"There's no way you're gonna make that shot," I said, watching Fangs leaning over the pool table.
"Come on, have a little faith," he said.
I shook my head. "I have faith," I replied. "Faith in the fact that it's not gonna work."
Fangs ignored me, going for it anyways. We watched as the balls rolled around the table, knocking into one another. His head dropped as the eight-ball rolled into the corner pocket. "Okay, what did I do wrong?" he asked.
"Come on, man," Sweet Pea said. "Abigail won't even show me how to do that shot, what makes you think she's gonna tell you?"
I smiled. "If I told everyone the secret, it wouldn't be such an impressive move and I wouldn't be able to win every time."
"Hey, I beat you one time," Sweet Pea protested, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"Yeah, because I let you win," I replied ,rolling my eyes.
"Did not, I won that game fair and square."
"Just keep telling yourself that," I teased.
"You two sound like some old married couple," Fangs laughed, setting up for another game. "Why don't you play another round to settle it? Right here, right now."
I looked up at Sweet Pea. "I'm in."
He nodded, leaning down to press his lips against mine. "I'm not going easy on you though," he warned.
"Good, neither am I," I replied, taking the pool cue from Fangs.
We were down to the end when Toni burst through the door, nearly breaking Sweet Pea's focus. "Where the hell have you been?" she snapped.
"Here for most of the day," Fangs answered. "Give up, Abigail, there's no way you're gonna win now."
"I promise not to brag about it too much," Sweet Pea said.
"You haven't won yet," I reminded him, studying the table.
"So is anyone going to tell me why they haven't answered their phones all day? Obviously nothing happened at the Cooper house this morning, or you wouldn't be here having fun," Toni said.
"Nothing too exciting," Fangs answered as I took my shot. "There were only two of them there and when we broke in they decided not to take chances and hightailed it out of town. No way!"
"You were saying?" I smirked at the two boys.
"Okay, now that the game's over, can you guys focus?" Toni snapped in frustration. "I've been trying to get in touch with you all day."
The three of us exchanged glances, following Toni to a table. "We're breaking Cheryl out tonight," she said, looking directly at me.
"Who exactly are 'we'?" I asked.
"You and me, Veronica, and Kevin."
"Why can't we come?" Fangs asked. "Sweet Pea and I can help."
Toni shook her head. "No, it's gotta be us. Nana Rose called me at the school earlier, Cheryl's with the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, forced into some underground conversion therapy."
"I told you the old lady knew where she was," I said. "But that doesn't explain why it's only the four of us."
"According to Kevin, there's a tunnel that leads from the basement to Sweetwater River that boys use to sneak out at night to hook up in the forest. He's going to take us to it. It'll be easier with just three of us going in," Toni explained.
"So what, you're just gonna go in, find Cheryl, and walk out?" Sweet Pea asked, unconvinced.
I shrugged. "It's a building full of nuns, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Kevin said they originally had a distillery in the basement and used the tunnel to smuggle the booze out during Prohibition," Toni said. "If they've been breaking the law this long, who knows what else is going on in that place."
"Got it," I said. "Follow the tunnel, find Cheryl, try not to interrupt any exorcisms, and get out. Sounds like a plan to me."
"Please don't get possessed while you're in there," Sweet Pea begged.
A few hours later, Toni left to change into all black and meet Lodge at the Pembrook. On my way to meet Kevin in the forest, I got a call from Dakota.
"Darla and Marcel are back in Centerville," he said.
"Did they just now get back? Took them long enough," I muttered, stopping a short distance away from Kevin. "Keep an eye on them for the next few days. I don't expect them to cause any trouble, but I'd rather be prepared."
"Already on it, Abi. Hunter's over there now with Darko."
That surprised me. "You let the two of them go off alone together?"
"Yes, and if you'd come by and visit once in a while, you'd know that nothing is gonna come between me and Hunter," Dakota said.
"Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do," I replied with a laugh. Through the trees, I could see Toni and Lodge headed our way. "I gotta go right now though, I'm about to break into a convent." I hung up, leaving Dakota confused.
Kevin led us deeper into the forest, the four of us not saying a word. "According to my intel, the tunnel that leads from the main residence comes out here," he said, stopping in front of a locked door.
"Oh, yes, I can see lots of boys sneaking out through here," I said, examining the rusted padlock.
"Abigail," Toni warned, stopping Lodge before she could say anything. We all stepped back as Toni pulled a crowbar from the duffel bag she'd brought, breaking the lock.
"Okay, that's our way in," Lodge said, looking smugly at me. "All right, Kevin, you stay here. If we're not back in 15 minutes, call your dad."
He nodded, watching us nervously enter the tunnel. Our flashlights showed roots breaking through the walls and puddles of water on the floor. We paused after climbing down the ladder, looking both ways down the tunnel.
"Okay, and when we get to the main building, what happens then?" Lodge asked.
"We search each and every damn room until we find her," Toni said.
"Let's go," I nodded, leading the pair towards the lit staircase to my right.
We let ourselves through the door silently, sneaking down empty halls. The rooms we looked in were all empty, the only sound the clicking of Lodge's heeled boots.
"Okay, let's split up," Toni said as we came to an intersection of halls. "We'll cover twice the ground."
"Okay, but be careful," Lodge whispered.
We separated, taking different paths. The next few halls I wandered down were empty as well. I had to admit, it was a little creepy. I turned down another hall, stopping in my tracks as several sets of eyes fell on me.
"What are you doing here?" a nun demanded.
"Uh, just seemed like a good night for a stroll," I said, slowly walking backwards.
"Come back here, young lady!" the nun called.
I turned and ran as she began walking towards me. "Sorry, forgot I have somewhere to be," I called back over my shoulder. I couldn't remember which way I'd come from, and the halls were even more bare than a hospital, providing no help whatsoever. I turned corners at will, backtracking only when faced with a wall of approaching nuns. We must have tripped some kind of alarm when we came up the stairs for them to be out in force.
As if on cue, an alarm sounded, red lights flashing through a small window in a door down the hall from me. I pushed through the door, nearly falling down the stairs I'd been hoping were behind it. The nuns followed close behind as I ran down the tunnel.
"This way!" I heard Lodge call somewhere ahead of me. I didn't know if she was talking to me or the others, but at least we were all headed in the same direction.
I glanced over my shoulder at the approaching nuns. Damn, they were fast. I pushed myself, running faster than before. "Hurry up," I shouted, catching sight of Toni, Cheryl, and Lodge. "They're right behind me!" One by one, I pushed the three up the ladder, watching our pursuers get closer by the second.
"Come on!" I heard Kevin calling as I finally made my way up.
"Stop her!" someone ordered, and I felt a hand wrap tightly around my ankle, pulling me down. WIthout looking I kicked down, connecting with something. Whoever it was let go with a cry of pain and I climbed the rest of the way up before any of the others could reach.
Kevin slammed the door shut the second I was out, Toni sliding the crowbar through the hole to keep the nuns from getting out that way.
"I don't know how long that's gonna hold," I warned, pushing the others away.
"Let's go!" Lodge cried, running.
We stopped at the edge of the forest, panting. "What happened?" Kevin asked between breaths. "I heard the siren and was getting ready to call my dad."
"They must have known someone was trying to escape," Lodge said.
I shook my head. "We tripped some kind of alarm going in there. They must have known what the tunnel was being used for, why else would it have been locked from the outside?"
"It doesn't matter, guys," Toni said, hugging Cheryl. "We did it. We saved Cheryl."
"It seems to be the day to save people," I muttered. "I'm going home."
"Abigail, wait," Cheryl called after me. "Thank you for coming for me," she said, wiping a few tears from her cheeks.
"Of course," I replied. "How else are the Serpents and Vixens going to show the Bulldogs they don't run the school if you're not there?"
Cheryl let out a laugh, hugging me tightly. "Don't worry, we'll have everyone straightened out in no time."
The next morning, we sat in the Swords and Serpents room, Sweet Pea's arms around me. We were all waiting, wondering why Alice Cooper was standing beside Jughead.
"I asked jughead to thank you for me," she began, "but I reconsidered, because I wanted to do it myself. So, thank you for what you did. I also wanted you to hear it directly from me that I am done attacking and disavowing the Southside. It's where I'm from, and I should be proud of that. And from now on, I will be. And like my daughter, I will fight tooth and nail for it."
"We're Serpents. It's what we do," Jughead said with a shrug.
"He's your cousin," Sweet Pea whispered in my ear as I tried not to laugh.
"Don't remind me."
Author's Note: Remember to continue voting and commenting! Let me know what you think of the story so far.