A/N: TW ⚠️ This chapter contains physical and verbal abuse, blood, gore and death ⚠️ Reader discretion is advised
The rapid sting on her wrists from his tough and tightening grip as he dragged her from the kitchen to the living room kicking a screaming was still felt, the slow colour of purple that almost resembled her dress appearing on her olive skin as her deep chestnut eyes filled with Crystal clear tears, and her shallow breaths were the only noise heard through her trembling as she watched her vengeful abusive ex menacingly pace up and down her living room.
Her forehead was drenched with sweat, her heart thumping against her rib cage as the terror filled that raced through her mind spiked her fear by the second. What was he doing here? What did he intend to do with her after all these years?
"You're ever so quiet, mi a more." Hiram sinisterly teased. "What's the matter? Lost for words?"
Lost for words wasn't even the half of it. She was frozen beyond belief, traumatised, in an unhealthy state of shock and panic.
"How did you find me?" Hermione finally mustered up the courage to ask, her question coming out in a nerve wrecking falter.
Just as he was about oblige her, the familiar sound of her ringtone blares through the downstairs area of the house from the kitchen, sparking her fight or flight response.
Her dilated pupils darted over to the root of the noise, before abruptly rising from the couch and making a horrified beeline from the couch, panting out heavy harrowing gasps as she ran for her life, but a minacious Hiram was right on her trail, his grievous steps across the acre hardwood floors echoing through the halls and the domineering thuds denoting his vicious rage. Not even the fallen couch side chest Hermione had pushed over in his path was enough to stop him.
The second she reached the kitchen island, she grabbed her phone in a heartbeat, clutching the device for dear life and catching Alice's name on the called ID before swiping the green button.
"Hello?" Alice nonchalantly greeted, totally oblivious to the danger occurring on the other line.
"Alice!" Hermione breathily cried out in hysteria. "HELP ME! I'M-"
"Give me that, you bitch!" Hiram spat out in a hiss as he approached her from behind, covering her mouth with one hand and reaching for the phone with the other.
However, even as she was silenced and in a state of fear, she refused to give into him, keeping a hold of the device and keeping the call going for as long as possible.
His grunts became more aggressive as each of them struggled to gain the upper hand, until he took it upon himself to squeeze her wrist and hand bright red, forcing her yelp out in pain and unwillingly let go as he tried to pry the phone out of her hand.
The second he got it into his grip and out of hers, he violently elbowed her in the face, watching heartlessly as she fell against the pantry cupboard wincing in pain.
Hiram curled his lip into a devious smirk as he saw Alice's name across the screen and placed the phone to his ear.
"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. Long time no see huh?" Hiram chillingly provoked, his tone laced with a ill-omened agenda, sending Alice into a freeze like state.
"Oh, don't tell me you've lost function of your mouth." He patronised. "You never seemed to have a problem with that from what I can remember."
The taunting was giving him some sort of sick egotistical thrill.
"Tell you what? How about you come on down here, and join the party? I'm sure we've got lots to catch up on."
Alice's blood ran ice cold the second the dial tone rung through her ears. Her lips parted like the Red Sea and eyes widened like saucers in ultimate terror as she struggled to breathe adequately.
The crushing pressure on her chest as her heart rate sped up make it damn near impossible to fully focus.
Hiram was here in Riverdale. Her absolute worst fear had finally emerged in full force. Everything she had been desperately trying to avoid and evade in the past few weeks, her mistakes and her errors over the past 7 months had finally caught up with her.
Finally releasing a trembling breath she hadn't realised she was holding, she gulped down the mass of air she had inhaled and set her racing thoughts of horror aside to plan her next steps, and she had to be incredibly smart about it.
Hiram's discerning tone still rang fresh in her mind, his signature deadly tone that she was all too familiar with, and if her relationship with him and past experience were anything to go by, he was minutes away from callously snapping Hermione's neck with no remorse.
Her heart was leading her to alerting Fred and FP but her head telling her to handle this herself, but be prepared, and given that no chaperones or students were being prohibited from entering the backstage area, she only had one option, and the longer she remained there, the longer Hermione's life remained in peril.
Taking a fragile Hermione violently by the hair, Hiram mercilessly dragged her back into the living room, ignoring her cries and whimpers of pain and pleas to let her go, before carelessly pushing her into the couch as if she was a rag doll, chuckling smugly as she held her hand onto the forming bruise by her eye. Seeing her in such distress was sickly satisfying him.
"W-what did you mean?" Hermione weakly demanded to know through whimpers as a tear fell down her eye. "When you said, long time no see?!" She added in panic, confused by the inside and familial conversation that occurred between her ex and best friend.
Oh how little she knew, Hiram thought to himself as a self satisfied chuckle escaped from the pit of his stomach.
"You were always so damn clueless." He patronisingly sneered before reaching to brush her cheek, smiling with pride as she responded by recoiling in fear and flinching from his hand before impulsively pushing it away herself.
"You mean, she hasn't told you?" He harshly teased.
"Told me what?!"
"That low rent skank? She used to be my property." He callously announced, watching the colour drain from Hermione's tear filled face as she slowly processed this alarming revelation
"What?!" Hermione tearfully questioned in disbelief.
"Small world right?" He snickered. "She used to work for me, made a good buck off of her too. I gave her everything, really made her into something. And how did she repay my kindness? Robbing me out of $500,000."
"Y-you pimped her out?" Hermione stammered in disgust, her breath hitching in her throat as she swallowed just how truly vile Hiram was. "Of course you did, I don't even know why I'm surprised! She scoffed in contempt. "You'd plan drug deals over the phone while your own daughter sat playing with building blocks right next to you. You know, no bounds!" She concluded in fury.
The very mention of Veronica coming so callously out his ex's mouth sparked an involuntary surge of rage to rip through him. He closed his fist tightly as he averted his gaze towards her, his sharp jaw clenching as he stared her down with those ominous eyes.
"I had no intention of tracking you down, you pathetic, double crossing bitch!" He spat out, watching her tense up under his scorn. "I was just gonna find that whore, snap her scrawny little neck and move along. Once that low life trailer trash dumb hick Brody got their bastard to stupidly give us details of their whereabouts before I put a bullet in his head-"
Hermione's cocoa brown orbs gaped at his sudden reveal regarding Brody's demise.
"Oh yeah, I killed Brody too." He coldly bragged. "I had everything planned out. But then, I saw Veronica, my Veronica, my little Ronnie, at some shitty little music contest, and low and behold, she was right there with one of Alice's brats. Didn't take much effort after that to find out where she was, and it lead me here to you. Talk about killing two birds with one stone huh?"
"You sick bastard!" She seethed through tears.
"And you know what the sad part is?" He bitterly questioned. "The part that hurts the most? I almost walked past my own daughter and didn't even recognise her. Can you believe that? And that's on you!" He hissed sharply pointing in her direction. "Taking her from me in the middle of the night and leaving-"
"WHAT CHOICE DID I HAVE?!" Hermione screamed out, cutting him off immediately. "You were scum! A grade A psycho! You abused me day in, day out. I didn't want Veronica growing up with you for a father."
Hiram snickered condescendingly, narrowing his beady eyes to look down on her as he continued to pace in his little circle, stunned and a little offended at the fact that she had the nerve to sit there and try and shame him after what she had done, and he found it all a little amusing.
He turned on his expensive loafer heel, finding a family photo of Hermione and Fred, along with Archie and Veronica, the four all sat on the couch with pearly white smiles with Vegas sat right in the middle.
They looked like the perfect happy family. So pristine and suburban, and Hiram couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy as his eyes cast over the image of his ex and daughter in the presence of another man, a man he definitely considered as beneath him, having to audacity to play the doting husband and father to his ex and daughter.
"So you traded up huh?" He sarcastically provoked, scoffing in disgust before slamming the image down onto the mantle piece and turned around to look her directly in the eyes once more. "Yeah, I can see you landed on your feet. Got yourself the perfect man, perfect life. What's he raking in? $30,000 a year?" He nastily taunted as he glared around the room, observing the pictures and furniture.
If the size of the house and the polyester flannel shirt Fred wore in the photos were anything to go by, clearly their financial situation wasn't ideal. Or what he'd call ideal.
"Don't you dare talk about him like that!" Hermione fumed, her soft orbs suddenly blazing with fury. She could tolerate a lot, but disrespect towards Fred wasn't something she took lightly. She admired her husband dearly. "He's twice the man you'll ever be."
That ego masculinity threatening comment from Hermione was the last straw for Hiram. His deeply menacing eyes flashed with fury for a brief second before he brashly gripped a wide eyed and frightened Hermione by the throat, her screams of terror and pleas to let go not effecting him a single bit as he pulled her up from the couch and dragged her down to the floor, domineeringly towering over her as she attempted to fight him off with her fists with all the might she had.
"GET OFF ME!" She shrieked with flailing fists before finally freeing on to serve him a sharp slap to his face, taking him by surprise.
"You're gonna regret that!" He sinisterly hissed as he struggled to grip her wrists down, trying to suppress her limited strength any way possible as she cried out for help.
The second the he was about to throw another blow to Hermione's face, the sound of a loud thud from behind his head halted his actions, followed by an immediate fall on top of her.
Hermione finally stopped screams that escaped her lips as Hiram's unconscious body lay on top of her, and utter bewilderment as well as relief clouded her features before she slowly pushed him off her body and sat up on her trembling elbows, only to find a shaken Alice stood before her, gripping onto a football trophy of Archie's in her hand.
Hermione stood quickly on her hind legs, fixing her dress and trying to relax her breathing before rushing over to Alice, guiding her away from his unconscious body.
"Alice?"
"This is all my fault." Alice apologetically stated in a whisper,unable to turn her glistening eyes away from Hiram's lifeless body. "He would've never been here if not for me."
"No, it's not." Hermione reaffirmed, wanting Alice to absolve herself from the guilt she was currently feeling. "He had a gripe to pick with me too because, because he's Veronica's father."
"What?!" Alice gasped out in surprise, instinctively darting her eyes back and forth between the two of them. "You mean the one who-"
"Abused me day in day out? Yeah, that's him."
Alice was beyond puzzled at this grand connection. All these months of deep conversation and confiding over their exes and neither one of them had figured out who the other was talking about the whole time. All that ran through Alice's mind was what kind of soap opera-esque drama she had managed to get herself in.
"He's out cold." Alice stated with an air of a chill in her tone, pacing around in circles anxiously as she planned her next step, but in this case, there was no planning, there was no organisation, no thinking needed. There was only one thing she could do in that moment, and she didn't like it at all.
"I- I've gotta go." Alice stuttered in a trembling upsetting tone, wiping the sweat off her brow before finally releasing the trophy she clutched onto the floor, but her sudden announcement prompted concern in Hermione.
"Go? Go where?!"
"LEAVE! I've gotta get out of here Hermione! Take the girls and run!" Alice answered frantically, her anxious pacing continuing.
"You can't run forever Alice! Let's just call the police and explain-"
"Explain what?!" Alice shrieked with gaping and worry filled eyes. "How I robbed half a million from him and
"Look, look! Just calm down, okay?" Hermione instructed her softly, taking a hold of her shoulders and forcing her to focus on her. "You've got a life here, a job?!
"He's gonna wanna kill me when he comes around!" Alice interjects, brashly removing her hands from her arms before storming over towards the front door.
"What about FP? You can't just throw that away and leave him, not without an explanation-"
"You think I want to?!" Alice fiercely screamed, her sapphire blues welling up with tears. The thought of losing the one man that ever cared about her and truly loved her was killing her inside. "I have to go next door and pack the girls bags. You do too if he has anything to do with it. Just get out of here!"
"Well what about Hiram?"
"What about him?l Alice spat with furrowed brows. "We let him rot!"
Suddenly, like a shot, as the two had a silent conversation over what their move would be, Hiram had regained consciousness, rising up abruptly and grabbing Alice by the hair from behind, pulling her down to the ground as he spat obscenities in her face.
"GET HERE YOU VILE BITCH!" He furiously slated as he moved onto of her, ignoring her shrieks and pleas and fighting off her claw like fingers as she fought to push him off.
"Get off of her!" A frantic Hermione begged with everything in her as she pulled on his shoulders, only to earn a sharp elbow to her hip, abruptly knocking her to the floor.
"No! Hiram please!" Alice beseeched through tears as he aggressively lowered his hands to her neck, preparing to grip his fingers around her windpipe.
A merciless chuckle escaped his lips as he got hit calloused hands tightly around her, a sick feeling of satisfaction as he watched her eyes lull upwards as she gasped for air.
The image of Hiram on top of Alice, practically squeezing the life out of her proved to be too much for the frail woman as she was forced to relive and remember horrific moments from the past that she sat in the exact same position as Alice, fearing for her life, worrying if she'd ever see her daughter again, if she'd ever find happiness and escape her current hell.
She had officially reached breaking point, and impulsively grabbed a hold of the trophy on the floor, standing up in a hurry and with an unfamiliar feeling of uncontrollable rage, and bashed his skull in, but not once for good measure, she hit him once again with all her might, watching him fall to the floor and Alice desperately catch her breath before pushing him off of her, then again, and a fourth time, the blood seeping out of his head and Alice's screams to stop not even phasing her.
"HERMIONE, STOP!" Alice distraughtly pleaded, before finally pulling the woman away.
Hermione dropped the weapon immediately, trembling as she backed away into the wall and gripped onto the side.
Judging by the deep maroon colour of the previously beige rug on the floor, Alice knew she didn't have to check if the scumbag was still with them, but she did for good measure, slowly moving towards his body and tapping her fingers against his neck pulse point, the ice cold feel of his skin sending a shiver down her spine as she frighteningly shot back, releasing a shallow breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
"Fuck. Oh my God!" She cried before turning to Hermione. "He's dead! He's fucking dead!"
Hermione's gaping eyes filled with tears before she broke down, gripping her raven coloured tresses and hitting her head against the wall. "What have I done?! I'm a killer!" Hermione blubbered desperately before hyperventilating, the panic making her feel physically sick.
Alice wiped her fallen tears away before straightening her face and approaching her. "No, no. You're not a killer, it was self defence okay?" Alice assured her as she tenderly took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Look, if we're gonna get through this, we've gonna have to be strong, okay?-"
"Get through what?" Fred wondered with furrowed brows as he and FP walked in, the emotionally broken and panic stricken faces of their partners taking them off guard as they stepped into the living room, only to understand the expressions and adopt those emotions themselves once the two found Hiram's lifeless and battered body across the floor, followed by the blood covered football trophy by their feet.
"W-what are you guys doing here?!" Alice expressed a little rudely, shocked to find them here and wishing they weren't as she wiped away her tears.
"Dilton Doiley said he saw you leave the hall in a rush." FP confirmed in a quiet husky tone as his face remained stoic and full of uncertainty, glancing back between his girlfriend and the body on the ground. "And Hermione hadn't turned up yet, so naturally, we got worried."
"Hermione, who is that?" Fred asked coldly with a blank expression, demanding an explanation from his wife.
"V-V- Veronica's Father." Hermione admit embarrassingly in a stammer, refusing to look her husband in the eye."
"It's Hiram." Alice sternly confirmed, watching the pure shock grace FP's face before he immediately pulled her in for a hug. He'd ask questions later, now wasn't the time for the third degree.
Fred carefully approached Hermione, planning to do the same, but he knew she was too fragile in that moment, and took the initiative to just remain tender with her, taking her by the face, and speaking softly as he took her away from the body. "Honey, look at me. What the hell happened? Just tell me."
"He- he broke in, and attacked me and then he was attacking Alice-" Hermione explained in sniffles, before those call sniffles became full blown sobs as she finally processed what she had done. "He was gonna kill her, he would've killed me too if-"
"Okay, calm down we just need to think." Fred advised gently.
"What am I gonna do?" She continued to cry. "I'm gonna go to prison aren't I?"
"That's not gonna happen, I swear to you! We just need to tell them what happened, think this through-"
"We don't have time to think Fred!" Alice bellowed, her frustration getting the best of her as she ran her hand through her messy dark locks. "And they're not gonna wanna hear what happened either! The cops get wind of this, we're both going to jail, no questions asked."
"She's right." FP agreed firmly, taking a strand of her hair and brushing it out of her sweat covered face, his jaw clenching at the sudden sight of the red and purple marks around her neck, but reigning in his anger as they all had bigger fish to fry right now. "We deal with this now, tonight."