Polaroid // Reggie Mantle (2)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"On the Fourteenth of July in 1789, a state prison on the east side of Paris, known as the Bastille-"

The teacher's lecture was cut off by the loud speaker. "Antionette Topaz to the principal's office. Antionette Topaz please report to the principal's office." Toni looked over at Caia with a confused expression. She slowly got up, collecting her stuff and preparing to leave the room.

Once she was gone, Caia looked over and made eye contact with Josie, who quickly looked away.

Later, Caia was skipping fourth period to be in the gym with the River Vixens so that she, Veronica, and Toni could talk.

They were talking about the phone call Toni had recurved from Nana Rose the period before.

"Wait, so that was Nana Rose Blossom who paged you?" Veronica questioned.

Toni nodded. "Yeah, it was," she answered. "Although we got disconnected before she could say too much beyond the fact that Cheryl was nearby, and that she was with the 'sisters?'"

"The sisters?" Caia questioned, furrowing her eyebrows. The name sounded familiar to her for some reason, but she couldn't remember why. "What sisters?"

"I don't know," Toni admitted. "Maybe there's a re-education camp called The Sisters?" She suggested.

Veronica sat up, thinking of something. "Well, there's The Sisters of Quiet Mercy, but that's more of an orphanage," she stated. "I don't think they do gay conversion there."

"Well, who would know for sure?" Caia questioned.

Veronica thought for a moment before remembering something. "Oh my god, of course," she exclaimed. "Kevin."

It turned out that Kevin did have information on The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. "Yes, it absolutely could be The Sisters of Quiet Mercy," he was saying, after they had explained the situation. "It's one of the few places in the country that still does conversion therapy." Toni scoffed. "Off the books, of course." Veronica shook her head in disgust.

"What the hell decade is this?" Toni exclaimed, angered at the thought of a conversion camp.

"During Prohibition, the Sisters ran a distillery in the basement," Kevin began, causing the girls to listen in with curiosity. "They used to smuggle booze out to Sweetwater River via a tunnel that still exists today."

Caia perked up at the mention of a tunnel. "Wait, a tunnel we could use to get to Cheryl?" She questioned, excitedly.

"Potentially," Kevin answered, nodding. "Gay boys in the program use it to sneak out, to hook-up with perfectly nice young men like myself in Fox Forest," he divulged.

"Wait, Kevin, can you lead us to this secret gay hook-up tunnel?" Veronica inquired, leaning on a chair.

"I can probably find it," Kevin admitted. He inhaled shakily. "But we should go at night."

As Toni nodded, Caia got a text. She pulled out her phone to see it was from Jughead. That was odd, since he almost never texted her.

Come to Betty's house ASAP. All the serpents are meeting . Betty's in trouble.

Forgetting to even tell her friends she was leaving, she pocketed her phone and hurried out the door and to Betty's.

When she got there, the Serpents were gathering on the street. "What's going on?" Caia questioned, frantically. "Is Betty okay?"

"She will be," Jughead replied. "As long as we scare some people away. So get your blade out and don't back down, no matter what happens."

Caia was still confused, but she understood the urgency of the situation. She pulled out her knife and popped the blade out. The group of Serpents went to the door. Jughead tested the knob, and finding it was lock, kicked the door open instead.