What We Once Were

Chapter 1.

4 1/2 Years Later...

Betty glanced back in the rear view mirror from the driver's seat. They were almost to Riverdale, driving there from Manhattan took almost 6 hours and after 4 cups of coffee, Betty was still half asleep at the wheel.

In the backseat, sitting in her grey and pink car seat was Betty's four and a half year old daughter Juliet. In her little arms she clutched her Nancy Drew book Betty had gotten for her on her last birthday. Her little head leaned against the window as she slept soundly as they rolled down the highway.

Juliet's head of raven black hair was tied back into a high ponytail, just like her mother had always done. She was wearing blue jeans, pink and white Velcro shoes that lit up when she walked and she wore her Empire State Building t-shirt.

Betty gave her daughter a loving smile and refocused on the road, enjoying the sounds of Juliet's steady breathing and the calming music from the radio. Betty's eyes glanced at her messenger bag in the passenger seat. Reminding her of why she was being 'forced' to return to her hometown. If it had been up to her, Betty never would have came back to Riverdale. But of course her boss had different ideas.

Betty was the best investigative the Times has ever seen. In her three years since she'd worked there she'd uncovered and exposed some of the biggest murder and homicide cases the paper was to report on. Betty wasn't afraid to stick her nose in other people's business and get to the bottom of a problem in order to get all the right answers. She loved her job and she was proud of the work she did, and the best part was that Juliet was proud of her mom too.

Betty had seen this many times when she'd pick Juliet up from preschool and she would turn to her classmates and whisper, "That's my mommy. She solves mysteries like Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew."

Betty smiled at the thought, Juliet was so funny, she'd happily tell everyone what her mom did. For career day at preschool, Juliet announced and decided that she wanted to be just like Betty. When the teacher had told her this. Betty had never been more proud of her daughter.

However, Betty wasn't exactly looking forward to this assignment. In the last three weeks, Riverdale had made national news again for the first time in almost five years. Two girls had turned up in the woods with strange markings on their backs, there were no signs of rape or sexual abuse either which was strange. The same thing happened to another 16 year old girl a few days ago. Betty's boss had called her in and with her upbringing in this town, he deemed her best suited for the task. After a brief overview, he sent her out to team up with Riverdale's best investigative journalist to solve the case. Betty hadn't gotten the name of the person she was working with, She'd been busy at work wrapping up an assignment, packing (both at work and at home), and dealing with Juliet, contacting her mom about staying with her for the summer. Betty hoped that she would figure this one out by the end of the summer.

But of course it was Riverdale, and nothing ever seems to go as planned in this town.

Betty shuddered at the thought and just as they took the exit off the highway, Juliet stirred and yawned. Her deep blue eyes fluttered open and met Betty's.

"Did you have a good nap Jules?"

Juliet yawned and rubbed her eyes, "yes momma, are we there yet?"

"Almost, only 30 more minutes." Betty answered.

"Ugh. We've been in this car forever." Juliet complained.

"It's not that bad. It's only been five and half hours."

"That's forever." Juliet whined.

Betty giggled at that, Juliet crossed her arms, "Not funny mommy."