❝ no one falls the way we fell. ❞
･.｡.:*･ she was a nortsider with southside
parents and he was a southside serpent,
born and raised. she tried to get along with
everybody but he was a moody jerk. sounds
like a broad way of...
TORI HAD SEEN CHERYL UPSET PLENTY OF TIMES BUT NOT LIKR THIS. Midge Klump was a sister to the River Vixens and the fact that she was gone was like a crushing weight on all of them. Tori stood with the crowd as people took turns to say something about the teenage girl whose life was stripped away from her ever so quickly. The funeral for the deceased River Vixen was nothing but mourning and sorrow, as expected for such an occasion. Jughead stood with his father and Tori stood right next to her mother. She could hear the pain in Cheryl's voice as she sang with all of the River Vixens right behind her, every single one of them dressed in black. Everyone placed white flowers on top of the casket and Tori could see Cheryl's eyes well up with tears as Midge's casket was lowered into the ground and she could see Midge's mother sobbing her heart out.
"I also feel it is my duty to say that like the Furies of Ancient Greece, who ceaselessly persue blood atonement when a crime's been committed, the Vixens and I vow that we will not rest until those responsible for the murder of our sister is rightly punished," Cheryl said while looking at Sheriff Keller.
The burial was soon over and everyone started heading home. Tori walked over to Cheryl who still had a few tears in her eyes.
"Hey, Cheryl," Tori said. "I'd ask if you were okay but that would be a dumb thing to ask at this time."
"Of course I'm not okay. How could someone just do this to Midge?" Cheryl asked and Tori could hear her voice wavering.
"I don't know but they're going to catch him eventually," Tori said, hoping to put some ease to Cheryl's mind.
"Not with Sheriff Keller around. He needs to go," Cheryl said.
"Cheryl, I know you're upset, but being mad at Sheriff Keller isn't going to bring Midge back. We were all convinced that Mr. Svenson was the Black Hood when he was caught and no one has died since then and look where we are now. We all thought the Black Hood was caught until this point," Tori said.
"He's been incompetent since day one. First Jason, and now Midge and he failed every single time."
"Blaming him won't help, Cheryl. If you want to blame someone, blame the Black Hood. He's the one who stabbed her and crucified her, not Sheriff Keller. There's no way anyone could've know that this would happen."
Cheryl only scoffed as she walked away and Tori sighed. As she already knew, Cheryl was a stubborn one. She decided to go back to her mother but Selena was focussed on something else.
"Mom?" she asked.
"Honey, just wait here. I'll be right back," her mother said as she walked towards a man she didn't recognize. And although she was told to stay put, the curiosity was too much and she slowly crept closer so she could hear them talking. She was already well aware that she had a habit of eavesdropping, but she pushed that aside as she listened carefully. "FP Jones. Long time, no see."
The man looked at her and cleared his throat. "Selena Diaz-Alvarez. Definitely long time, no see. Time really flies," he said.
"Enough with the small talk, FP. Care to explain why your daughter came into the ER a few weeks ago?" Selena asked with her arms crossed.
FP chuckled, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Well, maybe some X-rays and recent medical records will jog your memory," she said.
Could she be talking about MF? Tori's thoughts were interrupted when she heard FP's voice again.
"Listen. She's a tough girl who knows how to put people in their places, she doesn't need me looking out for her," he said while shrugging his shoulders.
"She is still your daughter. I know that if our kids really need to they can hold off on their own for as long as they need but as parents, it is our job to look out for them no matter how old they get."
"She's a big girl, she can handle herself."
Selena sighed as she looked at the stubborn man in front of her and stepped closer before lowering her voice. "It may not be any of my business, but I know what you do to her and him," she said as she pointed of Jughead, who was standing with Betty, Archie and Veronica. "And if they ever show up at the hospital again, you better hope and pray that it's not while I'm on my shift. I may be a retired Serpent, but don't forget what I'm capable of."
No more words were said as Selena turned around and faced Tori.
"Mom, what just happened?" she asked, completely confused and embarrassed. Confused because she never knew what happened in the Jones family and embarrassed because she never stopped to think about what was going on behind closed doors.
"I thought I told you to stay put," Selena said as she unlocked the car. "You weren't supposed to hear any of that."
"Were you guys talking about MF?" Tori asked.
"Don't worry about that, Tori. Just let me handle it and everything will be alright," her mother said.
Tori didn't say anything else as she put her seatbelt on and looked out the window. She saw Cheryl get into a car with Mrs. Klump and watched them drive off as Selena started the engine and pressed her foot on the gas. She couldn't stop thinking about what was said between her mother and FP even if she tried. What else was going on in Riverdale that had yet to be exposed to the world? Tori always knew that the town was never innocent but some of the things that happened were just a whole new level of crazy.
"When you're at school, if you see MF, do not mention a word about what FP and I have talked about. You can't say anything to your friends either. I need you to keep this between us," her mother said as she parked the car in the driveway.
"Why can't we just go to the police?" Tori asked.
"You and I both know how the police will handle these cases. We both know they would rather take care of the murder case of a Northside student than look into a case involving a Southside student," Selena said as she unfastened her seatbelt.
"Then what are we supposed to do? We can't just not say anything," Tori said.
"I said let me handle it."
Tori's shoulders dropped as she sighed and tried to control the thoughts in her mind. If what she was thinking was true, then it could only mean that MF was living in her own hell. How was she supposed to go to school while knowing what was going on and act like everything was okay? And it wasn't just MF, Jughead was involved as well. Whatever happened in the Jones family, Tori wasn't supposed to mention a word about it to MF and that most likely included Jughead too but even if she wanted to talk to her, she wasn't sure on how she would react.
Tori got out of the car and went inside. Once she was alone in her room, she sat on the bed and held her head in her hands. Too much was happening at once and it was too much for her mind to process and handle.
