CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE FALL OF THE BLACK HOOD
"you gon have to do more then just say it"
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Avoiding Sweet Pea after their almost kiss proved to be simple. It was one of the perks of the two teenagers going to different schools. Other then the retirement party fiasco, she hadn't seen him since the quarry. Nick St. Clair was out of town, thank the heavens, and Harley prayed that he would stay in the hell hole he crawled from till the end of time.
Winter time was here, which meant that Christmas was too. Time traveled fast, Harley noted, especially when you were busy. She had decided to focus on her school work, seeing as between Harley following Archie to the Southside that night and everything that had happened since had. . . distracted her. As well as that, she had tried spending as much time as possible with her friends. Friends that weren't trying to investigate a murder, or anything else remotely un-teenage like. Josie, Midge and Cheryl had been her main priority.
Of course she had spent time with Jughead too, but seeing as he was in the same gang as the guy she was trying to avoid, the few times they got to hang out was either when she was working a shift at Pop's or when she invited him home to her place.
Cheryl had her fair share of demons, which was why out of the three girls, Harley spent the least time with her. Second after Cheryl came Josie. The McCoy girl was, as always, too caught up in her music to even acknowledge anyone. She had tried her best to pay attention when Harley and her hung out, but in the end, music was her main priority. Then there was Midge. The Klump girl had Harley had spent the most time together. After all, Midge was her female best friend. It only made sense that they'd spent the most time togheter.
Other then that, everything had been pretty calm. Almost suspiciously calm as this was Riverdale. Ever since Jason, nothing had been calm. At all.
Well, there was one major change. Noah Byers, Harley's father, had decided to pull his act togheter. He made heroic attempt to quit drinking, and even managed to land himself a job downtown at some pharmacy. No one had been more surprised then Harley. But no one was more happy either. This made life a lot easier for her, it was like this heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Now, she didn't have to constantly worry about his wellbeing. As well as that, her mom was spending more time at home then usual. It felt like things were finally going back to normal, and Harley could only hope that it lasted, though she couldn't shake the feeling that this was all too good to be true, and that soon enough reality would come crashing down on them all. Because I'm reality, people didn't just suddenly get their act together, and they certainly didn't get the happy endings.
After the party at the Whyte Wyrm, Jughead had officially broken up with Betty. Apparently the two had only been on 'a break', but Jughead had ended it for real after her performance. And they weren't the only power couple of Riverdale to meet its end. Veronica and Archie had broken up too, the very night. Kevin had complained about it to Harley a whole lot, claiming that the were end game. She was pretty sure he mentioned 'Bughead' and 'Varchie' too, whatever the hell that meant.
Another thing Harley had devoted her attention to was cheerleading. As Cheryl had previously stated, being a Rivervixen was a full time job, literally. The Blossom girl made everyone on the squad work their asses off, and anyone who slacked would either hear it from Cheryl, or they would be cut from the team. Harley was happy to be in the center front with Betty, Veronica, and now Josie. And, last but certainly not least, Cheryl herself.
Harley worked as hard as she could to perfect her choreography, putting blood, sweat and tears into it all, and her moves was almost better then both Ronnie's and Cheryl's now. Almost.
Her shifts at Pop's was growing fewer, but that was simply because she had agreed with Pop Tate that her position there wasn't full time, but more like a step in type position. Serving milkshakes and making burgers wasn't exactly what Harley saw herself doing full time her entire life. Or any of her life, for that sake. And now, with her dad doing better and her mom at home, she didn't need an excuse anymore to avoid the Byers house.
Currently, Harley was seated in the students lounge along with Reggie, Joise, Archie, Veronica, Cheryl, Betty and Kevin. They were all doing this secret santa thing, which was a pretty normal thing to do. The only odd thing being that Riverdale wasn't normal.
Harley had pulled Cheryl's name out of the hat, which she was eternally grateful for. Cheryl was ridiculously easy to pick a gift for. The Blossom girl was beaming at the fresh pair of red thigh high boots in her hands, continuously thanking Harley and complimenting her for her fabulous taste.
Now, it was Veronica's turn to receive a gift from Joise. She awkwardly stared down at the couples message coupon, her previous smile faltering a bit. "A certificate for a couple's massage. Thanks, Josie." Josie offered an apologetic smile, having picked out the gift before Veronica and Archie had broken up.
"You can go with Betty, or your mom?" Josie suggested in an attempt to cheer the Lodge girl up. It was now saving the teens of the room from the awkward tension.
"Or I can go with you mom." Reggie joked, successfully lifting the mood. Harley gagged from beside him, causing him to send her a cheeky wink. She was still unsure what her and Reggie had going on. She had promised herself ( and Midge ) that she would have that conversation with him about. She needed to know if they were at a state where kissing others, or almost kissing others, was off limits or not. She didn't want this to end up with someone getting hurt.
To be fair, Harley and Reggie hadn't really been spending time together lately. The last 'booty call' was from before any of this serpent drama, but no for the lack of Reggie trying. He had been texting her occasionally to check up on her, and to call her over, but something had always been in her way.
"Betty you're next, and mercifully last." Kevin said, the attention switching over to the mentioned girl. Betty looked down at the very poorly wrapped gift, immediately knowing who it was from.
"I think I know who picked my name based off of these wrapping skills, Archie?" Betty shared a knowing look with the boy. Archie grinned widely, his cheek tinted a light pink color in embarrassment.
Betty gasped as she ripped the wrapping paper away to reveal the gift. Harley leaned closer, peering to see what it was. "Swiss family Robinson?" She asked, nose scrunched slightly up. Betty smiled widely, nodding.
"Yeah, it's this old read-a-long record we used to listen to when we were like five." Betty explained, inspecting the gift, still in shock. She beamed at Archie, pulling him into a warm embrace. "Gosh, thank you so much Arch!" Harley's brows furrowed at the pair's closeness.
"My dad and I was cleaning out the garage when I found it." The redhead explained, happy that his friend was grateful for the gift. Someone who was not that happy? Veronica. Though having broken up, she didn't favor seeing him this cozied up with another girl, even if that other girl was a harmless Betty Cooper.
"Hey." A weak sounding voice spoke from the entrance to the room. Moose wobbled into the room on crutches, Midge supporting him as he entered. Another thing that had happened? The Black Hood had struck again, shooting Moose when him and Midge was parked in the car in the woods. He had aimed for Midge apparently, but Moose had covered her with his body, preventing her from being hit. Luckily he had recovered, and this was the first time for him out of the hospital since.
Midge had been absolutely terrified, understandably. Harley had made sure to support her friend when it had happened, peppering her with food and chick flicks while they waited for Moose to recover fully. Harley had grown closer to him too, seeing as spending time with Midge, meant being trapped in a hospital room with him.
The Black Hood was striking more and more, and Harley could only hope he would lay off at least for this time of year. Something was telling her that this nightmare was far from over, and she could only pray she wasn't next on the hit list.
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Apparently Harley was next on the Black Hood's hit list.
Don't ask how, because Harley wasn't sure, but somehow she ended up at gunpoint, watching Betty burry Archie alive while the Black Hood held a gun to Harley's and Betty's head. Harley had been through a lot. She had watched Jason's death on a video, she had dealt with an alcoholic father and absent mother her entire life and she had almost been raped by some piece of shit rich boy. But this? This trumped it all.
Harley remained oddly calm as she watched a sobbing Betty shovel dirt ontop of the coffin Archie was locked inside. There was no reasonable explanation for her to remain this calm, but she did. Maybe she was in a state of shock, or maybe she was deathly afraid that if she made one wrong move, the triggered would be pulled. Whatever it was, it was keeping her alive.
Another thing keeping her alive? The flashing blue and red lights followed by a loud siren. The police. For the first time in a shockingly long time, Harley was actually happy to see the police. The Black Hood wasn't.
As soon as the sounds of a police siren reached his ears, he spun around, darting in the opposite direction. Without a moment of hesitation, Harley followed after, ignoring Betty's yells of protest. She chased after the murderer, neverminding the fact that he was holding a gun. Harley kicked off the ground, running as fast as her legs would let her. They reached the bridge when he stopped. He slowly edged around, yet again pointing the gun directly at her. She froze, her breath hitching in her throat. This was it, this was how she was going down.
Harley let her eyes close slowly, a single tear escaping her eyes. After everything that had happened, this was how the story ended for her. Shot by the angel of death of Riverdale. She found herself regretting not spending more time with Jughead, regretting not giving Reggie a real chance, regretting letting her parents spiral without doing anything. Now it was all too late.
She could faintly hear the yells coming from Archie and Betty as they approached, and soon a gun shot ripped through the previously oh so peaceful December air. Harley awaited the pain, but it never hit.
Nothing happened.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking to adjust her eyes. Before her, a dead body laid, the body that belonged to the Black Hood. His gun was resting ontop of the asphalt, blood seeping through the articles of clothes he was wearing. If it wasn't his gun that had fired, and if it wasn't she who had been hit, then who?
Harley looked around for the answer to her question. For the second time, Archie Andrews was gripping a gun, pointing it at someone. Harley gasped, her hand clamping over her mouth. His hands shook as he kept the weapon pointed, frozen in his spot. "Arch!" Harley exclaimed as he let the gun slip from his grip.
"I-I killed him." He stuttered, looking between Harley, Betty and the body. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand, the other tugging on his red hair.
"No, Archie, you didn't." A fourth voice spoke. The trio twisted around, eyes landing on Sheriff Keller. The man was approaching them, a smoking gun in his left hand. A look of relief washed over Archie's facial features. No matter how many times he had fantasized that he wanted to be the one killing the Black Hood, it wasn't true. Yes, he wanted him dead, but he didn't want to be a killer himself. Archie Andrews didn't want to take someone else's life, no matter what.
When Harley came back to her senses, she watched Betty and Archie embrace each other. Her focus was elsewhere, however. She reeled back around, crouching down to the limp body. She forcefully pulled the Black Hood off his head, gasping at the cold eyes staring back at her.
"Mr. Svenson?" She said out loud. Archie and Betty pulled away from their hug, peering over Harley's shoulder. Everyone was equally as shocked. The man who'd been terrorizing the small town was none other then the janitor at the school. The plot twist was so great that it almost gave Harley a whiplash.
She spoked her next words carefully, her power and confidence laced within her words. "It's finally over. It's all over now." She said, the end of the sentence breaking into a whisper.
The nightmares of Riverdale were finally over. It was all finally over.
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Seated at a booth at Pop's, squeezed between Betty and Jughead with Archie and Veronica infront of them, Harley was slowly sipping her strawberry milkshake. It was all over. She could finally breathe easy again, knowing that the men who had tried to kill her best friend, Midge, and the man who had shot Fred Andrews was finally gone. Dead.
Archie had his arm wrapped around Veronica, the girl leaning her head on his shoulder. "Your instincts were right, Ronnie." He started, planting a soft kiss to her temple. "Back at the school, you thought Mr. Svenson was the Black Hood. We could have ended it all, then and there. But I didn't- I didn't see it. In his eyes.
"Forget about his eyes." Veronica said, waving her hand dismissively. "I can't believe he cut off his own finger." The Lodge girl shuddered at the thought.
Harley leaned back. "Now that's commitment." She joked. The teens around the table shot her a stinky look. "Sorry."
"The finger of accusation. . ." Betty mumbled, staring plainly down at the table. They should've all have been in a good mood. The one who had been tormenting the streets was gone, and they were finally safe. But, something told the teenagers that the crimes and darkness of Riverdale was far from over.
"So now we know who did it." Jughead let out a breath. He shared a knowing look with Harley, both of them feeling the unsettling feeling in the bottom pits of their stomachs.
"Gosh, I'm going to have nightmares for years. I'm just the relieved it's over with. Hopefully for good." The Byers girl said.
"I still wonder though, why did he do it?" Jughead wondered out loud. Harley nodded, the same question plaguing her mind.
"His entire family was murdered, and he accused the wrong man of doing it. Maybe there's a connection? I mean, he got an innocent man murdered, that's gotta scar someone, right?"
Betty agreed. "Yeah, maybe in his mind, in some twisted backwards way, targeting sinners would even out the scale?" The ponytail sporting girl suggested. "Plus, Mr. Svenson was always around, lurking in the hallways. There's no telling what he saw and heard."
"Yeah, he might've seen Ms. Grundy and me in the music room togheter." Archie stated.
"And he could've easily seen Moose and Midge buy jingle jangle together." Betty added. The more Harley thought about it, the creepier it all became. The janitor had been practically stalking everyone in school, killing whoever he deemed sinners.
"Guys, this is seriously starting to feel like the last scene of Pshyco." Harley chuckled.
Jughead sighed heavily. "The truth is. . ." Jughead trailed off, taking a pause to think, everyone's attention shifted over at him. "I have nothing actually. Except for the fact that he's in a body bag, and we're not. I guess that's good enough for tonight." Everyone agreed.
It was good enough for tonight. With Clifford Blossom dead, along with the Black Hood, Harley decided that it was time for everything to settle down. For everything to go back to normal.
However, all hopes and dreams of that happening was shattered when the girl walked home that night, her phone chiming to signal a text. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket, a chill running down her spine when she read the text.
The nightmare is far from over, I know all your little secrets, bitch. Watch your back, the last sinner in this town has yet to die.
word count; 2927
a/n
chapter eleven is out my dudes. as mentioned, i want this book to be not only abt sweet pea, but about harley too, so there will be some action i've created of my own. hopefully u guys enjoyed this chapter, pls stay tuned for more. as well as that, this chapter is very much unedited so excuse the sloppy writing.
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