Riverdale: What no one saw coming...

Chapter Thirty-Five

It all happened so fast.

The swerve, the screams ... the collision.

Betty came through to consciousness, her vision blocked by something obstructing her view. He body jerked forward as the car slammed into the old, oak tree. Her body was being covered  ,protected by some being.

Jughead.

He had his arms over her, his body over her. He was trying to protect her, keeping her safe , protected by his body. All he wanted was for her to be safe, so  much so he would rather risk his own safety than to see her in pain.

But to no avail, all four were injured to some degree.

Some worse than others...

Darkness. That's what Archie entered when the van first came into contact with the tree. His head slammed hard against the steering wheel, only to be slightly compensated by the rush off the expanding air bag.

Veronica , beside him, felt her body jerk, the impact of the tree forcing her body to throb. She was still conscious but had fallen into a state of panic. Her breaths jittery, her body still.

Jughead's arm had fallen into an uncomfortable position on impact, the wrench of the car forcing his neck to ache and his spine to pain as he coiled himself behind Betty. To brace himself, he tightly enclosed his eyelids, not wanting to see everything that he knew too well would happen.

Deja Vu engulfed Jughead's state of mind, this wan not the first time he had been involved in a crash. As a younger boy, Jughead and his family had been involved in a four veical collision. The effects were pretty traumatising to their family. His younger sister, Jelly Bean, was too young to remember the crash, but the scar that sits above her forehead gives all the memory of that day she needs. His Mother became slightly more paranoid, herself always on edge. And his Dad... well Jughead thinks the crash is what made him turn to alcohol abuse and his guilt forcing him to delve deeper into the gang of South Side serpents.

The crash tore his family apart practically. And here he is, involved in another one.

The car had arrived at a halt, the engine still running. A great cloud of steam filled the car.

Jughead opened his eyes. He was fine. He began to move back, stretching his spine vertically. His visions landscape grew.

Then he saw her.

Betty, lying there eyes closed. Unconscious. A gash seeping a thick red liquid down the side of her head.

No matter how hard he tried, they was no way he could engross her fully in a ball of his body. Meaning the left side of her face was unprotected, vulnerable, a target.

When the van crashed, the pure velocity of the impact shattered the window by Bettys head. A huge chunk of thick glass hitting her head.

Jughead went into panic. His body vibrating, adrenaline running through his veins.

 He violently began to shake Bettys body, back and forth forcing her head to roll back unnaturally.Her eyes slowly began to flutter. Her body returning to consciousness.

Her head throbbed in agony, feeling heavy and full. Her eyes felt heavy almost hard to open. But when she did.. she was left with the best view she could imagine.

A handsome Jughead hurried above her, concern in his face.

"Betty.. Betty.." He asked repeatedly.

"Yeah?" She replied her throat dry.

Suddenly he engulfed her in a hug, overwhelmed. He has never been more scared in his life , then he was then- at the prospect of losing her.

Veronica had stayed in silence, still staring forward at the dented tree in front of them. The sudden rustle from behind her, snapping her back into reality. She didn't know where she was or what was happening. She turned to her side , taking in her environment. She let out a bloodcurdling scream. Stopping Betty and Jughead in their tracks .Everyone's gaze fell to the unresponsive being in the driver seat, his head rolled to the side and his eyes tightly closed.

A bloody gash on his fore head. His arm bent unnaturally, broken at least. Veronica went to his body, ready to shake him back to the Archie she knew, the Archie she loved.

"Don't touch him." Betty quickly advised. Veronica flinched back, defensively.

"By moving his body, you could make things...worse." Betty added sadly.

Veronica let out a wail. From the distance the blaring sound of an ambulance soared up the road. But Jughead  had a sickening feeling in his stomach, was it already too late?

Hours had passed, the disturbing image of an senseless Archie being wheeled off into the back of an ambulance- being taken straight to intensive care, burned into Bettys brain.

Veronica sat in the ambulance by Archie. Gripping his hand, she wan not going to leave his side. Some one needed to be there for him, especially when his Dad wasn't there.

Bettys arm was strapped to a wire checking her blood pressure. The gash by the side of her head being painfully disinfected. Jughead sat by her side , placing an aluminium blanket around her shoulders'. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, as long as you are."

They stayed with one another for a moment. Until Betty pulled out the ring from her front pocket. Thankfully still in tact, despite the diamond cover being tarnished slightly.

"Sheriff Keller.." Jughead called out to the detective who stood by the smashed vehicle.

"Yes I know you two, I'm coming to take your statements soon. I know by little Miss princess' wails that this was not an accident." Betty remembered Veronicas cries as police arrived onto the scene.

"Its not about that, Sheriff." Betty addressed him.

"Then what? I have a lot to deal with at the moment, I'm on duty I don't have time for foolish derogatory." The sheriff stated his eyes flashing around the scene, his mind somewhere else.

Betty held out the ring. Her arm felt phscoligically heavy knowing everything the small object possessed.

"What's this a ring? Kids ... I don't have time for this.."The sheriff said impatiently.

Jughead began to become visibly agitated at the lack of trust and confidence he put in himself and Betty. After all, the pair of them alone got further I the investigation after a month then they had in the whole six months Jason had been dead.

"Its not just a ring.." Jughead said angrily.

"Its a USB." Betty finished , waning to cut the tension and anger.

"What special about a USB ring?" The sheriff asked , sass strong in his tone.

"What special is that it holds the murder of Jason Blossom." Jughead replied back as quick as a whippet.

"And who killed him..."