Weirdo - Jughead Jones

30: The Killer

Jughead Jones

"Maddie?" Archie called.

We all had called her name and heard nothing in response.

The four of us approached the forest with the flashlights that Betty always had. We didn't see or hear anything that wasn't part of the forest. The only thing was the beaten down Blossom Maple Farms sign. It was near where we found the car that was filled with evidence.

We continued to head into the forest. The light fell on the area behind the Blossom sign for a second. There was a bush there. I shined the light on it again and saw that there was something in the bush. "Guys."

The other three joined me as I stepped closer to the bush. There was a strange black shape in its branches. When we got closer I saw that it was a duffel bag. Hesitantly, I reached out and grabbed it. When I unzipped it, we saw the contents. Just a bright blue and yellow Bulldogs varsity jacket. The four of us stared at it, trying to make sense of it.

"Check the name, Jug," Archie spoke up.

I turned it over in my hands and read the name tag embroidered onto it.

Jason

Madison Parker

Mustang waited outside the door of the basement's bathroom while I did what I needed to do.

There were no windows in there. After washing my hands, I looked in the mirror at my tired, bruised face. This time I let the tears go. The realization of what was happening to me came in waves. It was so unreal.

I splashed water over my face and dried it before opening the door. Mustang immediately grabbed my arm and led me to the chair. I observed how far the stairs were from where I was. I didn't run very fast but I could try to push it....

I shoved Mustang to the side and launched myself forward. I was too slow. His arm came around my waist and he threw me to the floor. He grabbed me and threw me into the chair, his hand on my neck. He pushed with his hand and I struggled to breathe.

"You know, I really would like to kill you right now," he told me. His other hand grabbed the coils of wire and he finally took his hand away from my neck. I gasped for air, unable to move. "But I have to wait for this whole Blossom thing to blow over." He tied my wrists and ankles tightly to the chair as I thought about what he was saying.

"You killed Jason Blossom?" I asked.

He didn't answer, but he said, "The boy had a choice. He could work, or he could die. He chose to run away, and so he died."

Suddenly I remembered something. It was something my dad had said to Mustang. "Tell that bastard Cliff to go to hell."

Cliff. Jason Blossom.

Cliff. Clifford?

Clifford Blossom.

"Cliff," I said out loud. Mustang looked at me, almost surprised. "Clifford Blossom. He's the one with all the drugs. The maple syrup is just a front." It all began to make sense. "Jason was probably supposed to take it on after him, but he didn't want to. So he wanted to run away with Polly. But you couldn't have that. You," I looked at Mustang. "You work for Cliff Blossom. You killed Jason for him. Or maybe Cliff put a bullet through his own son. FP is innocent."

"FP is still guilty," Mustang said. "Someone had to clean things up."

"And you probably threatened him. That's why he confessed. It was all part of your plan."

"People love their children. The threat always works." He picked up the bandana and gagged me again. "Guess you've figured it all out. Too bad you'll be dead before you can tell anyone."

Mustang then made his way up the stairs and disappeared. I heard a door closing and a lock clicking.

There was a buzzing noise coming from the other side of the room. I looked to see my phone light up from the top of the cooler. My heart was nearly tugged out of my chest when I saw Jughead's name and contact photo. It rang and rang as he called multiple times, and each time it became even more painful to hear.

Jughead Jones

I sat on Archie's couch, calling her again. Just like the time before, it went to voicemail. I hung up and closed my eyes for a second.

We had searched the woods for what seemed like hours. We called her name endlessly without getting a response. Eventually we just gave up and came back to Archie's house, taking Jason's jacket with us.

I joined the others as they discussed the jacket.

"This just doesn't make sense," Veronica said. "It has to have some kind of value if it was in a secret duffel bag hidden in the forest."

"Archie," Betty spoke. "Put the jacket on."

"What, why?"

"Just put it on."

He hesitated, but did as she said. Betty stood up and examined the jacket, reaching her hand into one of the pockets.

"I already checked the pockets," Archie said.

"Yeah," Betty muttered. She dig deeper into the pocket. "But I always lose my chapstick when there's...." She scrunched up the end of the jacket and retrieved something small. It was a flash drive that had fallen through a whole in the pocket.

"Jesus, Bee." Archie laughed. "Okay, I'll get my laptop."

Archie went up to his room and came down with his laptop. He set it on the coffee table in front of us as we sat on the couch, plugging in the flash drive.

The only file on it was a video. Archie clicked on it. None of us were expecting what came next.

It was surveillance footage of a cluttered room. And tied to a chair in that room was Jason Blossom.

Another familiar face appeared in the video. Mustang approached Jason and seemed to taunt him. I'd never trusted Mustang, but it was still shocking to see him like this.

Mustang eventually left, and his spot was replaced by Clifford Blossom. I covered my mouth with my hand in shock as I saw Jason struggle as he looked up at his own father. Clifford reached and pulled something from Jason's pocket, which caused the son to struggle even more.

My eyes widened when Clifford raised a gun and pointed it at Jason. Someone in the room gasped. We stared at the screen in horror as Clifford Blossom put a bullet through his own son's forehead.