The Serpent and His Girl

The Truth Will Come Out

     "What are you doing here?" Her words coated in venom, Alice Cooper clenches Polly's arm in a vice grip. Polly looks shaken, her hair messed up by wind and trees. Her dress is tattered and the thin sweater around it is poked with holes, some with sticks poking out.

"Are you kidding me Mom? Betty's missing and you wanted me to stay in that crackhouse?" Polly screeches, the crowd murmuring about themselves. "You're the insane one, not me! In fact it's probably your fault Betty's missing, isn't it mom?"

Alice chuckles nervously, looking around with an expression that said "she didn't take her meds today haha". Polly seethes beside her, wrenching her arm out of Alice's grasp.

"The truth will come out Mom, and it won't look good for you. See, here's the thing, if you yourself didn't 'get rid' of Betty, or even just abandon her in some crazy nun-infested hell-hole like you did for me,you probably drove her to leave. And I'm thinking that's probably why she's gone, and why her best fucking friend is now missing. You and I both know why Betty would have been pushed so far." Catching the terror in her mother's eyes, she realizes that Alice would never want the words Polly is going to say to come into light. It would ruin her perfect image she was so crazy about. Polly continues, done with their mother's act. "So tell me something Mom, how is it that you've gotten away with hitting Betty for years and then once she goes missing can feign sorrow and grief when you didn't love her enough to even apologize once? Every damn day until you shipped me to the Sisters, I heard and even saw you abuse her constantly. Whether it be an 'Elizabeth don't eat that, you're already plenty big enough', or just a harsh round of slapping after some little thing went wrong. I saw Betty break a little bit every goddamn day, and yet somehow you didn't. What kind of mother are you?Assuming you didn't stop after you sent me away, did you really not think Betty would break one day and just go?"

The crowd lets out a gasp, the pain sweet Betty Cooper had gone through every day in their collective consciousness.

Alice's mouth is gaping in horror, her eyes darting around from face to face. First they land on Cheryl, whose eyes could very well be shooting fire at Alice, then on to Veronica who has tears glistening on her cheeks and more begginning to form in her eyes as she hugs herself tightly. Then they move to Fred Andrews, his head in his hands and his shoulders visibly shaking with sobs now that he learns of what had been happening to the girl he loves like a daughter. And finally, they land on Sheriff Keller. He slowly walks over to the pair, never straying his gaze from Alice.

"Polly can you corroborate this story? Would anyone else be able to confirm this?" Sheriff Keller questions, looking around for anyone who would've known. Tentatively, two people raise their hands.

Fred Andrews and Pop Tate.