𝓳𝓪𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓼 𝓿𝓾 || JUGHEAD JONES ¹

• twenty-four •

I and Cheryl stood on the stairs as our parents opened the door to reveal the Coopers.

"Don't bother calling the cops." Mrs. Cooper said. "We're not staying. Polly!"

"What the hell is going on here, Alice? It's the middle of the night." my dad whined.

"Oh, sorry to disrupt the witching hour at Thornhill." Alice said.

"Polly, honey, are you okay?" Hal Cooper asked as Polly appeared and stood next to us.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Betty, what's going on?" Polly asked.

"We're here to bring you home, Pol." Betty said.

"She's not leaving us." Cheryl whined.

"She chose to live here, remember? With a mentally stable family," my mother, Penelope Blossom said.

"Oh, I know all about your family, Penelope. And the incest." Alice said.

"What? What incest?" Polly and I asked at the same time.

"Hal's grandfather wasn't just your grandpappy's murder victim. They were brothers, which made him a Blossom. Just like Hal." Alice said.

"Yeah, so what?" my dad asked.

"So what?'" Alice Cooper. "So, everything, starting with FP's confession, has a few gaping holes in it."

"He's being used by someone with a crazy motive, for example, hiding incest.l Betty said.

"You were disgusted that Jason and Polly were dating because they were related." Alice said.

"Nothing could be more purely Blossom than those babies." mother said.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," I said as I waked down the stairs.

"Okay, what is wrong with you people?" Hal asked.

"Will you just spare us the middle-class morality? It's not like they were brother and sister. They were, what, third cousins." my dad said. "You think I killed my son?" he continued.

"That's it. Polly, we are out of here. Enough of this Doctor Moreau experimentation in breeding and eugenics. It's over!" Alice yelled, stopping off with Polly.

"Betty, let's go." Hal Cooper yelled.

My dad grabbed Betty's arm. "You've made a grave error, little girl."

She hissed. "No, I don't think so. And I'm not gonna stop until I prove it." Betty said, yanking away and stomping out.

I rushed after Betty. I didn't know what to believe but I knew for sure that I needed get out of Thornhill.

🌹

We walked up the dark path and Kev finally spoke. "Whatever it is we're looking for, Joaquin didn't know if it would help your dad, or make things worse." Before leaving, Joaquin gave Kevin a clue about something that might help with the whole investigation. He wasn't sure if it was helpful or not but it was our only lead.

"Um, guess we're going to find out." Betty said. "And why did he wait so long to tell us?"

"FP called him from jail. Told him to forget about their plan, some contingency plan. He said it was too dangerous." Kevin said.

"Deja vu." Jug said. "Hey, right here." He reached down and dug through the branches and pulled a duffle bag out. He opened it and pulled out Jason's jacket.

🌹

Archie sighed as I placed he jacket on the ground.

"This is meant to help FP?" Arch asked.

"I don't know. Looks like more incriminating evidence to me." Kev said.

"Yeah, this just confirms that my dad torched Jason's getaway car." Jug said.

"And that his confession was true." Kev added.

Maybe we aren't seeing something." I said.

"Why would FP say Jason's varsity jacket is dangerous? What could that mean?" Betty asked.

"I can ask my father," V said walking in. "He would know, considering we found concrete proof that he hired the Serpents to kill Jason and harm Rose. Which probably means that your dad pulled the trigger, Jughead. I'm sorry."

Yes, Veronica, everything's about your dad. I bet he assassinated Kennedy too.

"No. No! No, I'm not giving up yet." I said picking up the jacket. "Archie put this on now."

"What?" Archie asked.

"Arch trust me." I said. "Put it on."

"Rose, this is weird." Arch said as I pat down the jacket.

"I'm here trying to solve my brother's murder and figure out who did this to me. So shut your mouth." I said.

"There's a hole in the pocket." I continued.

"Okay, now we're just grasping at straws." Kev said.

"Trust me." I say. "I don't know about you guys, but whenever I have a hole in my jacket pocket, I always lose my chapstick and rings in the lining."

"Or my Montblanc?" V said as I dig in the pocket. I moved and patted around the bottom of the jacket. I felt something.

"She has a point," Betty said.

"Hold on." I said as I moved it towards the hole and pulled it out. It was a small silver flash drive. I gave it to Betty.

"What the hell?" V asked.

"That's some serious Nacy Drew skills right there," Kev said.

"Jug let me see your laptop." Betty said and he handed it to her. "Ready?" she asked.