Lost (in Your Emerald Eyes)

F O R T Y - O N E

When thinking about how they could capture her easily, they had talked about various things. One of his men had figured that making the car really crash with her in it would be a good idea, but Beast was categorically against it, afraid that the girl would get hurt and look worse than she looked on the photos they sold her with.

Another man had offered to put a deer or a moose on the road and forcing her to spot. That, though, would require a living animal. The only place Beast knew animals lived was the zoo, and he definitely wasn't going to ask.

His third worker had been the one to come up with the initial idea. He wanted to make one of the old Ghoulies play a helpless retired old man on the side of the street, thinking Betty would pull over and help him.

That was what Beast had gotten the idea from. The one they ended up using, though, was much more brutal than the previous.

He was going to make one of his men place the body of Agatha Rose on the three-mile spot they had agreed on, certain that Betty would pull over when she saw a young woman lying on the side of the road. And once she would realize the woman was dead, they would grab her and throw her in the car.

Betty frowned, her breathing accelerating a little as she sped up her car, just to test how the one behind her was going to react.

It sped up with her.

She slowed down a moment later, again, and the van behind her did the same.

Her brain was working through every possibility, and just as it tried to figure out a solution for the situation, it started thinking of something, anything, else.

It freaked her out enough to almost miss a curve and drive into a tree.

Beast watched the screen in thought until he nodded to the busy man behind the computer that was keeping his eye on the situation and on his boss.

"It's time. She's almost there."

The man nodded and turned back to his computer, typing away on the brand new keyboard. "Fall behind," he demanded the two in the car.

"Got it."

Betty kept her eyes on the road in front of her and shuddered in fear while reaching for her phone. She knew she was probably just being paranoid, but her heart couldn't stop pounding in her chest, and she didn't dare to lift her phone to her ear. Instead, the girl clicked on the first contact on her WhatsApp and clicked on the voice message.

"Jughead," she spoke, shuddering at the quiver in her voice. "Someone is following me. I'm in my car, driving to Cheryl's. I think I'm being paranoid, but I'm scared." Betty exhaled sharply before she took a deep breath, checking the rearview mirror and realizing no one was behind her anymore. "When you see this, please call me, and if I don't answer, go to the police."

Her shaking finger let go of the button and the message was immediately sent.

"I love you," she whispered under her breath, and quickly typed it out, sending it to him as a text message.

That's when she saw a girl. Frowning, the blonde slowed her car down as she passed the brunette on the ground, and some feet after, she hit the brakes. The thoughts from earlier were wiped from her mind as she hurried out of the car to check if the girl was okay.