Varchie series

Chapter 6 - rivival

Archie's pov.
I looked Veronica up and down after our hug ended, "who did this to you Ronnie?" I asked, seeing how hurt she was. "I don't feel very good Archie" she muttered, and I realized I was carrying most of her weight. Then I saw it. She had been shot in the shoulder. "Someone call an ambulance!" I yelled. "Already on it" pop said dialling. "C'mom Ronnie stay with me" I said as her eyes started to drift off. I wrapped my arm around her head, holding it up. And was shocked by the amount of blood there was. "She's loosing a lot of blood" I cried out. "Lay her down" pop ordered. I layed her down in a booth, I took of my shirt, and tore it, wrapped one half around her shoulder, and put the other on the wound on her head. By this point her eyes were shut, and her breathing slowed down. "C'mom Ronnie you can't leave me now, you're here, your safe... " I whispered.  I reached out and grabbed her hand. And I swear I felt her squeeze it. "I won't let you die Ronnie" I whispered. Shortly after, Hermione burst in, someone probably called her. She ran over to her daughter. I stepped aside, and let her hug her daughter. But she turned to look at me. "Thank you for helping her" she said. "I really didn't do anything mrs lodge" I admitted. She smiled. "I think you did more then you know" she said. In that moment, the ambulance arrived. They rushed in, and started tending to Veronica. "Please, take care of her" I said to the man taking Veronica into there car. He nodded. "We'll do what we can" he informed me. I frowned. "No, that's not good enough. You will take care of her, and she will get better. You understand?" I asked again. And again , he nodded.

Veronica's pov.
it's funny how fast my body could find what I was missing, when my brain started working again, without a thought, my hand reached up, and felt around in the air. And I felt a warm set of hands grab them. I smiled. My hand was looking for Archie. And he knew it. He would find me too. "Archie" I smiled opening my eyes.. "Ronnie" he said with relief. "Your gonna be alright v, I'm here now" he said. "Archiekiens Were not out of the woods yet" I said weakly. Archie frowned. "Veronica, what happened. Who shot you? How did you get to pop's?" He asked. "I don't know" I said with tears rising up. "Whoever it was wore a mask, kept me in a shack out in the woods. I don't know who it was but there still out there...." I said starting to cry. "I'm scared Archie" I admitted through tears. "Don't be. I'm not letting anything happen to you. And I'll take care of whoever this guy is" he said. "Archie..." I warned. "I'm serious Veronica. I love you okay, I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you." He said.

If only I had known then, that soon, Archie would hurt me worse then any gun ever could. Because the bullet had gone through me, and out. It had exited. And the pain stopped. But Archie would never leave me head, or my heart. And the pain he caused, would haunt me forever.

Archie's pov
Soon after Veronica woke, they had her talking to the sherif. And had let me come. "Veronica, I'd like you to explain in great detail, what happened. Little things that don't seem important, could turn out to be game changers" he informed Veronica. "I was walking home from school." She started. "Do you walk home often?" The sheriff asked. "Yes.." she responded. "Do you walk the same way every time?" The sheriff asked. "Yes.." she said again. The sheriff jotted something down. "What?" She asked in confusion. "He knew when, where, and what time you'd be walking home, He's been watching you for a while" the sheriff reported. The thought of some creep watching Veronica sent shivers down my spine. "Continue" the sheriff ordered. "It was raining, hard. I couldn't see that far ahead or behind me, and the rain was so loud, I couldn't hear" she continued. "But then I felt something hitting my head hard." She said. The sherif nodded, "by looking at the scar on your head, the doctors and police think it was a brick" he informed her. She nodded. "I fell to the ground and fainted" I said. "And that's when you hit your head for the second time" the sheriff said knowingly" Veronica nodded. "I woke up for a few seconds, I was in a moving car, I was tied and blindfolded" Veronica said. I winced. Seeing the shape Ronnie was in, I knew I'd have to listen to a lot of terrible things. Things I didn't want to hear. But Ronnie needed me here. And the last time I sensed she needed me, but I let her walk away. She got hurt. I held her hand as she continued. "When I woke up for the second time, it was only a day ago" she said . "So you were unconscious for four days" the sheriff said. "Was it really four days?" Ronnie asked. The sherif nodded. "Can you describe what the place looked like?" The sherif asked. "Empty, bare grey walls. Flooded floor, and no windows, it was a basement, I was tied to a chair in the middle of the room" Veronica said.  The sherif continued taking notes. "I managed to escape most of the ropes, except the ones on my hands, which I wiggled of later" she says. "I freaked" she admitted. "I had to get out of there, it was probably stupid, but I threw the chair at the door, and I guess the shooter heard it, and came down" Veronica said. "What did the shooter look like?" The sherif asked. "Black clothes, medium height, white mask. Modified voice. I don't know the gender" she said. "He gave me food" she said. "So he intended to keep you alive." The sherif noted. "I guess" Veronica shrugged. "What changed?" The sherif asked. "Might have something to do with the fact that I tried to hit him on the head with a chair leg" Veronica admitted. "You what?!" I asked. "Ok I get that it seems stupid, but I didn't want my life to be over. Even if I lived, he wouldn't just let me go. Sitting in a basement for the rest of my life isn't living. I wasn't ready to give up, I don't want to be the kind of person who just sits around and let's stuff happen to them. And even if I died, I would have died trying. And just to point out, I didn't die. I'm here, and if I hadn't done that I wouldn't be" I argued. I understood where she was coming from. Betty was right. Veronica was a fighter. That was a good thing. She was brave, and determined. Something I admired. "You took a big risk" the sherif pointed out. "Everything worth doing is a risk. The higher the steaks, the bigger the reward" Veronica pointed out. "More to lose too" sheriff reminded her. "I didn't have anything else to loose" Veronica whispered. The sherif nodded. "Then what?" He asked. "He tried to shoot me in the head, but missed, then I ran, and he shot me in the shoulder, I kept running he kept shooting, till he ran out of bullets, he dropped his weapon, and chased me, but when we got close to town he stopped" Veronica finished. "And I don't think the person was an experienced shooter, his aim was lousy" Veronica added. Sheriff Keller nodded and took a few more notes. "You've been calling the shooter a he" he pointed out. "I don't know the gender, I just need something to call him/she/it" Veronica pointed out. Sherif nodded. "What did the place look like, and where is it?" He asked. "It's a small wooden shack deep into the woods, it took about half an hour for me to run from there to here, I don't know witch direction," Veronica admitted. "Thank you for talking with me Veronica, I'll keep in touch" he added. Veronica nodded. And I followed her out. "Ronnie, I am so sorry, this is my fault I-" I started. "Archiekiens, this is in no way your fault. Don't even think that" she said. I looked down. "I'm supposed to be comforting you" I laughed. "Are you gonna be okay?" I asked. "Silly as it is, the thing I was worried most about was not seeing you again. Because thinking you would never know how much I love you terrified me. But now I'm with you, so  I think I'll be just fine" she smiled holding my hand. And I felt my eyes start to water. "Archiekiens, what's wrong?" She asked in a whisper. "Nothing, I just missed you that's all" I said. "I love you Ronnie, so you better not leave me again" I said. She smiled. "Can't promise that. But I can promise I'll always find my way back" she said. She leaned in and kissed me. And I got that warm feeling, the kind you get when you know you're exactly where you're meant to be.