Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 25

Sweet Pea and I sat across from Jughead and Verne in the booth, waiting for Verne to finish eating.

"You have no idea how much I've missed this place," Verne said, pushing his plate away. "After what happened here, I've been staying away."

"But you were willing to show up today, why?" I asked.

Verne shrugged. "I don't know. I figured if the Serpent Princess herself invited me, that'd mean I'd get some kind of protection."

I ignored the glare Jughead shot at me. He didn't like that the Serpents had begun calling me that again while his queen was nothing more than just Betty or Jughead's girlfriend.

"We can give you that for now," I said. "But once this meeting's over, you're on your own again unless you agree to join the Serpents."

"So you're really the last one, huh? You're the last Ghoulie standing?" Jughead asked, trying to take back control of the conversation. "Where's the rest of your crew Verne?"

"After we lost Malachai and Penny, no one knew who to look to, who to follow, so most of the Ghoulies went to the Gargoyles, started playing G&G," Verne answered. "How are you even here? The last time I saw you, you weren't breathing. You didn't have a pulse."

Sweet Pea's arm tightened around me. "Maybe I'm like a cat, nine lives and all?"

"You've used up too many of them already if you ask me," Sweet Pea said.

"Now that Tall Boy's dead," Jughead cut in, "do you know who their leader is? Who's giving them direction?"

Verne nodded slowly, looking at the plate in front of him. "The closest thing they've got to a leader is some whack-job named Kurtz, who's keeping the game going."

"Do you know where he is? Can you tell me where to go?" Jughead asked quickly.

I looked at Sweet Pea who nodded, already knowing what I was thinking. We waited as Verne gave directions on how to find the rundown house Kurtz was known to spend his days. After one last attempt to convince him to join the Serpents, Verne left, saying he was leaving to join up with the Ghoulies a few towns over.

"Why are you two looking at me like that?" Jughead asked, standing.

"Because there's no way we're letting you go talk to this Kurtz guy alone about bringing them into the Serpents," Sweet Pea said, standing as well.

"Especially not after the way things went with Toni," I added.

Jughead studied the two of us before sighing. "All right, fine, Abigail can come with me."

"If she goes, I go," Sweet Pea said.

"It's all of us or none of us," I said impatiently. "What's your choice, Jones?"

"Let's go," Jughead said after a moment.

Sweet Pea and I followed him out and towards the house Verne had directed us to. We left the bikes a little ways away, not wanting to give the warning that we were there.

"Are you sure your buddy didn't send us on some wild goose chase?" Jughead asked as we got closer to the dilapidated building. Boards covered the windows haphazardly and I could see where part of the roof had caved in some time ago.

I shook my head as the three of us came to a stop. "No, this is it. Though I doubt we're going to find many still coherent enough to join us. Get high enough and you'll take anything resembling shelter. Then when you start coming down off that high and see where you are, you get your next fix and don't care again. What, did you think every gang has a nice place to go back to like the Whyte Wyrm?"