Lost (in Your Emerald Eyes)

F O R T Y - O N E

The tiny hairy man stood in the technology room, two men sitting in front of him, working on details on the computer. All three of them were wearing headsets and watching the show go down.

Never had they taken on such a risky mission. Kidnapping a girl from one of the most respected Northside families was nothing like taking one from the Southside without parents that nobody would miss.

But, even as they had already bid the girl off to a nasty buyer in Switzerland, Beast was not doing this for money. His objective was to capture both of the Jones men, leave the Serpents without leaders, and then take them all down, one by one.

The adrenaline he got from the operation helped as well.

"Butterfly. Cameras are on," they heard from the headset.

The bony man behind the computer who was referred to as Butterfly because of his high voice and colorful outfit choices, clicked on a button Beast didn't comprehend, and one of the huge screens on the wall filled with cameras from different angles, the blonde girl in the middle of them all, completely blind and oblivious to what was about to go down.

"Beast here," the small man spoke up. "Once she gets in the car, I only want Eagle and Owl to drive behind her, a couple of hundred feet behind. But don't lose her from your watch."

"Got it, boss."

The tiny man smirked to himself as he watched Betty Cooper buckle up. "Showtime."

Betty sighed as she pulled out of the parking lot of Pop's. Now that the little boy from earlier wasn't occupying her thoughts, her mind wandered back to Jughead.

She obviously wanted him to get out of the Serpents, go to college, and live the life he had always dreamed of. She wanted him to go with her. And she knew he wanted the same.

But the problem was that once you were in a gang, there was no way out. Or, well, there obviously was one way. But she could never sit by and watch her boyfriend die. She wasn't going to let it happen.

The girl sighed again as she chose the small road that would take her to Cheryl's mansion. It was a way to a few other mansions as well, but they were even further along the path, miles away.

The Blossoms had always lived a bit secluded from everyone else. Betty had never thought much of it, besides the fact that they had a lot of money and a high reputation.

She did think of it when the van that had been driving behind her the whole way from Pop's turned after her onto the small road between the woods.

Why would anyone go there? The car didn't seem like an expensive one that the Blossoms would drive, either.

She frowned a bit and looked back from the rearview mirror. She saw shadows of two men or extremely built women in the van but couldn't see their faces.

The girl tried to tell herself to shake off the bad feeling, but every time she tried to do so, even a worse theory would be planted in her head. It felt as if someone was pulling the strings and she, like a rag doll, was forced to go with it.

Shudders moved down her spine.

Having kept up with the latest news about the girl, Beast knew Betty Cooper's weaknesses. One of them was something he saw as a horrible minus in any person who had the quality: she was too kind to people.