Lexy Andrews

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Terror was sleeping into the bedrock of Riverdale. A town hall meeting had been set by Mayor McCoy. People were afraid to walk the streets alone, especially as the dusk approached. Shops closed early. Locks were added to doors. Suspicions between the North and Southside deepened, fanned into flames by Alice Cooper. And everyone wandered what danger lurked in the dark, when we would hear from the Black Hood next and how far into darkness would Archie go on his quest to avenge his father? And how far would he take his sister with him?

Archie and Lexy were currently in a back field of Riverdale, practicing targets. Archie with his gun and Lexy with her knives. She had taken lessons when she was a kid and never stopped. She was now extremely talented when it came to hitting the target.

The two finished up for the day putting on their jackets and making their way home, being careful to conceal the weapons hidden underneath their clothes.

"So there's absolutely no way I can convince you to take that video down?" Lexy asked Archie.

She was referring to the video he had posted online of him and his 'red circle' challenging the Black Hood.

"Why are you so against this? I'm just trying to protect my friends. I'm trying to protect you." He said.

"I know that. And your heart is in the right place but your head isn't. Dad was shot and almost died. Same with Moose and Midge and Ms. Grundy. The town is scared. But threatening, practically challenging the Black Hood to come after us again? That's not helping, Arch. And you don't want to get a reputation for being reckless."

"I'm not being reckless."

Lexy glared at him but he shrugged it off. "And when dad sees it? He won't nearly be as understanding about it as me." She prepared him for the rath of their father.

She opened the back door into the kitchen, where Fred was seated, probably waiting for them. He didn't look at them right away, he seemed to be too engrossed in a video he was watching on his phone. The only video anyone was watching right now.

Once it was over he put down the phone and turned to look at his son. "What'd you think? That I wouldn't see it?"

Lexy gave her brother a "told you so" look.

***

"So I guess now is as good a time as any to decide, do we enlighten the people about my brother's psychotic breakdown which he is trying to pawn off as "fighting fire with fire" or do we protect the orange lollipop and try keep this whole situation hush hush... Wait, no. He decided to not keep this all hush hush when he posted that video on the internet for everyone to see. So there we have it. Enlighten the people! Meeting adjourned!" Lexy announced, walking into the blue and gold office and taking a seat in front of Betty who was sorting through the mail.

"And the sister of the year award goes too..." Betty joked as she pulled out a large envelope with her name written on it in large, block capitals.

"Ooooooh you got mail?" Lexy asked, snatching the envelope from Betty who quickly tried to get it back. "Wow, it's big!"

Lexy opened the envelope with Betty looking over her shoulder. She pulled out a letter followed by a page with weird symbols on it. The girls read the first sentence and quickly realized that this was not fan mail.

***

Betty asked Kevin and Lexy to help her figure out the cypher she received from the Black Hood that evening. Jughead said they could do it at his trailer. He also invited his friend from Southside High, Toni, which Lexy knew made Betty uncomfortable. But so far Toni hadn't done anything to rub Lexy the wrong way.