monsters | riverdale

Ex-Libris

"Mickey, I just wanted to give you a heads up about Percival possibly coming to your house for—"

"He already came." Her voice cracks and she can't help it. She sits on the edge of her coffee table. "He took my copy of The Outcasts. The one with the last ultrasound picture." Just saying it, and the thought of never getting it back, causes her to breakdown on the phone with him. It's one of the few things she kept from her pregnancy.

"We're going to figure this out," he assures.

✿

Jughead called everyone over after realizing Percival pulled the same thing on them as he did on him and Mickey.

Veronica sits beside Archie and Betty on Jughead and Tabitha's couch. "My father pulled off some pretty bizarre villainy in his day but shutting down a library?"

"There is a purpose behind what Percival is doing." Jughead's standing in front of the three of them. "Books promote ideas and free thinking. They're terrifying objects to would-be-despots like him. If people stop reading and thinking and dreaming, it makes it easier for them to just follow Percival."

Betty scrunches her nose. "But shaking us down for overdue library books with goons and guns? What is so special about our books?"

"We're the agitators."

Archie offers up, "Maybe it's a distraction, for his next move. Maybe he's moving on from Tabitha."

Betty asks, "Where is Tabitha anyway?"

"Albany," Mickey and Jughead tell them. The latter says, "She's still working on getting Pop's declared a historical landmark."

Veronica points out, "Well, he's not interested in the money. Though he did threaten to arrest me if I didn't find my book."

"Yeah, but have you ever heard of people being thrown in jail for an overdue library book?" Betty looks to her friends for an answer.

"Yeah, actually," Jughead replies. "Some states consider the failure to return library books as theft."

Mickey throws her hands up in the air erratically. "Well, I'm screwed because I have no idea where my book is!" Her eyes shimmer with fresh tears. "That evil prick took something personal of mine and I'm never going to get it back!"

Jughead pulls her under his arm to keep her from pacing. He wipes some of the tears from her cheek. Then he looks at his friends with determination twinkling in his eyes. "We need a plan."

Veronica turns her head, "Cheryl? You've been pretty quiet."

Cheryl is leaning on the cabinet by the door. "Methinks there is a whiff of sorcery about all of this. Books are objects of immense power. Every reader imprints on the book they read. Every book changes the reader in some way. If Percival knows what books we read during our formative years...—" she sighs deeply, "—my mind reels of what he might do with that secret forbidden knowledge."

✿

It's the middle of the afternoon when Mickey's back at her apartment. She shuts off the television when her eyelids start to feel heavy out of nowhere. Then she adjusts herself on her couch and allows the rest to consume her just to avoid thinking about the situation her and her friends are in.

Mickey wakes up the next morning to the sound of movement. When her eyes adjust, she sees Jughead packing his things. She sits up. "Are you going to find somewhere safe to stay?"
"Yes." He looks at her, "I have to do something, but I'll be right outside. Get dressed," he throws his duffel over his back and moves over to the bed. "Mickey, about last night, I, uh—"
"Jug, it's really okay. We do not need to—"
He leans down and presses his lips to hers.
The kiss is soft, gentle, and very sweet. Their lips are a little chapped from the cold, but that doesn't take away from anything.
They both pull away with sheepish grins playing on their faces.