Sweetwater Redemption

Chapter 7: Sweetwater Diving

A foot to the ribcage.

An elbow to the spine.

Hair pulled, and neck strained.

It was all an effort to win a wrestling match that he never had a hope in hell to begin with. To his credit, Sweet Pea didn't hold back. He foolishly saw Cheryl as an equal, when he should have remembered her physical and mental superiority. Though, it wasn't the time to brag about any of that.

Cheryl easily dispersed Sweet Pea and all his flailing limbs when she saw the look on Toni's face. Just after her expression changed, her very presence did as well. Despite her not moving an inch, Toni suddenly felt miles away from her once she touched the ground.

The same thing had happened on the mountain when Toni felt the earth call her. Cheryl assumed it would always happen that way when Toni was called and knew it was time to wrap things up. She was having the time of her life surrounded by her fellow Guardians. They drunkenly sang songs she was unfamiliar with, but didn't hate. They played drinking games that didn't affect her because of how difficult it was for her to get drunk, but it did allow her to get to know everyone better. Then Sweet Pea offered to fight her, despite months ago harboring the strong desire to kill her and everyone like her.

Despite all the fun she was having, there was no doubt about it, something was happening with Toni. With one carefully aimed blow to his kneecap, Sweet Pea went down. He wasn't actually injured, just stunned. It gave her enough time to stand up and get away from his immediate reach.

"Alright, alright!" She called to the Guardians surrounding her. "The night has been swell and I feel like we are really taking shape as a group. That being said, the party is over. Take it back to the hotel if you want, but Toni and I will be retiring for the evening."

There were a few grumbles and groans from her drunken comrades, but no outright protest at the prospect of stopping the party.

Guardians drifted off in every direction, another way of avoiding detection, until all that remained was Betty and the obviously distracted Toni. Her lingering seemed purposeful, and after their disagreement about Archie, Cheryl guessed she had more to say.

"Hello dear Betty, is everything alright? I assume your accommodations at the hotel are faring better than the barn?"

"Yes... thank you Cheryl."

"Of course." Cheryl smiled, waiting for Betty to get to the point so she could get back to Toni.

"Before, you said my dad was still alive. How do you know that?" Betty asked without meeting her gaze.

"Truthfully, my only source is the man who so rudely tried to kill me, Archie Andrews. Besides that..." Cheryl gulped, not quite ready to talk about her time at Ascension "I happen to know Hiram likes keeping my kind, and ghoulies, around for testing. I must tell you though, he isn't himself. The body of your father is still in a cell, but the man you knew is long gone. The mind and soul don't survive the transition into becoming a ghoulie. I'm sorry, Betty, he is already gone."

"You helped FP, you can help my dad too." Betty pleaded.

"I helped a directionless newborn, not a ghoulie. Not to mention, your father has a very high body count here in Riverdale. I'm sorry to say, I wouldn't even if I could."

"I thought we were family, Cheryl. Family means helping each other, even when it's something you don't agree with."

"Why don't we talk about this some more tomorrow?" Cheryl asked as she looked to Toni who was staring intently at the ground she was touching.

"Is... is Toni alright?"

"Of course." Cheryl replied, plastering on a wide smile "It's like witchy instant messenger, I don't fully understand it myself."