Riverdale - Beneath The Town (English Version)

Chapter 6: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!

Fear. It's the most basic, the most human emotion. As kids, we're afraid of everything. The dark, the bogeyman under the bed. And we pray for the morning, for those monsters to go away. Though they never do; not really. Just ask Jason Blossom.

On Tuesday, when I came to school with Betty, I had the feeling that the students in the corridors were staring at us and I asked Betty if she knew what was going on. Betty had no idea, but Kevin came towards us and looked at me with big eyes. "Well, that's quite a story", he said, and I looked at him with questioning eyes. "What, you don't know yet?", he said in surprise and Betty and I exchanged a confused look and shook our heads. "Your... well, Dr. Parks was with my dad yesterday and he made a statement", he informed us and I asked what kind of statement he meant. "Well, about you and Polly", Kevin told us, and I just stopped dead in my tracks. "That's why people here are staring at me as if I've just come back from Mars?", I wanted to know excitedly and Kevin nodded. "This is Riverdale. The whole town probably knew within an hour", he said, shrugging his shoulders apologetically. "Well, fantastic", I sighed and we went to the first lesson. During the free period Betty, Jughead and I met in the school paper room and talked about the plan that hopefully helped us find out Polly's whereabouts. Yesterday we had thought about how we could get to the Hayles without bespeaking that we wanted to know where Polly was. Since the Hayles would undoubtedly recognize me and smell a rat, we had decided that Betty and Jug would pretend to interview Mrs. Hayle for an article in the school newspaper about the job description of journalism. "It's best if you ask her about old photos that she hopefully has to dig out somewhere; or if you can see this journalism award she won a few years ago", I said and Betty nodded in agreement. "At some point I'll ask her to show me the way to the toilet and in that time you can keep searching", my best friend said to Jug, who agreed. "It's best to take care of private things, like her handbag or jacket pockets. Betty, when she has shown you the way and is leaving, you could take a closer look at the bedroom", I continued and she asked what she should do when the room was locked. "I'll show you my trick with the hairpin", I replied and so the matter was settled.

Another fun fact about fear? Sometimes it grows up with you. Or it curls up inside of you, tightens around your guts.

Each fall, Riverdale High hosts a variety show. This event is no mere student frolic.

While my friends went looking for clues in the Hayles' house, I waited in the school paper room and killed time. When the door opened and the two of them came in, my heart was beating with excitement and Betty's smile told me that it had worked out. "We found something; a bank statement", she said as she put down her jacket and her bag. "I took a picture of it, wait", she then said and opened the picture on her mobile phone. "Here's a debiting for something called The Sisters of Quiet Mercy", she read aloud and Jughead, sitting in front of his laptop, searched for it on the Internet. "What is it? Sounds kind of like a sect", I said and he viewed the hit for a website. "No; it's a... home for troubled youths", he said and then read the text, which was under a picture of a praying statue: "Where disenfranchised teens will learn such virtues as discipline and respect, enjoying lives of quiet reflection and servitude." - "Enjoy a life of servitude? Sounds to me like she would have been better off if she had actually ended up in a psychiatric hospital, as the rumors say", I said and stepped next to Jug to check out the website. "Poor Polly", I then said pitifully and he looked up at me from his laptop. At break, we decided to visit Polly at the home and I asked Betty and Jug when exactly Polly had been at school lastly. "I think it must have been in April", Betty said as we sat down at the table with Archie and Valerie. "What are you guys talking about? Anything I can help with?", Archie wanted to know and I looked at him with a grateful smile, but shook my head. "We're attempting a stealth operation. If we go there with the entire Scooby Gang, forget it, we're compromised", Jug explained to him and Betty pointed to Valerie, who was sitting next to Archie. "Well, don't you have to practice for the variety show?", she asked him and he exchanged a look with Valerie before shaking his head. "No, I don't", he replied, looking down from Valerie. "Except that yes, you do", Veronica now said, who came and sat down next to Valerie. "Thanks to a certain Veronica Ex Machina", she added, and Valerie asked her what that meant. "Oh, nothing, just that I had a few words with our director slash host and remind him that he's heard you sing on numerous occasions", she explained, looking from Archie to Kevin, who sat next to Jughead. "Though it compromises my artistic integrity", Kevin commented, and Veronica turned to Archie again. "Cutting to the chase, you have a slot if you want it", Veronica summed up and Archie looked at her. "Veronica, thank you, but...you saw what happened", Archie said and Kevin added that they all saw it. Jug took some chips out of the bag in front of him and then looked at me, asking if I wanted some. I nodded and he put some on the table in front of me and I smiled gratefully at him. "Playing my songs in front of you guys is one thing, but getting back up on that stage by myself... I'm not sure I'm ready", Archie continued, and Veronica offered to be his partner and we looked at her in amazement. "Veronica, I didn't know you could sing", Betty said in surprise and she nodded smiling. "Like a nightingale", she confirmed and addressed herself to Archie again. "What do you say, Archiekins? Be the Jay to my Bey?", she asked in a mysterious tone of voice and he nodded smilingly after a short hesitation. In the afternoon, Jughead and I took a bus to the home, which was on the outskirts of Riverdale. Betty had not been able to come because she was appointed with Kevin and so we stood in front of the big building where my sister was supposed to be somewhere. The facade looked grey, dull and oppressive from the outside and my heart was beating fast. It reminded me a little bit of Briarcliff in American Horror Story. "Hey, uh, don't judge a home for troubled youths by its facade; right?", Jug said unconvincingly, and I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second before crossing the street and heading for the home. "What do I do if she doesn't know I'm her sister? Or if she doesn't know who I am at all? I never had anything to do with her at school", I said thoughtfully and we stopped in front of the entrance. "Well, now it's up to you whether you tell her that you are sisters", Jug replied and I nodded and took a deep breath. "I'll do it. If I wouldn't do, I wouldn't be much better than my dad", I finally decided and Jughead asked if I was ready. "Yes. Let's go inside", I replied and we entered the entrance. "Hello, my name is Scarlett Parks; I'm here to see Polly Hayle", I told the receptionist, who was sitting in the entrance hall, looking at me sternly. Jesus crosses were hung all over the room and statues of Mary were on the table and in the small lounge area. "What is your relationship with Polly Hayle?", the woman wanted to know and I told her that I was a close friend. "May I see some identification?", she asked and I handed it to her. "Sign in here, please", she said and handed me today's visitors list. "He'll have to wait", she added in a stern tone, and I exchanged a look with Jughead, who took a seat on a chair in the lounge area. After I had signed, the woman from the registration desk accompanied me to Polly's room and a woman in a nun's outfit took her place. "Polly's room is right this way", she said as we turned left into a corridor and she added that right now was the silent reflection time. "And she usually spends that time in the Garden of Deliverance", the woman explained, and stopped to let me look through the small round glass window into the room where Polly apparently lived. Opposite the door was a window with white curtains. In the corner to the right there was a narrow, uncomfortable looking bed made of white metal and a cross and several pictures with ecclesiastical motifs were hanging on the walls. I could not see anything else through the small circle and the woman led me through a staircase at the end of the corridor, down into the garden. The area was really wide and in the middle was a small archway which led to a landscaped garden consisting of planted rose bushes, benches and a stone statue. A girl my age stood in front of one of the rose bushes and the receptionist told me that I could go to Polly. "Thank you", I said, and then with a beating heart, I set off for my sister. I walked past the sculpture and then hesitantly approached the rose bush she was standing in front of. Her hair was almost exactly the same color as mine, a deep dark brown, and she was wearing a blue dress and a red jacket over it. I mustered all my courage and took a deep breath when I called her name. "Polly?", I asked, and she looked at me. There was a headband in her hair and I saw that her eyes were brown, not green like mine. But it was true, apart from that we looked very much alike. She looked at me in the same way as I looked at her and then she called my name. "Scarlett?", she said and I nodded with a restrained smile and came towards her a little. "Oh, my God, you're here", she said with a smile and turned to me. And then I saw her baby belly. Perplexed I stared at her and she put her hands on her belly and smiled slightly. "You're going to have a baby", I said excited and pleased and she nodded with a smile. "Wow, there's so much we need to talk about", I said with a smile and we went to one of the benches. "Are you here because you figured it out, Scarlett?", she asked me in surprise and I confirmed it. "Provided you mean the same thing I do", I carefully checked and Polly began to talk. "After I went back to school for a short time this year and ended up here, Jason and I used to meet sometimes by him sneaking in here. And he told me a few weeks ago that he found out I had a sister", she said, smiling at me and I returned her smile. "And that's you", she added and we hugged each other. "I'm so sorry I got here only now. I've only known about this for a few days", I explained and she nodded understandingly. "Do you know where Jason got this information?", I wanted to know, but Polly said he hadn't told her. "And the baby is... Jason's?", I asked and Polly confirmed with a smile. "Please be happy for me, Scarlett", she said, and I gently put my hand on her belly. "Of course I'm happy for you! I'm going to be an aunt", I replied, happily surprised, and could not really realize it yet. "And your... well, I mean the Hayles, is that why they brought you here? Because you are pregnant?", I wanted to know and Polly looked at me urgently. "Because they couldn't control me, Scarlett. They hated that Jason and I were dating; they were thrilled when Jason dumped me", she explained, and I looked at her pitifully. "Jason's parents forced him to break up with me. They didn't approve of a Blossom boy dating a Hayle girl. Of course they didn't know that I wasn't the biological daughter and the Blossoms and Hayles had not liked each other for generations", she continued and I listened attentively. "When I told him about the baby; our baby", she started and looked briefly at her belly. "... he was so happy, Scarlett. We were gonna run away, start our family in a beautiful place", she said, looking dreamily at a point that no one but her could see, and I began to realize that she probably hadn't heard about Jason's death. "So, on July 4th I woke up, packed my bags to start my new life; just like Jason and I planned. Jason wanted to visit me here again secretly and run away with me, but... he didn't show up", my sister told me and I looked at her pitifully. Then she looked around for a moment and leaned a little bit towards me to speak in a low voice. "Scarlett, have you talked to him? I couldn't contact him because I don't have my cell phone here", she continued and I took a deep breath, but she kept talking excitedly. "If I give him a message, will you make sure it gets to him?", she asked hopefully, and I looked at her in dismay. "Polly, Jason is-", I wanted to start, but she had got up and turned to me as I followed her. "You just have to help me get out of here, and then I'll go to meet him. The car, on the lost highway off of Route 40. Pass the old maple syrup sign, you're almost there. I'm packed, we're packed, we'll go to the farm like we planned", she kept talking and taking my hands in hers, but I shook my head regretfully. But she didn't seem to really catch that and so I said her name out loud and made myself heard. "What is it, Scarlett? What's the matter?", she asked, worried, and I looked at her sadly and fought against my tears. "Polly, Jason is-", I started and looked down. "What? Did something happen to him?", she asked anxiously and I looked at her again and nodded slightly. "Something bad?", she kept asking and again I nodded and she slowly seemed to understand. "Oh, my God", she said soundlessly and tears gathered in her eyes. I grabbed her gently by the arms and the tears ran down her cheeks. "I knew it; he's... he's...", she wanted to say and I could hardly bear to see her like this. "Polly, I'm so sorry", I said in a voice heavy with sadness, trying to comfort her somehow when the woman from the reception came to us. "Come with me, young lady. Now!" She didn't allow any argument and a woman in a nun's outfit, who had just stood with another girl, came to Polly to lead her away. "What's the matter?", I asked the receptionist, while I followed her and looked over my shoulder as the nun seemed to be taking care of Polly. "There's a visitor for you", the woman in front of me only replied and we went back to the entrance area. Jughead was still sitting in the chair and now he stood up when he saw us. "And you're coming too", the woman told him as we passed him and he came to me. "What's wrong?", he asked in a low voice and I whispered back that I didn't know it either. "Wait in here", the woman then said sternly as we stood in a room that looked like an office. There was a desk with chairs, a file folder and a printer. We entered the room and the receptionist closed the door behind us. "What happened?", Jughead repeated his question and I told him that Polly was pregnant and had not known that Jason was dead. "The Hayles apparently didn't even tell her that the father of her child is dead", I just said and Jug looked at me in disbelief. At that moment, the door opened and a blonde-haired woman in a beige coat came in. I knew it was Mrs. Hayle; I had seen her at a couple of events in Riverdale. "I pay the sisters good money. You think they don't notify me if Polly gets a visitor?", she said without any greeting and closed the door behind her. "Oh, we already know each other from this morning", she said to Jughead in a cool tone and then turned to me. "I suppose that's how you got this address; sent over your friends for an interview", she continued, and seemed to pierce me with an icy stare. "Polly is my sister. I have a right to visit her", I just replied, crossing my arms. "Disturbing visits are not good for her", Mrs. Hayle replied and I would have liked to slap her face for the way she treated Polly. "In that case, I think you better should go. You didn't tell her that she has a sister and you didn't tell her that the father of her child is dead!", I accused the woman and she took a step towards me. "Nobody should ever know that you are sisters, especially Polly and you. But of course, your moron-adoptiv father can't think of anything better than moving here", she replied in a sharp tone, and now Jughead interfered and asked why no one should know about that. "The good Dr. Richard Parks tried to take Polly away from us after your parents died. That's why we moved away", Darleen Hayle explained and I exchanged a suspicious look with Jug. "He didn't want that for sure", I protested, but she just gave me a disparaging look. "In any case, you will leave the home immediately and never visit Polly here again", she clarified, and I shook my head determined. "That's not for you to decide", I replied, and now Mrs. Hayle went to the door and opened it. "Get them", she told someone, and two men entered the room and approached Jug and me. "Come with us. If you resist, we will use force", one of them said and I wondered what kind of shit was going on here. One of the men walked towards Jughead and the other one came up to me and tried to grab my arm, but I gave him a nasty look and he refrained from it for now. Mrs. Hayle left of the room in front of us and the big men in the white gowns, and as we stood in the lobby I saw Polly across the hall, turning to us. "Darleen?", she asked incredulously when she saw us and we stopped. "Polly", Mrs. Hayle just replied soundlessly and stared at her as if she were a ghost. "Jason is dead?! And you didn't tell me? And you kept me in here?", Polly then yelled at her and came towards her. "Baby, it's for your own good", Mrs. Hayle tried to tell her and two other men in white clothes, who were in the hallway, came running. "No! You always say that! It's not true!", Polly yelled at her and fought back against the carers, who were grabbing her. "Let her go!", I yelled, and Polly called my name. I ran to her before the man next to me got hold of me, and took my sister in my arms. "I'll get you out of here, I swear, Polly", I promised her, but then the carers came and separated us. "No!", Polly fought against the men who dragged her to her room, and I couldn't do anything but watch her in pain. I tried to fight the carer, but he bottled me up and it was hopeless. "Can't you see what you're doing to her?!", I said to Mrs. Hayle, who was just standing there, looking at Polly with tears in her eyes. The carers took us out and we got on the next bus that took us home and on the way, I told Jughead what Polly had said.