Poison | Jughead Jones

Chapter sixteen

the secrets of the dead

Bella crouched down with a bobby pin in her lips and her finger tips brushing against the door handle. It carefully creaked open, leaving the girl to bounce on her feet and step into the locked room.

"How do you know how to do that?" Betty whispered as she followed closely behind, watching as Bella threaded the pin back into her braid.

"A family trick." She vaguely responded, already snooping through the teenage boys bedroom. It felt exhilarating to regain power, even in such a dark way. Bella felt as if this was a victory in her own right. Her silent thoughts running wild in the teens room. Betty gave Jughead a confused look but he washed it away with the shake of his head, deciding some things were left unanswered.

"Is it me or did the temperature just drop like it does in horror movies." Betty muttered, her body shaking ever so slightly with fear. Jughead chuckled, trailing the brunettes footsteps and checking the drawers.

"That's just the icy chill of the dead." He answered, a sly grin slipping on his lips. Bella shot him a look, eyebrows raised at the sneaking figure behind her.

"Where does a teenage boy hide things?" Betty questioned as she went to pull back the mattress, finger nails clawing at the fabric.

"What are we looking for exactly again?" Bella responded into the chilling air, biting her lip as she fumbled with the decorations lying on the desk.

"I'm not sure, something that ties Jason and..." Betty stifled a gasp as a noise cut the young teen off, the air suddenly dropping further.

"Why hello dear." A shrill voice shattered through the tense room, wheeling out of the darkness shrouding the corner. Bella jumped backward, a bit too jumpy for a serpent.

"Holy shi..." She gaped Before a hand clasped around her lips and let the silence blanket the room once more.

"How lovely to see you again." The old and frail woman glanced dotingly to the blonde, her white eye sparking morbid curiosity in the darker teens.

"The horror." Jughead muttered as his hand fell from Bellas lips, eyes fixated on the silver haired woman.

"Come closer, Polly dear. I haven't seen you in so long." She beamed as Betty stumbled forward, taking the extended hand with hesitance. Bellas gaze flickered back and forth between the awkward exchange and the only other observer, panic threaded through her skin.

"I don't know how." She whispered to jughead, grabbing on to his arm.
"But this just got a whole lot weirder."

*****

Jessebelle rhodes slid through the mayhem that was Pops Diner and handed out all the orders needed to be served. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, with a biro pen tucked neatly within and wisps carelessly caressing her cheeks. Even a funeral couldn't unsettle the town for too long.

As she dropped the empty tray back onto the counter, she was almost immediately inundated with take away bags to hand out. It was like that for hours, easily taking her mind away from the disastrous day.

A girl, that reminded her of her young self, pattered through the aisle like a bulldozer. Large hands swept the running girl from her feet as the father let out a bellowing laugh, undertones of the soft giggles of an infant.

If Bella Rhodes was a cliche, one simple tear would have dropped down her cheek in that somber moment of recall.

But she was no cliche.

Bella Rhodes was a serpent, and she be damned if she let her parentless childhood be her undoing.

_____

Soft laughter filled the air as an eight year old Bella ran through the playground so graciously built in the north side. The south side had rusted slides and broken swings, shattered glass its grass. Bella loved it still, yet a child always picked the toys that weren't broken.

Alice cooper glared down at the children playing as she sat on the park bench, trying not to interfere. Her long sandy brown hair danced in the wind, the last remnant of who she truly was.

"Alice cooper, what a surprise." A low voice laughed as they fell next to the mother, slouching back and keeping one eye on the children. Bella had her legs tucked onto the monkey bars, swinging upside down and attempting to steal the torn up hat resting on the boy underneath hers head.

Her newest friend, Betty Cooper attempted to follow the girls actions, but with a swift yell from her mother, she found herself playing hopscotch instead.

"Why would it be a surprise FP, after all I'm not on the wrong side of town." Alice commented, not even glancing at the man she conversed with as her hawk gaze scoured for her other child. Fp chuckled, giving her a humoured look as the summer breeze swept by.

"Are you sure 'bout that." He questioned with a honest smile, nothing but suggestion threading through his voice. there was a loud thud as Bella swooped down to her feet and grabbed the beanie, her hands extended in victory.

Alice didn't respond as she watched the girl with a black bow tying half of her back in curiosity. Jughead stomped his foot and folded his arms as an older woman came toward them.

Her hair was a luscious brown, and Alice remembered going to school with her but never how truly beautiful she was. The lady crouched down next to the two kids, one beaming from ear to ear and the other scowling. she had said something that had unnerved the petite girl standing next to her, as she brought down her arm to give the beanie back.

The older woman smiled dottingly as she moved out of the way, brushing the boys hair back with a comb of her hand. Before jughead could take the beanie back, someone had come racing through and snatched it out of the girls grip, leaving the two gormless.

Betty Cooper shook the hat in the air and let out a high pitch squeal as Bella hollered in glee. That was the reason Bella grew so fond of Betty Cooper, because when her mother wasn't looking she could be as bad as her.

Alice sighed as she closed her eyes, frown lines embedded into her skin. She finally looked at the man sitting next to her, a sad remnant glued to her skin.

"Yes."

Was all she said. But it was enough to start a war.

----

why do you think Bella feels that way about Jason?