Moving On

C h a p t e r 2 1

Jughead POV:
"I- Oh my god Betty!" I got up and began to bolt. I was speed walking as I was still dizzy. Archie was on my tail.
"Jug! Jug! What the hell is going on?"
"It's Betty. I think I know where she is."
"Where?"
"The greendale side of sweet water river. She wrote a note to me. Her dad took it. I found it."
"I'm trusting you on this. I'll drive you."
"Okay. Go fast."
"Okay." We began speeding down the road beside sweet water. Eventually, we made it to the greendale sign. It read "we'll cast a spell on you". I always thought this town was weird. We started walking along the river. That's when Archie spotted something.
"There!" I looked over, to see some gorgeous blonde hair. A lot like Betty's. We began to run over there. She sit along the river. Looking like she was longing for something. She had a beautiful dress on. With a flower crown in her hair. I was confused. Why was her hair perfectly cut and brushed out? Why was she dressed like that? She had her knees together under her arms. Like she was balled up.
"Betty!" I yelled in pure happiness.
"Betty!" Archie yelled. She looked over. I saw her tired eyes. Huge eye bags. She had lips gloss smeared on her face. She had mascara on. When she looked over, her eyes got wide. She started to panic. She shook her head frantically and mouthed the word over and over again, "no". We stopped about 10 feet in front of an old wooden shed that was like 30 feet away from Betty. Then, all of a sudden, a twig crunched. I immediately knew in that moment, we weren't going to make it out alive. He had a revolver in his hand.
"Stand back. Hands up."
"My hands are up." I said stricken with fear.
"Arch, hands up." I slowly looked over, and Archie had pulled out a gun of his own. A small one, like a revolver. He immediately shot, which got the killer in the gut, again. But, he had also shot. At Archie.
"Archie!" He fell to the ground. We're going to get you to a hospital. I promise."
"Go get Betty. I already called them. Go. I'll be fine. She's just over there."
"Betty!" The black hood still had the revolver in his hand. I grabbed Archie's gun.
"Aim for me or my wife, and you'll die. No questions asked." Betty looked up at me. I sat down next to her. She began to break down. To ugly cry.
"Shh. Sh. It's okay. I'm here now."
"You have no idea how long I've waited for this day to come." She began to cry even harder. When I wrapped my arm around her, she flinched.
"Sorry." She didn't speak. She just leaned on me. I still held onto the revolver with the other hand. Archie screamed in pain and agony. The sound of the sirens got less and less faint. The became more louder, and more urgent. The FBI was there from New York. Greendale general hospital. Riverdale police. A cop bent down to Betty's level.
"We're going to get you home safe." She nodded. She was still crying. The cop nodded for me to go talk to them.
"Is my friend gonna be okay?"
"The ginger? Oh, he'll make it. It's only a flesh wound."
"Oh, good."
"The black hood will be taken care of. He's being taken to a security prison in Connecticut. You won't be seeing much of him anymore."
"Am I going to be charged with anything?"
"No, it was self defense."
"Let's talk about your wife."
"Okay." I looked back at her. She was now sitting by the ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her and a coffee in her hand. Though, she wasn't drinking it.
"Just by the looks of it, your wife has suffered massive amounts of trauma. 5 years'll do a number on ya."
"Yeah. Do we have to send her away?"
"Not far. There's a really good handful of treatment centers in New York."
"They're pricy aren't they?"
"Very. Insurance will probably cover it though."
"Do I need to go down to the station for questioning?"
"Come in anytime in the next week. However long you need."
"Thank you."
"Of course." I sat down next to Archie and Betty in the back of the ambulance.
"Has she said anything?" I whispered to Archie.
"Not a word." He looked at me with such seriousness.
"Oh, my god. Call Veronica. She probably has no idea."
"Okay."
"Veronica?" Betty spoke.
"Yeah."
"Archie, how's baby Tommy?"
"Betty, he's not a baby anymore, he's in first grade."
"What, really?" She spoke softly. She had mascara stains run down her face as she began to break down again.
"Juggie, how's my little girl?"
"Oh, Betty. She is so beautiful. Just like her mother. She has blue eyes likes me, with a tint of green like yours. And, she has gorgeous blonde hair like yours. Betty, she asks about you everyday. She loves you."
"She loves me?"
"Of course she does. All she ever wanted was a Mommy." I then pulled the picture out of my pocket that had gotten a blood stain in the corner. It was still clear though. The picture of the day Betty and I brought Julie home.
"Do you remember this?"
"Faintly."
"Oh." I said a little sad. I still don't know why but, I began to cry.
"Why are you crying?"
"I just can't believe your here. That your alive."
"Me neither. I can't even believe I'm still here." Archie walked away as he knew this was a moment. We held each other's hands. We put our foreheads together and cried.
"Omg, Betty!"