"Hey Ethel." I smirk, standing in front of her, stepping on her shoe, intentionally unintentionally.
Jughead waves the wooden object in her face. "Hey, does this look familiar to you?" He says to her.
She sucks in a breath. "Where did you get that?" She asks nervously.
Jughead hops onto the couch, Betty standing next to me. "Bens hospital room. What were you doing there?" He asks.
"I don't have to tell you anything, okay, you're not the police." She says, attempting to move. I stand in her way, however.
"Ethel, wait." Betty says. "We're just trying to figure out what happened to Ben and Dilton and the missing Scout."
"Is this the Gargoyle King?" Jug asks, standing up with the rest of us.
Ethel's eyes don't leave the totem. "How do you know about that."
I roll my eyes. "Dilton told us about your dingle hopper game before he sacrificed himself to the thing." I reply. "So, is it?"
She shakes her head. "No. No, it's the opposite." She stutters. "I made that talisman to protect Ben."
Betty jumps in. "How do you even know Ben?"
"He's my boyfriend."
I snort. "Wait, what?"
"We started dating this summer." Betty nods in understanding, looking up at me. "And we spent all our time in the bunker, so..."
"What bunker?" Jughead asks.
Ethel's eyes switch between me and Jug. "Never mind." She chuckles nervously.
Betty, who's growing impatient as well, says, "Ethel, just..." She waves her hands around. "What bunker?"
The girl purses her lips. "Diltons. In the woods." I furrow my brow, looking over at Betty. Dilton had a bunker in the woods for his stupid satanist game? Jughead asks the same question, Ethel nodding. "It was our secret spot. And Diltons too."
"Can you at least just tell us where it is?" Betty asks her.
"I mean, I can't. It's too hard to describe."
I step forward. "Then show us, tonight." I state as kindly as possible.
"It's either us or Sheriff Minetta." Jughead adds.
"Okay, by you have to keep it a secret." Ethel finalizes. We all agree. "We have to go at night, so nobody can see us." She looks over at me. "Do you guys know where Fox Footbridge is?"
I make my way through the halls, Betty grabbing onto my wrist. "Emmy, are you okay?" She asks quietly.
I frown, adjusting my bag. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
"You've just been off. Ever since the baby-" She sighs. "You've been almost pulling a sophomore year Cheryl. When she was a horrendous bitch because of Jason." She tells me. "You were colder than cold to Evelyn and Ethel, and you look like you're going to pound Josie or Sweet Pea. Or both." I look away, looking at the inside of a classroom. "I don't want you doing anything you'll regret."
I sigh, knowing Betty is right. I've been at an all time low ever since Sweet Pea and I ended things. Cheryl and Toni have noticed, even Fangs has noticed with his random rendezvous to my house at 2am. With Archie in jail, my ex and my former friend sneaking around, it's like I'm drowning.
"I'm fine, Betty." I tell her finally. "I just have a lot of stuff going on." She nods, hugging me tightly before parting ways.
I drive through to Southside, a side of town nobody goes to anymore. My car, which had been repaired since riot night, purrs as I turn down a dirt road. The same dirt road we drove down to save Hot Dog last week. I take another turn, opposite to the Ghoulie Hideout. Lana Del Rey plays through the radio. I pull into an old white house, the colors chipped from age and cheap paint. It's a two story house, small, but tall. An old, rusted black pickup truck is parked in the dirt driveway, kids toys all along the front yard.
My boots make thumping sounds as I walk up the porch, knocking on the front door. A little girl swings open the door, her dark skin shining in the sun. "Emmy!" She squeals, wrapping her arms around my waist. I laugh? scooping her up in my arms.
"Hey, Willow!" I grin, hugging the little girl tightly. "Where's Mel?" I ask her.
The girl hops out of my arms, her jeans are dirty from playing in the back yard with the other kids. "Miss Mel!" She goes running through the house, running up the stairs. I step into the entry way, looking around the house. The dingy green couch has stuffed animals and kids blankets on it, the TV playing an episode of Dinosaur Train.
Melinda Donahue comes stepping down the stairs, her yellow dress brighter than anything you'd expect from the Southside. Her brown hair is tied up in a low bun, her shoes not on her feet. Her tanned skin makes mine look even paler to comparison. Mel is a few years older than me, reaching 25. Her husband, Sam, works around Riverdale. The three of the five children running around going to Greendale for schooling. "Emmy, I was worried you weren't coming this week." She chuckles. She hugs me tightly, smelling like daisies.
"I could never miss out seeing you." I remind her. "How's Sam?" I ask her, remembering his and I's secret friendship.
Mel sighs, picking up a few toys off the couch. "On another Ghoulie trip." She says to me. "Malachi and Penny always keep him running." We sit together on the couch, "How's Sweet Pea?" She asks. Mel was one of the few people I went to when me and Pea split, she still asks about him to make sure he's okay.
"He's great. Him and Josie are better than ever, I guess." I shrug. She nods, looking into the kitchen back door to see Willow, Jace, and Andy running around the back yard. "How are the kids."
The woman shakes her head. "Andy's mom got arrested again, and he's happier than ever she has no chance of getting him back. Jace on the other hand is still waiting to hear about his grandma." She stares at Willow, who's going down the yellow slide. "Her dad killed her mom, shes going to be traumatized from that for a while, but Dr. Cabot said she's doing great for a seven year old." I smile at Mel. I've always admired her strength, taking these kids in without really needing to. Her and Sam only have one biological child, Leo. The others all taken in because their parents couldn't take care of them, in one way or another.
"How is she?" I ask quietly, afraid someone from the Northside might hear, but I know they wont.
Mel smiles, looking towards the stairs. "Why don't you go see for yourself." I bite my lip nervously, standing from the couch and making my way to the stair case. The sound of a baby crying causes me to jump, making my friend laugh from the couch. I slowly walk up the stairs, making my way to the hallway. Pictures of the kids line the walls, as well as Sam and Mel's wedding pictures. Pictures from all the places they traveled before this. Pictures of Leo and Willow. Willow and the baby who's room is right next to hers, which we share when I spend the night.
The door at the end of the hall is cracked, sending the sound of the baby crying through the house. My hand wraps around the cold knob as I push it open. The room is small, but enough to hold the crip against the right wall, where a white mobile with red and pink animals dangling from it. I creep closer, seeing her. The baby girl crying, wearing a pink onesie. Slowly, I lift her into my arms, cradling her, cooing. I walk to the diaper table across the room, grabbing the pre-made bottle with a red cap. I walk back over to the rocking chair in the corner by the window.
I wish I could stay here forever.
Mel steps in as I feed the little girl. Her smile warm. "You know you could always bring her home." She sits on the chair by the closet, normally there for decoration. "Even if it's just for a night or two. I look down at the baby, her brown eyes looking up at me. Little specks of hair on her head. "She's getting healthier every day. The doctor said she's a real miracle." The woman adds.
"She really is." I whisper.
I meet up with Betty and Jughead, wrapping myself in my red hoodie. Betty and Jug rambling about her seizure when I jog up to them, my black tennis shoes cracking underneath the branches. "Weirdly, being in the woods with you, and now Emmy," I wave to Jughead, who rolls his eyes. "Investigating something crazy is the least stressful, most normal thing I can think of."
"Even though its cold as hell." I mutter.
Betty smacks my arms. "It kinda reminds me of like when we first started dating, remember?" A branch snaps, catching our attention. We pause in our tracks. "That's probably Ethel, right?" I turn to look from where we came from, lighting my flashlight down the path.
Jug and Betty are silent. "Jug, do you see that?" I turn around, my eyes growing wide at the abnormally large and scary monster looking down at us.
"Yeah. I do."
"I think we all see it." I mutter. "Well, if we're the scooby gang there's only one thing to do." I grab a stick, throwing it at the monsters direction. "Run!" I scream, the three of us sprinting away.
I'm never running again.
(a/n: what a short scene wow oh well)
I sit at Pops next to Betty, both of us across from Jug. He spins the picture Dilton drew to face us. "Is that the thing we just saw?" Betty asks.
"If I had to hazard a guess, yeah." Jughead says.
I lean forward, "Behold the Gargoyle King." I say, waving my arms sarcastically. "Who doesn't run very fast, luckily."
"No, but really, it was too tall to be Ethel, I think. Unless she was on stilts, which is a possibility because she's not answering her phone." She states.
"That would explain why it didn't run very fast cause she didn't wanna fall." I chirp.
Betty nods. "Is there anything on Dilton's map?" She asks Jughead.
"You mean, what we should've checked in the first place?" Jug says, putting a toothpick in his mouth. He sighs, pulling out the map and skimming it over. "Yeah. Right here." I peer over the table, looking at the map.
I point to the tree. "That's where we found Ben and Dilton." I say, remembering that spot.
"And this is the footbridge where Ethel wanted us to meet, but this.." He points to a circle with a line in the middle. "What does that look like to you?"
Betty shakes her head. "I mean, I was researching runic symbols earlier. That one didn't show up."
"What if it's not a symbol? What if that the drawing for the hatch?" Jughead explains.
"That leads to the underground bunker." Betty continues.
Jug looks down. "I mean, if this map is halfway accurate, Id say that that's right around the deadfall in Fox Forest." He leans back. "We can find this."
"You're telling me we're gonna cheer for a bunch of inmates in juvy?" I ask Cheryl at the Vixen meeting. "We haven't even had our first football game."
Cheryl rolls her eyes. "It's perfect practice Em, and you'll get to see your best friend, Archibald." I sigh, looking down at my phone, Betty asking me where I am.
E👠: Won't be making it to the bunker, send pictures!
B🎀: Okay:((
"Alright," Cheryl clasps her hands together, "Who's ready?"
"Cher, I cant sing." i add awkwardly.
Josie scoffs. "Emmy, you are amazing, and since I can't attend, you have no choice but to sing on my behalf." She winks.
I sigh, there's no way of getting out of this.
(a/n: I don't feel like writing this all down kiddos, so you can watch the video and pretend Josie is Emmy cause apparently Kat McNamara can sing so yum)
We breathe heavily as we finally finish the dance, but our smiles soon fade as the cops begin rushing into the middle of the game, beating people and fighting them. Veronica and I scream for Archie as he's beaten by the cops. Cheryl and I pull Veronica away from the gate. She looks back behind us, causing us to look back too. Hiram Lodge stands by a car.
Of course.
Cheryl sits at a booth as Veronica ties an apron around her wait, while I sit on the counter, my job this summer ended two weeks ago. "It will never end with him, will it?"Veronica said, exasperated.
"Daddy dearest, you mean?" Cheryl asks.
"He's obsessed with keeping me and Archie apart." V scoffs. "I can't even go visit him anymore. Apparently he put my name on a 'do-not-admit' list."
"So get a new name." Cheryl says in a duh tone. Veronica looks at her blankly, causing her to sigh. "Before leaving on my iconic road trip to California with Toni, Reggie got us fake ID's, so we could get into the Viper Room." I smirk at my twin, she's more bad ass than I give her credit for. "I'm sure he could hook you up too." Cheryl looks over at me, winking.
We bite the cherries off their stems at the same time.
I follow Betty and Jughead, who have already informed me of their meeting with the missing scout boy. My red heels click as I stomp into the room. "Listen here, you squeaky grocery cart-" Betty pulls be back, shaking her head.
"What do you want?" Ethel sighs.
"You blew us off, Ethel." Betty snaps.
Jughead follows suit. "And you knew where the missing Adventure Scout was and didn't say anything to anyone."
"Also, you and Ben aren't really dating." I say.
"Yes we are, okay, we're in love." Ethel says. Did she drink to much coffee or something?
"No, Ethel, you were playing a game, role-playing."
I take a red lollipop out of my bag. "That's some kinky shit right there." I mumble.
Ethel cuts in. "That's what you don't get. It was more real than you philistines will ever understand." I furrow my brow. Is that an insult?
"Listen here, Queen of Wacker Doodle, my friends are trying to help you, but you have to stop lying." I bellow.
"I'm not lying." Ethel snaps back.
Jug sighs. "Okay." He says, frustrated. "Why don't we take a little trip down to the sheriffs station and you can out the truth on record to Sheriff Minetta."
Ethel looks at the boy then back at Betty and I. "Look, if any of us talk to any grown-ups,he's gonna get very, very angry."
"Who, Ethel?"
Instead of answering, she says, "Look at what happened to Dilton, okay. He tried to talk to you and then he-" Suddenly, Ethel's eyes roll to the back of her head, her body shaking.
"Ethel?" Betty asks. Suddenly, Ethel's arm shoots up and I scream. "Oh my god."
"She's having a seizure." Jughead says, rushing to get Weatherbee. Betty and I rush to Ethel's side. Betty is soothing Ethel as we look up, Evelyn staring us down.
Riverdale gets more fucked up every day.
"Mrs. Mugged said that Ethel is resting." Betty says as her and I approach Jug. "It just doesn't make sense. It can't be a coincidence, but seizures aren't contagious."
"So what is it?" I ask, leaning against the wall.
Jug slowly gets up. "Sounds like another mystery for us to solve." He gets closer to Betty. "If you're up for it."
Kevin, you can kiss my ass I'm the #1 Bughead stan.
"I am." Betty agreed. "And maybe it's the same one. Maybe there's a connection between the seizures and whatever happened to Dilton and..." She looks over at me. "Do you guys want to check on Ben while we're here?"
We walk into his room. Ben Button sitting next to the window. The open window. "Ben? What are you doing?" I ask softly.
"Come away from the window." Jughead days, trying to be calm.
"Everything's okay." Betty adds.
Ben looks at us. "I know." His voice is calm, and it causes me to step back a bit. "I know it is. I'm gonna be with Dilton now. We both flipped the coin. He was scared to ascend, but I'm not."
"What about your Princess Etheline, huh?" Betty reminds the blond boy.
"We'll he reunited." My eyes grow wide. "In the kingdom. One day all of us will. It's all part of his plan. You'll see."
I step forward. "Ben, please." I plead.
"Soon." Ben finishes. "You'll fly too." Then, in a blink of an eye, he tilts off the ledge, Betty screaming for him as his body thuds, we all look out to see his corpse. Betty grabbing onto Jug, shuttling her eyes tightly as he hugs her tightly. I stumble back, falling from shock, my eyes wide.
What just happened?
I curl up on the green couch, Mel handing me a cup of Hot Chocolate. "Em?" Jace walks over, the little 9 year olds big blue eyes staring at me. "Are you okay?"
I put the mug down on the end table, giving Jace a fake smile. "I am, kiddo." I rub his shoulder. "Have Willow and Andy picked out a movie?" Andy, whos 12, and Willow come running over, Willow handing me Finding Nemo. I laugh. "You guys have the best taste." I hum. Mel holds little Leo in her lap as she sits in the red chair. Little Victoria sleeping in her bouncer.
"How long are you staying, Em?" Mel asks. "Malachi and Penny will be here in a few days for dinner." She tells me.
I look down at Victoria, running my fingers along her smooth cheek. "I'll leave that morning." I look up at her. "Can I take Victoria for that day?"
"Same story as usual?" Mel asks. I nod.
My little Victoria Rose Blossom.
________
OHHHHHHH SNAP
AHAHAHAHAHA I WAS GONNA WAIT FOR THIS BUT LIKE IT JUST WORKED SO WELL FOR THIS EPISODE (kinda) AND I JUST COULDNT WAIT
SO SURPRISE !
TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS