𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓑𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭

𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎-𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃

Be aware that a halo only has to fall a few inches to be a noose.

- Dan McKinnon

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Worn out from last nights events, Nellie blinked tiredly at the crowd gathered in front of the town hall. Here and there a face she recognized showed up. Serpents, students of Riverdale High and people she'd encountered on the streets were all waiting for Fred Andrews. 

When Azure met her sight, he solemnly nodded, acknowledging her presence. She merely nodded back. The sight of the Serpent, brought her thoughts back to the other Serpent in her life. Sweet Pea.

She desperately needed to talk to him, finally reveal all of her cards. She didn't know how much longer she could bare to hide things from him. Their trust was faltering. If she wanted things to work out with Sweet Pea, she needed to come clean. Entirely.

Fred Andrews' voice brought her back from her thoughts. He took a proud stance behind the microphone, glancing quickly behind to meet his wife's gaze. With an encouraging smile, she motioned him to start. And so the man did. 

"Good afternoon. My name is Fred Andrews. And I stand before you today, a humble resident of this town - to announce my candidacy for Mayor." A murmur occurred over the crowd but mostly people were nodding in agreement. 

"I stand for a safer Riverdale, where unity of both sides - North and South - will create a safe haven for us, our children and every generation to follow," Nellie's boss continued. She could whisper the words of Fred Andrews along, as he had been practicing them over and over in the small office. Knowing exactly what was about to follow, Nellie instead decided to watch the reactions of the people. 

Her breath hitched in her throat when she noticed Hermione Lodge looming from the back of the audience. Her eyes were focused solely on Fred, not taking in any of her surroundings. 

Nellie's guts twisted at the sight. This woman was the reason Hiram left her mom, left her. After her encounter at Fred's office, Nellie was certain she'd hate the woman forever. 

A sudden surprised reaction from Hermione Lodge caught Nellie's eye. She followed Hermione's gaze towards the hand that grabbed her elbow. The hand belonged to a dark and handsome man, pulling his wife close enough to hear his whispers. Hiram Lodge.

Mouth suddenly dry, Nellie couldn't manage to look away although she wanted nothing more. It was like watching a car accident. No matter how unpleasant, she simply couldn't look away. He must've felt her gaze because after he had finished speaking to Hermione, Hiram looked up. His dark brown eyes connected with ones so very similar to his own. Not a single sign of recognition crossed his face but for the stern line of his lips. 

Hermione didn't even notice the small interaction between her husband and his bastard child standing behind her opponent. 

They remained looking at each other for a while, questions running through Nellie's mind. She wanted to shout at Hiram, wanted to punch him, wanted to cry and throw her arms around him, demanding he'd comfort her like he had once done back in New York. She wanted to scold him, ask him every question she'd ever asked herself.

Why did you leave? Why her and not us? What did I do wrong?

With a shock Nellie realized Fred had stopped talking and was making his way down of the stage. She silently followed the Andrews' backstage. 

"Great job, Fred," Mary Andrews said, embracing her husband. 

Mr. Andrews returned a smile. "Too bad Archie didn't make it," he admitted, glancing once more at the retreading crowd.

"I'll talk to him," Mary promised. A sudden urge took hold over Nellie and she desperately wanted to leave the couple behind. 

"I'll be right back," she muttered but she didn't know for sure if Fred had even heard her. 

She dashed through the crush barriers and mixed with the last spectators. Her eyes immediately went to the place she'd last seen him.  Her body followed in a rush, pushing between people. 

When she reached the shadowed place from where Hiram Lodge had watched the speech of Fred Andrews, it was empty. Cursing under her breath, she didn't hear the footsteps crunching dry leaves underneath thick soles. 

A handsome man suddenly appeared to her side. Taking in his dark suit and dark sunglasses, Nellie grew wary. 

"Miss Hearst?" the man asked, his voice nice and comforting although his posture was rigid. Nellie only nodded in response. 

The man took her by the elbow and guided her a bit further away from the crowd. Behind one of the trees, he took of his sunglasses revealing homey brown eyes. 

"I have a message for you from Mister Lodge," he revealed, looking around for possible eavesdroppers. Nellie's eyebrows rose higher at the mention of her father, the exact figure she'd been looking for.

"He insists you leave him and his family alone. Or the consequences will be very unpleasant to you," the man announced. His voice betrayed some kind of compassion towards her but the message hit Nellie square in the face.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, wondering if she'd just heard the threat of her father coming from this pawn of him.

"You heard me sound and clear, Miss Hearst."

"He can't make me," she muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest. A firm hand grabbed her upper-arm, making her flinch from surprise. 

"He can and he will. For your own safety, leave whatever pitiful business you have with him and go, leave Riverdale." 

Enraged by the cowardness of her father, Nellie clenched her fist. With a rough movement, she brushed the man's hand off of her. "If he isn't man enough to speak to me, face to face, as hell can he forget that I leave this place." 

"Fine," Hiram's pawn declared, already retreating in the shadows. "But don't forget I warned you." If she hadn't know the man to work for Hiram Lodge, she'd be almost certain he felt sorry for her.

"You know what." Nellie turned around, fury blazing her cheeks a bright red. "You can tell my father he is the one who should be warned." Surprise crossed the man's features but he quickly recovered. A satisfied smirk graced Nellie's pale lips. Apparently, her father hadn't quite elaborated on Nellie's identity, then. 

"I'm coming for him, he'd better be prepared." She hissed and turned on her heel. 

An unusual feeling of pride and satisfaction ran through her blood. With each step she took, her confidence grew. If Hiram Lodge thought she'd blindly follow his orders, he clearly forgot she was his daughter. His stubborn and ambitious blood ran through her.

If he wanted her to bow before him, she'd kick him to his knees.

A/N

My apologies for the lack of updates on Leather Bound. I am trying to continue, albeit it a bit slower than it used to be. Your votes and comments still mean the world to me and I really enjoy the fact that you are still reading this book and that new readers discover my work every day! 

It has been a while since I wrote a decent chapter for this work, so I'd like some feedback on this one. I feel as if my writing has become very simple at some point and I'm trying to get back into it by reading a lot of other (published) works. 

So two questions for this chapter:

1. What did you think of this chapter?

2. What (published) book are you currently reading? For me, I am reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.