Unholy

16

I don't go back to Thornhill and I don't go to Sunnyside. Pop lets me sleep at the diner, for which I am grateful. He provides me with food and leaves the lights on as he heads out for the night. The rain comes in sometime during the night and doesn't let up going into the next day. I stay at the diner until around lunchtime. When I finally make it back to Thornhill, no one but Nana Blossom is home. She stares blankly at a wall and I honestly feel like she is having more fun than I am so I join her. I sit with her in silence for hours. My body has gone numb and my mouth feels like someone sanded it down and put cotton in it. My eyes burn with the tears that won't fall.

When I hear a car pull into the driveway, I leave out a back door and head into the woods. I walk for a long time, and I even make it to the other side of the woods. After climbing down a bank and crossing a parking lot, I find that I am lost. I have never been to this part of Riverdale, and if I'm being honest, I don't really know if I'm still in Riverdale. The rain hasn't let up and my clothes cling to my body. The tee shirt and jeans feel like a massive weight holding me down and my hair is dripping onto the ground. The water puddles ripple with every drop.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here, guys? Is it a Serpent Bitch?" A voice comes from behind me and I hear a few chuckles. When I turn around, I am face to face with the same girl who almost killed me.

"Penny?" I ask.

"You remember. I'm honored."

"What do you want?" I ask her.

"You left a pretty deep hole in my leg. I think I'd like to get even." She says, tilting her head to the side and rubbing her chin pensively. "What do you think, boys?" I take a careful step backward, looking around for some sort of safety. "Where you going? Scared without your guard dogs?" She walks towards me tauntingly and I take off in a sprint the opposite way. I hear them following me and I try to push myself faster. I make random turns to try to lose her but she never falters. For someone with a bum leg, she really can keep up. 

I make it pretty far before my foot catches on something on the ground, sending me to my knees. I try to get up, but it's no use. They have caught up and Penny stops in front of me with a smirk.

"You really can hold your own, Serpent Bitch. I'm surprised I haven't seen you before." She admits, twirling a knife in her slender fingers.

"My name is Heather."

"Well, Heather, it's nice to meet you officially. I think you and I will be very close. So close in fact, that we will have matching scars. How does that sound?" She says, feigning nice. I start to shake my head no, but she has already swung the small knife up and back down, plunging it into the side of my thigh. It sticks in the skin and where it landed, if it was any longer, it would be poking through the other side. My stomach churns at the pain and a shout of anguish tumbles past my lips. No one seems to notice. In fact, people walking by seem to go out of their way to not acknowledge what is going on.

"Fuck!" I scream, clutching around the area the knife sticks out. Penny grins at her work. 

"Not fun, is it?" She mocks.

"Fuck you." I grit.

"I would love to, but my boys here have dibs on you. I told them we would have to take you to an alley first, but since no one wants to pay attention, I think between these two buildings will do just fine. But first, I'm not done with you." She talks mindlessly as fear creeps up on me. I see a familiar guy lick his lips in excitement. Curts, if I remember correctly. Penny approaches me with her fist raised but before she lands a hit, someone stops her.

"Penny!" She sighs and stands up straight, turning to face my savior.

"FP."

"This is Serpent territory and you know it." He declares. "And she is a Serpent."