I'm Darkness || Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones [2]

Imposter

IMPOSTER

Chic wakes up, his eyes start to open up slowly. They all pay attention as the boy tied up to the chair in the basement looks around, he's confused. "What... What's going on?" He looks up to Alice, that's standing right in front of me. "Mom, why are you –"

"Stop." Betty cuts him off, she's done with his shit. They all are.

"You can keep the acting to your pals." Ellie spits with disdain. "Now we want the truth."

"Start by telling us your real name." Jughead tells him.

"I am Chic!" He answers in what looks like desesperation, but he had fooled them far too many times by now. They aren't sure they'll ever believe anything he says. "Mom, untie me, please, I'm scared."

"You must have known him. My brother." Betty states, ignoring his pleads. "When we went to the hostel and asked for Charles, they sent us to your room. Why were you impersonating him?"

"I never said I was Charles Smith. I said I was Chic."

Alice swallows hard, the tears showing in her eyes. "Then where's Charles? How did you know him?"

"We met on the streets, then moved into that flophouse." Chic replies, but is this the truth. "He told me about you guys. The Coopers. This perfect family in Riverdale who gave him up for adoption." His eyes accuse Alice now as he continues. "Who didn't want him. Never even looked for him. One day, he knocked and you answered, Alice. You pratically slammed the door in is face. You said we're not interested." She steps back in pain, and he asks her. "You remember it, don't you?"

"Stop the crap," Ellie scoffs, because she couldn't stand watching him twist her mother's heart. He had done enough damage already. "just cut to the chase."

Chic turns to face her, and gives her this evil knowing smile before continuing, because he knows his next words will hurt everyone, but mostly her. "Charles went on a bender that night. He od'd on Jingle-Jangle."

Alice runs off sobbing.

Ellie's heart stops so she can't go after her Mom but Betty does, she steps back as if a knife just cut her through the chest. It all slows down for a minute, and she can hear her own blood rushing from one side of her body to the other, everything else is quiet.

Jingle Jangle, the first drug Reggie gave her. Riverdale was swimming in it for a while, before they took down the Sugar Man, but it still got to Charles, and to Ellie. And to a lot of other people. All Ellie can think right now is what if she takes too many pills one day and her Mom finds her dead in the morning, what would that do to Alice? To Betty?

A phone ringing pulls her back to reality, and she gasps slightly. Jughead's looking at her, and she takes a deep breath before reaching for the phone on her pocket, turning around when she sees Veronica's name on the screen.

"God, I thought you wouldn't answer me,"

"I almost didn't." Ellie doesn't lie, because she almost declined the call. If it wasn't for the murderer on the loose – that they don't yet if it is Chic – she might have. "What's wrong?"

"It's Archie, E." Veronica's voice is urgent, so it's definitely important. "Nick St. Claire caught him, he has him and he's asking for a million dollars."

"What..." She presses her forehead with her hand, a headache forming with the amount of problems she has at the moment. "How did that even happen?"

"I know I shouldn't have called you, but I figured you'd wanna know." The dark-haired girl tells her, but calms her with her next words. "I have a plan though, so what do you say?"