Deadly || Sweet Pea [2]

24

Chapter 24 || The Rise of Kurtz, and the Fall of Fangs

 "Come on, Kat." Archie said, trying to pull me away from Sweet Pea in the school hallway.

"Whoa, hey!" I hissed, pulling my arm out of his hold. "Ease up there, Arch. You have a killer grip."

"Sorry, Kat." He smiled sheepishly. "But we need to go meet Jug."

"Meet where?" Sweet Pea asked, looking between Archie and I.

"Something about Gargoyle ground zero. Told me to grab you and that you'd know where he was talking about." Archie answered, looking down at me. I sighed and pulled myself away from Sweet Pea.

"I'll come find you later." I murmured, leaning up and kissing Sweet Pea's jaw.

"Keep her safe, Andrews." Sweet Pea demanded, gently running his thumb over my scarred jaw.

"Always." Archie nodded, pulling me away from Sweet Pea successfully this time.

Jughead and Archie spoke quietly with each other as we approached the run down building that used to house the Gargoyles. I trailed behind, immensely uneasy at the prospect of returning here. Something about the place made me nervous and slightly jumpy, and I hoped we would be in and out of the shack as soon as possible.

Jughead stopped in front of the door, looking back at me with a slightly worried expression. I nodded my head at him and watched as he pushed open the door. It creaked as it slowly swung open, nearly making me shiver. Archie and Jughead's flashlight beams shone into the dark building, illuminating the borderline sociopathic decor.

As the boys pushed further into the building, I carefully shut the door behind us. If the kid was hiding here, I had no doubt that he'd try to make a run for it if he was discovered. I stayed back, watching with an uncomfortable uneasiness as Archie shined his light on a list on names, two of which weren't crossed out.

"All these names..." He trailed off, sparing a glance at me over his shoulder. The wall showcased the names of those sacrificed in the name of the Gargoyle king, and the only names not crossed off were Archie's and that kid's name. "They're sacrifice. Jug..."

The sound of rustling cut Archie off, and all three of us snapped our gazes to the source of the noise. Watching us with wide eyes from a hole in the bottom corner of the wall was a young boy, and once the flashlight beams were on him, he disappeared from the opening.

"Wait." Jughead breathed, moving toward the hole in the wall. "Archie."

Both boys cornered the younger boy, leaving me beside the door we entered through. When Archie moved something from the kid's hidey-hole, he announced that the boy hiding from us was Ricky.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Archie questioned, pulling the boy gently from the corner. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Ricky answered, glancing up at me. He turned back to Archie and spoke shakily. "I came back here 'cause I heard they all cleared out."

"The Gargoyles?" Jughead asked, pulling open the door behind me.

"Yeah," I nodded. "They're gone."

"I thought this would be the last place they'd come looking for me, but..." Ricky trailed off. "I'll never be able to escape them. I'm marked for death. That's what this symbol means. Isn't it? And you have it too."

"Yeah," Archie agreed. "It means sacrifice. But that's not gonna happen. Okay,? I swear. Right Kitty, Jug?"

"Yeah," I nodded without hesitation, softening dramatically at the sight of the frazzled boy. "That's right."