Faithfully

53

When the three pulled up to the Devil's House, the air was still and the crickets were chirping. The rain had finally stopped and left everything a muddy mess.

"Now I'm regretting throwing your gun in Sweetwater River." Veronica told Archie as they climbed out of the Jeep. He and Braxton both let out a laugh and lead the way to the house.

Inside it was what you would expect of an old abandon house. The place was trashed, spider webs were everywhere, and the roof was leaking in some spots leaving water puddles on the floor.

"Sheriff Howard kept coming back here year after year, there must be a reason why." Archie said as he scanned the living room with his flashlight.

"So, what exactly does the article say happened?" Braxton asked.

Veronica pulled the article out of her purse and started to read it. "The Reaper came at night, when the rest of the town was getting ready for bed. He killed the mother, Mary Ellen Conway, first. He then killed the father, Jim Conway, in the kitchen. He was rushing to save his wife. He was shot point-blank in the chest. The kids were still in their bedrooms." She let out a gasp and said. "Hiding. My God, you guys.They were hiding under the bed."

"It was a family of four that was killed, right?" Braxton asked them. "Yeah, why?" Archie replied.

"There's something weird here." She said as she walked up the a door frame where they measured their growth. "There are three sets of initials."

Archie looked into the bedroom where he saw a desk with papers scattered amongst it. He quickly walked over and said, "These are Sheriff Howard's files, his notes. He kept them here so he could keep working on the case."

"Does it say anything about a third child? With the letters 'J' and 'C'?" Braxton called as she still looked at the door frame.

He flipped through the pages looking for anything about a third child. "Wait, wait, turn it back." Veronica told Archie when she saw a picture of the family standing in front of the house, three children and two parents. "Oh my God, there. The Conways were a family of five."

Braxton joined the others in the bedroom and looked down at the picture. "Holy shit."

"What if JC is the Black Hood?" Archie said to them.

When Braxton pulled into her driveway she noticed that Danny's car was gone, Jugheads bike was gone, and her dads truck was no where in sight. She let out a deep breath and dropped her head. "Home alone again." She muttered to herself and got out.

Once inside she headed up the stairs for a shower. After a long cold day a hot body shower was just what she needed.

She got out of the shower and was starting to get dressed she heard her front door opened and close. When she looked out the window to see if someone saw home, her Jeep was still the only vehicle in the driveway. She quickly threw one of Sweet Pea t-shirts on and a pair of yoga pants.

Braxton slowly creeped down the stairs with one of Rich's golf clubs in hand. As she made it to the bottom step someone rounded the corner from the kitchen and was looking right at her, "Sweet Pea, what the hell are you doing here?" She asked as she let out a long deep sigh. "I came to check on you." He told her. "You should really think about locking your front door."

"Yeah. Thanks for that."

"Where have you been? Your tires are completely covered in mud."