How Did I Ever Live Without You? (Bughead fanfic)

Part 18

"Hey babe," Trev Brown whispered into Betty Cooper's ear. She giggled, then turned around to kiss him. People whistled as they walked by, but Betty didn't care. She had finally found someone to make her happy.

"Hey. How was your day today?" She sweetly asked, after pulling away.

"Boring. Mr. Carsten is making us write an essay on who even knows what. You're so lucky you're not in his class."

Betty smiled, then took her boyfriend's hand. They walked out of Riverdale High together, and made their way to Pop's, for their weekly Friday night date. It had been a year since Jughead Jones' disappearance, and the town of Riverdale had forgotten about him. Even Betty Cooper, who had never given up on the boy, was slowly starting to let go of him, allowing herself a boyfriend and a chance to be happy. Jughead Jones was just a boy who made her heart race for a bit, and broke it too. She never really knew him, she was only attracted to him. The town of Riverdale was seemingly back to normal. No one ever spoke of Jughead anymore, and for the first time in a long time, FP had shown up around town, clean-shaven and seemingly sober. It was just another mystery the town had, one that it would take to the grave.

There was one family in Riverdale that was not happy. Their lives had not returned to normal, in fact, since Jughead disappeared, their lives had only gotten crazier. The Lodges. The family of three was deep into trouble, but was hiding its secret from the rest of Riverdale, putting on an appearance.

Jughead Jones was nothing but a memory, and if someone had known anything about what went on with Jughead, they were quickly shut up, and had never said anything. Yes, Riverdale was, and still is, the perfect little town. The perfect little town, with a secret.

Jughead Jones stared at the wall. It was the same wall he'd been staring at for the past hour, the same wall he'd been staring at for a year. Jughead's raven black hair was longer now, unruly and hanging constantly over his face. His beanie was practically in shreds, the only thing keeping it together were the pins on the bottom. His iconic S-shirt was ripped and torn, and faded so much that the S had disappeared. His jeans had holes everywhere, and his flannel was in shreds. The only thing he still had that wasn't torn apart was his Serpent jacket, the leather proving to be too strong to wither.

Jughead groaned, moving to stand up. Everything hurt. His hand reached to his side, where fresh blood was already spilling, the bullet lodged deep into his muscle. He knew that if it wasn't removed, then he would die. It would only be a matter of days. He chuckled dryly. Why would he care if he died? His life was shit. He was trapped in a room, with nothing. He had nothing, and at this point, he probably was nothing. Nobody cared. Cause if someone had, he wouldn't be trapped in this room.

Jughead limped to the door, leaning against it for support.

"Help," he yelled, voice weak, "Please, if anyone can hear me, I need help. Its Jughead Jones. I was kidnapped by the Ghoulies. I need help."

He banged on the door a few more times, weakly calling for help. After nobody answered, he gave up and slumped down to the floor. Tears streaked his face, as his body shook in pain. Everything hurt. Jughead cried harder, and harder, eventually giving up on fighting the pain. He cried his last tear, and succumbed to the darkness.

"Okay boss, he's out. He's still breathing, barely, but he's practically dead. Your plan can finally begin," Malachi whispered. A figure, his boss, stepped out of the shadows.

"Perfect. Thank you Malachi. Expect your payment to be delivered later this week." The figure took off her coat, unveiling her distinct features. Raven black hair, and deep brown eyes, a pearl necklace loosely sitting on her dainty neck.

"Oh, and Malachi? Let's agree to never talk about this again. No one needs to know who was really behind Jughead's 'disappearance'. Okay?"

"Yes Ms.Lodge," Malachi agreed, then walked away, leaving the girl in front of an iron door.

"Oh Jughead. You'll wish you had never crossed Veronica Lodge." With that, she turned open the door, disappearing into the dark.

Dun dun dun! Although, it was probably pretty obvious lol. Anyway, thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
❤Sheaz