What makes a place feel like home?

 Jughead is in a unusual place. He's wearing a sweater with the letter S on it, as well as a black, toy crown on his head. He can tell he's at Betty's place again, Veronica sits on the other side of him along with Y/N, Betty sits next to him, holding his hand, and.... Polly and Jason sit together on the left end of the table, happy as can be. 

Is it Warmth and Familiarity? Some Idealized, make-believe version of the American Dream? 

Polly Cooper then brings the turkey and sets it in the center of the table, and everyone reacts happy about it... which just feels weird. Not just that the Coopers seem to now tolerate his presence, but the place feels too fifty's. Jughead stares all the strange behavior around him, what the heck's going on.

Is it love and acceptance? Or is it simple safety? 

As Betty grips Jughead's hand tighter, he looks to see that she has a wedding ring on. Well, he's not complaining, but he doesn't recall doing anything like that. The weird situation makes his distracted until he finally feels Hal on the other side of him and sees him handing Jug the knife and utensil. 

He hesitantly stands up, ready to cut the bird, but then he notices one person is missing and looks up. In the background, where there's a lot less light, his dad, FP Jones, sits alone on the living room chair wearing less formal clothing, drinking an entire bottle of liquor. Jug's about to look down and be all depressed like he usually does, but then he sees that the kitchen knife in his hands are missing. 

Then, Archie Andrews appears out of nowhere, asking Jughead a very important question. "Dude, why'd you stab me in the back?" He asks him, and everyone tilts their heads simultaneously, wondering the same thing. Shaking his head, Archie turns around to reveal the kitchen knife impaled in him. 

Confused and now panicked, Jughead subconsciously looks up to see that someone else is now sitting in the chair..... someone in a Ghostface Costume. They stand up and slowly turn around just like Micheal Myers, before suddenly pulling out a shotgun from thin air.

Ghostface cocks it, and....

_________________________________

Or, it's none of those things. And it's a place where the captain of the football team was murdered. 

Jughead wakes up, back to reality where the kinda dark aesthetic shines through. 

Or maybe it's just a forgotten closet under a well-trod staircase, where it's just you, and the mice, and the spiders. 

Like an extra in a Wes Craven movie.

_________________________________

Riverdale High: Student Lounge 

Betty tells everyone the events of what happened yesterday and last night with her and Jughead. Polly and Jason's baby, her discovering of Jason's murder, the get-away car they stashed in the woods, and her escape. Strangely, it turns out when Sheriff Keller went to investigate, they found the car set on fire, which actually wasn't done by the wanna-be Director. No, more likely it was one of the Blossom's or some thug they hired.

"My mom and dad don't want the police to get involved." Betty then tells the others, referring to the new search party that's about to come up. "They don't want anyone to know she ran away,  or about her 'shameful condition.' "

"Oh, yeah, let's keep the police away while we try to find a pregnant girl whose all alone while we have a serial killer in town. Nothing could go wrong." Y/N sarcastically comments, glancing at his phone from time to time.

"Well, also, since she knew where Jason's getaway car was, they're afraid people might think the she burned it and that if she did......" Betty pauses, but everyone can guess what she's about to say.

"She could be the killer, the mastermind of the possible Ghostface duo." Jughead finishes, and everyone glances at each other. Fortunately for her, Y/N doesn't have her as his frame up, so that suspicion won't last for long. "And she's trying to cover her tracks."

"Who did burn the car, then?" Archie then brings up the big question, another to the many of this murder mystery.

"Sherrif Keller says it's possible someone was following us, and honestly, with how often I feel like someone's watching me, I can say he's most likely correct."  Betty shares with the others, while Y/N's face, turns to shock on his phone. 

"Oh my gosh...." He mutters like he just ran into the devil, and everyone turns to him. "There's... another one." Y/N cryptically tells them before showing them the screen on his phone. It's another poll.

Do you think Polly is gonna end up dying? 

YES?

OR 

NO?

"Oh, my gosh." Veronica exclaims, so done with all this. "Honestly guys, we should just move." 

"I'm with you there." Y/N nods agreeingly, putting the phone back in his pocket as he blows out some air. "The last thing we needed is half the town praising our own terror as some kind of star." 

Betty sighs. "Guys, what if the killer actually goes for her just because of the poll? I mean, they're probably the ones who set it up in the first place..." She mutters, clearly very stressed with the new chain of events. Jughead comfortingly puts his arm around her which causes the others to glance at each other, are they now... dating? 

"Betty, even though your parents don't want to, maybe you should go to the police." Archie suggests, ignoring the sudden act of affection for now. 

"Second it, we can talk to my dad together about how he can be discreet." Kevin adds, though Jughead doesn't look very confident in that plan.

"No offense, Kev, but your dad answers to a higher authority than God, the Blossoms." Jughead remarks, immediately shooting that pretty quick. "They're the first people he would tell."

"And if there's anyone to keep this a secret from, it's the Blossoms." Betty adds, and the other mutually agree with her on that end. "They'd twist it around and go after Polly out of spite." 

After that, they all plan the search party out then leave, with Archie saying he'll try to pull a couple guys from the football team to come with, and Veronica who'll do the same with the others as school. 

After a couple seconds of sitting alone, Y/N the stands up, glancing around, before walking to the girl in the room, Ginger Lopez. "You got all that?" 

"Definitely." She replies with that signature mean girl smirk, texting the summary of that entire conversation to Cheryl. "Why'd you even tell us about this, anyway? She then asks him curiously, and Y/N shrugs.

"Call it a favor for the exile."

______________________

Sheriff Station:

"Mrs. Blossom, we've got forensics going over every inch of that car." Sheriff Keller relays the mother the current situation, which thankfully has gotten easier since the murder at Thornhill. "We're this close to a break in your son's and mother-in-law's case."

"Speaking of breaks, what's a big one worth to you, mother?" Cheryl chimes in, appearing from out of nowhere with a gleeful smile on her face. "Letting me big a River Vixen again?" 

"What on earth are you talking about, Cheryl?" Penelope questions, hoping there's a reason she's bringing this up.... again. 

"I have information you...." Cheryl glances at the Sheriff. "...Both of you, would find interesting vis-a-vis my brother's case." She offers, already having the proper negotiation in mind. "But first, the Vixens are mine, and I want your permission to reclaim them."

"Good lord, fine." Penelope rolls her eyes. 

"Merci, mama." Cheryl quips before turning to Keller. "So, Ginger texted me while I was in the ladies' room. It seems that crazy bitch, Polly Cooper, escaped from some loony bin, the same night Jason's car was torched." She reveals to them, obviously hinting at her suspect.

 "So let me do the math for you, Polly escaping plus Polly torching Jason's car equals she's Jason's killer. Covering her tracks, trying to go underground like the vicious, cold-hearted, murdering mean girl that she is." She says before gesturing to the phone in her hand. "Oh, and I just tweeted this to all of my minions, so the pressure's on, Sherrif Keller." 

___________________________

"Oh my gosh, you guys." Kevin and Y/N jog over to Betty and Veronica in a clear panic, phones in hand. 

"What?"

"Cheryl just tweeted. #PollyCooperkilledmybrother." Kevin tells them.

"#Nowheretohide." Y/N continues along with Kevin. 

"#Sharpenyourpitchforks." Kevin finishes, handing Belly the phone to see for herself. 

"The third's honestly the best one." Y/N comments, tapping Kevin on the shoulder as they mutually knock despite the clear dread of the situation. "But that's bad, super bad. Seems like someone figured out what happened and relayed it to Cheryl."

"Oh, no..." Betty mummers, fear creeping in as she realizes that the stakes have gotten a lot more higher. If the Blossoms find her before they do....

"We need to find Polly before the Blossoms do."

______________________________

Eversgreen Forest: Near the Sisters of Quiet Mercy

Betty and Jughead addresses their new hunting party, half of them are familiar faces like Betty's parents and some well-known Bulldogs, Reggie and Moose. There's also a few extras they don't recognize, but it's probably help from Archie and Veronica. 

"Okay, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy are due north, the gateway car was west, on the Old Route Forty." Betty maps out the terrain they'll be searching around in while everyone tries to keep themselves warm in their jackets and gloves, the cold being another reason to find Polly as quickly as possible.

"The closest bus station is east, headed towards Sweetwater." Jughead also points out, a very important detail. "If Polly wanted to leave Riverdale without anyone seeing her, she probably would've left through-"

"Right here, Eversgreen Forest." Betty finishes. The group then sets off, looking around and sometimes calling for Polly when they feel like it. They eventually start to semi-split up while Y/N adjusts his camcorder.

"Alright gentlemen, Y/N L/N here with the digital Blue and Gold." Y/N addresses his live audience while live streaming. "We are now on the search for Polly Cooper, and I'm fairly confident one of the Blossoms or Cheryl's hyenas are watching this as a way to gain some type of advantage." 

"You've really gotten more obsessed with that thing than usual, you know that?" Kevin chimes in, as he and Veronica walk along with him. Y/N unapologetically shrugs.

"Obviously, ever since the Varity show, I've gotten more views than of Riverdale's finest." Y/N boasts to them, casually waving the camcorder around to the various trees and such. "I've actually been hit on at least once."

"Okay, now it sounds like you're making stuff up." Kevin remarks, to which Y/N slightly glares at him. The gay chuckles before turning to Veronica next. "So, how's the cold war at home?" 

"Ugh, horrible." Veronica answers, after she learned that not only was her mom dealing with Southside Serpents, but that she also forged her signature to help Fred with the project that was rejected earlier. "Look, I hate fighting with my mom, but until she's ready to admit and to own, that she forged my name to help her illicit trysting with Fred Andrews, I can't blink guys."

"Mother problems, can relate. I've always had issues with my parents in general." Y/N quips while curiously looking at Veronica. "What if she doesn't blink?" 

"Back in New York, whenever I needed to blow off some steam, or force my mother's hand, I'd go out on a bender, dancing with my fav celebrity gal pal..." She taps Y/N and Kevin's shoulder. "My Hollywood dreaming film-geek, my best gay, and some dim-witted, sexy, disposable arm candy. That's Josie, You, Kevin."

"Honored." Kevin comments. 

"And as for my arm candy...." Veronica looks around, spotting a certain jock amongst the group of them, Reggie. "He'll do." 

"Well, you called him disposable, so I'll roll with it." Y/N comments with a nod, agreeing to the plan before turning to Kevin. "Right?"

"Oh, definitely, I'm so in." Kevin agrees and they clap their hands together, laughing. "Should we invite Betty?" He then suddenly suggests. "She could probably use a distraction right now."

"I think she might be a tad busy..." Veronica comments with a shocked face, they follow her gaze to see the Blossoms, and their own search party. Police, 'respected' adults, and dogs.

"Oh man, they have dogs..." Y/N comments in horror, now they're really screwed. The two parties confront each other, in a tension filled stand-off. 

"Alice Cooper, where is she?" Penelope interrogates, reigniting the tense rivalry. "Where's Polly?"

"You think if I knew that, I'd be out here with the mosquitoes?" Alice remarks, not like she would tell her anyway, knowing what the redheads have in mind for her.

"Face facts, Mommie Dearest, Polly killed Jason."  Cheryl chimes in, voicing the same opinion.

"Following the pattern of the killer's costume, who's to say she isn't pulling the strings behind these murders?" Clifford brings up, no doubt hinting at a Charlie Walker to Polly's Jill Roberts.

"The noose is tightening around your murdering daughter's neck." Penelope states, staring at Alice with her blackest expression. "I know it, Sheriff Keller knows it-"  

"Hold on, now." Keller interjects, having said no such thing, but gets ignored. 

"And I promise you, when we find her, and we will find her, the entire town of Riverdale will know, too." Penelope threateningly promises.

The fight to search for Polly is on.

__________________________________

With the press involved, and the crowds forming, Alice Cooper has now decided to go 'damage-control mode' as she and her family stand in front of a crowd where he prepares to give a speech that's about to pull an even bigger cat out of the bag.

"There's been a swirl of rumors today about our daughter, Polly." Alice starts, camera's flashing on her, and Y/N recording with his camcorder in the background. "And we're standing here to tell you that they're all false. Yes, Polly was seeking treatment in a private care facility, and she was under strict observation even at the time of Jason Blossom's death." 

Archie and Jughead glance at each other, the latter sensing that he knows what's coming next. "When she found out about the murder, she was beside herself with grief" She claims, which is actually the truth although Cheryl rolls her eyes at this. "You see, my daughter, Polly... is pregnant with Jason Blossom's baby." She drops the bomb shell, and the shocked reaction out of everyone unaware is obvious, including the Blossoms. 

"Polly wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone the father of her unborn child." Alice looks woefully looks at the a camera recording the whole thing. "Polly, darling, if you're watching this, please come home."

With that, Y/N turns off his cam, he knew, of course. Jason was stupid enough to tell him this information, but now that it's been revealed.....

It could actually work in his favor.

_____________________________________

Cooper House: Nightfall

"Hey, you didn't have to walk me home." Betty mentions to Jud as they make it the sidewalk that leads straight to her house.

"Uh, there's a killer on the loose, remember? A killer who's been sending you harassing calls?" Jughead replies, guess he's got a point there. "Besides, isn't this what...." Jughead hesitates, glancing down at their hands. "You know.... what people like..... us, who've gone through what we've gone through, do?" He hands, gripping her hand tighter before noticing the down look on her face. "What is it? I mean, besides everything." 

Betty depressingly shakes her head. "She wouldn't have run away if it wasn't for me, Jug." She says to him, mentally torturing herself.

"Betty, your parents were the ones lying to her, and keeping her in the dark." Jughead points out, assuring her that she shouldn't take all the blame. "You did the right thing, telling her the truth."

"It's funny, this isn't the first time Polly's ran away from home." Betty then mentions, seeming to have found a tiny smile. "When she was nine, she and my mom got in this huge fight, and she disappeared for hours. The whole neighborhood was out looking for her."

"How far did she get?" Jug asks curiously, but that just clicks the pieces together in Betty's mind. "What?" Jughead questions when she freezes, before suddenly kissing him. He's just made her figure out where she is!

"Thank you for walking me home." Betty suddenly says before excitedly turning around. "I'll call you later, goodnight!" She tells him before taking off to her house. Jughead smiles as he watches her go, guess he said something right. 

However, as soon as he turns around, Ghostface emerges from a tree and skulks his way over to the Cooper house for a little friendly visit...

_____________________________

Inside, Betty glances around really quick before making a move. "Mom, Dad?" She calls out to, but gets no response, that's good. She grabs a flashlight from the front drawer and heads upstairs, where she hears a slight creek.

"Polly?" Betty calls out, knowing she's here somewhere, but still doesn't hear anything said back to her. Well, It is still the living room, so she must've something from the attic instead, her real destination. As she goes upstairs again, she fails to see the figure moving across the shadows.

It's just as dark as the rest of the house, even more. Betty scans the attic with her flashlight and feet, trying to search for her fellow blond. "Polly? It's okay, I'm alone. Mom and dad aren't here." She assures her, wherever she is, as she points the flashlight towards something that makes her jump..... her reflection in the mirror. Really Betts?

The, she sees someone in the reflection appear behind her before they then grab her mouth to prevent her from emitting loud noises. "Shh..." It's Polly, who's just in a state of paranoia. 

"Betty, you have to help me, please." 

_________________________________________

"We'll find her Alice, I promise." Hal Cooper assures his wife as they get into their car. "If the physics of her escape are true, then she can't have made it far with whatever damage she did to her leg jumping out that window." 

"That's not what I'm worried about, Hal." Alice tells him, and Hal can see tell what's the cause of worry in her eyes. The killer, they target anybody, and if that internet thing is any indication, Polly could be next.

"We won't let that happen..." Hal promises, revving the engine up. Except.... there's a problem, the car won't actually start. "What the..." He mutters, trying again and again but without any results. 

Someone's sabotaged their car. 

__________________________________

Betty tends to Polly's leg while she sips on a coffee mug. "How did you get up here without anyone seeing you?" 

"I wrote the book on getting in and out of this house." Polly pridefully answers, with a smirk. "And dad still hasn't fixed the cellar door." 

"Polly, everyone's worried sick, why did you leave the home? You could've really hurt yourself." Betty questions, gesturing towards her injured leg. 

"I couldn't just stay there, waiting for someone who was never gonna show." Polly explains, clearly still hurt by the revelation of Jason's death. "Jason and I, we had a plan to go to this farm, upstate, and raise the baby. It's where I still want to go, but I don't have any money, I don't have anything."

"Why don't you just stay here?"

"Mom and dad want me to give the baby up for adoption." Polly bitterly answers, clearly hating the sound of that last word. "They made that very clear, and that's not what I want." 

"Well, this is their grandchild, Polly." Betty mentions, trying to find a way. "Look, everyone knows your pregnant now, there's no more stigma." 

"You don't know what they'll do." Polly tells her, shaking her head. Then, Betty's phone suddenly rings, as she pulls it out to press decline, she sees that it's coming from.... Chuck Clayton's number. "What?" Polly questions upon seeing her freeze both physically and mentally.

"I...." Betty looks at her sister with a very serious expression. "Stay here, and keep yourself hidden, and don't reveal yourself until you're certain it's me." She instructs before quickly moving downstairs, ignoring her sister call her name again in confusion. 

Betty quickly fast-walks downstairs to the kitchen before answering the phone. "What?"

"Hello, Betty. How's the search for sister coming along?" As expected, Ghostface taunts her from the other end. "Did you find her, yet?"

"What do you want?" Betty questions the caller harshly, not humoring their taunting remarks. 

"You know exactly what I want." Ghostface tells her with a knowing voice. "The real question is, when is Dark Betty gonna come out to play~?" He then queries. Betty figures out she's talking about the 'it' inside of her as she grips the phone tighter. 

"Tell me what you want, or go away." Betty demands, starting to loss the good version of herself, and the caller chuckles at this.

"I want to play bobcat and shark with you." The killer claims in a disgusting playful voice. "What to take a guess at which one you are?"

"You want me? Then come and get me you... coward." Betty venomously challenges the caller, who then abruptly hangs up the phone before a creek comes from nearby. 

"My pleasure." 

Betty turns to see the killer at the front door himself charging at Betty! She lets out a surprised yell as she dodges the knife swing before the killer then follows her to the kitchen island where they then circle around like a bunch of kindergarten kids playing chase, with the addition of Ghostface wailing his knife around, trying to get a slice. 

Eventually, the killer gets dangerously close to her, but she then abruptly opens the fridge which causes Ghostface's head to slam into it, knocking him down for a couple seconds. 

She then runs upstairs, not to bring the killer to Polly, but actually to her room where she quickly attempts slamming the door shut. Knowing her muscles most likely are weak compared to the killer's, she grabs the makeup dresser and pushes it towards the door. This blocks Ghostface's attempt to get in as he bangs against it before once again swing their hunting knife, trying to get her. 

The killer then tries another tactic by once again bull rushing against the door and slamming their shoulder against it, this works in their favor as they manage to push the drawer away from the door, causing Betty to have to press her body against it in hopes of stopping Ghostface from getting through. 

Unfortunately, she's slowly losing the battle as another shove almost knocks her and the drawer to the ground. Betty, waits for the inventible final push, only.... it doesn't come. Betty slowly opens her eyes to see that Ghostface is gone.

And blue and red lights flash on the other side of the window.

___________________________________

"Well, good thing we arrived just in time then." A deputy comments after hearing Betty's testimony of what exactly happened. "As for your first question, we got a call coming from this house who said something about an intruder before giving us the adress and abruptly hanging up. 

Betty only nods in response. Polly, she must've called the cops using her phone she dropped in the kitchen, despite the risk that brought on her. She hopes that she also escaped since the police might investigate the house at some point. 

Jughead seems to have arrived in a panic as well, after seeing the police cars bolt it over here with their alarms blaring. "Betty!" He calls out, jogging over to her. "I..."

"Betty!" Another voice calls out her name, They turn to see her parents coming, strangely on foot, and Jughead tells the blond he'll see her later before quickly making his leave, not wanting to invoke the Coopers' wrath. 

Meanwhile, another bigger police car pulls up. Sheriff Keller steps out and the deputy from earlier addresses him. "They fled, sir. Took off as soon as they saw our lights driving next to the house." 

"Well great, at least this time it was just bad luck and not being out played by this maniac." Keller remarks as they walk inside the house. "Anything that can count as a lead?"

"Well, it's possible we have a confirmed gender, unless those kids at school start calling us sexist." The deputy humorously answers. "They were physically tough, much more than what Betty could handle. And from what I learned back in Biology class, that could mean...."

"Our killer's male." Keller finishes, nodding along with him. "Well, at least it's something, the narrower our suspect list gets, the better." 

"That's not all sir." The deputy then mentions, he then beckons over to a box on top of one of the police deputies' cars. "We found a snake in that box inside the kitchen. I think you can tell that that means..."

"Serpents..." Keller mutters, he should've guessed one of them could be their killer, but why put it there if they're already gonna kill them? The Sheriff then turns to his deputy, now knowing what they should do next.

"The leader's kid, bring him in tomorrow for questioning."

_____________________________________________

(A/N) Alright, a slight change in which the Ghostface event happens at part one. Is that me bragging? Ah, whatever. I'm back to doing what I was earlier, and I feel more comfortable doing it, no longer stressed from the MTVScream fanfics of earlier. 

Plz vote and comment, and I'll see you in the next one.