A Varchie Story

Chapter 10

The investigation didn't take long.
Police showed up to the scene that Veronica found, and instantly puzzled together what could've happened the night that Archie went missing.
His phone was under examination to see if there was any threats sent or if he was talked into meeting someone at this spot, but there was nothing.
His parents, and everyone who cared about him were instantly hit with pain. No one would've thought that Archie, probably the bravest and smarted boy in town would be the one that gets kidnapped.
There was an old tree that hung down not to far away from Betty's house that all four of the friends would sometimes go and hangout. During the summer, non of them went at all. Everyone was getting busy, especially for it being Senior Year.

Veronica and Betty decided it was best to go and sit, probably talk a little bit. They didn't want it to be about Archie, but there was no way to avoid it.

Both of Betty and Veronica drove to the spot instead of walking, as they were sure they knew what would probably happen.

"Do you think one of us are next ?" Betty practically chocked, sitting on several blankets over the white snow across.

"No, I don't." Veronica snapped. "If we keep safe then we will find Archie and keep ourselves safe in the process. So, no."
She could feel herself getting nervous in her stomach, the world almost seemed like it was safe anymore.
The sun hid behind clouds, so the city wasn't lit up like usual. The gloomy feeling was spread.

The police couldn't find anymore evidence at the crime scene from the night that Archie went missing. There were no security cameras, no other things he must've lost that would help them track him. There was no way they could find him now, unless they go into deep investigation.
Betty sat next to Veronica, brushing her blonde flyaways behind her ears and not leaning to talk much to her.
Images shot through her mind of Archie being in pain, or getting hurt. She could see clenched teeth, and furrowed eyebrows in antagonizing pain. Her heart thudded, and she could almost feel his pain.
Her eyes wandered over to Veronica, who sat playing with her thumbs and her cheeks glowing rosey pink.

"We gotta go." Betty scattered to her feet, brushing herself off and looking to Veronica who had a confused expression pressed to her face.
"What ?" She responded.

"We are going to get Jughead, and going to find Archie ourselves." Betty started to walk.

"You're talking crazy ! What ?" Veronica grasped Betty's arm and pulled her.

"No, V. I KNOW that Archie is pain, and that he needs us three to find him. If we get the police, he could even get in worst pain. No one is gonna expect that just us three are gonna find him."

"So ? It'll take us weeks Betty. There's no way."

"Then we better hurry !" Betty stormed to the car, pulling out her phone and dialing Jughead. Her nerves in her body were ecstatic, and she could feel the adrenaline tingling through her fingers.
Jughead answered, and their little search party of 3 was gonna go on. But they were all nervous, and all didn't think they could truly find him. Betty was the one with the most hope, and she always was THAT person.

-

It was dark, and Archie could feel himself in the same position as before. His hands were hung above his head, and he wasn't given any food or water. The feeling of being completely and utterly weak tormented his body.
The lights were dim, but still lit to where you could see barely anything.
Charlie was gone, the kidnapper probably disposed as the body within a day or so of him being dead and decomposing.
Cheryl still was unconscious to the right, the feeling of her possibly being dead went through Archie but, if she was she wouldn't like as healthy as she did. Even though she was bruised and weak.

He tried to move with the little energy that was left, Archie cracked his back and rolled around his head trying to get all the cracks out. His arms could sway but, only a little.

The door opened, and he pretended to be unconscious again.
His eyelids fluttered to a squint, as he watched a masked man in Black come inside the little room that they were trapped in.
On a table, right in front of Archie and Cheryl stood many rusty tools and screws that would perfectly break them out if they got the chance to grab anything.
The kidnapper whistled, and right off the back sounded like a man. He had a deep voice, and you could feel it from the mood he gave off.
He left.

The air was muggy, and the taste of nasty decomposition filed the air. It was still dark, and the smell wasn't at all pleasant.
Archie sighed, and tilted his head around to look at his surroundings that were still the same as they were before. All except for a couple of dropped tools scattered across the floor right in front of his feet.
He stared at them, thinking of all the perfect ways to escape with them. You could almost kill anyone with just a couple of handy tools.

It hurt to move, and he didn't want to either. The thought of dying, seemed so much easier. You wouldn't have to deal with any of life's problems anymore, and it was a big risk to take.

Archie arched his back and moved his bottom half closer to the tools more and more. The bruising and aching across his body made it hard, but he fought.
He clenched his teeth, and pushed his body more and more until he could hover his foot over a tool.
A rusty, silver wrench sat below his foot. Some parts of it were sharper than others, but it was perfect.
He used whatever strength was left to pull it closer between him and Cheryl.

"Psssst." He whisper yelled, watching the door and Cheryl with his eyes.
"Hey !" He tried again, a little louder.
She wouldn't move or make a sound. Her breathing kept continuously making a pattern in her chest. She wasn't dead, but very much unconscious.
"Cheryl !!!" Archie tried for the last time, before she started to inch her way back to consciousness.
"Yeah that's it, Cheryl. Wake up." He tried to help her with his words.

Her arms her free, yet her legs and feet were strapped down and locked to the dirty and rusty floor beneath them both. Cheryl was incredibly week, and couldn't move much of her body.
" Huh ?—" Cheryl tried, barely opening her eyes if at all. She hurt, and the pain of the bruising and aching was almost unbearable.
"Andrews ?" She fluttered her eyes open, and seen Archie right next to her. He was chained up in a different way, and he wasn't as badly hurt as she was.

"Cheryl, I need you to grab the wrench and hand it to me."

She looked down to see the wrench that was close to her ankles. The pain was unbearable, and she didn't want to move.
Blood was trickled down her body and dark purple circles covered her arms. It was a criminal, who's beating was unbearable. It was almost a reminder of the nightmares she used to have as a kid, and it was terrible.

"I can't." She coughed, and whispered through pain.
Archie had much more energy than she did, but she didn't feel like she was going to die. It was almost like, she just couldn't live.

"Yes, Cheryl you can. Your arms are free. Use, any ounce of energy you have left to grab it and hand it up to me. I need you to do this, so I can get us out of here." Archie wiggled as much as he could closer and closer to her.
She watched him, and tears fell down her cheeks. They both couldn't believe the position they were in.

Cheryl's heart thudded in her chest, as she inched more and more towards the wrench.
Pain shot through her body, yet she managed to reach just enough to grab the rusty metal wrench.
Slowly, she handed it up to Archie who took it as quick as he could.

It was a hassle, but after a bit of wrist turning and banging on the metal, both of his arms came out of their shackles.
"Listen, Cheryl, you're weak."
Archie scrambled to his feet, his shoes were covered in dirt but so was the rest of his body.
"You're weak, but I need you to stay here. Stay here, and I'll go get some help. I promise."

Cheryl stared at him, but just nodded and didn't say a word.
There was an old wooden door that lead to the outside, it was hard to push, but Archie threw himself against it in order to get to the outside.

Snow covered the grounded, and the air was freezing. Archie wrapped his body, and stormed into the cold. He didn't think he would survive, but he pushed.