Blood of My Blood, Flesh of My Flesh (Bughead)

22. Bela Lugosi's Dead

Song is 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' by Bauhaus! It's a fantastic song. I've been saving it specifically for this chapter ;)

"You hanging in there, Polls?"

Oh, well, you know. As well as expected.

"I was invited out tonight...I can cancel if you need me."

No! Oh, please don't let me keep you away. I'll be fine. I've been fine for months without you, I can do a night.

"Yeah, but you shouldn't." Betty twirled the necklace, sighing.

If I need you, I can reach you.

"I guess, but-,"

You need to de-stress. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!

"Maybe less than you'd do," Betty's lips quirked up, "Since, you know, you're pregnant."

She could feel Polly's laughter on the other end. She couldn't recall the last time she'd felt so connected to Polly. They'd always been loving, but this was different. Maybe it was the magic, or maybe they just understood each other better. Whatever the case, Betty had to be grateful. She felt like she needed her sister more than ever lately, and vice versa.

Betty had mixed feelings about being invited out. On one hand, she did want to attend. She wanted to have a carefree night. On the other hand, she wasn't so naive.

The meeting in Betty's portal had ended earlier this afternoon. While Sweet Pea was down for the count, Betty-with Cheryl's help- had rewired Toni's memories so when she was changed, FP would be none the wiser. Betty knew that Sweet Pea could more or less hide his memories, or think of anything but those. Unless FP had a reason to snoop, he'd be okay.

They wouldn't give FP a reason.

It was decided no parental involvement from here on out. Go on as normal high schoolers, while simultaneously attempting to bring a boy back from (or was it to?) the dead.

Halloween, excuse her- Samhain- was the optimal choice, however too far away. The only person who could tell them what happened the weeks leading up to Jason's death was Jason himself. Plus, the longer they waited, the harder it would become to revive him.

The date was set for the Fall Equinox, September 22nd...just over two days away. Sweet Pea, when he woke, was confident he could get it all together in time, as was Cheryl. They'd bring the most trusted wolves, and Betty, and give it the old college try.

Cheryl then helped reroute Sweet Pea's memories, since that was one of her family's specialties. Sweet Pea offered helpful loopholes exactly how to navigate around an Alpha command. They associated everything with Jason to a different name, Bill, as they'd call him until the ceremony. And, once he was a vampire, he wasn't really going to be 'dead-dead' anymore, so Sweet Pea wouldn't really be looking into his 'death'. It was all very underhand.

Betty was torn on that too. On one hand, this seemed like a bad idea. All of it. On the other...Polly could get Jason back. Cheryl would get her brother. Betty would have a confidant who was another witch magic user. She wouldn't feel so alone. She wasn't sure she and Cheryl would ever be friends, but they weren't enemies anymore. That was clear.

But, most importantly, they'd finally get some goddamn answers.

This superseded every worry.

"Are you ready to party?" Sweet Pea asked, crawling from the portrait, "V's here."