Under The Blood Moon

Business in Greendale

A week.

Jughead had been following Veronica around for a week and still couldn't figure out what was going on. He ignored the fact that what he was doing could be considered stalking and continued with the investigation just to see her do everyday normal things. Wake up, go to school, hang with Betty, go to work, go home, argue with her parents, go to sleep, repeat. Every day for a week. He was sick of it, he felt like he was losing his mind.

Jughead stormed into the diner and right up to the counter Veronica was cleaning.

"Okay, spill. What the hell is going on!?" Jughead practically yelled.

"What the hell are you going on about Jones?" Veronica stopped cleaning and leaned on the counter with her palms.

"You! Everything you do is so normal, so ordinary, but then you go and do some weird shit with me and I just need to understand!"

"What the hell are you talking about? How do you know what I do?"

"I've been investigating you and-"

"What the hell? Have you been stalking me, Jones?"

"What no..." Jughead knew he'd messed up. "I mean yes but I have a valid reason." He tried to plead his case.

"Oh and what would that be?" Veronica crossed her arms and looked at him questioningly.

"Well anytime I get hurt you're right there to like-" He cut himself off not knowing how to phrase it. "And when you kissed me back there my busted lip had healed and I don't know what kind of magic you're using but I need to understand."

Veronica stared at Jughead, her eyes searching his. A moment later she pushed off the counter to stand straight. "One guess."

"What?" Jughead cocked his head slightly.

"One guess as to what is going on. I wanna know what's going through that beanie-covered head of yours."

"Well honestly..." There was a short pause. "I don't know"

"Leave it Jughead. There's nothing you need to concern yourself with" Veronica stated bluntly.

"What? No, I won't-"

"You will." Veronica raised her eyebrows in punctuation. "Do you understand me, Jones?"

Jughead wasn't sure exactly how to respond to that. He wanted to know everything. Had wanted to know for weeks.

"Veronica really I just want to understand what is happening to me" He pleaded. It didn't work. His response was Veronica turning away from him to pour a cup of coffee for another patron. He sighed before getting off the stool and leaving the diner entirely. Research and maybe a nap were in order.

After hours of nothing coming up in his intense research, Jughead stowed the laptop fully ready to take that nap and sleep off the annoyance. 

A scream ripped through him as he jerked away. Sweat pooled at the base of his neck, his hands trembling. The nightmare that awoke him slowly faded. The only remnants... blood-covered lips filled with bright white teeth.

Jughead sat there slowing his heart rate when his phone lit up with a new message.

It was a pinned location sent from Veronica's number. Just moments later she sent a time, 3:30 a.m. If he was understanding her message correctly he had about an hour to get dressed and head out to a random clearing, in the middle of nowhere, off the coast of Sweetwater River. Fantastic.

It was nearing the end of Senior year meaning the weather was warming up and the ground was thawing out. Dead leaves and forgotten twigs crunched under Jughead's feet as he trudged through the woods. The blue dot on his phone leading his way showed he was almost there. He looked up through the trees to see the clearing come into view.

Stepping through the tree line Veronica came into view as she too stepped through. She had changed out of her earlier Pop's uniform and into something much more fitting for a hike through the woods. Jughead stared as Veronica walked to him with ease.

"Why am I here Veronica?" Jughead asked much more calmly than he felt.

"Because there's something you should know. This way." Taking a deep breath he followed close behind.

Before he knew it Veronica was holding out an arm to stop him from walking further. She looked into his eyes presumably asking, are you ready?, without words. He nodded back not sure if he truly was.

Veronica looked to the full moon shining above them, extending her arms to the sky. In one swift movement, she snapped them down and the wind whipped across his face. When he looked to the ground where Veronica held her gaze he almost screamed. Bile rose in his throat at the sight before him.

"What the fuck is this Veronica?" He yelled over the dying wind.

"You're the only one who could truly understand, Jughead."

"Veronica... you just made a dead body appear out of thin air. I repeat what the fuck is this." Right there between the two teens was a man who looked to be mid-thirties, in a three-piece suit and paler than the snow that had just begun melting the week before. There were no visible wounds that he could see besides the bruising on his neck just above the shoulder.

"I had to go out to Greendale to get some stuff a while back. This creep followed me trying to take me home. I politely declined but he didn't take no for an answer."

"So you killed him!?"

"It's not like that! Listen."

"I'm trying."

"Yes I killed him but that's not all. I'll explain the rest if you just help me cover this up. From what I can tell this man was in Greendale for business and has no family to come looking for him but I can't leave him here for the summer. I need you to help me hide the body."

Jughead spent some time staring between Veronica and the mystery man between them.

"Where are we putting him?"