Fate can be Fatal

Part 12: Hard to Hear

"In the car Cheryl" her mother orders, but Cheryl stays put, wedged between Toni and her grandfather. 

Toni then takes a step forward, aiming to protect Cheryl, "Thought you didn't want her" she asks. 

"Like I do, you've made her deviant, unnatural, the sisters need her" Penelope enforces, even walking closer to the trio and grabs Cheryl's arm, Toni tries to stop it.

"I'll figure it out" Cheryl tells Toni before touching her arm warmly and following her mother to the car, smiling awkwardly back at her before it screeches off into the night.

Toni is close to tears by this point but her grandfather comforts her with a gentle touch on her shoulder, "My Dear, let's hope for the best, and if things get worse, the police will be informed" and with that, they get in her grandfathers car and head home.

No words are exchanged on the way back between the estranged women, but once they make it home, Penelope makes sure her daughter gets inside. "Thought you didn't want me?" Cheryl pushes. "Go pack" her mother then orders, "Why?" questions the red haired girl. "You're off the the sisters" says her mother. 

"But... that's for orphaned children" Cheryl says, wanting to persuade her mother differently. 

"It'll fix your... deviant ways Cheryl" and she walks into the kitchen, ignoring the building anger on her daughters face.

"My deviant ways?" Cheryl takes a step closer to her mother.

"We both know what I mean, it's not right" Penelope replies, "As much as I hoped you would've... grown out of it, it's back to ruin us" 

"And by it, do you mean Toni?" Cheryl says angrily.

"No my dear, don't you remember your friend Heather, once that issue was out the way, you were fine for a long time, until now" Penelope replies.

"No mother, I've never been fine. I grew up in a household overruled by greed and hatred. Jason was murdered by my father, who is now dead. You have treated me like shit for 16 years, all the emotional abuse, telling me I would never be good enough, that's fucked me up, the thing that's helped me is the comfort of very few people. And so what Toni is one of them, she's helped me more in two weeks than you have in my entire life" Cheryl rages, but is stopped when she feels a burning slap on her face, making it red and painful. Her mother shows no remorse. 

"The sisters will cure this" Penelope enforces once again.

"They can't fix something that's not broken, especially in the context you mean" Cheryl finally says.

Cheryl no longer fights and heads upstairs, to Penelope's delight. She checks the door before she does, and was it was locked. Once upstairs, Cheryl has the urge to call Toni but doesn't instead. She posts on her social media one last time. 

"Northsiders and Southsiders alike, I am Cheryl Blossom and from tonight I'm most likely to go off the grid, I have no say in this, but if anyone, anyone wants to know where I am, it'll be with the sisters" and turns off her phone, packs some clothing and heads downstairs to be greeted once again by her mother.

"Are you ready Cheryl?" she says and her daughter nods, they leave the house and head off to the sisters, ready for the long drive.

The post is seen by many in a short space of time, the majority of who don't pay any attention to it. However, Kevin Keller, the social media guru of Riverdale see's it, pieces the puzzle together and tries to go find Toni, to tell her. 

For some reason he realises he has Fangs' number on his phone, and quickly dials it. Thankfully he gets through, "Hello?" Fangs questions, "Fangs, it's Kevin Keller, I need to talk to Toni Topaz if you don't mind" without a reply from Fangs, another voice comes on the phone. "Hold on" and Kevin waits.

"It's Toni, who is this?" she asks, "I'm Kevin, Kevin Keller" he begins.

"The boy on the street, the one who was with that Betty girl" starts Toni.

"Yes, yes that was me now please can you listen?" 

He takes the silence as a yes and begins, "Look, I don't know the situation between Cheryl and yourself but it can't be just friends, she's off to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, an orphanage outside of town which also practices gay conversion and I'm certain that's where she's being made to go"

"How do I know you're not fucking with me?" questions the pink haired girl.

"It's on her social media, and... I was almost sent there once, for the same reason, and know many people who went there, it's hell, don't let her get there" Kevin says and hangs up, leaving Cheryl's fate, once again in her hands. 

She knows shes not going to let Cheryl rot in a place like that. She heads back into the Whyte Wyrm and stands on a table to grab attention. 

"Listen up" and all serpent heads turn, "Anyone know the sisters of quiet mercy?" she questions, luckily Betty Cooper had to be in there with Jughead tonight and says, "I do".

Toni hops off the table, "Please help me then" and reluctantly the Cooper girl agrees. 

"What do you need?" she asks.

"Cheryl Blossom is being taken there, like right now" she tells everyone, hoping they'd step up as serpents and help another out. 

"Toni,----" Jughead begins.

"No, don't do that, I know you Jones, we're not leaving her" and he goes shy.

Sweet Pea and Fangs stand up, "We'll help you Tons" they say, as many others begin to agree, "I know Cheryl's not everyone's favourite, but she's mine and I'd die before I allow her to get trapped in a place like that" Toni ends with, to the cheer of many serpents. "Gets go then" Sweet Pea yells and a large crowd of serpents head outside to their bikes.

"If we beat them there, she's probably with her awful mother, we wait outside, got it?" Toni yells and the serpents nod in understanding. 

Tens of bikes swerve off into the darkness of Riverdale's night, on a mission to rescue Cheryl Blossom.