Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 37

"Yes I did," I sighed, not wanting to talk about this. "I told you there's nothing going on between us right now. And before you say it, we have talked, we both know where we stand and that's all there is to it."

Toni crossed her arms in front of me. "Do I need to arrange another movie night? It worked last time you two broke up."

"Please don't," I groaned. "And we didn't break up, we're just not together right now. You just focus on whatever it is you see in your girlfriend and get her away from the Farm. Keep her from eating anything they make."

"How is starving Cheryl going to help?" Toni questioned.

"Toni, I think that's how Cheryl and Alice are supposedly seeing the dead," I said, talking quietly. "That night at the party, Kevin ate something Evelyn gave him and started hallucinating, said he saw Midge. If these people don't know they're being drugged, they're going to believe anything."

"Oh, my God," Toni sighed. "If this video doesn't work, maybe I can convince her to let me meet Jason and prove to her that he's not alive."

"It's an option. But be careful, you saw how quickly they pull people in," I said, starting down the hall again. I had places to be and things to think about. Starting with who the hell knew Betty Cooper was keeping a snuff film on her laptop?

Finding Kurtz was proving to be harder than expected, none of the Gargoyles seemed to know where he was hiding out. The only thing we did know was that he'd either been stockpiling Fizzle Rocks somewhere or had a new set up where he was mass-producing. Since the apartment building had been lost to the Serpents, the Gargoyles had been selling what little they had left, sometimes receiving packages with more that somehow no one ever saw delivered.

Not only that, but I'd seemed to have hit a dead-end when it came to recruiting Gargoyles. I'd gained a small group but it was nowhere near even half of them. It didn't seem like Gladys had any idea some of her gang had turned on her, or if she did, she didn't let on.

The next day I hid behind the trees, watching the pair walk closer, arms linked. "It's just so sad," Alice sniffed, her eyes on the ground in front of her.

"I know, Mom," Betty replied. I moved closer, being sure to stay behind Alice.

"So sad you won't let me be happy at the Farm," Alice continued as if Betty hadn't spoken. "I don't know when you're gonna give up, Betty."

"You saw his gravestone," Betty protested, pulling Alice to a stop.

Alice shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry Betty, but I spoke to my son this morning."

I inched closer, wrapping an arm around Alice to cover her mouth and nose with the rag in my hand. "I'm sorry too, Mom," Betty said sadly as she took hold of her mother. Within minutes, Alice was lying unconscious on the grass, Betty and I standing over her as I shoved the rag and gloves I'd been wearing into a bag.

"Come on, let's get her in the car before someone shows up and starts asking questions," I said, watching the gate at the front of the graveyard. I didn't want to have to explain to FP why we'd chloroformed his ex-girlfriend. We half carried, half dragged Alice to the backseat of the station wagon, Betty strapping her in. "We should have an hour or so before she wakes up, and we still need to get down into the bunker. I'll meet you there."

How we managed to do it was a mystery to me but before I knew it, Betty and I were standing side by side, looking down at Alice Cooper, handcuffed to the bed. "We really did it," Betty said softly, her voice shaking. "We kidnapped my mother and are holding her captive."

"Don't wimp out on me now, Cooper," I warned. "This was your plan and for some reason I let you drag me into it."

"No. No, no, no, my dad gave me the idea," she cried, looking at me frantically. "He gave me the idea to show her the headstone for Charles Smith."