The Theory Of Chaotic Perfection |BUGHEAD|

Chapter XXVIII - Murder She Committed

Alice Cooper did not want to hear out Archie Andrews. He no longer wanted to work for her when she asked him to track down Jughead Jones and her daughter. Smashing a glass of water on the table when Archie left, Alice shook her head. She did everything to keep her daughter safe only to have her run away with the enemy.

The rain tapped on the kitchen window, as if a guest quietly begging to come in. It was on a night like this that Alice Cooper took a gun out of her husbands sock drawer and decided to end the life of a man who was threatening her family. 14 years ago when the serpents ruled the south side, like always, and Hal Cooper was rising to power in the north, one of the serpents decided that he was entitled to rule the entire town of Riverdale. He went for the biggest target, the Coopers daughter Elizabeth. Hal was going to give up running for mayor, but Alice wasn't going to give up so easily. When she received the letter from the serpents threatening her daughters life, she took matters into her own hands.

The horrific events of that night came back to her mind and Alice grabbed onto her chair for dear life, no one must find out what she had done. She did it all for Betty, to protect her from the horrible gang they all knew as the serpents. Knowing that Betty ran off with the gang leaders son made her angry, but most of all it made her feel desperate. There was nothing she could do to protect her baby, the serpents won.

Hal came down the stairwell and noticed his wife, head down and crying, sitting at the kitchen table. He put a hand on her shoulder, but she shoved it aside. Their relationship was not the same after that night, and he knew the memories were the problem. Hal could have put in more effort, he could have hugged her, talked to her, but he didn't want to. Sighing, he went to the kitchen counter and put on a pot of coffee.

"We lost her," Alice said through sobs.

Hal nodded his head, "you know Betty, she'll come back the second she realizes that a life without all this is not for her."

Alice cried harder, "but what if he doesn't let her go?"

Of course, Hal knew that Betty ran off because of romance and not because she had Stockholm syndrome, but he had to agree with his wife. "Betty is a smart girl, she'll figure it out."

She smashed her palms on the top of the table, "no she won't!" Alice screamed, "she's helpless and we need to find her!"

"What do you propose we do, Alice, kill Jughead too?" Hal said, trying to show her that she is not making any sense.

Her eyes lit up with insanity, "if that's how far I will have to go!"

Hal laughed, menacingly, "listen to yourself, that's crazy. You kill the man who threatened our daughter, yes, but now you're trying to kill her boyfriend?"

"He is not her boyfriend! He probably manipulated her somehow!" Alice smashed the table again, trying to make Hal listen to her.

~~~

Jughead didn't take his eyes off the road. Occasionally, he would glance to the seat next to him observing Betty who was fast asleep. She was tired from all of their adventures, and even though he told her he knew exactly where they were going, he didn't. Even the daring Jughead Jones didn't step one foot out of their small town.

He felt as if he were lying to her. She was just a perfect small town girl and he was taking her away from all she knew. He didn't even know if she wanted to run away, but he sure did. It was like he was dragging her down with him, and he was scared of the effect he had on her. She was pure, he was dirty, she was perfect, he was flawed, she was perfection, and he was chaos. Whatever they were making together brought the town destruction. Nothing was the same, everything changed. Jughead blamed himself for staring at her, for showing an interest. If only he treated her just like every other girl, but how could he?

Betty started to wake up, and Jughead stopped looking at her. He tried to take his mind off the dilemma in his head. Looking at him, Betty smiled, and he tried to smile back.

"Where are we going?" Betty asked looking around at the road.

Jughead didn't answer, he didn't know where the highway led and he knew that Betty needed to know exactly where she was. He tried to avoid her gaze, but it was impossible to be untrue to her, "I don't know, Betty."

She was worried, but it was an adventure they were on. Besides, if they didn't know where they were going, neither would her mother. Calming herself down, Betty looked outside the car window and tried to enjoy the view of fields. They were far away from Riverdale.

Pulling a map out of the glove compartment, Betty unfolded it in front of her and closed her eyes, pointing a finger at a random town. Her finger landed on Carper Valley and she sighed with relief.

"I know where we're going," Betty smiled, and Jughead looked at her.

She showed him the map, "Carper Valley."

It was risky going somewhere new, but Jughead was willing to try anything and everything. He nodded, agreeing with her and sped up the car. Betty laughed and opened the window, letting her hair escape through it.

Suddenly, they were no longer on a road to nowhere. It was like somehow they created a perfect path to a place. She was his problem solver, and he was her comfort. They seemed to work well together, like two pieces of a puzzle.