Riverdale High: A weekend After Valerie's Murder

Betty, Andrews, and Jughead all meet each other at the entrance of the school for today. Despite everything's that's happened, they have all now agreed to work together to stop the Riverdale Slasher before he takes anymore lives. He or she has been using this place as a playground for his sick games, which all have trailed back to mostly Betty one way or another, and maybe it'll happen again, but something tells them that everything will end soon and all of the victims, even the less moral ones, will be avenged.

"I checked with everyone, the rest of the cats, the staff, her parents, everyone that was in the parking lot, but still got nothing...." Archie reports to the others as he shrugs, his hands deep in his jacket's pockets. "I went from the beginning of the day to the very end, but nobody saw what happened to her before we......" He pauses, swallowing. "....before she was found dead."

"So that means that she was somehow taken into the van somewhere on her way there, in plain sight?" Jughead concludes with the evidence they've gotten so far. The killer claimed that the murder happened before they even called them using Valerie's voice, but is that really the truth? "But I thought her and the pussycats always walk together, even to school?"

"Yeah, that's what doesn't make any sense to me. They didn't see her either. Someone either had to know her personal route or was extremely lucky that no one saw them." Archie comments with frustrated and confused face, causing them all to think until the girl in the trio comes up with a solution.

"Maybe we're thinking about this all wrong...." Betty mumbles in though, causing both Archie and Jughead to turn to her. "I feel like there's something we're missing. Maybe we should talk at the diner after school and talk suspects." She suggests, and after sharing a look, the two boys nod in agreement.

"Hey there, players!" A voice exclaims, and everyone looks to see Kevin walking up to them with a slightly raised brow. "What's up with you guys today? You look like you've seen roadkill." He comments while also glancing at his best friend. "And Betty, you haven't been picking up, that's a lame friend foul, you know."

"Oh, gosh, I know, I'm so sorry." Betty sheepishly apologizes as she mentally face palms, realizing that she was up all-night thinking about the latest murder to remember her friendships. "I-I've just been so stressed with homework and my parents splitting that I-"

"Whoa, whoa, Betty, chill." Kevin cuts her off put putting a hand on her shoulder with a laugh. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Still glad to see you still alive, obviously."  He lets her know, though the dark humor doesn't land the way he wants it to with the others. "So.... what is going on though, really?"

"Nothing much. Just trying to avoid trouble so we don't get our ass kicked from bikers again." Archie answers with a shrug, saving his friends from sharing whatever it is they are hesitant to reveal. Guess Kevin only knows a tiny bit of what they are investigating about the town's serial killer. "What about you? Is Joaquin still calling?" 

"Knew you were gonna bring that up..." Kevin replies with a small grumble before opening his eyes back up to reply. "Well, he kinda is, but he's also been acting weird, something about how his boss-" 

"Oh my gosh, guys, there you are!" Another voice chimes in before Kevin can gossip, causing  everyone to look over and see Veronica marching down the stairs she just entered so she can approach with an odd face that seems to be trying to offer sympathy towards them. "I'm so sorry...."

Jughead blinks. "About what?" He asks while everyone else has a confused face. Veronica then pulls up the infamous green coloring of the poll that's been an annoying house fly for them this entire time since Grundy's death. This causes everyone to share a knowing, haunted look before they all pull out their phones and see the current one for themselves.

WHO WILL BE NEXT?!

A LODGE

A COOPER

A BLOSSOM

AN ANDREWS

"Goodness...." Archie mutters with a disappointed expression, shaking his head in disgust. "They really think he's an eat the rich, help the poor kind of killer, huh?"

"At least you're considered an important family in this town...." Jughead remarks with a sarcastic tone. "People who live in their trailers don't count apparently." 

"You guys know who's even running this thing, anyway?" Kevin asks out loud to all of the others, the question that's been on everyone's minds, but since it's not exactly life-threatening, they've all mostly ignored it.

Veroncia opens her mouth again, but before she can say or hint at anything, she is instead looking behind all of them, towards the actual parking lot. "Oh.... my.... gosh..." She mouths the three words, causing everyone to turn their heads.

And that's where they see Y/N roaming into the parking lot with what has to be the flashiest car in existence. Not only that, but when he steps out with his newest camcorder, Cherlyl steps out of the passenger seat, and the two...... kiss. As the cherry on top, the queen bee wraps her arms around one of Y/N's before they finally begin walking into the school grounds. 

Now, everyone's pretty much having the same reaction as Veroncia. "Oh my gosh...." Kevin agreeingly utters, expressing it out-loud. "He actually did it. Y/N motherfucking L/N actually did it...." 

"And I thought Archie and 'Jennifer' was bad enough..." Jughead mutters with a conflicted look, something about seeing the two together gives him a bad feeling, but he's not sure for who. "This just seems..... I don't know what the word I'm looking for is."

"Off?" Betty guesses, but Jug shakes his head.

"More than that, cuz they seem genuine."

"Wait, are you guys not happy for them, even if Cheryl is a Capital-B to us sometimes?" Veroncia questions with a raised brow, her experience with seeing the human side of Cheryl makes her feel a little perplexed with the skeptic's reactions. "Or did I miss some things after the mess with Grundy?" 

"You have no idea..." Archie quietly responds. 

 Y/N finally sees them there as he and Cheryl pass them, causing them to approach for the inevitable first conversation. "Betty, Kevin..." He greets them all with an earnest smile, which gets a little conflicted when he stares at a few of them. "Archie.... Glad that convivence has put you all in one place before the first period."

"Yeah, we thought we would have to catch you all at the lounge or the cafeteria separately." Cheryl adds with a very bright smile that once again makes everyone react with a mixed expression. The situation of the Blossom family giving Y/N so many.... gifts, has had a different effect on all of them. 

"Oh, well good for you...." Jughead mutters with a look. "But sorry, I don't plan to join your list of hostages." He sarcastically remarks before getting elbowed by Veronica. 

"Still think that way? You say it like Polly or her precious twins didn't have a choice to join our family." Cheryl says with a look that shows a bit of hurt, though there's no doubt some playful stabbing directed at them. "Or it wasn't Y/N's to join the company." 

Now everyone is really shocked.

"He's what?!" Archie exclaims bewildered, causing everyone to turn to Y/N who sheepishly chuckles. 

"You said I was gonna be allowed to share that with them myself..." Y/N reminds Cheryl with a seemingly modest look, causing Cheryl to giggle a little bit. The looks on everyone's faces, expecially when their eyeballs are pointed at him, don't really help the pressure.

"I'm sorry, I know, I know, but I just couldn't help it. The idea's now gotten me too excited!"  Cheryl expresses herself as she hugs Y/N's arm tighter, even planting a light kiss on his cheek. The two are clearly happy together, so it has to be something else that makes Jughead feel weird upon seeing them as a couple. "High School romance has High School in the name for a reason."

"Right, right..." Y/N slowly nods, holding Cheryl's head with one hand for a second before getting back on track. "Anyway, that's not the reason we came over. The feds that the cops have gotten are close to a lead, so the rumors say, which means that we need a little something to relief some stress with a massive fence that have no third party will ruin everything." He tells them as he reaches into his breast pocket.

"And what's that?" Jughead questions with a raised brow before Y/N pulls up some cards and hands the entire stack over to him. 

"The run-of-the-mill party. Happy birthday." Y/N answers calmly with a slightly cheeky smile before he and Cheryl head into the school building, the latter giving them all the same look she gave when she saw them while they are still facing each other. 

"How did.....?" Jughead utters, now a little taken aback himself as he looks up, only to see the two lovebirds gone. Everyone then looks over and sees that they really are birthday party invitations. The only problem is..... Jughead hates his birthday.

He then looks at Archie with a pointed look, causing the red head to raises his hands in defense of himself. "What? I didn't say anything." 

"Me neither....." Kevin adds, before shrugging a bit. "Whatever it is." 

"Jug, today's your birthday?" Betty asks as she turns to Jughead with a earnestly surprised look. This is quite literally the first time she's hearing about this, which makes it even more shocking that Y/N casually brought it up. "Why did you never told me?"

Jughead, slightly embarrased, opens his mouth but the words struggle to come out. That prompts Archie to step in and help him out. "How about we get to class before we're late, yeah?" He suggests to all of them, right as the five-minute warning bell rings. 

Looks like there's more than just murders that they are going to talk about today.

___________________________________

Riverdale High: Blue and Gold 

It hadn't been long before the school got a sudden surprise visit from the police, and it's that everyone in school grounds was being brought in one-by-one into the principal's office for interrogation. This time, it doesn't depend on suspicion or anything, literally everyone is being questioned, only this time, it's by the detectives that the government brought in themselves. The only one that the group has, Betty, Archie, Jughead, Kevin, Cheryl, especially Y/N, and everyone else, is that do they now have a suspect, do they think it's a teenager that's been able to get away with so much in half a year? Or is it a parent they are after? 

Despite the new revelation that has the group trying their best not to spread it to the rest of Riverdale High for gossip, assuming that Cheryl hasn't done so already, Betty and Jughead know that they should still get back to their murder board in the club room to see if there's something they missed. After all, those were all stressful times for them, murder after murder, there has to be a detail or pattern that they failed to see earlier.

However, when they get there, they find Archie who's beat them there, as well as Y/N, the two are not surprising. Though Cheryl sitting right next to her new boyfriend feels weird, but nothing much. No, the real problem they find is that there's a bunch of adult men they don't recognize cleaning up the place. 

"What the heck's going on?" Betty silently expresses their thoughts out loud, to which Jughead shrugs. They then hear Y/N ranting admits the loud noise of the men moving and searching through things, prompting them to get closer and join whatever conversation is going on.

"All I wanted to do was make a classic yet personal documentary about the Riverdale murders..." Y/N rants with angry movements from his hand, all while Cheryl comfortingly rubs his shoulders. "And the Blossoms said they would help me out, I just had to join their Maple Syrup business."

"Wait, what's going on?" Jughead finally asks out loud, getting the others' attention. "Why are we being visited..... again?" 

"Because they got a warrant for some reason, though they haven't explained the reasonable suspicion yet." Archie explains to them with a look that obviously is frustrated with how cryptic the investigators are being, though it's not like there's anything they can do about it, nor would kids like them be taken seriously. 

"And not only that, but they also took my footage for 'evidence'. " Y/N also adds because he feels like it's important. Even if his, um.... plan, involved even bigger things, his human side really did want to finish that whole thing for the Blue and Gold fans that existed. "Now, with me having to move, and court cases being inevitable, the B and G is shut down and my life could be fucked!"

"Alright, relax, success guy." Jughead comments with a small hint of jealousy underneath is sarcasm. "It's not the end of the world."

"Man, that is so easy for you to say." Y/N responds with the same amount of sass, which is fueled by his frustration. It's not like he has something that could end up being nothing if his parents actually try to fight for custody of him back. "I mean, you can always go back and join your daddy's candy shop." He quips at Jughead's expense, causing the kid to blink at him with a taken aback expression while Cheryl giggles. 

"Y/N!" Betty hisses with a look, not wanting him to be rude to Jughead for obvious reasons. However, the Jones kid just rolls his eyes at him.

"Wow, not two days in and she's already rubbed off on you."

"Why, thank you. I take that as a compliment." Cheryl quips with a cheeky look at Jughead, making eye contact with him for a few seconds while still rubbing and caressing Y/N's shoulder, and sometimes neck. 

"Look, I'm sorry, I just can't go through this right now while also getting ready for the next few weeks of change that's happening in my life." Y/N sort-of apologizes while rubbing his forehead. "I have no documentary, I'm about to change my last name, and now I keep wonder if I'm going to be the next target." He complains, the last part causing the ladies to gasp, Betty in surprise and Cheryl in instant fear.

"You?" Archie questions with a brow, and Y/N to turn his head towards him. "Why you?"

Y/N answers by reaching down into his backpack and pulling out his old camcorder that he was going to sell since he wasn't using it anymore... only for it now to be smashed to pieces. "I left this in my new room, who else would take the time to break it?" He brings up, though behind him, the other three notice how Cheryl is biting her lip with a blushing red face. They're not exactly sure why though.

"You said you wanted to get rid of our sex tape..."

Y/N turns around. "What?" 

"Nothing!" Cheryl quickly responds with a slightly higher voice and extremely wide, fixed smile, causing everyone to give her a pointed look.

Before they can draw up any guesses though, a few new men step into the room of the journalism club, the infamous Detectives Markus and Bailey, and they walk up to the group of teens, though they mostly turn to one person with professionally pointed eyes. "Y/N L/N..... you never told us that you spoke with Polly Cooper before her disappearance." Bailey mentions.

Wait

What?

The second Polly and disappearance are put in the same sentence, Betty snaps her heads at them with a concerned expression. Why in the name of hell is she learning about this just now? "Uh.... when? What time are you talking about?" Y/N asks while nervously folding his hands together, apparently being more aware of the latest news. Cheryl also seems oddly calm for someone that's in her household having been mentioned that she's kidnapped. 

"A cleaner at Thornhill said that she heard you talking to Polly over the phone, and that you invited her to come to the Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe the night the Blossoms failed to see her in her bed." Markus explains with a blank expression, though the obvious detective's suspicion is there. Meanwhile, Betty sighs, wondering if it was because of the Blossoms reporting it that she never knew.

Because why would they bother telling her own family, of course.....

"What are you talking about? What phone call?" Y/N questions them, blinking rapidly at them while Cheryl's expression slightly drops. 

"The phone call you made to Polly last night, don't you remember?" Bailey interrogates, slightly pressuring Y/N to make a mistake since it's not looking too good for him. "Or are you saying that we're lying?"

"No, look, I never called her, I never told her to go anywhere." Y/N insists, looking at everyone else who's reacting to this news in their own different way. Jughead is mixed but is doing a good job at not showing it, Betty's focused on the missing news, Archie is still struggling to process this, and Cheryl is well... doesn't need explaining.  

"The cleaner claims to know your voice pretty well, ever since you began staying at the Blossoms home last Friday." Markus relays to Y/N, who just chuckles confused at them.

"No, you're not listening!" Y/N holds up a hand as he glances between them as if they are crazy. "Look, I didn't call Polly Cooper."

"Polly Cooper said you did.... to Pop Tate." Markus then reveals, causing Y/N to now stutter his words, failing to respond immediately. 

"W-What.....? No, no, you are lying." Y/N accuses them as his voice goes from confusion to anger. "No, I've read what cops can do, you can lie! Someone is trying to ruin my career; someone is trying to kill my career!" 

"Okay, well we'll talk about your career back at the station." Bailey lets him know as he calmly and softly tries to pull him out of his chair without any force. "Look, just see this as a new chapter for your documentary."

"Okay, fine! Just stop touching me!" Y/N pushes them away as he feels up his clothes with disgust, reluctantly standing up.

"Oh, Y/N..." Cheryl whispers in a very sad voice, quickly pulling Y/N into an embrace before he's taken away while the two cops stand right next to them. "I'm so sorry."

"Cheryl..." Y/N replies with a empathetic voice, hugging her back. He's eventually made to break it up as he then also looks at the others. "..... guys...... she wasn't-" He pleads to all of them, including his girlfriend, shoving Bailey's hand away when he tries grabbing his arm. "She wasn't talking to me on the phone...." He says before being guided away. "I'm coming, geez....."

"Those idiots..." Cheryl mutters with a now angry face, clenching a fist as they see the cops practically arresting Y/N, just without handcuffs. "I already gave them an alibi on why it wasn't him, and that isn't enough?" She complains while grabbing her head with an emotional conflicted expression.

The other three, Jughead, Archie, and Betty, all share a look, watching him go with heads filled with many more questions.

Though they do know one thing. If the killer's been able to mimic voices....

Then it's clear that they are just leading the cops onto a massive Red Herring.

__________________________________

Riverdale High: Cafeteria

"Wait, are you serious? They pulled him in for questioning?!" Kevin exclaims with a just as shocked face. Betty and Jughead have just relayed all of what happened back in the Blue and Gold to him since he's slowly and slowly gotten more involved with the case, and the fact of who the number one suspect is currently blows him away. "But why? How can they trust one employee who claims to know his voice in two days?"

"That's the thing, we think it was someone else who sounded like him trying to set him up." Betty explains to Kevin while Jughead eats his food, preparing to add an additional detail here and there. "I mean, sure, he wasn't always there every time Ghostface appeared, but a slip up like that is just.... just..."

"It's too much of a rookie mistake, not using text messages to lure her there instead. At least then, you could easily claim that your phone was stolen." Jughead adds that comment to help Betty finish her sentence. A very solid point. "It's not like it would've been difficult, the two are living under the same roof, so she had to have some trust with him." 

Kevin hums agreeingly, before looking over and noticing some of the men from the football team. "Oh! Be right back! I gotta warn the closet case real quick before he disappoints his new girlfriend." He tells them before separating from the table for a few. The rest now sit there in silence, until more of their friends finally makes it to the cafe. 

"Hey guys..." Archie greets with a calm nod, which Veroncia repeats as well. "So, listen... we've been thinking..."

"Wait, hold on there Archiekins." Veroncia politely interrupts Archie before turning to Jughead. "Be honest, are you actually considering going to your birthday party? You've given off the vibe that you're one of the rare few that hatefs it." She asks him bluntly, to which she makes a face after. "No offense."

"None taken, because you nailed it right on the head." Jughead replies with a small shrug. "It's just..... not something I enjoy, my dad and Archie have learned that now."

"Which still makes me wonder how Y/N knew." Archie states, since they became friends somewhere after he and Jughead temporarily distanced themselves away from each other. 

"Character A probably overheard it, who then told Character B, who then eventually led to Cheryl who undoubtedly told it to Y/N the second the day came." Betty answers with Jughead's kind of tone, remembering that one line Cheryl said about how she knew of the investigation into the 'play book' that one time. "Who A and B are, who knows?" 

"Well, that aside..." Veronica moves back to the important angle of the subject. "We decided that, against our 'don't wanna get caught off-guard for the tenth time and possibly stabbed this time' judgement, we're going to go to Thornhill anyway." She tells them both, who's eyes go wide.

"But why-"

"Think about it." Archie encourages them before they start asking too many questions. "Remember when you told me how you used Jason's funeral to sneak around his old room? Well, I know Y/N and I wonder, what if he has the same idea? He isn't just talking casually to us like nothing's happening for no reason. He's trying to give us a window to explore the rest of the mansion, this time as long as we want."

That is true, upon briefly reading the card, it was stated that Clifford and Penelope wouldn't be home tonight, thus the reason for the party. (which is also going to be small as well) And Betty and Jughead didn't really find much other than that hidden note that helped reveal a lead about the mansion's controversial secret.

If it's such a big place....

It's possible that there's more than what meets the eye. 

"Just letting you know since.... well, it's Polly we're talking about, and..... you still want to catch Ghostface." Archie explains. Betty doesn't say anything, but after a few seconds of thinking about it, silently nods. They take that as an answer that they are coming, and go to get their food.

However, Jughead looks over and sees Betty's still conflicted face. "Hey... you alright?" He asks with a naturally concerned tone of voice as he puts his hand onto her back, rubbing circles around it. Then, it hits him. "You're not planning to go to the party, aren't you?" 

Betty shakes her head. "If what the cops are saying is true, then we should be looking somewhere else." She tells him honestly before giving him a knowing look. "And besides, do you actually prefer going there as well?"

Jughead chuckles with a grin.

"Hell no." 

___________________________________

Riverdale Sheriff's Station: Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Keller was also trying to figure the pieces of this serial killer case, starting to get tired of leads coming and going before they can find anything concrete. It's starting to feel like the killer's been covering their tracks, and judging by how the number of leads has been decreasing as of late, he's starting to believe it more and more. 

If only he still had his old board that wasn't stripped of all the evidence, the case would probably be solved by now. He should've known not risked it by keeping it at home. Markus and Bailey tried to investigate theirs with Y/N, but since the kid is smart and not saying a word, they don't have anything. And since their town's laws are different in that area, they're going to be letting him go pretty soon.

Before he can try and search for any patterns, the door to his office opens up in a hurry and a deputy quickly searches for him with an alert expression. "Sheriff, we just got a call, claiming to be Polly." He says, instantly getting Keller's attention. "She's asking for help at Sweetwater River." 

The Sheriff quickly gets his hat.

"Then get a couple men in cars and let's move."

_____________________________________

Thornhill: 

Cheryl Blossoms been moping at home, alone, tapping onto the bed sheets as she stares up at the ceiling, still thinking about how the cops just dragged Y/N away for questioning despite the evidence that he was at home the entire time. Well, okay, maybe it was only testimony's but that and her parents also should've confirmed it to be a solid alibi. As dumb as it sounds out loud, she wished she didn't accidentally smash Y/N's camcorder, that way the..... tape, would prove where he was. 

However, that sad feeling doesn't last for long, as the door to her bedroom opens, getting her undivided attention since, as mentioned, she's home alone, and to her blessed eyes, Y/N is the one who slowly steps in, trying to sneak in at first.

"Oh, hey...." 

"Oh thank gosh." Cheryl simply says as he shoots up onto her two feet and quickly pulls Y/N in for a big kiss, showing how grateful she is that he's already out of the station. "I lost all motivation to decor the mansion since you were thrown in."

"Heh, you make it sound like I was actually in jail." Y/N quips with a small quip, before kissing her again to reassure her that nothing happened to him. "Sorry about that, I had to call a uber to get back since my car was hard to get back, else I would've returned sooner." 

"Oh, please, just... forget about all the cop, stuff. The only good thing is that it's still three or two hours before the 'small event' happens." Cheryl shushes him with a finger. The only people Y/N said they should invite is a small group of people they personally know, since Jughead would likely hate it if they didn't keep it small. "And, in my mind, that's still plenty of time~" 

"Wow..." Y/N comments with an amused shake of his head. "You are impatient sometimes."

Cheryl giggles. "I am with you..."

The two then kill a little bit of time between the huge gap of now and the party. 

The decorations weren't needed anyway...

____________________________________________

Thornhill: 

Veronica and Archie share the same car as they drive over to the mansion, part of them wondering who else is going to be there, but most of their mind focusing on the plan of what they are going to do once they get there. Even if there was no actual ulterior motive, they need to figure out more about Ghostface, and fast, before someone else gets hurt. 

"You think Cheryl will like it if we go through her parents' things?" Archie wonders out loud, glancing at Veronica for her opinion, to his slight surprised, he finds her smirking at him with some kind of knowing expression.

"Trust me, she wouldn't care at all, unless it's also technically her stuff." Veronica responds with a playfully assuring look that this 'search' mission shouldn't be as difficult as he's probably thinking. Archie slowly nods, smirking a bit as it makes him wonder just how much she and Cheryl shared with each other.

"And... I'm guessing that you two swear a girl's oath, not to tell a soul?" He humorously queries, to which Veroncia holds up an open palm.

"To this, I swear."

They share a laugh, making small talk until they get to the mansion so they can forget the entire situation of serial killers, deaths, and any other dark topics. Right now, they are just living, acting as if they are really heading to a birthday part with the purpose of doing just that. Eventually, however, it's back to work, and park in a hidden spot away from the mansion as a failsafe in case Mr. and Mrs. Blossom end up coming back early. 

They plan to knock on the door at first, only to see that it's partly opened a crack, likely someone who failed to close it behind them the entire way. Still though, they knock anyway while they step in, just to announce their presence. 

As if directedly on top, Y/N L/N walks over from behind a corner, holding a champagne glass as he sees them coming inside. "Hey there, Archie.... Veronica." He greets them, slightly tipsy as he lets out a small hiccup. "Where's Jughead? Where's the birthday boy?" He then asks upon noticing that there is only two of them. 

"Not here yet, I guess." Archie answers with a small shrug, to which Veronica nods, both of them not knowing that the blonde her black-haired friend have other plans. "They agreed to come, if only for a few seconds."

"Huh...." Y/N hums with a slow nod, taking another sip of what is clearly the beverage in the glass it's named after. "Ah, fuck it, whatever, we weren't really celebrating him anyway." He points out with a small smirk as he invites them further inside. "Come on. We're really-"

"Investigating Thornhill itself?" Veronica finishes his sentence, causing Y/N to stop and turn back towards them.

"I'm guessing that Archie figured me out pretty quickly." Y/N assumes correctly as he shares a smile with Archie, who doesn't deny it one bit. "I knew part of you would realize the opportunity. I mean, come on, a note to Jason in his own home? This place needed a second look over, especially since Cheryl's mom truly is a ....." He draws off for a bit. "A piece of work, let's just put it at that."

"Yeah... I agree." Veronica says with a haunted look, having seen Penelope's reaction when Cheryl gave that speech at Jason's funeral. She was not happy, the way she grabbed her hand with such force, the way she spoke down on her, there was something there and wasn't being shown to the world. "She's something."

"Yeah, but let's not think about her too, too much. We're here to do Blue and Gold stuff." Y/N reminds them as he pushes the doors open that leads to at least one of the living rooms while drinking the rest of his glass down. Now, Archie and Veronica see the rest of the apparently small gang that's been invited.

"Ah, the late guests have arrived!" Reggie announces their presence to everyone else, causing all eyes to fall on them. "Took you long enough, Archie."

"Reggie, really?" Veronica questions Y/N with a raised bro, to which the host just shrugs. 

"Relax, Veronica. We won't bite." Moose promises her, sharing a chuckle with the fellow football player, though whether it actually stays that way remains to be seen. 

"If they want to stay here, then yes, they won't." Cheryl, who's standing near the other glasses, assures the women in the group while giving a very stern look to the two boys, prompting them to nervously look away.

"Yeah, because it's not biting that they use to get the ladies...."  Dilton Doiley remarks with a hinting tone while having his own drink, causing Reggie to glare at him which immediately makes the kid raise his hands up. "I didn't say anything!" 

"And they say the jock stereotype isn't real..." Josie McCoy mutters to herself with a disappointed shake of her head, wondering what else is new. And lastly, one steps out from the hallway, seemingly after using the bathroom.

"I'm back...." Kevin announces before quickly noticing Archie and Veronica. "And great timing, I was starting to feel isolated in this entire group of strangers."

"Ouch..." Y/N remarks with a look, though chuckles along with Kevin as they all move to their preference spaces. Y/N's is to refill his glass and take another sip, something must have inspired his new mood for drinking, Archie thinks. "So, is anyone else coming besides the obvious? If any of you invited someone when you weren't supposed to, I have to know." He interrogates everyone, though all of them don't say a word except for Reggie.

"Nah, man." 

"Good, when it comes to this party, less is more." Y/N says with a quirky raise of his glass before taking another sip. 

"Even though this place is bigger than the entire state of Russia?" Dilton sarcastically comments as he takes a big look around just to prove his point to himself. "You're too kind, really."

"Thank you." 

"I hate to ask something like this, but did we really come just to get drunk?" Josie queries with a raised brow, noticing how heavily Y/N is hitting the bottle. No, seriously, he starts getting bored of his glass that he takes one of the entire champagne bottles. "You know that we have to drive back home, right?"

"Relax girl, obviously, there's more that." Cheryl promises her with a michiveious look, something that's unexpected when it comes to her own home. "We're gonna play a little game, in honor of J.J's precious cargo going missing." She proposes to everyone, getting their attetion. 

"And what's that?" Moose asks.

"Alright, so listen..." Y/N takes the mic for this one. "It's always rumored, right? Amongst the family, when they arrived here that one day, that there was this..... secret room around the mansion, something that even the most curious of nosey of people wouldn't find." He tells them, opening the cap of his bottle.

"What kind of room?" Veronica queries with a raised brow, crossing her arms.

"Not sure yet. I heard unreliable sources that it was either a place for the syrup, underage models, or like.... really hardcore drugs. Like, we're talking an entire lab that makes the stuff." Y/N answers with a small shrug while taking another drink, causing everyone to share a look.

"You sure?" Archie double-checks. He should be knowing that he's just making stuff up for the others, but part of him actually wants to know if he's telling a half-truth.

"Oh yeah, it's crazy shit, so that's why we gotta either confirm or kill the rumor tonight while we have this one opportunity." Y/N subtly confirms with a wink, before waving his bottle to gesture towards the entire room. "So, that's the game. Do whatever you guys want, but I'm gonna go check this place this out...." 

"Wait, wait, wait, stop everything, pal!" Kevin quickly chimes in before he fully leaves, looking at him as if he's lost his mind. "Let me get this straight, the town has a homicidal maniac on the loose, a girl who's gone missing, a construction battle, literally, going on with Archie's dad and a gang of thugs, and you want to go and check around this entire mansion?" He questions him, showing how crazy it sounds. "Have you ever actually seen the horror movies you claim to be a fan of? Every time the group splits up, at least two people get slashed up and torn apart." 

"But.... it is going of tempting, don't you think?" Veronica says, adding fuel to the fire of those who are curious. "I mean, a place that barely anyone gets invited to, and this one shot to explore it? Provided that we aren't stealing anything, don't you want to see?" 

"Yeah, don't be such a pussy, Kevin." Reggie jabs at his expense, to which Moose lets out a fake chuckle. 

"Screw it, I'm down." Dilton says with a small shrug, prompting Y/N to happily point at him.

"See? There we go. You guys wanna come?" Y/N he then points at Archie and Veronica next, Cheryl being with him not needing to be spoken because that's so obvious. 

"Actually, we should probably let you two stay as your own group." Veronica responds for her and Archie while giving the two a knowingly teasing look. "We'll venture elsewhere on our own." She informs him, to which Archie agreeingly nods.

"Very well, then..." Y/N accepts with a small smile, before offering his arm to Cheryl, who doesn't hesitate in taking it with a lustful smirk in mind. "Let's all meet back in the living room at one, okay? We'll be right back!" He informs them all before he and Cheryl are gone from sigh, leaving the rest to think.

"You white people have fun, I'm gonna prioritize my own safety, thank you very much." Josie says with a scoff as she's wave all of them goodbye in a sassy manner before going out the way which she came.

"Diddo. See you guys." Kevin agreeingly adds as he does the same through a different entrance, leaving everyone else behind.

"Okay, well, I'm not missing this opportunity to see Jason's old room." Reggie comments as he gets on his feet with an excited look on his face. "I'll see you guys, later, then I guess." He tells Archie and Veronica before he and Moose head out.

"I've been wanting to check out the graveyard...." Dilton mutters as he goes to look for the door to the backyard. All that's left is Veronica and Archie who share a look before mutually agreeing that they know just where exactly they plan to look.

The parents' rooms. 

_____________________________________

Suburbs: Cooper Residence

Alice is not home, which is odd, but that doesn't stop Betty and Jughead from preparing to follow the one small lead that she's been able to deciphers since rethinking all of the clues. Betty was still hesitant to go after the hidden feeling that her father had something to do with Jason's death, but what if she isn't that far off? What if he did do something to him? After all, the mystery of who took Sheriff Keller's files is still unsolved, they were merely distracted by it.

And that confrontation she had with her parents doesn't feel like it's enough anymore. She needs to really know.

However, before they can even decide where that means they could go, the front door to the house rings it's doorbell. The two share a look, wondering who it could be since it can't be her parents if someone's knocking/ringing. Betty decides to go over and answer it, and to her surprise, it's the two cops.

"Detectives Markus and Bailey, sorry for coming in so suddenly." Markus introduces them in case they didn't know, briefly apologizing. "I know that you...." He looks over and sees Jughead coming from down the stairs. "....that both of you, are probably busy, but we need you to come with us."

This makes them even more confused, as Betty squints at the two of them. "Why?"

Markus sighs.

"Because we believe you may be in danger."

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(A/N) Alright, here's the first part. Still working on the second part as we speak. I'm almost done, but since I need sleep af and work is tomorrow, I'll give this part to you now, and hopefully give you the rest for tomorrow. 

Ain't got much to say here, but plz vote and comment, any counts as feedback, and I'll see you in the next one.