The Other Serpent - Book 2 (Riverdale Season 2)

When A Stranger Calls - Part 2

The bar was full of Serpents who stared, cheered, and made tons of noise as Jughead and Aminity stood side by side in front of Tall Boy.

"What is the fourth law?" Tall Boy screamed in their faces.

"No Serpent is left for dead!" they yelled back.

"What is the fifth law?"

"A Serpent never betrays its own!"

"What is the sixth?"

"In unity, there is strength!"

"In unity, there is strength!" all the Serpents in the bar repeated.

Tall Boy held his hands out and the bar became silent. "You know the laws." Jughead and Aminity kept their stare on him, refusing to show any signs of weakness. "Now it's time for the next trial." Sweet Pea and three other Serpents who were sitting on the edge of a table stood up and moved, revealing a snake vivarium with two knives stuck in the wood inside. The Jones' looked from the snake, to Tall Boy, and then back. "Retrieve the knife."

"What?" Jughead asked, letting his guard down, knowing that he would be bitten by the venomous rattlesnake.

"One for each of you. Eldest first." Tall Boy continued with the instructions. Jughead looked to Toni who sublty nodded and he moved forward, taking a breath in before plunging his hand into the tank and pulling out the knife, two teeth marks sitting on his wrist. The bar erupted into cheers as he brought the knife back to Tall Boy and Aminity took his place. She calmed her breath and found Septimus in the crowd. He gave her a smile and a nod. She briefly closed her eyes before opening them as her hand went into the snake's territory and it launched at her wrist, sinking its teeth in before she grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out.

***

"Rattlesnake, Toni," Jughead said as she, Aminity, and Septimus sat with him, both of the Jones' wrists bandaged. "A rattlesnake bit both of us and drew blood."

"One that had its venom glands removed, okay?" she argued. "The important thing is you showed no fear. Neither of you did."

"You both grabbed the knife and remembered all the laws," Septimus added and Toni nodded.

"Which means you're almost a Serpent now, Juggie," Toni smiled. Jughead went silent at the nickname.

"You're almost there," Septimus assured Aminity, rubbing circles on her hand.

***

"Hey, Toni," Aminity greeted as she opened the door to reveal her pink-haired friend.

"I need to talk to you and your brother. Can I come in?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Hey, Toni. What's up?" he asked as he walked out of his room, following the girls into the living room.

"Jughead, I, um... I came to warn you, I guess, both of you. If you're having second thoughts, now would be the time to back out because the final trial is on a whole other level."

"The Gauntlet, you mean?" Jughead asked. "If it's anything like the beast," he said, referencing to the dog who was curled up on Aminity's lap, "I think I'll be fine. It's whatever."

"No, Jughead, it's not whatever. You join us, you gotta be willing to die for us." She walked closer to him. "Because we will for you. And your Northside friends, your girlfriend... You're gonna look up one day and they're all gonna be gone because that's what happens when you join a gang. The Serpents are no exception."