"We're all on the edge of madness; deep down, darkness is within all of us and we're on guard constantly trying to avoid losing control."
In which Mickey Lodge has a few skeletons in her closet.
{COMPLETED WITH ALL SEASONS + epilogue}
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"Now this. You're messing with my friends' lives now!"
✿
A dark cloud has hovered over Riverdale ever since the opening night of Carrie—the night Midge Klump was murdered.
During the funeral, Mickey could barely look up from her black shoes, not even during Cheryl's harsh monologue. There's a weight on her chest and she can't shake it. One thing is for certain, the Black Hood is back and he's not finished. She can barely sleep at night and if there was ever a time that she felt the need to relapse, it was now.
"I have a theory," Jughead is the first to speak up when they all gather in Pop's. "It's a copycat killer. And who coincidentally showed up in Riverdale just after Mr. Svenson was killed? And has been giving off creepy vibes ever since?" He realizes his hints aren't ringing any bells for his friends. "Chic," he states. "He has a temper too."
Betty dismisses his theory. "Chic is here because I went to the hostel to get him. And, yes, he's weird, but he didn't know Midge. So...moving on."
"What if Mr. Svenson wasn't the Black Hood?" Archie poses the question.
Betty says softly, "Archie, we were there when he died."
"I know. But just because he was wearing a hood that night, it doesn't necessarily mean he's the same guy who shot my Dad. And now killed Midge."
"Svenson forced me to bury you alive," she recalls. "He cut off his own finger and sent it to me."
Archie argues, "Maybe the real Black Hood cut it off because he was working with Svenson."
Veronica enters the conversation to raise a question, "And Svenson would've let himself be mutilated?"
"Look, all I'm trying to say, is the real Black Hood could still be alive." Archie looks around the table, "I looked into the Black Hood's eyes. They weren't Mr. Svenson's eyes."
Veronica waves her hand in Mickey's face. "What do you have to say, Mick? You've been awfully quiet all day."
Betty looks at Mickey as well and notices her flustered state. "Are you okay? You look...off."
"You know what?" Mickey snaps out of her thoughts and stands from her seat. She pulls on her jacket, "I'm not hungry. I'll wait for you in the car, Ronnie."
✿
"Do you think the Black Hood is back?"
Mickey puts her book down on her bed. "I do."
"This is a trigger for Archie," Veronica murmurs. "I don't want him to become 'Death Wish' Archie, but he thinks the message written in Midge's blood was about his Dad."
"Fred did escape death and if the Black Hood is targeting missed jobs, Archie has every right to be scared."
"The Black Hood is unpredictable. Archie needs to stay sane. He could be the next victim for all we know.
