"you are so dead, cooper!"
deborah cooper was your average high schooler. straight a student who could do no wrong by day, publisher of scathing articles alongside cousin betty by night. despite her cousin's numerous attempts and warnings to stop he...
"if i had known dogsitting was part of being a serpent, maybe i would've considered joining." chapter three — the beast
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The South counterpart of Riverdale oddly felt like home as Debbie carefully snuck from block to block, avoiding the chances of being seen. After the news of the infamous Southside bashing Alice Cooper being from the Southside surfaced, the last thing the Cooper family needed was another scandal. She could almost hear the headlines now. "DEBORAH COOPER: SWITCHING OVER TO THE SOUTHSIDE?" Oh, the horror.
As she approached the trailer park, her concern for her life grew and the feeling of familiarity faded away. Debbie wondered how her cousin could survive visiting her boyfriend. She shuddered. Speaking of her cousin, she had important matters to get to.
"Jones!" Debbie banged on the door like there was no tomorrow, no doubt waking up some neighbours, not that she really cared. "I know you're in there-"
The door suddenly opened, revealing a tired (and furious) Jughead. He grumbled at the sight of her and crossed his arms, leaning against the doorway. "Okay, I know you gave me some solid advice, but now's not the time and I have some really important stuff to-"
"Not the time, Forsythe. I'm here because of your girlfriend," She paused, to which Jughead's interest piqued, standing up straight this time. "I have reason to believe that she could be in danger."
"Get inside."
The Jones home was neat and clean, with the exception of a few notes strung about the coffee table, courtesy to an investigation they must have had a few days before. Debbie looked over the papers for a minute, before turning around to answer Jughead's questions.
From anyone else's persepective, they may have thought that the two were friends, when in fact, they were far from it. Debbie had always been secretly jealous of how her cousin spent so much time with Archie and Jughead, while Jughead never took the time to get to know her as well as his girlfriend. Strange circumstances had a way to bond people together.
Jughead paced around the living room, considering the new information she provided. He had to admit, there was something odd going on with his girlfriend, but he thought it was just because of rising tensions about the Black Hood and the string of murders. "I haven't seen her in awhile, so I doubt I can say I've noticed anything different about her."
"I know, but I just thought that she's at least been texting you or something. Are you sure she hasn't told you anything?" Debbie questioned. She knew she was pushing her luck here, but she just had to figure out a way to help her cousin. It seemed like Betty was closing herself off from everyone, which was raising a few flags for her. Betty struggled with keeping her "dark side" contained, and now, with chaos surrounding every corner of their previously safe and normal town, every day seemed like a ticking time bomb.
This time, Debbie was going to do everything she could to ensure Betty got the help she needed.
"No. But I'll promise you this, I'll talk to Betty. Figure out what I can. Help her with whatever she needs. I'll try my best, Debbie." Jughead assured. They had one thing in common, there's certainly that. Their love of Betty.
"Thanks, Forsythe. You're not too bad."
The boy grinned, shrugging. "You're not as horrible as I thought, either."
"Pretty sure that's the nicest thing you've ever told me." Raising her eyebrows, Debbie jokingly punched his arm. When he glared at her, she backed off. "We're not at that point yet."
Jughead nodded, stretching his arms. "Well, it's probably time for me to go back to sleep. You need a ride home?"
"No need. Go back to sleep, Forsythe. You're gonna need it." Debbie picked up her belongings and sighed. "Thanks again. Jughead."
Before she could even touch the doorknob, however, the door slammed open, revealing five threatening figures wearing Dollar General masks and holding the leash of... a dog? As if her night couldn't get weirder, of course this just had to happen.
"Move aside, blondie." The guy in the middle, who seemed to be the ringleader gruffly ordered, as if he was in a hurry. While Debbie seemed to be more concentrated about why this douche, who she doesn't even know, demanded her to do something, Jughead was currently confused (and concerned) about how easily they got into his own house.
"Well, how about you make me," Debbie scoffed at his mask. "Troll? This isn't your house, so I'm not taking any orders from you."
The man ignored her comment and pushed her aside, going up to Jughead, the rest of his stupid mask-wearing posse following suit. The nerve. Debbie was so close to pulling the guy's ear down to her level (he was very tall. like giant tall) and giving him a piece of her mind, she noticed the writing on the back of his jacket, instantly rendered speechless. The SOUTHSIDE SERPENTS logo gleamed under the moonlight, and as Debbie looked closer at the snake, it almost seemed as if it was mocking her. These guys were Serpents.
They had moxie, she gave them that.
"Your initiation begins now. With you assuming guardianship of the Beast!" The tall guy bellowed, unleashing the dog, who immediately went over to Jughead and started licking and sniffing at him. Jughead groaned at the interaction, attempting to stop the "Beast" from giving him a full-on shower with his drool.
As the Dollar General mask-wearing group of Serpents proceeded to exit the Jones household, the leader seemed to stop at the sight of Debbie, like he was contemplating. Debbie, being Debbie, crossed her arms and stared him down. "What are you looking at?" Though, she had to admit, she was as equally as curious as him. Something seemed vaguely familiar about him.
He didn't respond, and instead left the house, probably in pursuit of his housebreaking buddies. It was just some Southside scumbag. He wasn't important.
"Well, good luck with the Beast. If I had known dogsitting was part of being a Serpent, maybe I would've considered joining." Debbie joked, petting the little giant's furry head. Jughead blankly stared at her little joke and rolled his eyes. "See ya later, Jones. For real this time."
Debbie exited Jughead's trailer, the cold greeting her immediately as she stepped out into the winter cold, wincing as she did so. She hugged her jacket tighter and started her walk back home. There was still hope that Alice didn't notice her leaving the house.
Unbeknownst to her, however, she was being watched.
