(  surprise, bitches! double update !  ) 

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:

VIRGINIA, EXPOSED

      THE LANKY BODIES OF THE YOUNG men in Fred Andrew's office, tumbled out at the sound of their friends scream. Each of their hearts racing, wondering what the hell happened.

The group of young men finally made it through the dark to where a truck shrieked its way out of the lot, leaving two crumpled forms behind. The boys crowded around Moose while Jughead immediately drop down beside the young girl nearby. 

"Stay down. We'll get you some help." Fred Andrews told the moaning jock who clutched his gut.

"Ginny? Ginny!" The young girl flinched at the soft touch, her eyes opening to see Jughead crouching over her. His worried gaze deeper as he saw redness surrounding her pale neck, the tears, and how she was cradling her wrist. 

"Who did this to you, Moose?" Fred asked him, looking him over before he moved over to Ginny. He sighed as she whimpered, his hand ghosting her pale wrist— it was probably broken. 

"No clue. But they said, as long as we keep working, they're gonna keep coming back." Moose told them, grunting as he tried to sit up. With the help of his friends, he managed. 

"What happened Gin?" Jughead asked her softly, pulling her up from her position. His thumbs rubbed patterns into her back as he hugged her softly, hoping to give her a little comfort. 

"I-I don't know," Ginny breathed out, pulling back to stare up into his blue eyes. "Two of the guys with a crowbar went for Moose and the other pushed me up against the–" 

Ginny's shaky breath cut herself off and tears threatened to spill. Jughead bit his lip hard, angry over what happened to his girl. 

"That's when I screamed, and he covered my mouth to make sure I didn't make too much noise. H-He hurt my wrist but really they only cared about hurting Moose before rushing off–" She let out a shaky sob, burying her head into his neck as memories of the summer flashed through her mind. Both started with her being pushed up against something, she didn't know if this scenario would have been the same. "I-I thought he was going to–" That was the first time she mentioned assault to Jughead. Even though it was a hypothetical, the lingering truth behind that word stayed.  

"You're okay now, Gin." Jughead pulled her close, he tightened his gentle grip while the pads of his fingers ran over her huddled back. "You're safe now." 

A half hour flew by when Sheriff Keller's car rolled onto the construction site. "What the hell happened?" The sheriff asked, slamming the door to his patrol car shut as he rushed towards the group. 

"Moose and Ginny, over there, caught a couple of guys working over my equipment with a crowbar and then they got the drop on them." Fred Andrews explained to the other man, motioning back to the huddled teens. Each of them were quiet, absorbing what had just happened. 

"Who were they, vandals?" He asked with a frown, asking the thing everyone was wondering.

"Cliff Blossom has made it abundantly clear he would love nothing more than to see this whole project go belly-up." The redheaded man explained, trying to keep his cool.

"I doubt that Blossom's gonna hire some thugs to bust up your site and beat up some teenagers."

"Maybe it wasn't him. I mean, this is Serpent territory, right? Maybe it was them. Pissed that they had to leave 'cause of this project." Archie interjected, stepping away from his friends, his shoes scuffing the gravel beneath his feet.

"Serpents?" The older man asked in disbelief, scratching his head.

"Yeah." 

"What are you talking about, Arch?" Ginny muttered, knowing that Archie had a vendetta. She had tried pulling herself away from Jughead to turn to Archie but Jughead kept his arms wrapped around her waist.

"When I worked at the drive-in, the Serpents never bugged me." Jughead added, frantically hoping the topic of the Serpents would change.

"Did you see any snake tattoos, anything on their jackets?" The sheriff asked Moose and Ginny.

"It happened pretty fast." Moose admitted honestly, looking towards the police figure.

"I-I don't think so, they were regular thugs, nothing special." Ginny told the authoritative man with a shrug. She knew her words could have been contradicting but she didn't have a reason for why the Serpents would do this. Her heart was starting to slow down, bringing Virginia back to a steady heart rate– even though she was wrapped up in Jughead's arms.

"All right, I'll talk to Blossom, but I mean I don't think we'll get anywhere unless we can ID these guys."

"That is such bull. If this was Clifford Blossom asking for help, you would say yes." Archie said getting frustrated and Ginny grasped his hand, trying to tug him back.

"Archie," Fred warned his son, knowing the accusations weren't helping.

"What, Dad? It's true." Archie said, pulling his hand from Ginny warm one.

"It's also not helping." Fred told his son sternly.

"Arch," Ginny tugged on her friend's sleeve, hoping to persuade him from his vindictive behaviour. 

"C'mon, it's not worth it. I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

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     JUGHEAD JONES SAT WITH Betty and Veronica, eating dinner together. Jughead had texted Ginny but she didn't reply all day, probably sleeping off her injury. Archie Andrews bolted into Pop's shoppe, looking around for Jughead before spotting him beside his two girl friends. 

"Dude, what the hell? I've been texting you." Archie looked down at his best friend, brow furrowed in confusion. He wanted his best friends help and he wasn't texting back?

"Archie, Jughead just told us what happened yesterday." Betty leaned forward toward the redhead who stood at their table. 

"Though I checked out at the words "construction" and "site."" Veronica added. 

"Moose and I are going to the Southside to find those Serpents. You in?" Archie asked, leaning down to his friend.

"Whoa! Hey, you didn't say it was the Serpents who beat Moose up." Betty interjected with wide eyes. 

"'Cause we don't know that for a fact." Jughead told the group, his only thought was to persuade Archie to not investigate further. But Jughead knew better, Archie Andrews wouldn't give up. 

"Well, it's still worth a shot if it might help my dad. Kevin's boyfriend can get us in." Archie told them, his eyes focused solely on Jughead.

"Get you in where?"

"To some bar where the Serpents hang out. If Moose spots them, we call Sheriff Keller and get these goons arrested." Archie explained and Jughead's heart sunk, knowing of Whyte Wyrm, the bar that Virginia, Virginia's mom, and his own father frequented often. 

"Archie, the Serpents are dangerous. They're drug-dealers." Betty told him, concerned.

"What? Says who?" Jughead asked exasperated, wishing the stigma surrounding the Southside would just disappear. 

"Polly. Remember? Trev told us that Jason was dealing drugs? It was for the Serpents." The blonde told the dark haired boy.

"You heard my Dad, Jughead. Clifford Blossom is trying to torpedo him. Sheriff Keller basically blew him off, right in front of us. Somebody needs to do something."

"Archie, going into that bar is a bad idea." Jughead warned him, knowing the answers Archie was searching for wouldn't be in there.

"Jughead, are you coming with me or not?" Archie sighed, watching his best friend avoid his gaze. "Thanks for having my back."

Jughead pulled his phone out from under the table, his nimble fingers quickly texting Ginny.

"To: Gin-gerBread: Gin, Archie's going to Whyte Wyrm, get out of there if you're there." 

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idk man, the riverdale cast is causing lots of shit and when jughead made that joke about slitting wrists... idk if I wanna watch/write it anymore.