The Serpent Queen

Chapter Forty One

I was furious. Fangs and I had been locked up all night and now Fangs was being questioned about Midges murder. Alone. Pretty sure it wasn't supposed to happen that way. Luckily for us both, Jughead had managed to get Attorney McCoy to represent us both, Fangs more than me.

'You're being held because you were in possession of a weapon on school property' she told us when we were both back in our cell.

'Those weapons are for protection' I told her.

'Yes, well they have 24 hours to make something stick. Crystal is only here because she attacked some officers, but in the meantime, both of you need to exercise your right to remain the hell silent' she warned the two of us.

She left with Jughead, leaving the two of us alone to over think everything that had got us here to this exact moment.

'We're gonna be okay Fangs. We'll get out of here and everything will go back to normal' I reassured him as he started to pace the cell.

'Normal? What is normal anymore Queen? We're screwed no matter what happens' he replied.

'Normal is both of us getting out of here and going home to the Serpents. Our family'

'The Serpents are useless Crystal. We have been ever since you and FP ended things' he said angrily.

'I ended things with him Fangs because I didn't want to be with a cheater' I explained calmly, 'I would be unhappy if I had stayed with him'

'You chose your own happiness over ours' he told me.

'Don't you say that!' I shouted, getting in his face, 'I've given everything, literally everything to the Serpents Fangs and you know I have! I've been beaten, tortured, humiliated and so much more to be a Serpent and become Queen so that others, like you, wouldn't have to go through what I did so don't ever say that I chose my own happiness over the Serpents!'

Fangs looked at me guiltily after my mini rant and his eyes were full of regret as I turned and sat on the bench in the cell, my head in my hands.

'I'm sorry Crystal, I didn't mean it' Fangs said softly as he sat next to me.

'I know' I sighed heavily.

We sat there side by side in silence for hours until Jughead and Attorney McCoy came back. Apparently there had been another attack during the Mayoral Candidate debate. I had no idea why we were still there though since Fangs clearly wasn't the killer and the Black Hood was back.

'If the Sheriff doesn't press charges in the next hour, he has to let you go' Attorney McCoy told us.

'Jughead, people are gonna be very unhappy about Fangs being released' I told him, 'I have a plan. Get your dad, my dad, Sweet Pea, Kicks, a few others down here as quickly as you can okay?'

He nodded at me then went to go and call for back up as I did my best to comfort Fangs who was getting more and more worried.

We had been released from our cell and were currently waiting for the Serpents to get here. I could hear the angry shouts of the protestors outside which terrified me but I had to stay strong for Fangs. If he saw me panic then he would flip and at this moment, I needed him as calm as possible.

'Crystal?'

I turned at the sound of my name and ran to my dad who hugged me tightly. Jughead had actually listened to me for a change and brought a group of Serpents to the station to help get Fangs out.

'We're here, what's your plan Queen Crystal?' FP asked me.

I barely looked at him before replying.

'We need to protect Fangs, even if that means protecting his body with ours' I explained.

'A human barrier? Will that work?' FP questioned me.

'If you have a better idea then I'm all ears but right now, this is the best plan we have'

'Alright, lets do this Crystal' he agreed quickly.

The Serpents all stood around in a circle, hugging each other tightly.

'In unity there is strength!' dad said proudly.

'In unity there is strength!' we all shouted back before getting into our protective circle around Fangs.

I stood on his left side, holding onto him tightly, and holding on tight to FP who was in front of us. Kicks was hanging on tightly behind me. Dad, FP, and Jughead were pushing their way through the crowds as we tried to get Fangs through unharmed. They pushed and punched anyone who dared to get too close. We were almost safe, a few more steps and we were out of the crowd.

Someone behind us fell to the ground so we turned, breaking formation thinking it was one of us who had fallen.

That was when I heard it.

A single gun shot.

Everyone started screaming and running but Sweet Pea and I went straight to Fangs who had fallen to the ground. I pressed my hands against his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding as the other Serpents gathered around us. As I looked into the crowds, I saw Archie and Reggie on the ground, a gun on the floor in front of them. Archie wouldn't fire it.

Which meant that Reggie had.

And Sweet Pea had seen him too.