unheavenly creatures

Madness Starts Here

ALICE

My trip to the library is uneventful. There's barely any books about the town between 1955 and 1970. And I have no luck finding anything about witchcraft. I make an attempt to inquire the front desks about these books, if they do have any hiding in the back, but to no avail. Apparently, somebody has already checked out books about the town from 1960 to 1970.

I wind up resorting to the internet for a bulk of my research. What pops up when you type "Riverdale Reaper" onto Google is either a link to a conspiracy group chat, or some memes generated by Buzzfeed. I'm getting frustrated, and I just want some answers. How did Hal get in that house anyway? Would he really have been around during the massacres? Or even before.....when the town was founded?

It hits me. Hal might have been here since the beginning of Riverdale. Maybe he was there before the Reaper. I bolt up from my seat at the computers, and I sprint back over to the Riverdale History books section. I pour through the titles, reading them out, until I find what I want. Riverdale's story from the beginning in the 1940s. And I only glanced over this trying to find information only about the Reaper. Guess I'm going to look for a pattern!

I take a book or two and run back to the front desk to check them out. The older woman at the front gives me a bizarre look. Then I realize - I need to get a damn library card before I can leave with these books entoe. I impatiently wait as this librarian creates my card, glancing around the ancient place. I remember spending some days here after school, finding solace and quiet from the chaotic environment at Riverdale High. It gave me a place to read up more on magic. It allowed me to avoid Hal when it all got worse in the end. Shouldn't Sabrina be on her way over here now? Unless she already headed back to the trailer long before I dropped Hiram off at Pembrooke...

My library card finishes processing, and I finally get the books in my short-term possession. Normally, I would opt to spend the afternoon pouring through the contents of these texts, but I have work this afternoon, and I need to see if Sabrina is back at the trailer. I thank the woman, head out of the library, and speed back to the trailer park.

It's quiet when I pull in. All of the roads were quiet when I drove through town. Maybe everyone's heard already about what happened to Chuck Clayton. I step out of my car, allowing the cold to embrace me. The wind causes the bottom of my dress to stick to my legs. I can feel my toes starting to go numb from the low temperature. A meow pierces the silence. It's coming from the trailer. I turn to face my trailer, taking careful steps towards the stairway. A mix of warming energy and.....something not so warm and fuzzy, pollutes my brain the closer I come. Sabrina is back, I sense it.....but that cat is too. How long has it been alone in the trailer for? Is Sabrina inside, or somewhere else in the trailer park? And.....why is this cat giving off so much bad energy?

A sharp bark comes from behind me. Panicked, I whip my head, only to find a fluffy sheep dog with dark grey ears waddling over to me. It barks up at the trailer, I'm guessing over Sabrina's cat, and pauses its trail the closer it comes to me. I don't consider myself much of a dog person, or a cat person for that matter, but this dog really is kind of adorable. It stops barking when it looks up at me, then it sits down on its hind legs. It's acting so calm around me, so hopeful. Does it know I'm a witch? I crack a smile, then in the spur of the moment, I hold my palm out to the dog. It stays in it place, panting rapidly, then it brings its nose up to my palm. The cold and wet sensation tickles my palm, I giggle. It lets out a little yelp before it starts to make circles around me.

"Hot Dog! Come here, boy!" FP hurries over to us, whistling to the dog. Is this....this is the family dog? My new fluffy acquaintance, Hot Dog, stops his circles around me and runs back over to his owner. FP kneels down and ruffles through the dog's fur. He glances up at me, "He's not used to so many new faces, so he was just itching to go run around. He wouldn't stop slobbering all over your girl just earlier." My smile fades a bit. Sabrina's been with FP?