Emily Keller-A Jughead love story (Book two) *Discontinued*

Seventeen

Veronica's POV
We were in the Conway house looking for clues.
" Now I'm regretting throwing your gun in Sweetwater River." I said as we looked around
" Sheriff Howard kept coming back here year after year, there must be a reason why. Something that didn't, or doesn't add up." Archie said
" So, what does the article say happened?" I asked
" The Reaper came at night, when the rest of the town was getting ready for bed. He killed the mother, Mary Ellen Conway, first.
Maybe over there." He said pointing in the living room " He killed the father, Jim Conway, in the kitchen. He was rushing to save his wife.
He was shot point-blank in the chest. The kids were still in their bedrooms." He continued
" Hiding. My God, Archie." I said in shock of how someone could do this to people
" They were hiding under the bed." Archie said once we got in the bedroom. I looked around and found initials carved onto the doorframe with heights and dates next to them
" Archie? It was a family of four that was killed, right?" I asked confused as to why there were three initials
" Yeah, why?" Archie asked
" There's something weird here, Three sets of initials." I said and Archie looked around and found files
" These are Sheriff Howard's files, his notes.
He kept them here so he could keep working on the case." He said opening them
" Does it say anything about a third child? With the letters "J" and "C"?" I asked leaning over him. He was turning threw the pages when I saw a picture " Wait, wait, turn it back." I said and he did to reveal a picture with three kids and two adults " Oh, my God, Archie, there.
The Conways were a family of five." I said in shock

Betty's POV
" It's no problem, we can pick the trays up.
Thanks, Pop. Sorry for the short notice.
Bye." I said to Pop over the phone. After I hung up my mom started questioning me
" Trays for what?" She asked
" Jughead and Emily are throwing a retirement party for FP at the Whyte Wyrm. And I'm helping them organize. Before you object, Mom, need I remind you, you were a Serpent?" I said before walking away

Emily's POV
" So, the real story was in the Sheriff's notebook." Archie said. We were at the Blue and Gold office and Veronica and Archie were telling Betty, Jughead, and I What was going on with the Conway family murders
" There was a third child, Joseph Conway, who survived the massacre." Veronica said
" They hid his identity, changed his name, so he could lead a normal life." Archie said
" Yeah. According to Sheriff Howard's notes, he was adopted by another family in Riverdale and presumably, enrolled at a local high school." Veronica continued
" We got a picture of the kid." Archie said handing us the picture
" If we match that boy to one of the students at Riverdale High during the years he would've attended Then he might be able to tell us how the Conway murders are connected to the Black Hood." Veronica said
" Or he is the Black Hood." Jughead said " Just go with me here. Let's say that our mystery kid did end up surviving the slaughter, maybe even saw it."
" That would've messed him up for life." I said
" Yeah, and somehow, for some reason, he could be blaming the town for what happened.
And now is punishing us for it." Jughead said
" So, basically, we just have to go through all these yearbooks, page by page, and see if we find a match." Archie said
" So, not quite a needle in a haystack." Veronica said. She and Archie looked up at us and we had looks saying sorry on our faces
" What?" Veronica asked
" Uh, we just have to get ready for a party that we're hosting." Betty said
" It's my dad's retirement party, so.." Jughead said and they had looks of sadness on their faces
" Oh. Oh. No, you guys should come." I said
" Yeah, no, I'm renting a karaoke machine." Betty said
" It's not a big deal." Archie said
" You should come. You guys should come." I said
" If you want." Jughead added

Veronica's POV
We were looking through the yearbooks at the school for our missing kid
" Ronnie, can we take a break and talk about.." Archie started but I cut him off finding our kid " Oh, my God. Is that him?" I asked
" Could be, yeah." Archie said. We read the name and it said Mr Svenson's name. We ran down the school hallway
" Mr. Svenson!" Archie yelled as we found him
" Yes." He responded
" We know who you are Joseph Conway." I said and he ran.
" Hey!" Archie yelled as we chased him Archie caught him " Why did you run, Mr. Svenson?" He asked
" I got scared. No one's called me Joe Conway in decades." He said
" We read about your family. We know you're the only one that survived." I said
" If you've been tempted to find justice..." Archie started
" I found justice." He cut him off
" What do you mean?" Archie asked
" The night it happened, I heard gunshots and I escaped out of my bedroom window. I could've run into the woods, but I didn't. I wanted to see him leave my house. I saw him covered in my family's blood. I saw his face." He said
" You know who killed your family?" I asked
" A con man, a preacher passing through town.
Next day, a group of men took me to the motel where he was staying. I pointed him out, they took him away, and they killed him. I'm not sure how." He said
" What happened to the men who did that?" Archie asked
" Nothing. Justice had been served. It was never reported, never investigated. The town demanded blood for blood." He said
" You're sounding an awful lot like the Black Hood right now. Where were you the morning Fred Andrews was shot?" I asked
" Ronnie.."
" And the night Ms. Grundy was killed? And Moose and Midge"
" Ronnie. Ronnie!" Archie yelled
" And the Sugarman." I continued
" That's enough!" Archie yelled " I've looked into the Black Hood's eyes. We were wrong.
It's not him."

Emily's POV
I walked into the Worm with Betty and Mrs Cooper.
" Wow, Emily" Jughead said when he saw us
" Mrs. Cooper. Betty. You look incredible."
" Tell me about it. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince this one to dress appropriately" she said referring to Betty " Hog Eye, get me"
" Tequila, straight up," hog eye said and they finished together saying " hold the worm."
" I have a surprise for you. Later." I said to Jughead as he grabbed my waist
" Hit me, Hog Eye." Mrs Cooper said after downing the shot
" Honey, what do you want? A Shirley Temple?" She asked Betty " Just give me two." She told Hog eye and Betty wandered off. Archie and Veronica went on the stage and started to sing Mad World. After the first chorus Veronica ran off stage and Archie followed her. The crowd was booing so I went up on stage and started to sing. I took my outfit off to reveal the one underneath as I sung. I then continued to sing as I did the serpent dance. When I was done I looked at Jughead and he looked disappointed. It was dead silent until Jughead's dad started to clap. He walked up on stage and put his serpent jacket on me
" Here you go. Let's give her a round of applause! And show her some of that Serpent hospitality we're known for." Fp said and I walked off stage. " You know what? I've been in and out of the Serpents since I was younger than my son. And it's been a A wild ride. Good times, bad times, but through it all, the Serpents stuck by my side, while most other people turned their backs on me. My own family included." He said looking directly at Jughead " Now, the letter of the law says that I can't be here in the Serpent den. That I can't associate with my friends. My real family. My blood." The crowd started cheering loudly
" But I've been thinking about that. And it'll be a cold day in hell before a snake lets a pig tell him what to do." He said and everyone cheered agains
" let's go." Betty's Mom said to me with Betty behind her
" No, I'm staying." I said
" Emily, you're coming with me now." She said
" No, I'm staying. Your not my mother so stop trying to act like it" I said rudely. She had a look of hurt on her face and left with Betty trailing behind her
" Northside wants me outta this gang? Well, they better bring a coffin because FP Jones isn't retiring! I am not going gently into the night! I'm here to stay! So, bring the fire!" Fp said before leaving the stage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was later that night and Jughead met me outside
" Hey. What's wrong? Was it the dance?" I asked seeing his face
" It's everything. And, yeah Why would you do that?" He asked upset
" I wanted to be a part of this. The Serpents, your world." I said
" Why? Archie knew to cut bait. Now I'm dragging you down. I'm dragging my dad down." He said
" Jug, he's still figuring it out. And It's going to be okay. We'll figure out what we have to do, together." I said putting my hands on his cheeks
" No. Emily." He said removing my hands " Not together. Emily, if you stay, I don't know if I can protect you anymore. You might get..You probably will get hurt. I can't let that happen to you." Jughead said
" It's not your decision to make." I argued
" Actually yeah, it is." He said
" How many times, Jug? How many time are we going to push each other away?" I asked on the verge of crying
" Until it sticks." He said causing me to shed a tear " I was my dad's one chance at going straight and I wrecked it. I'm not going to destroy you, too." He said walking away but I grabbed his hand turning him to look at me
" Just tell me what happened, Jug. Jug! Tell me." I pleaded
" Please, go home." He said before walking away leaving me crying. Archie came over to me and hugged me
" Emily, what's wrong?" He asked
" Jughead, he broke up with me" I said crying
" Hey, Hey it's gonna be okay. Why don't you come home with me" He said and I nodded. We went back to his house and I laid in his bed next to him as he pulled me closer to him falling asleep quickly in his arms.

That night, I realized it was like we'd been playing a game of Snakes and Ladders.
Me, Betty, Archie, Veronica.
And in one fell swoop, we all slid off the board and into free fall and not just us, other people.
Maybe innocent, maybe not, had been dragged into our game, as old wounds reopened.
And as feelings that had long been buried shook loose.
And a boy looked over at the girl laying next to him as if for the very first time

-Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading. :)