{ " never more to go astray, this'll be the end today, of the wanted man. " -- renegade, styx, 1978 }

Archie wondered why the entire town was not out searching for Honeybee. She was a missing girl, under the age of 18, who had most likely been abducted by the Back Hood. They hadn't even issued any alert.

He guessed maybe they didn't care as much about finding Honeybee than they might a different citizen of Riverdale, given as she was a delinquent Serpent. That and the fact that Hiram Lodge had Sheriff Minetta in his pocket, and Archie supposed the man wasn't too interested in finding a missing Serpent girl -- especially one that his daughter despised. Archie wouldn't have been surprised at all if Hiram himself had something to do with the Black Hood.

He was very much interested in finding the girl and putting a stop to the Black Hood's antics. He'd succeeded in murdering one already, and attempted to murder three others, including Archie's own father. He wasn't going to let the man strike again.

It drove him crazy, not knowing who the man behind the mask, or hood, really was. He was most likely a member of Riverdale, a seemingly normal, every-day man with a 9-5 job and a family and a house. Hell, he could even be in Archie's neighborhood. They said that was the thing about serial killers: they always blended into plain sight. Was he a teacher of Archie's? Did he work at the bank? The grocery store? Was he a lawyer? A firefighter? A doctor?

The press, and most of the population of Riverdale, seemed to believe that the murderer was a gang member, maybe from the Southside. After abducting Honeybee, Archie hoped that those rumors would be put to rest. He doubted the citizens of his community would be so easily tamed, however.

He had been searching Riverdale for hours, along with Betty, Kevin, Jughead, Sweet Pea, and the Serpents. It was almost like she had vanished into thin air.

Betty had admitted something, however, that blew Archie's mind. The Black Hood had been calling her. Calling her! She hadn't told anyone because the criminal had been blackmailing her, and she was worried about putting anyone else in danger. Now that Honeybee had been taken, though, she figured it was as good a time as any to tell the rest of the group.

He'd also been leaving her messages that coincided with a Nancy Drew Decoder Kit that she used to use as a little girl. Archie couldn't believe all of this ... it had to be someone they knew, and knew well. Archie himself knew that Betty had been obsessed with Nancy Drew as a kid, and now she was living out her detective fantasy as she tried tracking down the Black Hood.

It was a clue, but not a very good one as to where Honeybee was.

Archie hoped she was alive. He could never get over the guilt if something had happened to her.

The sound of Betty's cell phone ringing a few feet behind him brought Archie out of his momentary day dream.

"Betty, is that ...?" It was a weird ringtone, that was for sure. Archie had never heard it come out of Betty's phone before.

Lollipop Lollipop, Oh Lolli-Lolli --

The sound abruptly stopped as Betty answered the call. Little did Archie know that the song haunted Betty in her dreams every night.

--

Betty's heart leaped to her throat as the song "Lollipop" began to fill her ears once again. "Not again..." She muttered, dreading answering the Black Hood's phone call. She swallowed the gulp in her throat as she answered the phone, stopping behind Archie as the two of them walked through the middle of a forest.

Knowing that she was the reason the Black Hood starting killing, that it was her speech at the Jubilee -- it made Betty sick to her stomach in fear and guilt.

She and Archie had been walking through the woods near their houses for hours while Jughead and the other Serpents searched throughout Riverdale and the surrounding area.

"Hello Betty." The mysterious voice called out. "I believe I have a friend of yours."

"Yes, you do." Betty replied. "We'd like her back, please. Alive and in one piece."

The Black Hood was silent for a few seconds before he responded. "I can do that, for a price."

"Name it." Betty said. The others had stopped what they were doing, and Archie and Sweet Pea were both watching her intently. 

"The Red Circle needs to be disbanded. I want the leader. Bring Archie Andrews to me." The voice was sending chills down Betty's spine.

"Where do you want him?" Betty asked. Maybe if they all went, they could take him down together, once and for all.

"Fox Forest. The bridge that crosses the Sweetwater River. In thirty minutes." The call abruptly ended as the murderer hung up the phone.

Betty slipped the cellphone back into her pocket and then faced the others.

"What does he want?" Sweet Pea asked, pushing to the front of the group. "I'll kill him, that son of a --"

"He wants Archie." Betty responded.

"I'll do it." Archie said, crossing his arms. "I'll meet him, I'll get Honeybee back. Whatever it takes."

"Archie, you're being ridiculous. We're going to make a plan, and take the Black Hood down together." Betty stated.

Jughead nodded in agreement and moved to stand by his girlfriend. "Once and for all." 

--

"You weren't supposed to escape." A voice rang out behind Evie, causing her to stop in her tracks. Her heart raced in her chest as she recognized the voice of the Black Hood. "You were supposed to be bait for your other sinning friends, and then I would kill you all." Evie heard footsteps as the killer walked closer to her. "Guess I'll have to kill you now."

She had barely gotten out of the apartment. She'd gotten out of the building and raced down the road, looking for someone to help her. No one seemed to be around anywhere.

Whoever he was, the Black Hood was fast. She took off running, moving in a zigzag direction to try and prevent getting possibly shot. She didn't doubt that the Black Hood had a gun on him, and she knew he would not be scared to use it on her.

She still had that knife, but it wouldn't do much up against a man like the Black Hood and his weapon. 

She heard him fire the first shot and watched the bullet buzz past her left shoulder. Her heart was racing, and a panicked feeling had taken over her entire body. Adrenaline had taken over, and she was running faster than she had ever before. 

Here he was, the Black Hood, out in the open, chasing a teenager down a street in the middle of the day. He must have been worried. His plan hadn't worked and Evie had escaped. If she got out, got to people that could help, she could lead them back to his apartment, and back to him.

"You're going to keep shooting at me?" She called over her shoulder. She had ducked into the forest that was nearby and was zigzagging around trees. "This is bold, even for you. Someone's going to hear, someone's going to see."

 "No, they're not. Everything is going to work out just fine. For me, anyways." The Black Hood had stopped chasing Evie, and the girl realized she could hear rushing water. They were near the Sweetwater River. She could see the bridge ahead. If she could only get to the river ...

She took off again, headed towards the bridge. The Black Hood was soon right behind her. She had reached the bridge, and realized she had lost the man. She spun around, searching for him.

"Honeybee?" A voice called out, drawing her attention to the other side of the bridge. Hidden underneath was Archie Andrews.

"Archie?" Her eyes went wide. This had been his plan all along. To get them all here together. "Get out of here! He's going to find --"

She noticed a shape moving amongst the trees and recognized the hooded man once again. 

"Come on, get down here!" Archie was gesturing for her to join him. She realized the Hood had a gun aimed on Archie. He was going to kill both of them.

"Andrews, get down!" She called out, jumping down below the bridge towards him. She pushed him into the water just as the Black Hood fired his gun. Evie froze as she felt the bullet pierce her skin, ripping through her abdomen. She fell to the ground, collapsing in a heap at the edge of the river.

"There he is! Get him!" She thought that she could hear her brother's voice out there somewhere, and was that ... yeah, those were Serpents. 

She felt a hand clamp down on her side, where the bullet had impacted her. Her vision was blurry, and her breaths were coming in short, shallow gulps.

"Honeybee? Honeybee... it's me, it's Archie. Hey hey hey, look at me. Focus." Archie's voice was distant. The only thing she could hear was the beating of her heart.

Another figure joined them at the bank of the river, clad in black leather. 

"Hey, little sis, don't you ditch out on me now. It's just you and me together, right? Gotta stay awake."

Evie's hand reached out to her brother's as Archie was fervently attempting to slow the blood leaking from her wound.

"You're going to be okay, I promise."

so yes, i changed things. moved them around. didn't stick with the exact plot of riverdale and timeline and how it happened in the book. as an author writing fanfiction, i believe i have this right. 

thanks for reading! please let me know what you think. 

- madi