Thank you so much to my reviewers: Boris Yeltsin, Guest, and Smileyface-Kitsune!
Guest: I actually had to look up what that was. I've tried getting into Teen Wolf a couple times, but for some reason it's just not sticking...but to answer your question, sorta...
Song for this chapter is Animal by MISSIO
Sweet Pea had hardly gotten back to the trailer park before FP was slamming him up against the side of one of the homes. This was becoming annoying consistent, and Sweet Pea would rather not be roughed up against metal plates, thank you very much.
"What the hell you think you're doing, son? Going to the Blossoms?" He demanded, snarling close to Sweet Pea's face. Sweet Pea was rarely intimidated, but he shivered at the expression in his Alpha's eyes.
"Following the Jason lead," Sweet Pea said weakly.
"What happened to the Football team?" FP said, but his grip on Sweet Pea's black shirt didn't loosen.
"Most of the boys who really knew him got suspended. It's slow going for other info," Sweet Pea stammered out, "This is where it lead. Betty was going to shake her down, and there's something off about them, I couldn't let her get hurt. Cheryl, she knows something boss, I swear to god-,"
"I don't care. I don't want you around there again, you fucking hearing me?" FP shook Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea swallowed hard, nodding twice. If he was in wolf form, he'd be tail-tucking and offering his neck to his Alpha right now.
"Say it with me," FP said slowly, "You're not going near those fuckers again."
"I'm not going near the house again," Sweet Pea echoed, albeit slightly twisted, "But, FP, really...I think there's something there that's so much bigger, or, they know about us or maybe…"
"Let me deal with the Blossoms," FP patted Sweet Pea's shoulders, setting his feet back on the ground, "Not you."
"Yes, sir," Sweet Pea whispered. Even once FP was gone, Sweet Pea stood, still shaking. He'd seen FP's anger before, once or twice directed at him. It wasn't just that FP was angry, he was frantic. He was scared of something. Not of the Blossoms, Sweet Pea doubted, but of what the boy couldn't figure out. The look in FP's eyes was a man who was running out of time.
Sweet Pea counted to 100, letting his pulse return to normal, before kicking the side of the trailer, hard.
This wasn't adding up. Nothing was.
He holed himself in his room all night. He wasn't even sure if Jughead returned, for he was too far deep in research and translating the pictures on his phone. He combed through the video Betty had taken and saw a ritual set up, not unlike the one Dilton had described (but was still no closer to figuring out what it meant). He had Fangs and Vade come to his window in human form to pass along what they'd seen. They couldn't share knowledge as wolves, not now, not with FP watching them. He was the general in this war, if it was one, and his soldiers didn't have to take the blame if everything fell. Sweet Pea would. Better they only knew their individual sides.
But he could talk through it with Betty, who wasn't part of the Pack collective. And, fuck, did he need to talk it through with someone.
He texted her to meet him in the woods at around 3 AM. He almost wasn't sure she'd come out, but clearly, she couldn't sleep either.
"Have you slept at all?" Betty gaped at his appearance.
"No." Sweet Pea rubbed his eyes, "I'm too...in my mind. I can't figure it out, it's not coming together."
"You're not making any sense."
"This isn't making any sense!" Sweet Pea snapped at her, "God, sorry, I'm not…" He huffed, "FP is so adamant that I am not allowed to look into the Blossoms. He knows something. I fucking trusted him and he's holding out. What else could he be lying about? I can't have him know, we gotta follow this."
"Jason's death?"
Sweet Pea rubbed his eyes, nodding, "I haven't fully translated the ward symbols, but I think it's some sort of family blood enchantment. Super high-up shit. So, if they hired someone, really fucking expensive. What did you learn?"
"Jason and Polly were getting married, but…" Betty's forehead crinkled, "Something weird happened."
She described how she'd been feeling all night. About how something was shoving out, trying to be released in her mind, but to no avail.
"Magic interference. And, I'd bet it's really freaking important too." Sweet Pea cussed, "Okay, take me through everything that happened. Any little thing might be important. From the moment you got in the car to come to the Blossom's."
So, Betty did. For the better part of the hour, Betty recounted everything she recalled, up until when her memory went back.
"That's it," Sweet Pea said, sighing, after she was done, "They're either magic themselves or they know someone really well that's a witch. Someone who's around often. Point being, there's other magics in this town, some that somehow slipped under the radar. Worse, they're involved in dark, dead stuff."
"How do you figure?"
"Well, the magic on that land was just everywhere, you felt. Wards are hard to do, specifically personal ones, like invites. You went through something and can't remember it, but it feels like the Polly thing in the house. You saw the graveyard, all those circles and rock formations and candles. Those are for rites, or spells. You said Veronica had a cut on her hand?"
"Yeah."
"You can take power from another magical being, like an endless power source. I bet you anything whoever was trying to do something thought she was magic."
"Why would they think that?" Betty seemed startled. Sweet Pea scratched his head, wincing. Had he really not gotten around to telling her this?
"Mama Lodge and Papa Lodge are vampires-another day, just another fucking day, Cooper," He said at her wild expression, the shock and her lips moving to ask a thousand questions, "Vampires are like a thousand watt light bulb of never ending power. But, that means someone was trying to do something really hard, like almost unreal. Then, Fangs and Vade found like a fucking meadow of poisonous plants. They also found bones and shrines on trees, outside the property. That's for communing with dead spirits, which is also not a walk in the park."
"Dark magic?"
"No. Life and death is natural. As long as the dead stay dead, talking with them is nothing strange." Sweet Pea explained, "Which is why it was on trees, life. A tree for every freaking family member. God, do they just have like huge family reunions in the maple trees or something?"
"Sweet Pea, everything is pointing that at least one of them is…"
"But it doesn't make sense!" Sweet Pea was nearly pulling his hair out, "How could I not know? More than that, how could FP not know? We have more answers than before, but even more questions."
"Sweet Pea, go to sleep," Betty insisted gently, "You'll run yourself ragged going on like this."
"I feel like I'm out of leads, other than confronting Cheryl. I want to go do it now, or at school, but I feel like I shouldn't. It needs to be approached cautiously. That is, if Cheryl knows anything."
"I might have a lead," Betty bit her lip, "My parents knew that Polly and Jason were going to get married, but they've told no one. You think FP is lying? I think my parents are too."
"Great. They're probably all hiding some big fucking secret together," Sweet Pea said blithely.
"I don't know if my mom's ever talked to a Serpent," Betty said, laughing at the idea in her mind, "But point being, I think I need to talk to another piece of this puzzle."
"Polly?" Sweet pea gleaned, "Yeah, good idea."
"You're going to hate hearing this, but Jughead said the same thing."
XXxxXX
Hi friends! This is Polly. I'm probably practicing with the Vixens right now or volunteering at the church. If you want me to hit you back, leave your name and number after the beep. BEEEP.
Hi friends! This is Polly. I'm probably practicing-
Hi friends! This is Polly-
Hi friends! Thi-
Betty felt like throwing her phone across the street. Ever since she'd decided to get to Polly, she'd been calling her phone non-stop. However, every single time, it went straight to voicemail and her mailbox claimed to be full. All of Betty's texts to her were once again unanswered. Her Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter hadn't been updated or reached by her sister since around the time she'd left the house.
She had no idea how to reach her.
She looked at her hand, typing in the number for her grandmother's phone, the number she'd found written with gel pens in her old middle-school contact book. It was now on her palm, halfway smudged, but still legible.
The number you have called is no longer in service.
Well, that one was a longshot anyway.
Betty couldn't recall the last time she'd actually seen her grandmother. Maybe three, four years ago? Her mother and her maternal grandmother didn't get along great, so family reunions were usually short and simple. And, if she was seeing her grandmother, it was at their house. She vaguely recalled her grandmother living in the middle of nowhere, some cabin in the woods, but her mind was drawing blanks when it came to the location, or even the city.
She didn't even really have a car to get out there, if she knew. This meant that, chances were, she'd have to beg someone who she knew to let them borrow theirs. Veronica had cars, and she was sure if she told her the situation, she'd agree. FP had a car, but that meant that either Jughead or Sweet Pea would have to go about asking. Kevin was a good option, she mused as she walked to school.
First, of course, she had to figure out where Polly was.
Coming up to the school building, Betty paused about a block away. She pulled up her sleeve, wincing as it rubbed against the bandages. Crap, they'd started to bleed through already. She'd started a pain potion, but it wouldn't be done until this afternoon. She'd popped some advil, but found it mostly ineffective. She'd popped over to the local Walgreens this morning, before school, and had used her teeth to tightly wrap the claw marks. They hadn't looked deep, but they just wouldn't stop bleeding.
Why was it that vampires and werewolves had super fast healing, but witches didn't? Betty thought that was wholly unfair.
Her mind was still reeling from the bomb dropped on her about the Lodge's last night, although it might make some sense. Sweet Pea hadn't explained much else, promising later they'd have a grand old sit-down and talk about it. As it was, there were just too many things on both of their plates.
"You okay?" A car rolled down its windows, startling Betty. She looked up to see Reggie's father looking at her bandaged arm, already completely bloodstained, with genuine worry. She'd known Reggie since kindergarten. Even if she didn't talk with him much anymore, the parents of most of the kids she went to high school with were at least familiar faces. It was somewhat comforting to know that Mr. Mantle still thought enough of her to decide to stop, "What happened?"
"Uhm," Betty drew blanks. She hadn't really had time to think of a good cover. Mr. Mantle had already parked the car and was climbing out, "Dog." She said, which wasn't entirely far from the truth.
"Have you gone to a hospital?" Mr. Mantle said. Betty licked her lips. Mr. Mantle was sure to tell her mom, exactly what she did not need. Though, when he approached, his whole face turned ashen.
Almost violently, he turned her arm up, pulling it closer to him, his fingers trailing over the wound like he was measuring it.
"Dogs, you said?"
Betty nodded, not liking this interaction at all.
Then, before she could explain herself more, Mr. Mantle had dropped her arm like it burned him and had jumped in his car, speeding away. In his haste, he almost caused a traffic collision.
Even if Betty's life now was one odd event switching to the next, this for sure was on her top ten of things she didn't even want to try to explain.
XXxxXX
"Sweet Pea!" Veronica snapped, cutting him off before he could vanish to his first class of the day, "I have a bone to pick with you." He looked ready to scram, but Veronica was faster. She grabbed him, annoyed about, well, everything.
Sweet Pea raised an eyebrow and rubbed his neck. His neck where a serpent tattoo was no longer. Was he wearing concealer or something? Whatever, not the time.
"Oh, goody." Sweet Pea said in absolute over-the-top faux excitement, swinging his arm across his chest into a thumbs up position.
"Cut it," Veronica wan't in the mood for his cutesy joking, "Follow me." She demanded.
Sweet Pea gave a long sigh, realizing he wasn't going to get out of whatever this 'talk' was. Veronica lead him over to an area by a window out of the main hallway, tapping her foot. Her mind was swirling with what her mom had said last night. About how none of it made any sense.
"You want to explain to me why your little group left a serpent for my mohter to find?" She asked with unbridled anger. Sweet Pea did a double take.
"What?"
His shock couldn't be acted. Veronica was the queen of the 'I'm so Innocent' face; she'd practically written the book on it. Therefore, she knew full well when someone was genuinely surprised.
It was, in fact, the same sort of expression she'd had when her mom had told her what she was telling him.
"A snake? You're joking."
"I wish I wasn't, mija." Her mother said, gnawing her lip, "If I hadn't…Well, if it had gotten in the food, or if they had put it in a place where you'd found it.."
"What about t could have killed you!" Veronica gaped, shocked this wasn't her mom's first thought. Her mother gave her an almost sad smile, "I'm serious, mom! What is this, a Looney Tunes Cartoon?"
There was a beat of silence.
"Why would they leave that?"
"We don't get along, our kind."
"North vs. South?" Veronica crossed her arms.
"You could say that. It's been happening longer than we've been alive, dear. We...your father...made an agreement with them. They claim weren't haven't paid what's due, thus, the scare tactic."
"What do you owe them? Money?" Veronica asked, "I don't mean to sound naive, but we have money, mom."
Her mother reached a hand out, caressing it on her daughter's cheek. It was cold, like ice, as it always was.
"Something far more important than money dear."
"But she wouldn't tell me what," Veronica finished weakly, as she explained the conversation to Sweet Pea in a summarized version.
"I don't know," Sweet Pea tugged on his book bag, "Veronica, look, I'm really sorry they did that."
Veronica let her anger fade, "I know it wasn't you. What turf war thing has been going on forever, though?"
Sweet Pea's face blushed. "I dunno," He said, but this sounded exactly like a person who did, "The Serpent's just hate the Lodges, it is how it is. Couldn't say."
Veronica pursed her lips, "Fine," She whispered, "Just...tell FP that sending a snake is despicable and awful and figure out what we owe. I just want this to be done."
XXxxXX
"You get poison ivy or something?"
"Huh?" Betty looked up. Jughead tilted his head at her arm, to where she'd been continually scratching at it under her cardigan. She saw a spot of blood on the nice light-pink sleeve and slapped her hand over it.
"Yeah. It's bad." She lied, feeling guilty for not telling him the full truth, "Anyway, I can't find Polly anywhere. I wouldn't even know where my grandmother lives!"
"Well, I mean, I have to imagine your mom keeps updated on her somehow, right?" Jughead asked, scratching his hat.
"I'd guess." Betty blinked.
"So, they either do it through good ole snail mail, and you probably would have noticed, so more likely she's calling someone or emailing." Jughead deduced.
"If that's true, I'll never get that info. It will be on her phone and my mom guards that thing like it's the freakin' holy grail. It's obvious after Polly, whatever it was, she doesn't trust me." Betty tried not to let too much anger seep into her voice, but it was inevitable.
"I know someone she trusts even less," Jughead said, leaning back with ease and chuckling. Betty caught his eyes and felt herself blush. She shook away her thoughts, because this was about Polly, not Jughead.
"So, I take it you have a plan, then?"
XXxxXX
The next morning, Betty had been up a whole hour before her alarm rang, her mind worried and running a thousand miles an hour. In her journal, she made a list of everything she remembered, in very specific detail, up until the moment she forgot it all at the Thornhill. She scratched her head, though it was her arm that still bothered her, the pressure of this massive missing memory like a tag on her sweatshirt that dug into her skin.
Her mother opened the door, without warning, per usual. She came in with the guise of putting laundry away, though Betty knew she could have done this at any time when Betty wasn't home.
Betty snapped her journal closed, using her left hand to clutch the sides.
"Claudium," Betty whispered, magically sealing her journal shut.
"Hm?" Her mother looked up, setting her long sleeves in her drawer. Betty played stupid.
"What?"
"Did you say something?"
"No?" Betty raised an eyebrow. She set her journal beside her, gnawing, "So, I ah, forgot to mention. I invited Jughead over for breakfast."
Jughead's idea. She partially figured it was because Jughead was always hungry, but from the way her mother's eye narrowed, she had a feeling this plan was going to go off without a hitch. She couldn't recall the last time Jughead had been at her house.
Before her mother could protest, the doorbell rang. Betty sprung up.
"Well, that's him!"
XXxxXX
One house over, at this same time, Archie dug through his chest for his guitar strap. He threw some of his old items on the floor of his room; a Buzz Lightyear toy, a fake cowboy gun, a DS that he didn't even know where the charger was for it anymore. He saw saw his strap and tugged, bringing up an old and cheesy werewolf mask with it. He grabbed the mask to throw it back to the bottom of the trunk, but all of a sudden, he wasn't holding just a mask, Archie was holding a wolf's head, and it was thrashing, teeth inches from his face.
He wasn't sure he was even in his room anymore.
It was all flashes, like he was switching the channels on the TV, clicking through one after another.
Teeth gnashing and the bitterness of snow on his tongue. Screaming. Woods hanging over him, winter branches intertwining like gnarled fingers. A wolf's howl, low and eerie and foreboding. Blood, dripping onto someone's hands. A smile curved into fangs. A body, someone's eyes with a thousand-yard stare, glazed and dark. A mossy glenn, with someone giggling and fireflies floating. The smell of burnt marshmallows. The taste of summer in a cup. Chanting, the smell of incense and a skull gleaming on a table. A woman with red hair, a dagger in her boot and a gun in her palms.
"Archie!"
Archie panted hard. He was on in his room, down on his back like someone had shoved him. The mask lay next to him, innocent and average.
"Archie, I heard you scream. You good?" His father said, helping him up.
"Yeah," Archie's croaked, like he hadn't spoke in in years, "I just slammed my thumb in the trunk lid."
"Oh, thank god," His dad patted his chest, "You'd better get going, son. School's soon."
Archie picked himself up, grabbing the strap and staying far away from the mask, "I'm going." He assured his dad.
As he slammed his trunk down, he peered out his window, catching movement on the street.
Jughead was exiting the Cooper house. What followed...what was Betty wearing? She seemed to be gleaming, in a long white dress, no shoes, and a flower crown around her head. Something like smoke seemed to curl around her, and where she went, the branches starting to shed their leaves grew back at once, vibrant and green.
Then, he blinked and the trees were still awash with fall colors and Betty was wearing her usual ensemble. The only weird thing was Jughead with her now, as opposed to at the trailers.
Archie rubbed his eyes.
Damn, he really needed to get more sleep.
XXxxXX
TONI to SWEET PEA: Yo yo yo, after school let's get together and do a run. Maybe up a couple hours, up to that one lake and shit we went to this summer
TONI: Baby wolves are getting antsy
SP: Can't. Football practice.
TONI: ? Chuck was expelled?
SP: Suspended. I mean, some guys still might know shit. He'll be back in October anyway, so I gotta keep with it
TONI: Uh-huh. That's the only reason, is it?
SP: You want me to say I like it? Fine, I fucking like it, happy?
TONI: Someone's grumpy
TONI: It's not a sin to enjoy something
TONI: I'm not gunna judge you. If anyone else does, you could just rip them apart, you know
SP: I don't want to talk about it
XXxxXX
"Archie Andrews?"
The stage was bright and hot, like tiny suns were burning on his skin.
Archie winced, holding his hand up.
"And what will you be auditioning with?" Kevin asked, his face encouraging. Archie strummed his guitar softly, just to get the sound.
"I'll be doing an original song, called 'I'll Try'." He said, blinking out. Someone adjusted the lights, so at least now he could see. His gaze fell over the crowd. A handful of students dotted in the seats, in various states of attention given.
As he inhaled to start singing, the air around him buzzed.
He looked out on the crowd again, and froze.
He saw things he couldn't explain.
Kevin, covered in blood, a gun in his hands. Behind him a bit, a dark-skinned creature with fangs, dripping in water and seaweed. Over to the left, a girl that- not unlike Betty-had light literally dancing around her head. Her hair was full of twigs. Deep in the back corner, a half-skeletal figure, with flowing red hair that sent a cold shiver up his spine. And, right in the center, the snapping wolf from this morning, fangs glinting and claws tearing at the seats.
"Oh, my god, he's choking," Someone whispered from the seats.
If only they knew.
Archie turned, stumbling out of the auditorium. On the floor of the hallway, his legs buckled. He breathed into his hands. He felt like he was dying. He couldn't breathe. His body quaked. Was this a panic attack?
"Archie?"
Archie literally jumped away, his eyes flashing. He let his breathing even as he looked up, waiting to see a harbinger of his death or some other awful omen.
It was Val, though. Just...normal Val.
"Oh, thank god," He whispered, "Val...I...uh."
"Stage fright?" Val offered a soft, knowing smile.
Well, better than trying to explain what he really saw. He gave a forced nod, tucking his fear deep inside of him, "Er, yep. Exactly that."
XXxxXX
"You know, I don't really know anything about spells, right?" Kevin asked nervously, watching Betty gather the materials on the table of the Blue and Gold.
"Right, but Sweet Pea's at practice, and he's stressed enough as it is. I thought you'd be interested in seeing it in action, plus if something goes wrong…"
"Right, go and get Sweet Pea." Kevin blinked, "I imagine you haven't told Jughead you're going to be doing a locator spell?"
"Well, he'd think I was crazy," Betty bit her lip, laughing a bit to herself. This morning had gone off without a hitch. Just as Jughead had predicted, when he'd asked to use the bathroom, her mother had noisily followed along, as though he was going to steal candlesticks or spoons or something. In the moments she was gone, Betty had gone through and taken pictures of all the outgoing and incoming calls, as well as quickly scrolled through her email.
Then, at school, her and Jughead had done the task of going through the numbers. There were a couple that stuck out as having no name and calling it more than once, but there was one in particular that stuck out to Betty, The area code and the frequency made Betty think this was the lead, the number, she was searching for.
Of course, when she'd called it, it had rang and rang and rang and no one ever answered, but an answering machine had never stopped it. It was fishy enough to pretty concretely tell Betty this was her grandmother's phone, or at least the phone her grandmother used to call. Maybe Grandma Smith didn't have a phone? Betty couldn't recall.
The phone number location as well as the area code told Betty that the call was originating from Pine Hill, New York, which vaguely did ring a Bell in Betty's subconscious.
"What does Jughead think you're doing now?" Kevin asked, arms crossed as Betty flipped through their map's almanac until she found a county map that included Pine Hill and surrounding areas.
"Well, I convinced him to go to the Riverdale Library and sift through phone books to see if her number's there. I mean, old people like being in phonebooks." Betty said, only feeling a little guilty. He might actually find it. Her way was just...faster.
"Man, that boy really adores you," Kevin said, "That sounds totally boring."
"I told him I'd be there soon to help, I just wanted to finish up some work for the Blue & Gold. I am still running a fully functional journal, you know?" She raised an eyebrow at him, "Anyway, we're pretty much ready."
Kevin leaned forward with rapt attention. Betty took a jar of salt and carefully made a circle on the paper around the squiggly lines. She lit four candles, one for each of the directions, and set it at each side of the paper.
She then found a safety pin in one of the drawers and inhaled sharply, reading her notes she'd taken a picture of on her grimoire, just to be sure.
"My blood should work, since I'm looking for relatives. It will hopefully move to where they are on the map that's here." She explained to Kevin, who was watching her with curious eyes, but hadn't said anything.
She winced as she pricked her finger, closing her eyes as she helped squeeze a couple drops out. Kevin gave a sharp laugh, "Oh, if you have problems with blood, you are in for a rough time! Even I know a lot of spells require a payment of sorts." He said meaningfully. Betty had figured that out, reading through a lot of the spells.
"Yeah, yeah," She said, feeling her face flush, "It's natural to want your blood to stay in you!" She argued.
She nursed her thumb, swirling her tongue around the pad of her finger as she finished setting it all up.
Last thing, a pendant. She was using one of Polly's necklaces, hoping it would aid her in the location, though an item from the person (since she was using her own blood) wasn't necessary.
"Ready Kev?"
"God, I'm so ready. I feel like I'm watching a Harry Potter movie. I need popcorn." Kevin said, clambering onto a nearby table, watching with a mind that was absorbing all of this.
Betty, holding her arm out straight, holding the pendant over the direct middle of the map, where her blood pooled in a small pile.
"Phasmatos tribum nas ex veras, sequita saguines, ementas asten mihan ega petous...Phasmatos tribum nas ex veras, sequita saguine-," Betty began to chant. Although she was reading off her phone, she'd ran through this spell so many times she had it memorized at this point, not wanting to mess it up at all. The words had originally felt clunky on her tongue, but after just a couple times through, even without actually using it, the magic had taken hold and it had began to feel as natural as speaking English. Even more natural, truly, like it was her language that she'd long since forgotten and was now revisiting, even if she'd never known it, her witch's blood did.
"Holy shit." Kevin's eyes widened. Betty looked at the page, still chanting under her breathe, to see the blood making its way across the map, moved by an invisible force. The pendant with her hand moved, as though being tugged, like this was the line moving the blood. The lights in the room flickered, the wind caused some papers to flutter. Betty kept chanting, until the blood stopped moving and made a perfect circle on a spot in the middle of the woods. Betty stopped, tilting her head. She grinned.
"I think we have our answer, Kev."
XXxxXX
Reggie Mantle ran his fingers through his hair, shaking off the remains of the shower he'd taken after practice, depositing his school bag and gym bag by the front door.
"Reginald?" The deep voice of his father echoed through the house. Reggie suppressed a sigh; he hated his full name. And, only his father insisted on calling him that. It was his mother who had opted for a more manageable nickname for him in his youth. If he could avoid it, he stayed away from his father. He was firm and unyielding and expected the best from his son. Reggie shuddered to think what would have happened had he lost out on the football captainship to Andrews. Well, he almost had, but he'd never tell his father that. He wasn't one to wax poetics, but one of these days he needed to thank Archie for unknowingly saving his hide.
"Yes?" Reggie called back, "Thought you were at…" He walked into his father's office to find it strewn with papers and books. More concerning was his grandfather, who Reggie saw even less commonly, sitting and scowling. "Work?"
"Reginald, come sit." It was not a request as much as it was a command. Reggie tip-toed over the sheets to one of the large seats in his father's office.
"Dad, what the hell?"
"Language, Reginald." His father reprimanded sharply. He trained a dark eye on his son.
"What's Grandpoppy doing here?" Reggie asked, "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you," He murmured, "But you, ah, live pretty far away." Shit, had he forgotten his grandfather was coming all the way from Maine? Oh, dad was going to be pissed. He hadn't meant to drop the ball. If he'd forgotten, it probably meant he'd forgotten to clean the house or to set up the guest room...crap.
His grandfather, instead, leaned in close to Reggie, "What do you know of the Southside Serpents?"
"The Serpents?" Reggie echoed dumbly, "Uhm, dad's always hated them. They're a gang...I mean, I just sorta know what dad's told me…" He murmured, feeling like he was taking a test he hadn't studied for, "One of them goes to my school."
"Yes, we know, the Jones boy."
"Jones ain't a Serpent, dad," Reggie said sharply, annoyed at the dismissal, "I'm talking about an honest-to-god tattooed kid. Jordan Karan. They call him Sweet Pea."
For a second, there was silence. Then, his father dove back into the files and his grandfather's face grew even more grim. His father seemed to be scanning some sort of list, though Reggie didn't know what.
"The stories you always told, they're true." His father was echoing with shock and horror.
"What stories?" Reggie asked, thinking his dad was actually going mad, "I'm getting mom."
"No." His father's hand grabbed out, clenching his wrist.
"Reginald. Stay." His grandfather said, "Do you know that I named you?"
Reggie hadn't.
"Do you know who you're named after?" He asked a second question.
"Erm, a great-great-great grandfather or something?" Reggie scratched his head, "He was a hunter, right?" He said, thinking of the deer head in his father's office that his ancestor had supposedly killed. Even now, he avoided eye-contact with it. It had always weirded him out.
"Not just any hunter," His grandfather said, picking up a book from the ground and handing it off. Reggie turned the book to him to see a black and white illustration of his supposed ancestor, holding a large sawed-off shotgun in one hand, the head of a decapitated wolf in the other. On the ground next to him was not the body of a dead wolf, but the body of a headless man. The text was in German or something, so Reggie couldn't read it, but the picture itself painted a very interesting idea. Reggie swallowed thickly.
"You're not serious."
"I'm very serious." His grandfather leaned back, letting the drawing sink into Reggie's mind, "There was an...infestation of these mutts back when I was a child. Killing innocents left and right, their bloodlust never satiated. I thought we'd gotten rid of them all, but I always told your father to be aware."
"And, what, you think these Halloween monsters have come back? Werewolves?" Reggie scoffed, pretty sure his grandfather was off his rocker.
"Elizabeth Cooper was attacked by one. For some ungodly reason, she's either helping them or doesn't know what she saw. And, we know that the current Serpents are more dog than snake," His father said with fists clenched, "We cannot allow Riverdale to fall to this monstrosity again." He said.
"Reginald, it is time you train and study your birthright," His grandfather instructed, holding out a gilded wooden box. Reggie snapped open. Nestled in the soft velvet lining, lay an old gun with pure silver bullets, "As a true hunter."
XXxxXX
JUGHEAD to BETTY: Hey, I think I found the address, or at least the phone number. It's for a diner in Pine Hill, but the guy gave me your grandmother's name and when she's usually in.
BETTY: Oh, you're the best Juggie! :) Should we meet up? I just finished with my stuff at school.
JUGHEAD: Actually, I'm going to stay in the library awhile longer. I got a paper to write.
BETTY: Oh, ok. I'll talk 2 you later, then?
JUGHEAD: Count on it :)
He only felt a little bad about lying to Betty. He didn't have a paper, but he did have some research to do. He hadn't dropped the scout's whole 'big wolf' conundrum, it had only been running through his mind more and more as the days passed. He heard the howling of wolves very close to town, and he'd found a paw print as big as his face.
Way before, doing research on wolves was easy enough. It was simple to glean that no, wolves did not get this big.
His research today was specific, and bordered on crazy. Which is why he didn't want to tell Betty about it, not until he had concrete facts about it. Betty liked logic. She didn't like fairy tales. Jughead had to have undeniable proof before he went to Betty about this, or she might just think he was getting really into a new supernatural novel.
He approached the info desk.
"Do you have books on town deaths? Like historically, up to maybe twenty years ago? And then, anything on...erm, supernatural beings?" He asked the lady. If she found his quirey odd, she didn't say anything. She just nodded in the two opposite directions. Jughead felt odd, still. He felt like Bella Swan, typing 'cold ones' into her search bar.
That was fiction, though. And she'd been looking up vampires. Jughead was looking at- if his wackedbrained theory was correct- werewolves.
He found a couple books for each, took out his notebook, and began to work.
XXxxXX
"Where are you going?"
Josie turned, keys in her hand, trying to keep from snapping too badly at her mother.
"Out." She managed, tying her hair back with an elastic.
"To, where?" Her mother put a hand on her hip.
"Jesus, mom. Just out." She hissed, "Get it?"
Before she could open the door, her mother placed a firm hand on the lock, closing it from behind Josie.
"Val quit the Pussycats." Josie admitted after a long second, "And I just...I can't...I need to just go out right now. Before I snap her head off. Literally."
"We have a perfectly good lap pool here, heated." Her mother pointed out. Josie shivered in disgust.
"I will never get how you and dad managed to enjoy that. It's so artificial." She gagged.
"It's safe." Her mother said pointedly. Josie crossed her arms. Nothing would ever compare to Sweetwater, the smell of the moss on the rocks, the murky dusk that settled on her bones, the winding and whining stream as it leapt over rocks...there was a reason her ancestors had settled here. They knew it. Her parents had forgotten.
"I'll be careful," Josie promised, crossing her fingers in front of her mother, "See? PInky promise. It's not a crime to swim there."
Her mother considered it for a long time, before wordlessly opening the door, "Fine. But stay out of sight."
"Thank you!" Josie reached up, hugging her mom, "Love you." She kissed her mom's cheek and was out the door.
Reaching Sweetwater took little time. And, as soon as she did, Josie shimmied out of her clothes, practically racing down to the shores. It had been far too long since she'd gotten to enjoy this.
Josie dove into the water. When she came up, she ran her hand over her hair, over the fangs poking out of mouth. Her fingers glossed over the iridescent shimmer to her skin.
She dipped under the water and did not resurface for a very, blessedly, long time.
XXxxXX
"Why are we on the roof?" Betty asked, hauling herself onto the top of the school.
"Levitation spells, Betty," Sweet Pea said like it was obvious, "Plus, isn't it nifty up here?" He knelt down, shaking out his backpack from various items. One was a beer can, which he flicked twice, and then opened. Betty's eyes bugged.
"Oh, come off it," He said, swiping his hand across his lips, "I'm under stress, stress you hear? Want some?"
Betty wordlessly shook her head. She paused, watching him chug it.
"So, what, you're just going to throw items of the roof and I'm supposed to catch them before the splatter?"
Sweet Pea weighed an apple in his hand, "Basically, yeah. Better to practice in real life where it matters, then, you know...fake. Imagine this apple is Jughead. Look, I'll even draw a frowny face and a stupid crown hat on him," Sweet Pea said, fishing out a sharpie.
"Unneeded. If Principal Wetherbee sees mysterious fruit splattering onto the cement, he'll be onto us and we'll be in trouble with a capital 'T'."
"But...Apple Jughead…" Sweet Pea pouted, holding up his half-finished masterpiece.
"You'd like that to not be caught, wouldn't you."
Sweet Pea threw it up experimentally, catching it with ease, "Maybe a little," He admitted.
For a while, Sweet Pea did put her through the proverbial ringer, testing her skills to the point of exhaustion. She did make a point to always catch Apple Jughead if forced to choose between two pieces of fruit. She did this solely to irk Sweet Pea, which she could tell was totally working.
It was when she started dropping more pieces than she caught that Sweet Pea decided not to push her any farther and presented her with a Gatorade from his pile of things on the ground.
Then, they just sat on the edge of the roof, existing.
"So, Veronica," Betty began. Sweet Pea dragged a hand down his face.
"I guess it is another day."
"You bet. How could you not...I didn't…" Betty bristled slightly.
"Cool it. I think even Veronica doesn't know."
"How could she not?" Betty asked.
"Well, look at Jughead."
Betty frowned, not liking that comparison, "He doesn't live with his dad. Veronica does."
"Then, I dunno. I mean, lots of people would never even entertain the idea that we exist. Things that go bump in the night and all. They'll come up with explanations crazier than the truth to convince themselves otherwise. I'm sure Veronica's been doing this all her life."
"Are they dangerous?" Betty asked in a low voice.
"I'm tempted to say yes, but we just don't get along. I mean, theoretically, no more dangerous than us."
"But how can they feed if everytime they bite someone they change them?"
"Fairy tales," Sweet Pea waved her off, "You have to die to become a vampire. You have to die with their blood in your system. They're just eating when they bite a human, or whatever. And they have their weird mind control thing, so no one remembers, if you're good at being a vampire. And the Lodges?" Swee Pea blew out.
"You know more about them, don't you?"
"Well, yeah. They're sorta infamous." Sweet Pea offered Betty one of the few saved fruits to eat, "So, most vampires, they just...exist. Like thousands of years. The Lodges are all about the importance of the family line. Some claim they're directly descended from the first ever vampires, so to them, changing people isn't good enough a legacy. They gotta actually have blood relatives."
"They can...erm," Betty didn't know to ask it without being crass.
"No." Sweet Pea thankfully understood it, "They wait to change the females till they pop out a kid. Then they change em. I mean, they still do it young. With the males, usually save some sperm like in a sperm bank- I know, totally weird- and all that stuff. Most male Lodges are changed before they graduate high school. So family reunions are like totally crazy, I'd imagine. Because they're all really family and no one's ever died of old age. And everyone looks totally young and stuff. They're as close to American Royalty as anyone could ever get."
"Because they're vampires?"
"Yeah, because. They're always around to keep their monopolies on shit, never having to hand it off. Everyone has their own thing they do, so soon, they'll fucking own all of America. It's really messed up, you know."
"So...Veronica…"
"They'll likely wait to change her until she has a kid. They don't necessarily always change the 'others', like the males who give a Lodge female a kid or the other woman who gives a Lodge son a kid. Hermione must have really made a good speech to let her into it. Or, Hiram really loves her."
"They believe in love?" Betty asked, finding it a little hard to believe.
"I'd like to think so, yeah," Sweet Pea shrugged, "Don't, uh, tell Veronica. This isn't something you should learn out of the blue. You'd know. I'd know."
Betty couldn't agree more, "This is just really messed up. And weird."
Sweet Pea laughed, "Weird is such a relative concept, Cooper."
XXxxXX
"I'm making pizza for dinner, do you want some, Kerouac?" Sweet Pea announced with an over-exaggerated sigh, turning around to look at Jughead sitting on the couch, "This offer is going to expire in exactly three...two..on-,"
"Yes, yes. I'd like some." Jughead snapped his head up from his deep thought, "I didn't think you read, Karan, yet somehow you have an endless list of nicknames for me."
"Feel special. I looked them up just for you." Sweet Pea said, which was the truth. He refused, on any level, to call Jughead by his moniker. That would make them feel too, err, friendly. That could not happen. Their cohabitation was circumstantial, not because Sweet Pea enjoyed Jughead's company by any means.
Sweet Pea slid the pizza into the oven, opening a beer and plopping on the couch next to Jughead. Betty's Netflix account, which she was so generous to allow the pair of boys to use, was playing 'How To Get Away With Murder' on the screen. Appropriate, given everything. Although Sweet Pea had no idea what was going on, he let himself be lulled by the TV white noise.
Jughead, though having chosen the show, was not paying any attention at all. He had three different notebooks open and a whole host of library books with careful colored sticky notes in the margin, along with some photocopied town journals.
"What's the scoop?" Sweet Pea asked, leaning over.
Jughead gathered his papers hastily, which was stupid, since if he didn't want people snooping he should do his research in his room. It also just made Sweet Pea really fucking suspicious.
"Work for a new fiction novel," Jughead said, because Sweet Pea absolutely caught a couple keywords that made his skin crawl; werewolves, unexplained deaths, bodies drained of blood.
Shit. Even if Sweet Pea entertained the ridiculous idea he believed Jughead's claim, this was worrisome.
But he couldn't let Jughead see that. Thankfully, the timer dinged and Sweet Pea was able to gather his emotions and save face.
"Sounds stupid," Sweet Pea snorted.
"Yeah, you would say that." Jughead's voice was dry. When Sweet Pea brought out the pizza, the papers and newspapers were gone. There was a map open, with an area circled and some other notes.
"What's that?"
"Fuck you're nosy."
"It's my house, Jones." Sweet Pea held out five pieces of the large pie to Jughead. No way was he getting half.
Jughead seemed to argue with himself, "Pine Hill. Where Betty's grandmother might be."
"Oh, and Polly."
Jughead's mouth opened and then snapped closed, "Yes. And Polly." He clearly thought Sweet Pea would not be in on this info, "Betty wants to find them. Problem? It's nearly five hours away, eight by bus. And neither of us have a car."
"Yeah, it's important to find her." Sweet Pea spoke without thinking, "I mean, I think she just knows something about Jason's murder."
"Since when do you care?"
"If there's a psycho out there murdering teens, I wanna know." Sweet Pea pointed out.
"Right. Yeah." Jughead's expression melted from anger to near embarrassment.
"Does Little Miss Rich have a car?"
"Veronica?" Jughead's face twisted, "Probably, but to be honest, I don't really love her or her family. I'd rather not be indebted."
Praise be, something logical, "Mhh. Archie?"
"He has enough problems right now without dragging him into this," Jughead waved a dismissive hand, "I know Cheryl and Reggie have cars but…" Both boys shuddered together, though probably for very different reasons.
"We're running low on choices."
"What about Kevin?" Jughead offered, as though forgetting for a moment who he was scheming with. It almost felt normal.
"Pickup truck. It's gunna be cramped." Sweet Pea rubbed his chin. At Jughead's incredulous face, he scoffed, "You think I'm going to miss out on this adventure? No way."
"If Kevin says yes." Jughead bit out cautiously.
Leave that to me. Once he knows all of it, the mythological specifically, of course he'll say yes.
LOTS TO UNPACK HERE. LOTS
*Lots of little plot points being explored too, sorry if you felt like it was jumping around a lot this chapter! Or maybe some of you like the smaller snippits. Lemme know
*I just sorta love writing domestic BROtp Swughead XD It's hilarious to me for some reason
*oops vampires? I realized I never told Betty in this story? oops? NOW SHE KNOWS!
*can you imagine maple tree reunions? Where like the spirits are the trees and everyone is fighting like in Mulan? It would make family reunions that much more interesting, that's for sure
*So, originally, Archie was going to be totally normally human. Then, this plot wrote itself. So here we are. He's still human, but it's more like he has a special skill. Like how some people can play soccer, Archie can do this. He's a Grimm. If you don't watch Grimm (great show) it just means he can see magical creatures even when they're not trying to be seen. He's also uniquely built to kill them, but well, that's later.
*Yes, I borrowed the spell from The Vampire Diaries for the locator. I'm a little lazy.
*Reggie's plot line is developing! How do you like it?
*And, to give you guys an idea of my ahead writing, I just hit 300 word docx pages. I've literally spent nearly 75 pages writing (or, re-writing) episode 'In A Lonely Place' because I have like 8 big plot points that I didn't realize all connect and need to be changed in THIS chapter for other episodes to make sense. But, that means we're nowhere near done!
As always, leave a review!