ghosts // riverdale

[11]

All hell had broken loose on Riverdale. There had already been a crack in the foundation and a large earthquake had just crumbled the foundation completely. Sheriff Keller was searching for a murderer. A man that had shot Fred Andrews in Pop's Diner and had nearly killed him. A man that had strangled Miss Grundy in her Greendale home. A man that had dumped a John Doe on the banks of Sweetwater River. Of course at this point in time Sheriff Keller was only assuming that all of these crimes were related, there was no way for him to know for sure. He had no criminal. He had no motive. He had no real information. All that he had was cold bodies lying in an even colder morgue and unfortunately for Riverdale, the morgue was filling fast.

All this while Veronica Lodge had a spat with her father, Hiram, in the parking lot of the community fundraiser. For so long Veronica had defended her father against any terrible accusations. As she had said, there was no way that Hiram Lodge could be as bad as everyone claimed that he was. They called him the devil incarnate. Yet, if you know anything about theology than you know that even the devil himself works for God.

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"Veronica," Hiram Lodge mutters under his breath as his cold fingers tighten against the paper in his hands, "what is this?" Tears streak down Veronica's face as black mascara runs down her red cheeks. "You know exactly what that is," she cries, "did you think I wouldn't find out daddy?" Hiram stares down at the black words finely penned across the page, blue scrolls outlining the paper. His name was right there in front of him, right next to hers. Signed by the City Registrar and printed by the city of New York.

"I've never seen this before in my life," Hiram says with a shake of his head, anger and frustration quickly rising in his chest. As much as he didn't want it to be, he knew exactly what this was - what it meant. "He's four months old," Veronica whispers through quiet sobs, "my brother." Hiram's hands tremble with anger as a knot forms in the back of his throat. "Veronica," he cries as hot tears well in his own dark eyes, "I didn't know anything about this."

Veronica gives him a meek shrug. "Then I guess you have a lot to talk about with your mistress," she whispers through more tears. Her eyes fade from him to the space behind him as Brooke hesitates down the stairs leading up to the front of the fundraiser. Her hands carefully swell around the cold metal of the staircase railing as her heels click against the concrete. "Hiram," she says sweetly, completely unaware of the events unfolding in front of her.

Hiram's dull, dark eyes turn from Veronica to Brooke as any sadness that he has is quickly replaced by bitterness. Brooke looks to the scrunched papers in his hands as anxiety swells in her chest, her palms clamming with sweat. "Hiram," she says again, her voice lower than before. "I should leave you two alone," Veronica mutters as her hot tears begin to dissolve. "Veronica," Hiram says, his voice cracking with pain, "I'll speak to you about this soon." Veronica walks towards him, her shoulder bumping his slightly with an attitude as her dark eyes are full of rage towards Brooke. "That's a story that I can't wait to hear," Veronica mutters sarcastically as the click of her heels follow up the steep concrete stairs.

Veronica's presence falls from them as Brooke is left standing on the final stair, her bare legs trembling in the cold. "Hiram," Brooke whispers again, tears filling her own hazel eyes quickly. Hiram raises his hand to her with a shake of his head. A single tear spills down his cheek as he turns away from her. He clutches onto the papers in his hand carefully as he stares down at them. "Hiram," Brooke begins again as she steps down the final stair.

"Stop Brooke," Hiram mutters as he shakes his head again, "just stop." Brooke shakes her head and decides to approach him anyway, her heels snapping against the black top beneath her feet. "I can tell you everything," she says as she wraps her palm up the back of his shoulder. He quickly pulls away from her and turns to face her again. "Tell me what Brooke?" He spits, more tears in his eyes, "That you gave my son away?"