Thank you to my one loyal reviewer for this chapter, Boris Yeltsin!
Song for this chapter is 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' by Bauhaus! It's a fantastic song. I've been saving it specifically for this chapter ;)
"You hanging in there, Polls?"
Oh, well, you know. As well as expected.
"I was invited out tonight...I can cancel if you need me."
No! Oh, please don't let me keep you away. I'll be fine. I've been fine for months without you, I can do a night.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't." Betty twirled the necklace, sighing.
If I need you, I can reach you.
"I guess, but-,"
You need to de-stress. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!
"Maybe less than you'd do," Betty's lips quirked up, "Since, you know, you're pregnant."
She could feel Polly's laughter on the other end. She couldn't recall the last time she'd felt so connected to Polly. They'd always been loving, but this was different. Maybe it was the magic, or maybe they just understood each other better. Whatever the case, Betty had to be grateful. She felt like she needed her sister more than ever lately, and vice versa.
Betty had mixed feelings about being invited out. On one hand, she did want to attend. She wanted to have a carefree night. On the other hand, she wasn't so naive.
The meeting in Betty's portal had ended earlier this afternoon. While Sweet Pea was down for the count, Betty-with Cheryl's help- had rewired Toni's memories so when she was changed, FP would be none the wiser. Betty knew that Sweet Pea could more or less hide his memories, or think of anything but those. Unless FP had a reason to snoop, he'd be okay.
They wouldn't give FP a reason.
It was decided no parental involvement from here on out. Go on as normal high schoolers, while simultaneously attempting to bring a boy back from (or was it to?) the dead.
Halloween, excuse her- Samhain- was the optimal choice, however too far away. The only person who could tell them what happened the weeks leading up to Jason's death was Jason himself. Plus, the longer they waited, the harder it would become to revive him.
The date was set for the Fall Equinox, September 22nd...just over two days away. Sweet Pea, when he woke, was confident he could get it all together in time, as was Cheryl. They'd bring the most trusted wolves, and Betty, and give it the old college try.
Cheryl then helped reroute Sweet Pea's memories, since that was one of her family's specialties. Sweet Pea offered helpful loopholes exactly how to navigate around an Alpha command. They associated everything with Jason to a different name, Bill, as they'd call him until the ceremony. And, once he was a vampire, he wasn't really going to be 'dead-dead' anymore, so Sweet Pea wouldn't really be looking into his 'death'. It was all very underhand.
Betty was torn on that too. On one hand, this seemed like a bad idea. All of it. On the other...Polly could get Jason back. Cheryl would get her brother. Betty would have a confidant who was another witch magic user. She wouldn't feel so alone. She wasn't sure she and Cheryl would ever be friends, but they weren't enemies anymore. That was clear.
But, most importantly, they'd finally get some goddamn answers.
This superseded every worry.
"Are you ready to party?" Sweet Pea asked, crawling from the portrait, "V's here."
"You smell her or something?" Betty asked, since she herself didn't know this. Sweet Pea barked with laughter.
"Erm, texting?"
Sometimes, in the rush of all this magic, Betty forgot about simple human things. Like a phone. Duh.
He'd opted to just stay put and revive himself with magic. Kevin was hanging around too, but in Betty's bedroom. Betty had claimed a midterm study date with him.
"I don't know-,"
"Betty wants to chicken out," Kevin said.
"Nope!" Sweet Pea refused, "Even if this was just good old fun, we have a mission. We need to get some very necessary supplies. I've been flipping through your grimoire and I think I have it down pat. We'll see what Cheryl thinks, but, I'm confident."
"What sorts of supplies?" Betty frowned, "And where are we going to get them?"
"I know a guy. Don't worry bout that." He was throwing the latch on the window, using words that always made Betty worry, "Time for you two to go to Kevin's house to finish this project, eh?" He winked.
Betty wasn't sure if her mother bought her excuse, but she didn't pester too much. She skillfully caught her mother with her glass of Merlot as she headed to edit tomorrow's newspaper. Her mother really didn't like to be bothered during that time, so she just gave an abridged version of her 'be safe, come home at a reasonable time, don't be stupid' lecture.
Josie had her car, and Joaquin was already squished in the back. Veronica had shotgun.
"Found your beau wandering around, missing you," Veronica teased Kevin, "We all good?"
"To New York!" Sweet Pea said in a deep voice, "Onward!"
XXxxXX
Betty decided that she actually enjoyed road trips. She only had one other experience, when she went to her grandmother's, but she decided that there was something inherently fun about gathering into a car with a group of friends and just straight up driving.
Josie's car was a handed-down soccer van, usually employed to cart around all the equipment for the Pussycats. She'd shoved a whole box of assorted wires and extension cords into the back hatch, having taken most of her equipment out of the car, but discarded and scribbled on sheet music cluttered the bottom of the ground like leaves. Betty had tried not to muddy them up, until Josie insisted they were old and she should probably get around to throwing those out anyway. There was also some seaweed sometimes dried on the seats, and a musky aroma of the river, which just made Betty raise a quiet eyebrow to Sweet Pea and then to the back of Josie's head.
Sweet Pea had just nodded, which hadn't quite answered her question. Then, seeing her confusion, he'd texted her 'creepy opera mermaid', which she assumed was his not-so academic definition of sirens.
Josie and Veronica were in the driver's and shotgun respectively. Kevin and Joaquin were in the very back row, Joaquin's arm swung around Kevin's shoulders. Betty knew they had very small amounts of time together, and just seemed pleased to be around each other. This left Betty and Sweet Pea in the middle bucket seats.
Veronica spent the first half-an-hour of the journey bitching about her mom. Since she was the one that was footing the bill for this whole little adventure, no one complained. Well, Kevin and Joaquin were in their own world, Josie was focused on the road and just gave little 'uh-huhs' of agreement every so often, Sweet Pea couldn't care less, so really, it was Betty leaning forward to listen to Veronica.
"I'm so glad you came, girl," Veronica said, clasping her fingers tightly with her own, "We've both been so busy recently."
Betty squeezed back, "I am too."
"What did Cheryl want to talk about today?"
"Something about wanting to help Polly." Betty shrugged.
"Did you actually believe her?" Veronica's face pulled into a frown.
"I don't want to. Still, we'll see."
"Hmm. You went home sick and you still didn't manage to change outfits, by the way," Veronica teased, "We'll have to change that."
"What's wrong with my outfit?" Betty argued.
"We're going clubbing. You're wearing vans, old jeans, and a sweater." Veronica said it like it was obvious.
"You look like you're going to church," Kevin threw out, backing Veronica up.
"I wouldn't go to church in jeans!" Betty argued, slightly horrified. Or, rather, think of the hellfire her mother would rain upon her if she tried to wear this outfit to the local parish.
"Luckily," Veronica grinned, "We're the same size and somehow I had the thought that you might dress like this. So, I have some spare outfits in the back."
"Is that necessary?"
"Yes." Veronica said firmly.
The majority of the car-ride, apart from Veronica making a point to talk to everyone in the car, was Josie playing music and then being half-offended when people didn't recognize her favorite jazz or hip-hop tunes, and then being able to rattle off the history of said music with a reverence that Betty had to perhaps her Nancy Drew novels.
Then, about forty-five minutes away from New York City, Josie was horrified and demanded to know what everyone listened to, if they weren't listening to her type of 'good' music, which started a pass-around of the iPhone jack where everyone tried to argue why their 'sub-par' music (according to Josie) was worth her consideration.
"You're sorta a music snob," Sweet Pea observed, which Betty thought for sure would get a furious look in the rearview. Instead, she just laughed.
"Music is my life. I sort of should be!"
Veronica liked pop-songs, but it was mostly pop songs in which she'd either had a part in somehow (from being in a music video to being 'the muse' of a certain love song, and Betty for sure believed she was telling the truth about 3/4ths of that) or if the artist was 'a dear friend'. Basically, as Sweet Pea summarized, name-drop songs.
"Oh, please," Veronica had snipped back at him, "I bet most of your favorite songs hold fond memories to them. So what if my memories are just about the people who made them and not having my first messy make-out with it playing in the background?"
"You know it's ridiculous, Lodge," Sweet Pea stood his ground.
Kevin listened to normal pop, as Betty knew, and mostly mid-2000s tunes that Betty hadn't heard since middle school. Joaquin, surprisingly, was a fan of classical.
"It calms me down", he'd said simply. Betty couldn't argue with that; anything to calm a werewolf down was fantastic in her book.
Sweet Pea was the second most religious about music, and listened to a wide variety of everything . Since everyone only got about three songs with the jack before passing it, Betty had a theory that he was trying to be as weird as possible with his tunes. It went from a straight-up redneck Country song, to a sci-fi new age European electronic instrumental, to finishing with a emo/metal hadbanger. His music choices left everyone vaguely uncomfortable and on-edge. Betty was sure if he had another song, he'd play a Christmas song in September or a song made for toddlers, just to really throw the group off.
By the time Betty got the jack, she just played her three top songs, which fell somewhere within the 'folk/singer and songwriter' if she really had to make a judgement of it.
Around the time her second song was ending, they were well into New York City.
Betty had only been here once before, for a third-grade field trip, and she found her eyes glued to the window, taking in the sights and very loud noises of New York. Veronica played tour guide, pointing out some of her favorite haunts from her old life here, as well as funny stories. Josie, who had been here a handful of times for her music, had a few stories of her own.
To her great surprise, Sweet Pea seemed familiar, but Betty couldn't imagine when or why he would have been here before. He could have run, since she knew Sweet Pea could cover great distances as a wolf, but a gigantic werewolf running through the streets of New York was sure to cause a few heads to turn. Or, on the other hand, perhaps not.
Veronica directed them to a parking garage. When Josie went to print a ticket, Veronica waved a hand. She instructed Josie to pull up near the stand where the meter worker was taking cash, and waved him over.
She only had to hand him her ID to have him fumbling over 'Hello, Ms. Lodge' and other greetings with half-bows, before letting them in, free of charge.
"It helps to be a Lodge," Veronica said with a pleased shrug, but her eyes were gleaming like Betty hadn't yet seen from her. It was a sense of power that she probably rarely got in Riverdale.
"Your family just owns the whole city, doesn't it," Joaquin asked as they piled out.
"Not the whole city," Veronica replied innocently as she popped the hatch, digging out a suitcase of clothes that were covered in glitter or sequins, "Maybe just half."
She then banished Josie, Joaquin, and Sweet Pea away while she and Kevin chatted amongst themselves for the best outfit for Betty.
"Don't I get a say?" Betty asked, trying to peer over their hunched shoulders.
"No," Kevin replied without even looking back.
"How do you feel about five inch heels?" Veronica asked casually, as though asking Betty her preference on color.
"Uh...I...no?" Betty struggled, trying to imagine how terrifying that high of heels would be.
"Oh, right," Veronica said, as though her answer revealed more than Betty thought it did, "Three inches, max." She told Kevin, who promptly was able to discard what seemed like half of the shoes in the back.
In the end, they held up a pair of black jeans that seemed so tight that it might be better to paint them on then try to wriggle into it that had more zippers than a backpack, a velvet-looking white cropped tank, and an obnoxiously shiny golden moto jacket, of course along with a pair of gold platform heels, gold earrings, and black bangle bracelets that Betty just knew would make a ton of noise every step she took.
It was an outfit that, yes, looked good but would never be an outfit Betty would have picked out for herself. Veronica must have seen her face, because she pouted.
"We even went more conservative than what I could have picked," Veronica said, "Nay, what would have gone with the thematic grouping!"
Glancing at the group, Betty realized that yes, this outfit was fairly covering and somehow still different from everyone else's vibe. The boys weren't too outrageous (although, somehow, Kevin had donned a jacket that made him look like he was straight out of an 80s music video) but Josie and Veronica were wearing slinky small sparkly dresses and heels that were verging on stilts.
"Fine," Betty huffed, hauling herself into the back of Josie's car to change. Veronica followed in to put on her makeup. Her high pony could apparently stay, since it was verging on chic, which was one small miracle. Veronica was able to competently and effectively do more or less a full face of Betty's makeup in ten minutes, while Betty was squirming about to get dressed. That, in itself, was talent.
Once outside, Sweet Pea was on his phone. He glanced up on instinct at the movement, and was momentarily paused. His eyebrows creased looking at her.
"Is it fine?" Betty asked, tugging on her tank-top.
"Yeah, sure," Sweet Pea said after a long second, waving a hand and looking back at his phone. Betty was about to feel really stupid about the whole look, until she saw a red flush creep up his neck. She pressed her lips together, unsure if she was stifling a frown or a smile, but either way pushed it to a thought for another time. She slinked up by Sweets, waiting for the next step in the grand plan.
Betty had tried to text Sweet Pea on the drive down why it was so necessary to come, and what 'supplies' they were going to get, but he'd just shook his head back at her, mouthing 'later'. Which either meant he didn't want to tell her then, in the car, or it would take too long to type.
"So, I get it's your night V, but I just have to stop at a different club, just super quick. Depending on where you were going to take us, you can either just chill outside or go, and Betty and I will meet you there."
"Why is Betty going with you?" Veronica crossed her arms.
"Uhm," Sweet Pea, for all his skill at lying, clearly hadn't thought of an excuse to this. At least, no valid reason to why Betty would want to come to a club with him, one out of the way. Or, a human excuse, because Betty would have just straight up told the group, had Veronica been 'in' on things.
"Well, where are we going tonight?" Kevin cut in, distracting Veronica.
"Oh, my favorite club! It used to be my usual hang-out when I lived here. It's...lemme type in the address, and then we can see how far away they are." Veronica said, but her eyes were still narrowed with suspicion when she looked at Betty and Sweet Pea. She typed hers into Sweet Pea's phone, and handed it back to Sweet Pea.
Sweet Pea took it, looked at it, and frowned.
"I think your address got deleted, somehow," He said, handing it back to her.
"No, this is the club."
"Wait, wait...how do you know The Lugosi ?" Sweet Pea asked, startling. Betty covered her lips with her hand, tilting her head, and she gave a small frown of thought. That name tickled something in the back of her mind.
Veronica gave a coy grin, and a girlish giggle, "I just might happen to know the owner, personally," She breathed, a small flush to her cheeks with a sexy wink, "He'll be sure to take care of all of us tonight."
Sweet Pea crossed his arms, "You know Nick St. Clair?"
Veronica's expression slipped off her face, her jaw hanging, "How do you know Nicky?" She demanded back.
"He's...procured the odd thing for me, here and there," Sweet Pea said uneasily, "I wouldn't say we're friends, but we have a good thing going. I pay him, he gives me hard to get things. Or, vice versa."
Veronica snorted, but she had this moon-eyed expression on her face, "That sounds like Nick."
"So," Joaquin said, stepping in between them, palms pressed together, "Can we assume that the club you wanted to go to and the club you need to go to is the same place?" He asked, pivoting between Veronica and Sweet Pea.
"Yes, that's the bottom line," Veronica said.
"Great!" Kevin clapped his hands, "Why are we standing around, then?"
"Good question," Veronica agreed, "We have the night waiting for us."
XXxxXX
"You didn't take the job," Jughead said to his father in an even tone of voice, when he saw his dad pass by Sweet Pea's trailer. Where Sweet Pea was, Jughead didn't know. He'd come here to just deflate for a little bit, after learning from Mr. Andrews that his father had declined. He hadn't expected for his dad to walk by, but Jughead couldn't help stopping him. He closed the door to Sweet Pea's trailer behind him, hands shoved in his pockets.
"You heard," His father said carefully, eyes narrowing in on Jughead.
"Yeah, of course I did. I live with Archie now. Temporarily." Jughead snapped, "Goddammit, dad, why? I...I'm trying to do a good thing for you!"
"Hey, I get that," FP said, grabbing Jughead's head in a motion he hadn't done since Jughead was little, "And I appreciate it, but it wasn't in the cards."
"Why not?"
"It wouldn't...I'm…" FP rarely seemed so lost for words.
"Can't tell me?" Jughead asked, feeling like this was a theme he'd noticed the older he got.
"It's for our safety."
"Our safety?" Jughead repeated, "Dad, you can't be serious. I mean, this is Mr. Andrews. What is he really going to do?"
"For his safety too!" FP said.
"Against who? The Serpents? You tell them not to, they don't, dad! I've noticed how they all...parade around after you." Jughead whipped his hand away sourly.
"No, against people who could really fuck shit up, son," FP said.
"You mean you?" Jughead asked dully, "Because you seem pretty good at doing that without any outside help."
Then, before his dad could reply, Jughead stormed back inside. He watched as his dad was about ready to come inside, but someone called his name across the group. He peered through the blinds as his dad went and got something from his house in an angry huff, before returning back out as the two vanished into the forest.
Just as Jughead was turning back to angrily click through Netflix, the sound of a creaking door paused him. He turned back to see the front door to his dad's trailer eek open.
His dad had forgotten to lock it.
XXxxXX
As they were walking across the city, Betty recalled where she knew the name from.
Bela Lugosi, the name of the actor of Dracula. One run through Sweet Pea's familiarity and the fact that the Lodge's were vampires told Betty what sort of creature she was probably about to meet. She'd met Hermione, but she often forgot that she was a vampire. It sort of thrilled her to meet a real-real one. Possibly one that was hundreds of years old!
To cement this, Sweet Pea grabbed Betty's arm and pulled her to hang back, just out of earshot.
"It's a creature club."
"What?"
"A place made for us mythos," Sweet Pea murmured, low in her ear, "Where we can, you know, be ourselves without fear of scaring humans."
"Well, how does Veronica not know, if she's been here before?" Betty asked.
Sweet Pea was frowning, "I don't know. What I do know is that I don't like or trust Nick, but I know he gets the job done. He was changed at least 200 years ago, and he makes my skin crawl. Be on your guard with him, mhh?"
"I don't really plan on leaving your side," Betty admitted.
"Probably best. We need some hard to get items for the revival. The stuff to bring a person back from the dead aren't easy things to get your hands on, for good reason. If the Lodge's own half of New York, the St. Clair's own the other half, easily. Anyway, let me do the talking, mostly. I've been dealing with Nick since I was twelve."
"Any other helpful hints?" Betty asked dryly.
"Yeah, try to have fun. You are a mythos now," Sweet Pea's grin was wide, "You'll find a whole host of witches around tonight. I've made the occasional friend here, you might want to do the same. Network."
The line was wrapped half-way around the building when they arrived, but Veronica just walked right to the front.
"Diego, it's been far too long," She said, throwing her arms around a bouncer who looked like the type to hate hugs. He, surprisingly, broke into a grin.
"Miss Lodge, I'll alert the Master you have arrived."
"The master," Kevin mumbled, "Kinky."
Within a minute, a kid was arriving out into the open air, wearing a suit that Betty was sure cost millions. His watch alone was more than Sweet Pea might ever make in his life, and frankly more than her own house might be worth.
"Ah, Vicky, I've been eagerly waiting, darlin'," He purred, bringing her in for a kiss. Veronica grabbed his neck, pulling him into a not very PG kiss, something that caused Betty to avert her eyes. They made a big motion about their passion, up until Nick noticed Sweet Pea standing slightly protectively in front of Betty, arms crossed, looking uninterested in the show. Nick stepped toward Sweet Pea, which just made Sweet Pea stand more in front of Betty's view, seemingly on instinct.
"And...Sweet Pea. Small world, I suppose. I forgot the name of the little nowhere town you came from," Nick said, his gaze meeting Sweet Pea's.
"How weird, right?" Veronica asked.
"The weirdest," Sweet Pea agreed with no emotion whatsoever.
Nick just gave a flat look, but then his face twisted into a smile, "Well, come in, then. Let's go and chat, hmm?"
Once inside, he gave each of them a stamp which would get them free drinks at the bar, on him, of course. He seemed to do a strange double-take over Kevin, but Sweet Pea told him 'he's good' and that was that.
"I'll find you in a minute," Veronica assured Josie. The siren nodded as she took Joaquin and Kevin's hands to delve into the crowd.
Betty was feeling a little overwhelmed. She could feel magic everywhere. It was suffocating. It was so much everywhere, from every direction.
"Isn't your friend going to join them?" Nick asked, looking at Betty with a curious expression.
"She's with me," Sweet Pea said, throwing a very friendly arm around her.
"I can also talk, It's Betty." Betty jutted her chin out. This dude may be 200 some odd years old, but he looked and acted like an arrogant teen. Betty knew well enough how to respond to those types.
"Veronica, you just make the most hilarious of friends!" Nick exclaimed. Still, he took her to the back area, where there were some large sofas. Sweet Pea had Betty sit close enough so that their legs were pressing together, and one look at Nick's face made Betty get it. If she was 'with' Sweet Pea romantically, it would stop any unwanted advances towards her. Ah, yes. Smart.
Betty looked back to see Veronica practically lounging across Nick's lap, who was nuzzling her neck, inhaling. Then, he turned to cast his gaze upon Sweet Pea. His fingers tapped on the couch arm, as he left them in silence, lording his power over them.
"I have to ask. I see a siren, two werewolves, a witch, but that gay human? I get he's obviously dating the other one, but…"
Betty's and Sweet Pea's eyes widened for him to be talking so casually in front of Veronica.
"She doesn't...she's…" Betty started to explain. Nick laughed.
"Of course Veronica doesn't know," He said, petting her hair, "But I've compelled her to never remember anything that happens in this club reguarding anything supernatural, unless, of course, it's that the sex was too good to be human," His grin sent a shiver up Betty's spine, "She won't recall anything said right now. She'll go home remembering the best wine and cocktails, me, and just a good time. No harm to her, of course. Veronica and I...we always come back to each other, you know? Everyone knows who she is, and if they want to keep their lives and the lives of everyone the love, no one would dare do anything to her."
Betty didn't like this. This sounded not really like love, but a twisted Christian Gray-esque obsession. Sweet Pea held her shoulders, keeping her from doing something stupid. Well, he should have duct taped her mouth, because that was her best weapon.
"She's not even reacting to all of this!" Betty blurted, "Or did you-,"
"Compel her to not be afraid or even register what we're saying? Witch, I've been doing this since before your great-great-great grandmother was born," He laughed darkly. He looked like a kid, but he was around so long ago that it made her head spin, "There is no slip-ups to be found anywhere here."
Betty felt sickened by all of this, but Veronica seemed so gleefully happy around Nick.
"No, I didn't compel her to like me," Nick scoffed, seeing her expression, "I do have some standards. We just get each other. We've had fights before, trust me, some of them here. It's been months, of course we're happy to see each other."
"So you're...what? Her boyfriend?" Sweet Pea gave a snort of disbelief.
"Why put a label on it?" Nick tilted his head, "I see other people, so does she. I'm not the jealous type. But as I said, we just belong to each other. At the end of the day, when she's changed, we'll be unstoppable. That's just what this endgame is."
Sweet Pea made a noise in the back of his throat.
"Hun, why don't you go wait in my back office, mhh?" Nick said, kissing her forehead.
"Of course. I'll be out with you all soon, okay," Veronica said, winking to Betty. Before she left, Nick pulled her back, grabbing her wrist. He grinned, and his fangs snapped down.
"I just can't wait, babe," He said apologetically, biting her wrist and sucking. Betty squeaked, covering her mouth. Veronica didn't even seemed phased by it, just laughed like it tickled.
"Nicky!"
"I know, I know," he said, licking his lips, "But you're just too delectable, Lodge."
Once Veronica had vanished near the back, Nick sat, still licking his fangs free of blood.
"Human blood is our food, obviously, but drinking her's? It's like tasting ambrosia." Nick explained.
"Riiiggght Edward Cullen," Sweet Pea said with narrowed eyes, unfurling a list, "Here's what we need. You got it on you, or will you have to ship it?"
Nick just looked at the list.
"My, my, what sort of naughty things are you up to, Karan?"
"Better not to know." Sweet Pea tapped something on the list, "And none of that diluted shit. We need completely pure blood."
"If you need my blood right from the source, I should know what you're getting into. Or, rather, who?" Nick was rifling through a set of drawers, taking out little boxes or pouches.
"A kid. Does it matter?"
"My blood doesn't turn just anyone, Sweet Pea," Nick said sharply, "The St. Clair bloodline is a pedigree."
"Fine," Sweet Pea bit out, "You know the Blossoms?"
For some weird reason, Nick looked at Betty, then to Sweet Pea. It was for sure a very obvious pause on her.
"Turning a witch? How unexpected."
"The male twin." Sweet Pea said, and Nick looked less interested.
"I suppose if you're paying, all the same…" Nick shrugged, collecting the items together and setting them in front of Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea began combing through them for quality control check. Nick wrote a price on a sheet of paper and slid it over to Sweet Pea.
Sweet Pea nearly choked, "You're fucking shitting me, man? I've been one of your best customers and sellers! This is scalping."
"Hey, I'm not just getting you Tears of Orphans or some shit, this is grade-A supplies, which you want if you're reviving someone. I'm sure a trade could be made…" He looked at Betty with a wicked grin.
Sweet Pea went rigid.
"No," his voice was rough in a way that caused Betty to shiver, "I'll pay it. Just...don't even look at her, got it?"
"He's a little touchy, hm?" Nick laughed, still looking at Betty, "But, you're right, you have been very useful. Two vials of her blood and I'll cut that in half."
"No-,"
"Well, wait," Betty broke in, "Is witch blood hard to get or something?"
"Run-of-the-mill witches? Hardly. Dime a dozen. But someone like you? That's like liquid gold in your veins."
"I'm not great with knives…" Betty said slowly.
"You think I'm a heathen or something? God," Nick looked upset. He pulled out two syringes, "All very clinical, clean. Safe. Infected blood is no good to me."
Betty shot Sweet Pea a look, and he didn't like it, but she allowed Nick to take the two vials. She squirmed a little, but it felt just like getting a shot. Or, she'd given blood for Red Cross, and this was less than that. So, it wasn't really so bad, plus it seemed to really be helping out Sweet Pea, but she did feel a tinge bit dizzy afterwards.
When he was done, he bit his own wrist and offered it to Betty. She looked at it dubiously, just blinking at the red blood that dripped from his vein, uncomprehending.
"How new is she?" Nick asked, amusement seeping into his voice.
"Less than a month," Sweet Pea replied, "And you're the first vamp she's interacted with knowingly. Besides Momma Lodge."
Nick nodded, looking back to Betty.
"My blood heals creatures. Even werewolves, but it's unlikely we'd ever willingly offer and arm up. We're a little bit of life-long rivals," He said, but seemed to be half-joking.
"There are some...side effects," Sweet Pea coughed, looking uneasy.
"What kind?" Betty asked sharply, crossing her arms.
"Nothing too bad, darlin'," Nicky said smoothly in that cool-as-water voice of his, "Thought what I think your little furry beau is referring to is that sometimes, you end up having some tantalizing dreams about the vamp whose blood you just drank. Not everyone has 'em, and it's only really if you have a lot. You'd just need a drop or two to heal." As he spoke, he pressed a finger to his still open-wound, almost pressing it to her lips. Betty jerked back.
"Sex dreams," She repeated. She looked at Sweets.
"It's up to you. He's right. It's not confirmed you will," Sweet Pea gave her a nod that it was okay, or at least her choice and she pressed her lips to his wrist uneasily. She knew if she felt this crappy the whole night, Nick may offer her a bed or something somewhere. Betty would rather take the slim chance.
It didn't taste like blood, or not how she'd thought. It wasn't overwhelmingly copper-tinged, like when she bit her lip too hard. Instead, it was almost sweet. The copper taste was there, but hidden under layers of something she couldn't place. Immediately, the wound on her arm healed up and her head cleared.
When she was done, Nick rubbed her arm a little bit too comfortingly.
"Well, if you ever need any other business, now that you have that sort of witch in your back pocket, the doors will open up for you, Karan," He told Sweet Pea.
"Yeah, sure," Sweet Pea answered sourly, clearly uncomfortable with this whole situation. He tucked the parcel into his jacket, into various little pockets. At Betty's curious look, he shrugged, "Safest place for all these things is on me."
"Hey," Nick said, catching them as they started to join the group back downstairs, "You might still feel unbalanced, a little off. It's like that the first time you have vampire blood. It's almost like...a drug, some may say. Get some food at the bar, it will make you feel better. Don't have drinks right away. You like risotto? Our chef makes incredible risotto."
Betty blinked, surprised.
"Uhm, yeah, thanks," She said, her fingers running over where he'd taken blood from, though there was no sign now of what had transpired.
"I might be a vampire," Nick said in a very serious tone, halfway into the room Veronica had vanished into, "But I'm not a monster."
First off, and very importantly, I have been nominated in two different categories at the 'Bughead Fanfiction Awards' on Tumblr! For the best sci-fi/fantasy one-shot for my first chapter of 'Hic Sunt Dracones' (The sex pollen one) and for 'Best Other Couples Author'. You can still vote tonight on the tumblr page, so if you like my writing, it would truly mean the world to me if you would consider casting me a vote!
I have also posted my Sweet Pea x Betty Cooper 'short' for Cherlynne. It ended up being not so short...it's under Karios on Wattpad or Archive of Our Own, or just posted as a one-shot on my tumblr 'youngbloodlex22'!
As for notes from the chapter...
*Glad to finally get some clearness of the dates of this story. While writing this, season 1, it's crazy to realize basically all of it takes place in about six weeks. Yikes!
*To call Jason 'Vampire Bill' (if you watch True Blood) was not my original intention, but now it works
*Nick is also just too good of a villain not to introduce earlier. Ahaha, we hate to love him. And yeah, he's a monster, don't let him fool you for a second
Lastly, I only got one review on this last chapter : ( If you are enjoying this, please consider dropping a review to show your appreciation!