Queen of Snakes

Chapter Sixteen; Josie

What you are about to read are four twisted tales connected to the tragic and macabre events the befell the town of Riverdale.

Known as the "Black Hood murders," they were all the more tragic because those who bore witness to these terrible things were so young.

A seemingly random shooting quickly revealed itself to be the first in a series of gruesome attacks perpetrated by a hooded assailant.

These latest chapters began with the discovery of a letter from the Black Hood affixed to the door of Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe.

"People of Riverdale, I have rid this town of the drug-dealing child-killer and others like him. Now, you must choose your fate. The next 48 hours will be a test. and I will be watching you very closely. Show me you are pure of heart, and my work ends. Continue to sin, And I will take up the sword again."

//Third Person POV//

Sitting at the electric Piano in the music room at Riverdale High is leader of the Pussycats Riverdale's very own Josie McCoy. While she is sitting there singing and harmonizing with her piano playing the door behind her opens to reveal a janitor .
"Mr. Svenson, you scared me." the young girl explained.
"I was about to lock up. Are you gonna be okay?" The man asked politely.
"Yeah, Yeah, I'll just,uh, slip out the side door, like usual." Josie continues to calm herself down.
"As long as you don't tell Principal Weatherbee. He'd have my head." Mr. Svenson shifts awkwardly in front of Josie, who holds her pinched fingers to her lips as if zipping them closed. Mr. Svenson then leaves the room, Josie turns back to the piano and starts playing again.

Time passes and the young girl finally finishes her practice, she is now alone in the hallway on campus that will be bustling with students in just a few short hours. Josie is trying her hardest to forget the panic that happened when she was startled by Mr. Svenson earlier in the evening yet she couldn't keep the paranoia down for long, after believing she heard footsteps that weren't her own she ran out of the building.

Yet even with the slight panic Josie much preferred the empty hallways of Riverdale High to the woman who was sitting in the living room when Josie got home.
"Josephine McCoy." Her mother's voice drawled as she walked through the front door. Josie sighed. "Why do you think I moved us into the Five Seasons?" Her mother placed her files on the coffee table while Josie dropped her stuff to a different table.
"Because, you don't feel safe at the house." Josie leans against the arm of the couch across from her mother.
"Babe, I don't want you walking the streets alone, not with the Black Hood out there. I am this close to assigning a deputy to you for security." Her mother rises from the couch.
"Mom! I don't need a bodyguard. I'm not Whitney." Josie snaps her fingers "Not yet anyway."
"I want you in this hotel before dark from now on." Josie sighs getting up.
"Mom..."
"Understood?" Mayor McCoy gave no attention to her daughter's sighs. She grabbed her daughters chin looking at her pointedly
"Yes, Ma'am." Josie continued to sigh.

The next day Josie is walking through the now full hallways of her high school, beside her is her good friend Cheryl Blossom.
"The Black Hood had my mom on edge and she has me on edge, and when I get stressed the polyps on my vocal chords swell and I lose my voice. On top of which, going behind the Pussycats' back, working on songs without them." The two stop at a locker. Cheryl nods slowly
"You feel like you're sinning and the Black Hood is going after sinners. I get it. And you're allowed to feel guilty. Up to a point, but I slipped that vid of you singing 'Milkshake' to that producer at Shabbey Road Studios, and he was adamant about giving you and you alone studio time." Josie and Cheryl share a small chuckle.

Josie opens her locker to find a creepy bear on the shelf with a sticky note on it that read "I'll be watching you".
"Omg, another gift from your secret admirer?" Cheryl smiles.
"Gotta get a new lock." Josie puts the bear back.
"That's the third gift this week. Who could this mystery bae be?" Cheryl leans against the lockers looking up at the ceiling.
"Ooh, Maybe it's the Black Hood. You know he loves writing notes" Cheryl jokes.
"Thats not funny, Cheryl." Josie pulls away from Cheryl's fingers that are running up her arm. The school bell rings sending the two girls on their way.