Two weeks had passed and FP Jones and Alice Smith had spent most of their spare time sneaking around and following a precise plan for meet ups. Alice would leave work at her normal time and drive home the days she didn't have Betty and Chic was working. Little did anyone know that FP had walked, taking back roads and smaller streets to the Register to sneak into Alice's car, hiding in the back seats on the floor so he could go to her house unseen. The nights that he worked at Pop's, she would bring her work to the diner and sit in a booth while they made eyes at each other and he swept. After his shifts were over, she'd just happen to head out to her car the same time he went out to the truck and they'd take two opposite routes to an empty spot of Eversgreen Forest where they'd hide their vehicles deep in the woods. Often times, Alice would meet him at his truck, parking her car far from his. Some nights they'd spend inside his truck doing things they barely remembered doing as teens and other nights, they'd just lay on the hood of one of their cars, staring up at the stars, lying side by side. They both felt like forbidden, giddy teens again and they revelled in it. But not for long.
"Alice...." Hal said in his usually irritating voice one morning while his ex stepped into the Register.
"What is it, Hal?" She rolled her eyes, turning at her desk to look over at him near his.
"When was the last time you replaced the ink cartridges in the new copier?"
"I don't know. Probably a couple weeks ago. Why?" She wondered, beginning to unbutton her jacket as she set her purse down on the chair behind her desk.
"Well...apparently it's jammed." He leaned a hand on his desk as he stared her down with accusation.
"And you're blaming me?" She stopped unbuttoning halfway down her coat as she glared at him with annoyance.
"Well...someone had to have done it."
"Why don't you ask Katrina?" Alice accused one of their new secretaries.
"Because she knows not to touch that new copier." Hal pointed to the machine behind them.
"Well, I don't know what to say, Hal." She responded with the same amount of hostility. Hal opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by the ringing of Alice's cell phone. She put up a finger to stop him from speaking as she answered it. "Hello?....This is her....What?....Is she okay?.....I'm on my way!" She quickly hung up, rebuttoning up her coat and picking up her purse. "Hal, something happened at the school."
"What?" The panic in his voice overpowered Alice's irritation with him.
"We need to go get Betty. Now." Alice headed for the door, not even waiting for him and she hopped in her own car, driving off as Hal soon followed, quickly locking up the Register before he left.
They made it to the school where the Parking Lot was filled with parents, teachers, and students. Sheriff Keller and a few of his officers headed under the yellow caution tape just outside the school doors and into the front door of Riverdale High.
"Elizabeth..." Alice and Hal rushed over to their youngest daughter who stood with the group of her friends and their parents.
"Betty, what happened?" Hal wondered as his eyes fell upon Penelope with Cheryl some feet away.
"Are you okay?" Her mother frantically wondered.
"We're fine, Mom. It's..." Betty's eyes looked away for a moment. "The Black Hood."
"What?!" Alice's eyes widened and she felt her heart stop as she nervously swallowed.
"What about the Black Hood?" Hal wondered.
"He's back." Jughead responded with terror.
"Ladies and gentlemen! If I could please have your attention!" Principal Weatherbee announced from near the entrance to the school. Sheriff Keller walked out of the school, joining he and Mayor McCoy. "Due to the events of today, we would like for each of you to take your children home for the remainder of the day. Classes are dismissed for today and tomorrow until further notice!" He yelled while everyone listened.
"And we would also like to point out that just because there are allegations that the Black Hood may be back...does not mean they are true." Mayor Sierra McCoy jumped in. "There's no need to panic. This may just be a copycat or someone playing a sick joke." She added.
"What allegations, Mayor McCoy?" Reggie's mother asked from the crowd.
"What's happened?" Mrs. Muggs spoke up.
"We will start an ongoing investigation into today's events and-" Sheriff Keller began.
"Hold on, hold on!" Fred Andrews interrupted. "Answer the question."
"Yeah!" All the other parents chimed in.
"We're sick of being left out in all of this Black Hood stuff!" Fred continued. "I was the first Black Hood victim and I'm pretty sure I know the least about all of this. Enough is enough! We wanna know more!"
"We demand to know more!" Mrs. Muggs yelled again.
"Alright, alright. Everyone calm down! As soon as we know more...you will all be informed, but for right now...please...take your sons and daughters home and know that each of them are safe." Mayor McCoy took charge again and the crowd broke out in a disappointed mumble. "Please!" She shouted and soon, parents and students separated, heading for their respected vehicles.
"Mom." Betty began, grabbing Alice's arm, trying to back away. "Mom, come on."
"You go with your father, Elizabeth." Alice said, staring at the yellow tape near the front door. "I've got something I'd like to talk to Mayor McCoy about." She squinted, never taking her eyes off of the high school's entrance.
"Come on, Betty." Hal finally got his daughter and her boyfriend to leave with him. The three of them hopped into Hal's car and they drove away while Betty stared out the window at Alice with suspicion.
Once the car was gone, Alice let out a loud sigh and she headed toward the building. She watched Mayor McCoy, Sheriff Keller and Principal Weatherbee carefully as she slipped by them during their intense conversation. She ducked underneath the yellow tape and made her way into the school, passing by multiple police officers. She judged them silently, not surprised that the Real Black Hood wasn't caught according to their lack of paying attention.
When she made it to her first intersection, she looked down both sides of the hall, wondering which way to turn. She saw one side filled with more cops than the other and decided to head down that side. Making it all the way down to the end of the hall, she jumped at the sound of someone shouting her name from the entrance. She turned to see Tom Keller looking at her from further down the hall and she quickly turned, following her steps further toward the plethora of other officers. "Alice Cooper! I said stop!" Keller's voice shouted after her as he sped up to catch her. "You can't be in here! I know you hear me!"
Alice finally made her way to the largest group of policemen and she turned to look into the classroom that they stared into. Her jaw dropped immediately at what she saw. Tom caught up to her and stood diagonally behind her, looking in as well. "Is that-" Alice began.
Tom sighed, putting his hands on his hips behind her with his response. "Joseph Svenson."
"The janitor?" Alice looked at him over her shoulder. "I thought he-"
Tom nodded with irritation. "He did. He did. His body went missing from the morgue a couple days ago. Looks like we know why now." He looked back into the classroom where, right over the teacher's desk, hung the old janitor's body.
On the whiteboard behind him, written in blood, read, "The sins in this town have only grown. You have not seen the last of me."
A/N: Hey, readers. Boy, what a jerk I am for that (sort of) cliffhanger, right? Lol New chapter ASAP. Love you guys! MWAH!
