Say My Name

Chapter Sixteen

In the next few seconds, Betty was knocked out cold. Jughead watched the blood trickle over the side of his knife, then ran his finger up and down the sharp end, smearing her blood along the cold metal before he wiped it off on his jeans.

"Well, look at that. Body count just gets higher and higher," Rafael said with a smirk before he looked at Jughead. "You can clean all of this up, can't you?" He asked, his eyes directed towards Betty, then the mess around them before he walked out, alongside the other man that belonged to him.

"What is going on?" Jughead heard a female voice coming from outside the shed and quickly darted outside to see a dark-haired girl being pulled by Rafael's goon.

He waited until Rafael was out of sight. "Hey, I got this one, too. You can go," he said, grabbing Veronica's arm and pulled her away from him.

"But I need --" The guy started.

"Go!" Jughead barked, then started trotting back to the shed with Veronica dragging her feet behind him.

"What's happening?" She asked worriedly. "I was trying to find my friend, then that man grabbed me out of nowhere and took me outside. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Stop talking," Jughead muttered before they both entered the shed, and Veronica immediately gasped when she saw her friend lying still on the ground.

"Betty!" She covered her mouth in shock. "Oh, my god!"

Jughead knelt on his knees beside the blonde and brought two fingers up to her pulse point on her neck.

"What happened to her? Is she okay?" Veronica's voice was high and sounded distressed. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god." She repeated over and over. "She's... She's... Oh, my god." She took a deep breath. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"I'm gonna need you to shut your mouth for me," Jughead snapped. "Can you do that?"

Veronica pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and quickly nodded.

"She's not dead, but she will be if you keep yapping your mouth. Do you understand me?" His tone was strict and stern. He looked over at Sweet Pea, who was standing against the wall. "Sweet Pea, go grab the truck and bring it to the back," he ordered, and Sweet Pea nodded his head obligingly, then walked swiftly out of the shed.

Still kneeling beside her body, Jughead quickly removed his leather jacket and underneath shirt before tossing the jacket to the other Serpent. He was left in a fitted white tank top and dark jeans. He bunched the shirt in his hands, then pressed it against her wound, trying to slow down the bleeding. "Come put your hand here," he said to Veronica.

Veronica quickly dropped to her knees and held the shirt in place. Jughead propped himself up onto his feet, snaking his arms underneath her legs and back. He lifted her in a cradle position, straightening his body up as Veronica held on, still keeping the shirt pressed against her friend's wound. Betty's purse dangled from her shoulder, and Veronica quickly grabbed the purse from her so it wouldn't fall.

"Walk with me, and no talking until I say," he said to her.

Veronica agreed, and Jughead made his way out of the shed with Veronica alongside. When he noticed there wasn't anyone else around, he turned the corner, walking around to the back of the shed and exited through the back gate. Veronica looked down at Betty, who was knocked out in the gang leader's arms. She kept the pressure on her wound but could feel the blood already seeping through it.

There was a black truck parked on the grass in the back, and Jughead carried the blonde to the back door. Veronica maneuvered around them, opened the back door, and climbed in first. Jughead gently handed Betty to her, laying her across her lap before he shut the door behind them.