Thank You, For Everything

Terror

Alice looked up from her laptop and frowned when she saw Betty run down the stairs with tears streaming down her face. It seemed as if neither of them could go a single day without being involved in some sort of drama, it was exhausting, maybe if they ran away to Bora Bora they could relax for once. She was about to get up and go over to her daughter, but Betty had already bolted out the front door. Alice sighed and tried to call instead. No answer. She put her phone to one side and decided to give Betty some space to calm down; she could continue her article for ten minutes and then try calling again.

The most recent terror of the town was a letter Tom Keller received, supposedly from the Black Hood. Tom had asked her to be subtle instead of "blowing things out of proportion." As if she does that. Alice rolled her eyes and huffed. Blowing things out of proportion... like what, exactly? She stopped typing and looked at the picture of the letter Tom had sent her and frowned. Sinner. Cheater. Adulterer. Alice shook her head. Fucking hell, Tom, what did you do? She shouldn't judge, she supposed, she had cheated too. But still, she thought better of him. Alice sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. Tom Keller was a cheater. She always admired him a little, even if she would never admit it out loud; he always strived to do the right thing, and he loved his son unconditionally. The same couldn't be said for a lot of parents in this town. Terror town. Town of terror. Alice grinned to herself, Town of Terror, it's a perfect title for the article. She typed in the title at the top of the page and closed her laptop. It's been ten minutes, and still no sign of Betty.

Alice tried calling again and held her phone to her ear as she made some coffee. Still no answer. She tried calling FP instead, maybe Betty had gone to see Jughead.

No answer from him either.

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the kitchen counter. Absolutely useless that man was; he never answers his phone, and takes hours to respond to texts. Seriously, it's like he wants Alice to be annoyed at him. Just a week ago she called him asking if he'd seen Betty's school bag, but no answer. Useless. Alice hissed as the scorching coffee burned her mouth, and dropped the cup. Porcelain smashed on the kitchen floor and black coffee spilled over her slippers. Damnit. She groaned and cursed as she knelt on the floor and began to clean up the mess.

Everything was a mess lately. Her life, Betty's life, the entire town. It was all the Blossom's fault, honestly, if Clifford hadn't killed his own son the town wouldn't be in this god awful mess. Everything was fine, it was normal. There were no dead sons, no creepy murderers in masks, no murder she was involved in. Alice shuddered and looked at the spot on the dining room floor where the man's body used to be. She closed her eyes and refused to think about it. If only none of this happened... But she wouldn't have her son, and she'd still be with Hal; and Alice wasn't entirely sure she'd be happy. She wasn't happy now. Or back then.