soulmate
ˈsəʊlmeɪt/
noun
a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.
~ Jughead and Archie were as close as two friends could be before Betty had come into the picture, testing the boundaries of their friendship and chan...
also there's a little bit of violence in this chapter, just a fair warning.
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The woods at night had a cliché sense of fear associated with it, there was always that impossible threat of monsters, as if the hazy embodiment of a ghost would appear from beyond the bark of trees. In movies there's always a character frantically fleeing from danger, headed for a desolate cabin nestled between the trees, most of the time choosing a measly cabin for a place of refuge is a wrong move, however, not this time. As Toni raced over mud and sticks it was the only option, she wouldn't meet an empty shell of a building, no, she'd find a group of people desperate to help. And she will take all the help that's offered with much vigour.
People view her as a well trained "assassin" as she's worked with crooks on the wrong side of the law for too long but underneath that hardened exterior Toni had a childlike wish to be a hero. This was her chance to break the chains that bound an innocent boy to a lonely room and reunite him with his friends and family. It was her calling, like a rope ladder from above.
Doing good felt better than bad, to see the relieved expression on people's faces rather than those of terror and grief was far more gratifying.
"I know where your friend is," Toni had offered a rare beam of light to the lost group on the doorstep. They look at her for the stranger she is, hesitant to trust her, it's no surprise after all they've been through— after all the acts of evil they'd witnessed by other human beings. She has to smile at them to chip at least some of that negative thinking away. They all in tow rationalise with themselves, there was no other idea to fall back on, no plan B or a whereabouts on Jughead. They had to believe her. Otherwise the odds weren't in their favour. "You all need to follow me."
She turns to run back the way she came but the gaggle on the doorstep are still stiff with trepidation.
"If you don't come now you really wont like what comes next for your friend."
The red head is first to move, leaving the others to run ahead with Toni. A quick glance behind tells her however that yes, they are all following. Very wise.
• • • "Toni."
The man rooted to his his post at the door nodded towards her, his hands linked, structure poised for fight. She smiles sweetly at him, she had given them reason to doubt her dedication to the big man upstairs barking orders. (Hiram, not god, even if he liked to think he was)
"I can take over," she hoped that would benefit her in this moment. That the guard would just trust her and walk away. "you've got to be bored. I'm perfectly capable of doing your job for a bit."
The man looks conflicted, eyes drifting towards the stairs, then back to Toni. "I shouldn't, I've been given strict instruction to stay."
"I can clear thing up with Hiram if becomes a dick about it. Seriously, go."
