Chapter Text
“Wait!” Cheryl shouted at Toni’s back as she walked away. “Where are you going, and why won't you talk to me about this?”
Toni only grumbled and continued to walk away. Cheryl asked her the same question again, this time silently.
“You sound like a crazy person. Why wouldn’t I walk away?” Toni finally responded.
“After all you’ve seen, and after knowing me, how could you possibly think there aren’t witches in this world?”
Toni spun around and Cheryl’s heart ached at the sight of her disheveled appearance.
An angry red, and jagged, scar ran up her forearm. Other cuts and bruises littered her entire body, with her tattered clothes hanging off of her in pieces. She looked exhausted, and frail. Cheryl couldn’t help but feel guilty, knowing her thirst was the main reason Toni was in such a state. Regardless, it wasn’t the best time to push Toni on the topic.
“I am fully prepared to believe there are witches in the world.” Toni huffed, “I’m just not one of them. I’m too tired to talk about this right now. I just can’t Cheryl.”
“Okay” Cheryl nodded and raised her hands in surrender. “I’ll drop it, and we can go. Any suggestions on an immediate safe house, or some place we can claim safe-haven?”
Toni’s shoulders sagged as she remembered she couldn’t go back to her grandpa’s house, and there probably wasn’t anything left of Thornhill to go back to.
“If only your face didn’t melt off at the cabin. I’m sure my grandfather already left.” Toni paused to run through several other options, many of them deeply unpleasant. “Okay, I can only think of one place right now, but I think we will be safe there for now.”
Toni rattled off some directions, providing a mental picture of where they were going, and allowed herself to be picked up.
They blurred their way along the Sweetwater River, and then through the woods. Cheryl had to stop several times for Toni to point the way, but they still arrived within a few minutes.
Cheryl looked at the house before them and shuddered. She eyed it’s sagging gutters, splintered stairs and boarded windows with obvious disdain.
“If you wanted to stay in a remote hut with questionable safety and lack of comfort, there were plenty closer to where we were.” Cheryl said.
“None of them have running water and probable electric. Also, none of them are Sweet Pea’s house. If he made it out, he will make his way here.”
“This will do, and I’m sure he made it out just fine. There is a gaggle of Serpents on foot, approaching at human speed, I’m positive of it.” Cheryl said in an attempt to make her feel better.
“There are no more Serpents, and they could be dead for all I know. Meanwhile, I’m trying to find a place to shower and take a nap…” Toni’s eyes darted through the surrounding trees. “We should go back, I’m fine now and so are you.”
“They aren’t dead. We will look for them if they don't show up soon, but if you go out looking for them and they go looking for you because you aren’t here, that won’t be helpful to anyone. Sweet Pea seems perfectly capable of getting them out of there to me. He will show up.” Cheryl assured her. “In the meantime, lets get cleaned up and you need rest. You’re no good to anyone in this shape.”
Toni rocked on her feet, looking unconvinced. Her eyes were heavy and legs shook out of exhaustion. There was no other choice, and she knew it.
“Fine. Only because I’m sure I smell awful and a power nap will help me clear my head.”
Cheryl nodded and followed her into the house.
Truthfully she was just as unimpressed with the inside, but it was warm and Toni visibly relaxed with each step she took.
“Under normal circumstances I would never pass up the chance to shower with you, but it’s been a long...week. Mind if I hop in first?”
“Not at all.” Cheryl kissed her forehead. “Although, you are gorgeous no matter what, even if I can smell you two states over.”
Toni knew she was just teasing, but she still smacked Cheryl’s arm playfully before leaving the room to shower.
Once she was alone however, she regret letting Toni go. The silence was overwhelming, and the living room full of broken and worn furniture didn’t prove to be much of a distraction.
She wandered around, trying to find a place for them to sleep, but only found a couch in the living room and a hammock in what she assumed was Sweet Pea’s room. Besides the hammock there was an old box TV and a gaming console she didn’t recognize. The floors, though wood, were grimy and missing slats in several places. The ceilings were low and had dark spots all over it that Cheryl couldn’t tell if they were bugs or food. Most of the doorways lacked an actual door but sweet Pea’s room had a tattered sheet hanging for privacy. It was a maze of a house, even considering it’s small size. The only two bedrooms were the size of her closet, one of the smaller closets at that. Even the kitchen had ceased to serve a purpose as there was no fridge, the oven door was missing and what was left of the countertop was cracked and crumbling.
What a way to live , she thought.
So, she grabbed the cleanest blankets she could find and made a pallet on the living room floor.
The more she wandered around, the more she understood Sweet Pea and his loyalty to the Serpents. He clearly didn’t have a family of his own to be loyal to. There wasn’t a single family photo or baby picture in the entire house. Without the Serpents, it was clear he would have nothing, and no one.
She couldn’t honestly say she liked him, but she at least understood him and his relationship to Toni much more clearly.
Just as she finished putting the last blanket in place, she heard Toni’s footsteps down the hall. She emerged looking far more clean, but also distractingly naked.
“Don’t pity Sweet Pea. He got a raw deal here, but he’s made the best of it, like we all did. He really doesn’t need or want anyone’s pity.”
“I wasn’t pitying him.” Cheryl said as she wrapped her arms around Toni’s waist, bringing her closer. “I’m just gaining some clarity.”
“Can you gain some clarity after you shower?” Toni laughed. “Because wow.”
“Message received.”
Cheryl blurred her way to the shower, knowing Toni would fall into a deep slumber the minute she laid down.
She washed her hair and body with the only soap available, arctic blast, and ignored the many wounds she saw. Most of them were still healing, meaning venom was likely involved.
Flashes of something invaded her mind, but she was actively choosing not to remember what happened to her. Those blurry images would stay that way, or preferably, go away all together.
Instead of thinking about it further, Cheryl hopped out of the shower. With no towel in sight she was forced to blur around in quick circles until she was dry. Of course, neither her nor Toni had any clothes to replace their discarded outfits, but that wasn’t particularly high on the list of priorities when escaping from a torturous prison.
Following Toni’s lead, she blurred into the living room, entirely naked.
Toni’s eyes went wide as she looked at Cheryl up and down.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.” Toni said with a grin, even though Cheryl still saw worry behind the clear attempt at a distraction.
“Get used to what, exactly?”
“The fact that I can see you naked whenever I want.”
Cheryl climbed underneath the blankets and rolled to lay on top of Toni.
“Maybe not whenever you want. I should think the town wouldn’t appreciate my nudity while running errands, simply because you wanted to see me naked.”
Toni pulled her into a brief, yet, passionate kiss. She ran her fingers up the nape of Cheryl’s neck, gripping her hair tightly. Cheryl wanted to sink into the embrace and revel in their unexpected safety, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t take advantage of the situation when Toni was distracted, worried, and not fully present in the moment.
“They may not appreciate it, but I definitely do.”
Cheryl settled between Toni’s legs and wrapped them around her waist. She couldn’t fully give in, but she could at least pretend like she entertained the idea. Settling her weight against Toni, she smiled at the sharp breath from the woman beneath her.
“After you sleep, eat, and find Sweet Pea, you can appreciate me any way you like.”
Toni groaned and attempted to raise her hips and capture her lips. Much to her dismay, all attempts at swaying Cheryl fell flat.
“Why can’t I appreciate you now?”
“You don’t have the strength to do so at the moment, unfortunately. Rest now my love.”
Cheryl rolled to the side and ignored an audible sigh from the other woman.
Toni silently agreed, but worry and lust combined to form a cocktail of discomfort. Cheryl knew she was just looking for a distraction, but she couldn’t provide that distraction in good conscience.
Despite their circumstances, and her worry, Toni fell asleep while Cheryl traced random patterns along her arm and hummed a tune from her youth.
While she was glad Toni fell asleep, she was also supremely envious.
It wasn’t that her kind wouldn’t sleep or put it off for as long as possible, they just didn’t have that ability. It was the one thing she missed most about being human. Unfortunately, that treasured memory of what it felt like was rapidly fading with the passing of time.
Even though she couldn’t sleep, she did have the ability to do something similar. During her time at Ascension, Cheryl separated mind from body to avoid the pain. That process, however, offered relief only to the flesh, not the mind. Instead, she needed to shut her mind off, which would allow for some mental healing that wouldn’t normally be possible for her.
It wasn’t sleeping, and her body would never feel the same refreshment humans felt, but it would have to do. It was a rare occurrence that she allowed her mind to shut off. For one, it was dangerous. Her instincts and senses slowed significantly. If she wasn’t with Toni, she wouldn’t have dared to take that risk. However, there was no doubt in her mind Toni was capable of not only being aware of their surroundings, but also protect them until she was able to return her mind to working order.
She waited until Toni’s breath slowed and her mind went blank before rolling over. She took a breath and closed her eyes. Then, like a switch, her body was a shell and her mind was shut off. For the first time in a long time, there was complete and utter peace.
//
Consciousness came flooding back so quickly it caused a sharp pain to flair from one side of her skull to the other.
It took a moment for her to realize what caused her to become present again. In that process, she realized someone was climbing the decrepit stairs outside of the front door.
Cheryl shot up out of the makeshift bed, causing Toni to stir.
“Babe…” Toni’s voice cracked “What are you doing?”
She held up one finger to her lips before pointing to the door. Cheryl had no weapon to give her, so Toni was up and running down the hall in a flash.
She wasn’t running away, rather, she was going to Sweet Pea’s room to grab a shotgun she knew was in his closet.
Cheryl stood behind the front door, waiting for it to open.
When it finally did, afternoon light shone bright in the living room, revealing a towering dark figure.
The figure turned to face Cheryl slowly. Covered in mud, and next to no clothes, the figure was unidentifiable.
Just as Cheryl made the decision to kill whoever or whatever it was, Toni came sliding into the room. Standing in nothing but an over sized T-shirt, she pointed the gun she retrieved at the intruder.
“Hands up, bitch!” She screamed.
The intruder’s hands went into the air, fingers brushing the ceiling.
“Woah, Toni. It’s me!”
It dawned on Cheryl that the intruder was, in fact, no intruder at all. Silently, she filled Toni in.
“Sweet Pea, you idiot. I almost shot you.”
“Why am I an idiot? This is my house!” He shouted back.
Without a gun pointed at him, Sweet Pea suddenly realized Cheryl was in front of him and very naked. He made a show of covering his eyes and dramatically turned away from Cheryl.
“Oh!” Toni squeaked before going back down the hall and coming back with another T-shirt in hand.
Cheryl slid it on, clearing her throat when she was finished.
Sweet Pea opened his eyes to two confused faces and decided to explain at least part of what happened.
“I’ve been running from Hiram and his guards all morning. There’s way more of them than we thought. I had to hide in the mud until they passed.”
“Are you alright?” Toni asked lightly.
“I’m good, nothing a sandwich and a shower can’t fix.”
Toni moved to barrage him with questions about the others, but Cheryl stopped her.
“Let the man clean up and get some rest. He’s okay and so are you, but you both need to rest.”
“But…” Toni began.
“Nah T, your girl is right.”
Cheryl was surprised at his easy agreement with her. There was not even a single complaint about her being in his house, T-shirt, and blankets. Maybe after all they had been through, they had come to an unspoken and uneasy truce. Either way, she didn’t want to test her theory at the moment.
He left to wash the mud off of him, and Toni turned to look sharply at her.
“You were gonna kill him.”
“So were you.” Cheryl responded quickly.
“No, I was just threatening to kill him until I could figure out who he was.”
Cheryl shrugged her shoulders, not seeing much of a difference.
Toni shook her head, but was too tired to actually argue. She leaned the shotgun against the couch and slid back into the blankets, beckoning Cheryl to join her.
She agreed and joined Toni who took only seconds to fall asleep. Cheryl however, was done resting. She waited until she was sure Toni was in the deepest stage of sleep, unwilling to disturb her, before carefully extracting herself from the mound of blankets.
She blurred to the nearest store and grabbed clothes almost at random. One woman briefly saw Cheryl who stopped for a millisecond too long contemplating between different colored flannels. In the end she chose green for Toni, red for herself. With that quick of a glance, she knew the woman wouldn’t be able to tell who or what it was she saw. After all, Cheryl knew humans had a remarkable ability to convince themselves that nothing was out of the ordinary. She guessed Toni’s size and blurred back with the clothes before anyone else was made aware she was there.
Taking only seconds to dress, she stacked the rest of the clothes next to Toni and went back outside. Feeling restless, like there was something she forgot to do, she walked at a human pace. After a few minutes at that pace she found herself in what must have once been a glorious garden.
Towering bushes grew wild and unkempt, with flowers of every variety being smothered in thick green vines. The same vines crossed over the cobblestone pathways, obscuring their intricate beauty. At the far end of the garden was a large square of rich, dark soil that was clearly once used to grow vegetables and other food.
In all her time residing in Riverdale, she had never seen the garden, or been privileged enough to feel it’s calming effects.
Cheryl sat on a nearby stone bench that was cracked and slowly crumbling. A ceramic angel faced the bench, it’s painted features weathered and nearly invisible.
Besides anywhere Toni was, she couldn’t think of a place she would rather be. That was until heavy steps approached from behind.
“Good to see you found some clothes.”
“I stole them.” Cheryl admitted with a grin.
“Is there another way to get things?” He asked playfully.
Cheryl shrugged her shoulders and looked around.
“Is this your garden?”
“It was my mom’s.” Sweet Pea hung his head, “I haven't really had the time to clean it up.”
Cheryl felt grief roll off of him. Still, she had to ask.
“What happened to her?”
“She was in a car accident. I hear those are pretty common with drunks.”
“I’m sorry about your mother. Can I ask, what happened to your father? Was he in the accident too?”
Sweet Pea bent down to pluck a rose from the bush. It was white with red spots, almost like blood spatter.
“He’s dead. A ghoulie got him a couple years ago. My uncle came to live with me after that, but he took off a few months ago.”
Silence sat between them for several minutes before Cheryl decided to break it.
“I’m not like them you know. The ghoulies I mean. I’m sorry your father was killed, but I promise you, I’m nothing like them.”
“I hope that’s true, for your sake.” He replied “But all I need to know is if you can keep her safe. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know she will need the kind of help I can’t give her.
“What sort of help do you mean?”
Sweet Pea stood up and faced Cheryl, looking her in the eye for maybe the first time ever.
“Hiram set up a screen for the rest of us Serpents to watch them torture you. He said he wanted us to see the birth of a movement, and what we should have been doing to you all along. I actually felt kind of bad for you. I mean, I don’t even like you.” Sweet Pea laughed darkly. “I felt bad for you anyway. It wasn’t right what he did. I saw Toni scream, then the cages broke. It wasn't just your cages that broke. Ours did too. The camera cut out so we ran to come help you guys.”
Sweet Pea looked anywhere but at Cheryl, and picked leaves from a nearby tree before continuing.
“Look… I don’t know how she did that or why she chose you to be with, but I guess that’s not my business. All I’m here to say is help her, and keep her safe. Do that, and I’ll leave you alone.”
He held out his hand, and Cheryl stood up to shake it. Even though she didn’t need his approval, it was still a nice gesture, and she appreciated it.
Gently, he handed her the rose he just plucked.
“These are her favorite by the way.”
She opened her mouth to reply when she felt Toni approach.
“Hey assholes!”
* * *
Toni woke with a start, images of Cheryl convulsing and withering away plagued her dreams. Though she must have been asleep for hours, she didn’t feel particularly well rested.
Looking next to her, it was obvious she was unable to sleep because Cheryl was no longer there. What was in her line of sight, instead of Cheryl, was a stack of clothes. She didn’t recognize them, bit the crisp tags dangling from them stated they came back from the hunting supply store a few miles away. Regardless of where they came from, she was grateful for the most part. She only wished the stack included a pair of underwear.
A couple minutes later, Toni was dressed and beginning to stress. She couldn’t find Cheryl or Sweet Pea in the house, and there was no sight of them when she peeked through various windows.
She pulled on her brand new boots and stormed outside. The expectation was that they would be in the yard, or one of them would be burying the other in the woods nearby. Instead, panic set in when she didn’t see either of them.
Toni let her instincts kick in, walking in the direction they pulled her. With every step she took, Toni was more sure her feet were leading her to Cheryl. What she didn’t know was what she would find when she finally got to wherever she was going.
The pull became stronger and more persistent. She bolted down a nearby path, her mind running faster than her feet despite the pinch of her new boots.
Really it only took her a few minutes to find them, but it felt like a lifetime. She also wasn’t sure what she expected to find, but none of the frightful scenarios playing in her head compared to what she saw as she rounded the corner. She came to a sudden halt as she faced the garden. Part of her expected them to be fighting, a darker part of her expected Hiram to have found them, and the darkest part of her expected to see them both dead.
She in no way expected laughter, and smiling.
Sweet Pea handed Cheryl a rose and looked serious before relaxing into a heavy smile. Cheryl laughed at something and looked around at the garden.
Her worry was for nothing, which only caused white hot anger to quickly build within her.
“Hey assholes!” Toni shouted
Cheryl turned around and her smile grew wider, but that only served to fuel her anger.
“Good morning sleepy-head. Have you…”
The rose Cheryl had pinched between her fingertips was suddenly engulfed in flickering blue flames. She dropped it to the ground where the flame immediately was extinguished, leaving the flower in the same pristine condition as it was moments before.
Sweet Pea gawked at the fallen flower while Cheryl appeared unfazed. However, their bond betrayed her cool exterior, Toni knew she was afraid. Whether she was afraid for her or of her, was disappointingly unclear.
“I’m sorry I left you.” Cheryl began “I ran to get us some clothes, and when I got back you were still asleep. I was restless so I took a walk and found this garden. Sweet Pea was just telling me how he escaped Ascension with the others. We didn’t want to wake you.”
Sweet Pea nodded but still sat silent as he stared at the rose.
“Yeah.” Toni said, not sure how to backpedal. “Well, catch me up then. How did you escape?”
“You” He said quietly.
“Me? What about me?”
“Our cages shattered, same as yours. We came to find you guys and help, but it looked like you had it handled.”
“It wasn’t me. I don’t know why they shattered.” Toni said defiantly.
Sweet Pea bent down to pick up the rose Cheryl dropped. It was her favorite, white with red splotches. She couldn’t explain the blue flames anymore than she could explain the cages shattering. The pedals weren’t even wilted, and even though she had seen Cheryl set several fires, none of the flames were blue.
Sweet Pea handed her the rose, unable to meet her gaze.
“I think it was you T.”
She had to pivot. She had to distract them.
This wasn’t a conversation she was prepared to have. Firstly, they were being insane. Secondly, there were more pressing matters to attend to than her unwanted, and fictitious, invite to Hogwarts.
“Where are the rest of the guys?” Toni asked.
“That’s something I wanted to talk to you about actually. We also should probably leave. I’m sure it won't take long for Hiram to figure out my address and send his men after us. We should move on.”
Cheryl nodded and looked all around them. Toni knew she was listening for footsteps and watching for any disturbances in the quiet woods behind them.
“I should gather our things. I’ll just...give you two a minute.” Cheryl said, not doing a very good job concealing her worry for Toni.
“Thanks.” Sweet Pea mumbled as she left.
Toni got right to the point.
“Where is everyone else? Did they all get out?”
Sweet Pea sat down on the stone bench between them, looking uncharacteristically glum.
“Most of us got out. Jug, FP and a few others went to the Serpent grounds. Others went to Sunnyside to get their stuff and warn their families.”
“And the rest?” Toni asked, already knowing the answer.
“They stayed with the Elders and Hiram at Ascension.”
“Well,” Toni sighed “What's that old saying the Elders told us as kids?”
“Defy the Elders and you defy destiny!” They both said in unison.
“What a load of shit.” He said as Toni laughed at the absurdity of their situation.
Sweet Pea joined in on the laughter, both of them thinking of the rapid departure from their everyday reality. After all, only months prior, they followed the Elder’s word religiously. Their biggest problems were Serpent’s using their influence to pedal drugs, and who was best at taking out ghoulies. Those problems felt so big in the moments, but in actuality, they were blips on the radar in comparison to the life and death situations they faced now.
After a few minutes of letting the laughter die down, Toni asked the one question that she was avoiding most. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to know the answer.
“How is FP doing with the change?”
It was his turn to sigh heavily.
“We've never seen a human changed by a ghoulie. I don’t know what’s happening to him, or if he’s gonna make it. Jughead is sitting with him while he changes, but I don’t know how much good that will do.”
FP was like a father to Toni, so letting him die wasn’t an option. Sure he was kind of a drunk, but until recently, he was their leader. He did his best to make sure the whole Southside was safe, and fed. She couldn’t let him down is his critical moment of need.
“Maybe Cheryl can help him. She would probably know how.”
“If he wants the help, sure.”
“Why wouldn’t he want the help?” Toni questioned.
“Because maybe he doesn’t want to become what he’s trained to hunt. We are talking about immortality and a blood based diet. That is not something to take lightly.”
Toni had become so used to being around Cheryl, she forgot that most vampires and all ghoulies were vicious monsters with no regrets or regard for human life. Cheryl was the exception to that, but also proof that it’s choices that separate good from evil, and nothing else. Maybe knowing he wasn’t doomed to become a monster would be enough to motivate FP to survive the change. She had to at least try.
“FP doesn’t take anything lightly, but he should know all of his options.”
Sweet Pea stood up and nodded.
“Okay, meet me at old man Perkins’ barn in an hour.”
Toni hesitated before pulling him into the tightest hug she could manage, considering she had a hard time getting her arms all the way around him.
“Be careful, and stay out of the mud. Me shooting you doesn’t benefit anyone.”
“I’ll do my best. You be safe too please.” He asked in the same big-brother sort of way he always did.
They broke apart and headed in opposite directions, with Toni heading back to the house. It made her a little sad that Sweet Pea seemed to not be affected by losing his house at all. He lived their all his life. It’s where he last saw his mom, and where they hid their stash of pocket knives before they were allowed to have them.
Maybe she had stronger feelings for the house than he did because for her, it was an escape. For him it was the place he dreaded going, and the place he was too embarrassed to let anyone but Toni see.
One thing was for sure, Cheryl would certainly be glad to leave the place behind.
Just as the thought of her passed through Toni’s mind, Cheryl was standing in front of her, bag over her shoulder and ready to leave.
“Are you ready to go?” Cheryl asked as she handed over the shotgun.
“Yeah, we need to meet Sweet Pea in an hour.”
“Good, that gives us some time.”
“Time for what?” Toni asked curiously.
“I’m rusty on other’s needs, but I believe you need to eat at some point. Also, even my kind prefer to wear underwear.”
Toni couldn’t remember the last time she ate, but the mention of food had her stomach in knots and audibly growling.
“I’m pretty sure I would kill a human being for a burger from Pop’s right now.”
Cheryl held out her arms with a grin.
“Then a burger you shall have.”
Toni hopped into her arms with practiced ease. She also learned it was best to close her eyes when Cheryl was taking them somewhere. Nausea would definitely get in the way of a good burger. Though, she was slightly confused when they ended up in the alley behind Pop’s instead of at the entrance.
“Are we dumpster diving for burgers?” She joked.
“No.”
Toni felt guilt from Cheryl, which immediately made her suspicious.
“Then why aren’t we going in?”
“Because,” Cheryl said as she did her best to avoid Toni’s questioning glare. “I’m just going to pop in, grab you some food and pop out. People will see you if I take you in there with me. The last thing we need is Hiram busting us in Pop’s.”
“Is that the only reason?”
Toni waited for an answer, knowing she was hiding something. She tried to sift through the woman’s mind to figure out what it was, but Cheryl was purposely fogging her mind. Thankfully, not even Cheryl could keep her mind fogged for very long.
“I don’t wish to anger you.”
Toni crossed her arms and looked dead at Cheryl.
“I’m getting angry that you aren’t being honest with me.”
“Fine” Cheryl looked around as if she would find a way out of the situation. “You aren’t stable and I don’t want you to accidentally hurt someone.”
“How would I hurt someone? The shotgun isn't even loaded.”
Cheryl held up her right palm which was red and blistered.
“That rose burned me. It takes me longer to heal when the wound is inflicted magically. You don't mean to shatter the cages, and you didn’t mean to light that rose on fire. Until you get your powers in check, you’re dangerous. I have the ability to heal from a magical assault, those people in there don’t.
“That wasn’t me!” Toni shouted, angry no one would believe her.
In the same moment that she shouted, several trash cans lifted into the air and crashed down to the ground so violently that they were crushed flat against the pavement.
Toni wasn’t sure what was happening, but hoped she was on some sort of supernatural prank show.
Cheryl locked eyes with her but kept her mind fogged. Still, Toni understood. She would wait in the alley while Cheryl blurred inside for food.
The time it took for Cheryl to return with a bulging bag of food and two milkshakes, was far shorter than the time Toni spent arguing about it. She therefore remained quiet when they made two more stops.
The first stop was for two duffel bags, allowing Toni to put the shotgun away. The second stop Cheryl grabbed more clothes, including socks and underwear, then grabbed ammo for the shotgun.
“You sure steal a lot for an ancient rich lady.”
“Money helps us none when I neither have it with me, nor can we use it without being seen.”
Toni hummed in agreement but was distracted by a litany of intrusive thoughts.
“Toni…” Cheryl said as they reached the edge of town. “Why didn’t you tell me about your birthday.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your eighteenth birthday, it passed recently didn’t it?”
Toni was confused and wondered why her birthday mattered. She was never one for a big celebration.
“Yeah, two weeks ago. I know eighteen is supposed to be a big deal, but it doesn’t feel like it to me. I don’t want a party or a cake, so I just never brought it up.”
Cheryl rubbed her forehead, digging her fingertips into her temples.
“Whether you believe me or not, the eighteenth birthday is huge for a witch. There is no bigger date or event. That’s the day they get their full powers, even if they don’t yet know how to use them.”
Regardless of what Toni saw, or Cheryl’s blistered hand, she wasn’t willing to believe she was a witch. Mostly, she just wanted to stop talking about it.
Cheryl must have gotten the message because she pulled both bags over her shoulder and held out her arms for Toni, all without a word.
A moment later they arrived at old man Perkins’ barn. Jughead, FP and Betty beat them there, and it was pure chaos.
FP writhed on the ground, with Jug and Betty holding him down. FP snapped his jaws and flexed the muscles under his navy blue skin.
He flung Betty off, sending her ten feet backwards. Jughead was next, allowing FP to blur clumsily towards Betty. Once there, he then pinned her down, pushing her face into the dirt and exposing her neck.
Cheryl took off in their direction, leaving Toni to wonder if she would make it in time to intervene. The thought barely finished in her mind before there was a blood curdling scream that came out of the mess of limbs on the ground. She wasn’t sure who was hurt, but she knew it was bad. With FP running wild, there was no telling who would be next.