Shedding Our Skin {Jughead Jones}{Bughead}

Chapter Seventeen

"I want to meet in the parking lot of the Worm. Nine o'clock tonight." I said, hanging up immediately.

I walked calmly back into the meeting room, and addressed the crowd waiting for me.

"At eight thirty, we meet inside the bar. Bring as many weapons as you can carry. I'm not sure how many people Pug will bring, but I'm going to be sure we're ready. Does anyone want to back out?" I asked.

I was met with a silence that answered my question.

I stood before the gang, still shirtless under my jacket. My hair was a mess and I know I looked tired beyond sleep. However, I could feel every drop of blood in my body. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest, and I was shaking. I felt alive.

It felt nice.

When I stepped outside a little later, I knew I should've put a shirt on this morning. Although it was February now, it was still cold.

It was a few hours until the meeting, and we had done about all of the planning we could. I stood in the parking lot, ignoring the coldness eating at me, and realized that my birthday had come to pass and I didn't even go to the movies. I chuckled a bit. So much had changed and I was sure it wasn't for the better. I finally faced the fact that I wished I hadn't left Betty. Maybe there was another way.

I made a promise to myself to try to make things right when this was all over with Pug.

I decided to take a walk to clear my mind and prepare me for the night.

I found myself walking towards the trailer park, my feet knowing where to go even if I didn't.

I stood before what used to be my home and barely recognized it. I thought about the nights I spent alone, coming to terms with each problem I faced. I wasn't ever very good at that.

I walked in and looked around. Somehow I was surprised that nothing had changed. I suppose I expected the structure to reflect my own apocalypse.

But in the end, I was the only thing here that had changed.

I kept this thought running through my mind as I walked through my old home. When I got to the bedroom, I had found one difference, and it was something I would never expect to find.

On my pillow was a neatly folded note. On the outside, my name was written in a handwriting I'd recognize until the day I died.

Just as I had feared, Betty Cooper had been here.

Jughead-

If I wrote down everything I want to say, I'm not sure I could find enough paper. Things are good here. 'Things' do not include me. I'm not good.

I hope you stay safe. I really hope one day I'll at least see you again, hopefully not in a casket.

I folded the note, and numbly stuck it in my pocket.

And I kept walking.

Next was the Southside's old park. Everything was faded and rusted, but it was full of children. Unafraid of the shadows already being casted over this town and their own lives. This park was sacred, and it always had been. The worst people in Riverdale grew up on the creaking swing sets and the rusty slide that was notorious for shocking you. They all played on the jungle gym, and monkey bars. There was no danger here.

I sat down on a bench tiredly and stared blankly ahead.

I wasn't pulled out of my stupor until a pair of children caught my eye. They were twins.

The boys waddled about awkwardly, putting there hands on everything in arm's reach. They were new to this world and still learning about it.

I wondered if they had an uncle at home, loving and brave, who didn't leave them the way I left Persephone and Paris. I wondered if they had an aunt who glowed the way my Betty did, and a kind mother like Polly.

I felt a dull ache as tears rolled down my face.

And I kept walking.

I was back at the Worm. It was eight o'clock, which meant I had a little under an hour to gather everyone and be ready to confront Pug.

Between all of us, we were a regular armory. Everyone was practically covered in weaponry. Everyone except me.

All I carried was a pistol. It's all I needed. Rather, it was all I wanted to use.

"When Pug arrives, I want everyone inside except Sling and Jerry. You guys hang out on the roof in case we need a little help. Donny, Joaquin, and I will go out first. Wait five minutes, then join us. However, if he shows up with a lot of people, wait three minutes. Does everyone understand?"

A sea of nods and various replies answered me.

I smiled. Then, a voice cut through the bar, saying words we were both all too eager to hear and didn't want to hear at all.

"Pug's here."

Before I opened the bar door into the night, I took a deep breath. Tonight would change everything.

He had two people with him. I didn't recognize them, but he seemed to know me.

"Pug." I said. He put up a hand, signaling for me to be quiet.

"I'm not here for small talk, Jughead. I'm sending a message. The Serpents will die."

He said this, and then aimed his gun.

A single shot fired into the night, then Pug would walk away. The night would turn into day, and the Serpents would change as well. A once young, whimsical child would develop the capacity to kill.

That night started a chain reaction that would, indeed, change everything.