Taken- A Bughead Fanific

Chapter 7: I Am My Own Demon

Penny was hunched over fidgeting with something. I had even less energy than before. I could barley keep my eyes open. I started drifting off again when someone grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back and up, awakening me. I winced. I could feel some of my hair follicles in the back being ripped out of my scalp.

"Stop! You're hurting her!" I heard a familiar voice cry. I squinted my eyes and furrowed my brows.

"Jughead?" I whispered out. Was he here?

I attempted to open my eyes wider. Everything was blurry because my eyes were watering involuntary from the scalping. I was very dazed and confused. I blinked hard, scrunching my face up to clear my vision. A laptop was in front of me on top of an old, maple wood desk. A familiar face was on the screen.

3rd PERSON POV:

Jughead desperately shook his computer as he watched the people who tried to kill him hurt Betty. All he could do was helplessly watch as Malachai tore her hair out of her scalp, waking her from her slumber. Jughead's eyes saddened has he saw her. Her whole face was a different, sickly color. She had deep-purple bags under her eyes, like him. Her neck was skinnier and he could see the outline of her breast bone. Her collarbone poked out like a thorn on a rose bush. She had on a dress he hadn't seen before. It was a night sky, blue-black color with a plunging neckline and spaghetti straps. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. He had longed to see her angelic, kind face again, her real face, not the pictures he stole from the family photo album Alice had left behind. But not like this. It was too painful to watch her suffer because of him. He had to be strong, for her.

He immediately stopped yelling as he heard her start to speak. He picked up that she was completely out of it.

"Jughead!" She said eagerly. She almost sounded like she did when she last called him, drunk.

"Betty? Do you know where you are?" Jughead frantically asked, "what did you do to her?"

Penny stepped in front, blocking his view of Betty. He ducked his head, attempting to see her better. He felt he needed to keep his eyes on her, to make sure Malachai wasn't doing anything more.

Penny cooed in a sing-song voice, "don't worry Jones, the fluids in her body are just dangerously low from lack of water, food, and any sort of nutrition at all! In a way, she is kind of hallucinating, almost, in sense,"

Tears formed in his icy, blue eyes. They were mostly from the sympathy he felt for Betty, guilt, and anger.

"Penny," his voice quivered in a pool of animosity, lowering his face into the camera, "anything that you do to her I will do to you ten times harder. Get the fuck away from her!"

"No need to be so hostile, now," Penny whined. She backed up backwards and rolled out of view.

He focused on Betty again, her head dropping down, her eyes fluttering, trying to stay awake and aware. Betty's limbs were helplessly duct-taped to the arms and legs of an antique, wooden chair. I opened my mouth to talk to her, but Malachai then stepped behind her. He had something in his hand. A shiny, metal bat.

"Is he going to hit her with that?" He thought.

Malachai straightened himself on the left side of Betty and cleared his throat. Knowing what he was about to say, He cut him off. "Please, don't do this," Jughead pleaded, his eyes watering. He looked down at his black shoes, hoping he wouldn't answer. Archie stood behind Jughead out of view, weeping.

"I don't know what to say, Jones. Next time, use a better tone. You know better," he sarcastically reasoned.

He reached his arm as far back as it it could go. Betty sat blissfully unaware of what was about to come. Malachai swing his arm down onto her shoulder, like Betty was the baseball. Her eyes shot open and she writhed in pain, a sharp crack traveling down her body at a high speed. Betty yelped as she heard Jughead burst into tears. He could barley understand what words the raven-haired boy was trying to say.

"I'll, I'll do anything, p-please, please s-sssstop," Jughead cried.

Betty watched the screen, tears streaming down her eyes. It wasn't because of the pain. It was because the man she held closest to her heart, the man that was so protective of her, had to watch. Jughead's mouth had fallen open. A mix of slobber and snot had formed on his chin, dripping down his neck and onto his legs.

"It's okay, Juggie!" She winced through the pain. She was sure that the deranged man had shattered her shoulder. She wouldn't say that out loud, though. She had to stay strong, for him. She continued, trying to coax him out of his meltdown. Her words were sweet and soothing, "Juggie I'm really fi-"

Another pain struck her kneecap on her right leg. She doubled over in searing pain. He stomach met her knees. Jughead screamed more incoherent words into the laptop. It was mostly pleading, but some profanities definitely slipped out. His hands formed into a praying form, intertwining his fingers together. "I will deliver drugs for you for the rest of my days," He wept, "In till the day I die, I swear, just s-stop hurting her, please, I'm begging you!"

Malachai starred into the camera, while Penny waved him off, "okay, Malachai, thanks," she said, calling the shots from behind the camera. Malachai slowly looked at Penny and then to Betty, who was still stuck in her position, shaking. He knelt down to the chair and grabbed her neck. The rough grip wasn't choking her, but it was still hard to breathe. He raised his arm, forcing her to come with it. Once she was upright she side-eyed him. Malachai reached into her cheek and stuck out his tongue while tilting her head to the side. Her hair fell back revealing the three, dark red claw marks that draped over her face. A little bit of blood still oozed out of the cuts. He started at the bottom of her check and made his way up to her temple, lapping up the blood. Betty shut her eyes tight, a tear falling from the other eye he wasn't licking.

When Malachai revealed the cuts on her face to her boyfriend; he turned on the mute button and shouted, "You piece of shit! You're a piece of actual garbage!" He pointed at the screen. His hands shook. He looked at Archie, stunned by everything. "He will pay for this. They all will. I will sniff out and kill every Goolie on this earth when we get her back."

"Is that right?" A not-so friendly female voice echoed through the room. He never put it on mute. Then Penny ended the call.

"No no no no no no!" Jughead repeated, grabbing his hair and pulling it down. He threw his beanie across the room. Then his phone buzzed.

Meet us at Southside High in two hours. If you bring police or any of you're friends, she dies. See you then, lover boy.

His worst nightmare had come to life. Had he killed his own love?

I did this, I am my worst nightmare. I am the monster under the bed. I am my own demon.