Steady Breaths

T h e V i e w i n g R o o m

Jughead's POV
"Is everything alright? Where's Dr Matthews?" Veronica asks, no doubt confused as Toni, Cheryl and Kevin all walk into the room. "What are they doing here?"
"Dr Matthews is no longer supervising you, I'm Dr Mendax. I'll let this lot explain what is going on. I'll be back in 5 minutes."
Finally we have a name for the Dr. I look around the room. Dammit there are so windows to escape out of. Dr Mendax exits, leaving just the 7 of us.
"An explanation please" Veronica stands up, wincing the slightest bit.
"I wish we knew what was going on but we really don't. I'll keep it brief, that Dr came up to us, bought us to his office where we found these 3, told us that we had been through trauma or something like that and then told us we were going to an institute of some sort. So yeah basically we're being held hostage, unable to see family and friends and we'll likely be shoved into a van in the next 5 minutes." Archie says in one breath, somehow the girls manage to understand him.
"And how did you guys end up here?" Betty asks the trip behind us.
"We were all at Pops, suddenly that Dr waltzed in and took us away without hesitation, it's like somehow he knew who we were. We were with Joaquin who wasn't taken, I told him to tell my Dad so that somehow something can be done" Kevin explains as simply as he can.
Betty's breathing becomes heavier, her fists begin to clench and her face becomes pale.
"What the hell is this? The 1800's? You can't just dump people into a whatever that place is called because they aren't completely normal!" Veronica begins to go red in the face, but I can sense that the anger is just a cover for the fear resting beneath, probably eating at her mind, unable to shake the thought of leaving fair Riverdale to an unknown location.

The dr enters once more. That was defiantly not 5 minutes.
"Follow me, if there is any misbehaviour, you will see the consequences later."
We all nodded and slowly stood up, following Dr Mendax down the hallway. Archie turns and looks at a fire alarm which we are approaching, I pass it and turn back.
"Archie, no"
Too late he pulled it, and now we are all soaked, but we are also running for our lives. Down the stair case and out the back exit.
"Oh my god I can't believe that worked" Kevin panted. Suddenly we hear a clicking sound, I turn to look at Archie who is frozen, a gun held to his head.
"Nice try Red. How about all of you get in the van, or he gets a bullet to the head."
How the fuck did Dr Mendax best us. It's literally impossible that he is down here.
Run.
I can read Archie's lips, he's telling us to go. To take this chance and escape. We all just stand there staring, not knowing what to do.
Go.
He still doesn't let any sound escape his mouth, but we all know what he is saying. This time he is more insistent, and if he were actually talking, he'd probably be pleading. Toni is first to move. She slowly walks past Archie, who looks somewhat surprised, and gets in the white van. Veronica follows, not hesitating to say goodbye to the daylight. Then Betty, followed by Kevin and Cheryl. I take one last look behind me as I too hop into the van, saying goodbye to what would have been a normal life, god knows how long until we get out of this institute. Dr Mendax appears at the door with Archie.
"Good choice kids." He lowers the gun and Archie also gets into the van, well more so gets pushed into the van. The door slides shut and we are left in darkness. I hear the door to the front seat close, and the van vibrates as the engine starts.

Cheryl's POV
"Why did you guys do that?" Archie asks, in a soft voice so that Dr Psycho can't hear him.
"As if we were going to let you die" I hear Toni say, I think she's next to me, I can't be sure. All I see is darkness. I can hear my heart beating, much faster than usual. I've already spent time at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, I really don't need to be thrown into another hell hole. I reach out my and and feel around the floor of the van, eventually find another hand, it's surprisingly warm and soft. By my guess, it's Toni's. Well I'm almost certain it's Toni as the hand intertwines with mine, gripping firmly, in a comforting way.

I suddenly hear a tugging on the door, that opens the back of the van.
"What's that?" Betty asks with a nervous tone.
"It's just me, I'm trying to see if there's a way to open the door. But I think it's locked from the outside." I hear Jughead sigh in frustration. Great, we're undoubtably trapped now.