Ｂｕｔ ｊｕｓｔ ｌｉｋｅ ｔｈｅ ｂａｔｔｌｅ ｏｆ Ｔｒｏｙ
Ｔｈｅｒｅ＇ｓ ｎｏｔｈｉｎｇ ｓｕｂｔｌｅ ｈｅｒｅ
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Maria Reynolds recently moved back to Riverdale to try and make some sense of her life
but when she accepts the h...
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6| Ⓐ ⓜⓘⓢⓢⓘⓝⓖ Ⓑⓛⓞⓢⓢⓞⓜ |
It was the 4th July, Maria had to walk into town and do her own shopping for the first time. It made her uneasy being surrounded without Jughead by her side. He always knew what to get for her, what she needed but he wasn't here today. He gave her a list of the brands and how much it will cost so she wouldn't forget. So there she was in the third isle looking at the different cereal. Her thinning eyebrows were scrunched together as she stared at the different sort of cereal.
Very slowly, she reaches out and places a brand she is sure is her usual in her trolley. Maria continues her journey through the store. Her eyes glued to the shelves as she reached for the things on her list. The aged brunette seemed more focused on Jughead. Yes, she was concerned for her young friend away from home, she wanted him to have a great time travelling but something told her that something bad was going to go wrong.
Her dull eyes scanned different shelves with various items on them, some she needed some she didn't need to spare a second glance at. She suddenly had a wave of sickness come over her as she caught the eye of some of the people in the store. They all spoke in quiet whispers and then she heard audible gasps from their lips. Maria stopped for a moment to watch them, to see their reactions and to try and gauge why people were acting this way.
Eventually, she manages to finish her shop and walks to the till. Her mind still trying to work out why people were reacting similarly.
There was a young girl with red hair and chewing her gum as she scans Maria's items.Her eyes were a bright forest green as she looked at Maria, her eyes flickering from Maria to the rest of the customers. She seemed uneasy. The girl chewed her lip before pausing her hand movement to look into Maria's eyes.
"Did you hear?" the cashier spoke in a quiet whisper. Maria gave her a small quizzical frown before leaning forward to hear the girl better. The girl looked around her area before speaking "Jason Blossom has gone missing, presumed dead." The cashier slowly slumped into her chair before resuming her hand movement. She watched customers utter the same words over and over and over again 'Jason Blossom'.
Maria stared at the cashier before paying and quickly exiting the store. Her mind was processing this information. A young boy was missing, possibly dead. She knew the name but she couldn't picture the face. The words were whirling around her head like some sort of disease and she couldn't shake the feeling of uneasy, how could this happen? This could've been anyone. Maria cringed instantly, this could have been Jughead. Her Jughead. The aged woman couldn't help but feel bile rise up her throat as she pictures Jughead washed up on the lake with blood oozing out of his nose and his skull cracked.
Just as she reached her house she noticed someone sitting at her doorstep with their head in their hands. She instantly recognised that hat. Without thinking twice she ran to the person on her step, dropping the bags next to her as she leaned down and engulfed them in a hug.
Jughead Jones let out a shaky breath as she tightly held on Maria, her warmth was soothing his inner storm. Since he had been gone his dad had got worse. He was meant to leave on the road trip but Archie bailed. He held onto her like she was the only thing keeping him here.
"Jughead, God I was so worried about you," she paused, blinking away the tears as she spoke, "I-I thought I lost you when I heard about that boy I couldn't help but-" tears ran down her face and Jughead shushed her as he cradled her head. Her body shaking as he held her tight and she was afraid if she let go then he'd be gone. The two sat there for what seemed like hours but eventually, Maria took her shopping in and made Jughead a cup of warm tea and they sat in silence.
Maria was staring at him, taking in his appearance and his attitude. She was taking in every single detail as he sat in the setting sun, the warm light of the sunlight was shining through the room creating a beautiful glow. She had decided it was her job to take care of Jughead. She could see he was upset about something and it wasn't about Jason Blossom's missing body.
However, that night Maria couldn't sleep. She kept seeing blood. Blood that didn't belong to her or Jason Blossom. No, this blood had haunted her from her teenage years and now it felt like it was terrorising her.
