicked the still swinging door, running his hands through his unkempt hair. Veronica crouched down in the doorway, hugging her arms. Jughead ripped his beanie off his head and sank to the ground. FP shoved his gun back in its holster and bent down next to Jughead, wrapping him in a tight hug. He rested his chin on his son's head, his red eyes glowering at the body in front of him.

The cabin door swung open as Betty pushed herself up against the kitchen counter. A figure strolled casually through the doorway, whistling softly as they jingled a ring of keys. Betty felt a lump catch in her throat. "No," she sputtered, "not you."

"Hello, Betty," Edgar soothingly cooed as he turned toward her, a thin smile across his face. "So nice to see you again."

Author's Notes: Ahhh! What? The journey is only beginning for Betty and the gang.

Hold on to your hope for Riverdale and our friends, because I think they might be losing it.

Where's Betty? What does Edgar want? Chic's dead?!

Thank you so much to those who have been reading and reviewing so far! Let me know what you think, and as always, leave a review if you are enjoying the story so far! This might be the hardest I've ever worked on a story that isn't a screenplay.

More to come, much, much more to come.