The Other Serpent - Book 2 (Riverdale Season 2)

There Will Be Blood

Jughead stared at his screen and the board hanging over the dining room table as Aminity helped in his research.

"Hey," they greeted as their father walked in.

"What's all this?"

"Hopefully, this is the article that saves the town from Hiram Lodge."

"Basically, Jug pulled me into doing research about the land and Mr. Lodge."

"Jughead-"

"If I can fit the pieces together," Jughead sighed, pouring a cup of coffee.

"Boy, you need to drop this. He rescued us. He bought the trailer park, forgave our debts."

"What? He's the reason we almost lost the trailer park."

"He does have a point," Aminity shrugged.

"Hiram's slicker than a bottle of snake oil, no doubt, but this is-"

"Dad, Dad, please," Jughead sat back down. "Hiram Lodge just bought the Riverdale Register." FP sat down. "He's trying to silence dissenting voices before he makes his big play."

"He's been buying up land all over the Southside and now he took away the one newspaper in town. You have to admit that sounds fishy."

"He's afraid," Jughead told them. "He's afraid of this exposure."

***

"Are you still going after Hiram Lodge?" Archie asked as Jughead and Aminity sat in the classroom, waiting for Swords and Serpents to start.

"Well, that depends," Jughead closed his laptop. "Who's asking? You? Veronica? The archfiend himself?"

"Jug," he pulled up a stool, "there's gonna be a special election to replace Josie's mom. Hiram Lodge wants my dad to run."

"What? Why?" both Jones' asked.

"Who freaking knows? Jughead, I'm with Veronica so that means I'm with the Lodges." Jughead scoffed. "But my dad... I can't let him get in any deeper with them."

"So tell him he shouldn't run."

"Veronica would kill me if I did. And ditto the Lodges. Maybe I could give you something. Maybe you could write about it and that might make my dad hit pause."

"So you don't want to go the route that involves not blackmailing?"

"It's not blackmailing," Archie told her.

"Then what is it?"

"Uh... Bringing the truth to light?"

"Okay," Jughead told him.

"You remember when Hiram Lodge gave Pop Tate that charitable donation to keep the diner open?"

"Yeah. We were all there."

"Except Hiram Lodge didn't give Pop's a donation. He bought the diner."

"What?" they both exclaimed.

"And for some reason he doesn't want anyone to know about it. Can you do something with that fact? At least enough to make my dad think twice about this stupid mayor idea?"

"Jughead can do something with pretty much nothing."

"He bought the diner?" Jughead continued.

"Yes."

Jughead pulled out his map of the town. "God, Hiram is like Dracula snapping up properties from all over Riverdale to expand his empire and feed. If what you're telling me is true... everyone is in danger."