Shedding Our Skin {Jughead Jones}{Bughead}

Chapter Six

Veronica flipped through the pages of the diary, skimming over them for anything important. Every once in a while, she would pause to read over a passage, then keep reading.

Meanwhile, I looked through some notes I had Joaquin take of the meeting, hoping to find something I overlooked and keep my mind off of Betty.

My concentration was soon broke by Veronica slamming the diary shut in frustration.

"Nothing." She said, with tears in her eyes. "I couldn't find a single thing!"

I sighed, disapointed.

"But," Veronica said, placing a hand over one of mine, "you, are a very lucky man, Jughead."

"Yeah, I know." I said, tears forming, "But my luck always seems to run out, doesn't it?"

"Maybe not, Jug, this is Betty we're talking about!" Veronica tried to reassure me, "Let's just start from the beginning, with the note. What did it say again?"

"It was under her cardigan, and said You might need this for the cold times ahead. All you need now is a fire to keep you warm. ~C.W. give or take a word." I told her, sniffling and trying to calm down.

"See, that really makes me think the Candle Wicks have something to do with this. C.W., Candle Wicks? You know?" Veronica said.

"Yeah, but someone said CW was the initials of the Muertos' leader, remember?" I countered.

"Sure, but what about the part about a fire? Candles have everything to do with fire!"

"You may be onto something." I said, "But what if instead of a warning, it's a set of instructions? What if it's the Muertos indicating that we need to eliminate the Wicks before they'll release Betty. You set candle wicks on fire, which essentially destroys the candle."

I shook my head.

"We're really running out of time, and it seems like both of them could be guilty." I said dejectedly.

"What if they are?" Veronica offered.

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, the Serpents seem to have a world of power that these two don't. What if they're working together to try to wipe you guys out?"

"Well yeah, that makes sense, but what does it have to do with Betty?" I asked her.

"Well, you're a pretty well known name on that side of the tracks, probably because of your father, so what if they're trying to get you out of the way because you're doing so well with the Serpents?"

"If that's the case, then we'll just have to deal with them both. Regardless, they're beginning to pose too much of a threat anyway!" I said.

"Are you sure you're ready for the war that may start?" She asked.

"I'm sure we can handle it."

Little did we know, regardless of how this situation turned out, there was a bigger war right around the corner. This would be the least of our worries.

A/N: Sorry I've been slow with posting lately, I've been on vacation as well as dealing with a personal matter. Hopefully I'll start posting again soon!

~A.M.