|| 15: S h e r i f f s, T h r e a t s & C o h o r t s ||

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"Go back home, Serpent Slut."

Gulping and gasping in fear, I cowered in front of the trailer door; my hands were locked around my knees, my body was rocking back and forth and a few lines of salty wetness streaked my cheeks.

Murmuring incoherent words to myself and clutching my keys tightly in the palm of my clasped hand, I waited for the cops to arrive. I was shocked, scared and terrified. Who would do this? And why?

My fingers were trembling as I dialled Dad's number and held the phone up to my ear.

Please, pick up, pick up, I inwardly begged.

"Hello?"

Upon hearing the voice, that deep, smooth, sexy voice, I straightened up with a jolt. "S-Sweet Pea?" I stammered.

"Mackenzie? Yeah it's me. You alright? You sound ... off."

"I - I ... I'm fine," I swallowed. "Can you put my dad on please?"

"Sorry, no can do," Sweet Pea returned from the other end of the line. "He's in a gang meeting with the Ghoulies. A dispute broke out about the gang's boundary lines and FP's trying to solve the problem without things getting messy. I'm waiting outside though if you wanna give me a message for him?"

"Uh..." I bit down hard on my lower lip, trying to stop the tears from gathering in my eyes. "Well, what about Jughead? Jellybean?"

"T-they're not here, they're out at the beach with Toni and Fangs..." Sweet Pea's voice trailed off. "Why? W-what's going on?"

Before I could fumble up the words for a good-enough excuse, the piercing wail of a siren split the crisp, evening air. My eyes widened as I pushed myself up to my feet. Glancing beyond the rickety, broken-down fence of the trailer park, I could see Sheriff Keller and his men pulling up in their police cars.

"What the...? Are those sirens?" Sweet Pea suddenly exploded. "Bloody hell. Mackenzie, are those the cops?"

"Umm..." I closed my eyes and heaved a deep breath as I whispered, "Yes."

For a moment, all I could hear was a stream of loud, steady breathing. Then, Sweet Pea in a low, guarded tone, uttered, "Where are you? I'm coming right now."

"No!" I tried to protest but he quickly interrupted me.

"Where the hell are you, Mackenzie? I'm not asking twice!"

"A-at home," I gave in hesitantly, "In front of the trailer."

"Give me two minutes."

The line was abruptly cut off as Sweet Pea hung up.

I let out a shaky breath as I tucked my phone away and turned around to face Sheriff Keller as he approached me.

Upon seeing the bloody sign on the trailer wall, Sheriff Keller and his men got straight to work. While the others were investigating the scene of the crime, searching for any clues or evidence the perpetuator may have left in his wake, the sheriff flipped open his notebook and started asking me some questions.

"Do you have any idea who could've done this?" he queried as he popped a pen out of his front shirt pocket.

I shook my head. "N-no. I mean, some people aren't happy with me being here, that's for sure, but I highly doubt they'd go to this extreme..."

"Okay, can you tell me their names?" Sheriff Keller persisted. Upon seeing my reluctance, he continued, "We need to question them. It's a standard procedure."

"Yes, but they'll think I've dobbed on them!" I argued.

"Do you want to find out who did this or not?" he conveyed, evidently annoyed.

I heaved a deep breath and nodded. "Fine," I muttered. "First of all, there's my brother, Jughead. But, for him, this - er - whole vandalism thing is out of his league. Please, don't question him. There's no way he would've done something like this! Besides, he's out with friends and has alibis. Oh. There's also Mrs Cooper, who runs the newspaper stand and Cheryl Blossom, who..."

VVRROOMM.

The loud rumble of a motorcycle pierced the dusky air encompassing me, making me stop mid-sentence.

Casting a glance over my shoulder, I saw Sweet Pea enter the trailer park in a whirl of flustered hurry. My eyes were trained on his every move and my heart jumped a little in my chest when I watched him remove his helmet and shrug on his thick, leather Serpent jacket. Then, stuffing his keys into his back pocket, he made a bee-line straight across the uneven surface of the grass towards me.

He was just opening his mouth to speak when his gaze flittered over my head towards the words splattered across the wall behind me. He froze. A darkened look, one filled with seething anger, one fiery with uncontrollable rage, one that I had never before seen, crossed his face. His hands balled up by his sides and his jaw clenched, causing his skin to stretch tight across his upper neck and cheek-bone.

"Sweet Pea," I breathed. Brushing past a surprised Sheriff Keller, I headed towards him, trying to hide the fact that my hands, my knees, in fact, my entire body, was shaking so sadly I could barely stand.

His deep brown eyes flittered over my face and even though the tense look didn't escape him, the anger did. A saddened, sympathetic expression reflected out of his bright orbs and even though the glint lasted for just a mere moment, I knew, then and there, that I had been right.

There was a sweet side to Sweet Pea.

"Kenz," he spoke in a low, gentle tone as he stepped towards me. "Kenz, I - I'm so sorry. Who? How? Why?"

"It's okay," I stopped him mid-sentence by placing a restraining hand on his arm. "I'm okay."

Sweet Pea tried to steady his rapid breathing as he gazed, intently, at me.

"Mackenzie!"

Sweet Pea didn't take his eyes off my figure as I turned around to face the sheriff who was beckoning me over.

Slowly, I went up to him, Sweet Pea by my side. "Y-yeah?" I got out haltingly.

"One of my men just identified a sample of the red liquid that was used to write this threat," Sheriff Keller sighed, stroking his scratchy grey beard. "It's pig blood."

I nearly chucked up when I heard that. Stumbling backwards in shock, I brushed shoulders with Sweet Pea who instinctively reached out and grasped me around the waist, helping to retain my balance.

"What the hell?" he growled. "Pig's blood? Where the hell do you even get that?"

Sheriff Keller narrowed his eyes at him as he retorted, "I don't have time to deal with you, right now, kid. We have a serious situation here. If this vandalism was used with spray paint I'd be less worried but the fact that it's blood - pig's blood - means that this threat is real. Whoever's done this is not fooling around."

"Wait!" I piped up, trying to hide the tremor in my voice. "Wait ... Sheriff Keller ... t-there's something you need to know."

The sheriff raised his eyebrows questioningly at me.

I heaved a deep breath as I stated, "I'm not the only one whose been threatened."

Before I forced myself to finish the sentence, I knew, in that moment, that it was going to be a long night.

When I told Sheriff Keller about the death threat Betty had gotten that morning, he sent several cops over to their house immediately.

As he was giving the order to do so, I tugged nervously on my hair. I had promised Betty that I wouldn't break her trust but surely, surely, this couldn't be a coincidence. Two threats in the same day? It was highly likely that the culprit was the same person!

About half an hour later, Jughead, Jelly and Dad all rocked up at the scene, along with Toni, Fangs and Tall Boy.

"What the hell is going on here?" Dad roared when he spotted the cops swarming the trailer park.

As Sweet Pea took him aside to explain what had happened, Jughead rushed up to me. "Kenz!" he panted. "W-what's going on? You good?"

Surprised by his sudden burst of affection, I took advantage of the opportunity and nodded. "Y-yes. I - I'm fine. Uh ... Jug? I - I promised her I wouldn't say anything but I know you two are close and you should probably know..."

"What?" he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Betty got a death threat this morning," I said in a low tone, trying to avoid eye contact with any of the cops. "Sheriff Keller's sent some guys over to her house to question her. She may want some support."

Jughead's face drained of all colour and he staggered back a few steps. Trying to regain his composure, he sent me a firm nod. "Thank you." Then, he spun around on his heel and took off.

"Kenz, Kenz, what's going on?" Jelly blubbered as she rushed up to me and threw her arms around my waist.

Nestling my nose in her unruly mess of dark hair, I assured her, "I don't know. I really don't know."

Toni. Fangs. Sweet Pea. Dad. Jelly. Sheriff Keller. The cops. The cop cars. The trailer. The bloody message. Everything blurred together in a senseless mess of colour and noise.

Pushing myself away from Jelly, I struggled for breath as I attempted to stop the darkness from closing in. The world was spinning before my eyes. My head was throbbing in pain. My throat was cracked and dry. My entire body was shaking and trembling.

Before I knew what had happened, I was falling, helplessly, until I hit the ground with a soft THUD.

The last thing I heard was Jelly's high-pitched scream.

Then, everything went black.


"Kenz. Kenz. Can you hear me? Please, wake up!"

A stifled groan left my lips as my mind wandered back from the brink of unconsciousness. I swallowed hard, wetting my raw throat with a stream of stinging saliva. Slowly, my eyes flittered open to see Sweet Pea, leaning over me, lines of anxiety and concern tracing his forehead.

Upon seeing that I was awake, a small smile played around his lips as he reached forward and brushed some stray curls off my face. "Hey, Buttercup. You gave all of us a bit of a scare back there."

I guffawed in annoyance as I swatted his hand away. "What did I tell you about calling me Buttercup?"

He smirked. "Oh yeah, that's right. You don't like that nickname, do you? Oh well, I guess it's gonna have to stick."

I rolled my eyes as I attempted to pull myself up into a sitting position.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sweet Pea held me back and shook his head firmly. "You're not getting up. You have to rest. Your Dad said so."

My gaze flitted over my surroundings. I was nestled, in a pile of blankets, on my pull-out bed in the middle of the trailer's living room. Rays of morning sun were shining through the half-opened shutters and the smell of waffles and coffee floated in from the kitchen.

I nodded. "Alright, but you have to let me go visit Betty when I'm feeling better. I need to make sure she's okay."

"Only if you're feeling up to it," Sweet Pea raised his eyebrows knowingly at me.

"Yes 'mum'," I shot back sardonically.

The ends of Sweet Pea's lips twerked upwards in amusement as he rose to his feet and gazed down at me. "You're welcome, sweetheart."

"Oh, go away!" I yelped. "You're so annoying."

A low chuckle escaped him as he turned around and walked into the kitchen. "Hey, do you want something to eat?" he called out.

I let out a small, shaky sigh as I responded, "Alright. Why not?"


Later, around noon and with Dad's permission, Sweet Pea drove me over to the Coopers' place on his motorbike. He waited until I reached the front door before giving me a small wave and taking off. He wasn't a fan of the Northside and he knew that he'd probably run into trouble if he stuck around.

Just before I was about to enter the house, I heard a loud scraping sound coming from the garage across the bordering fence-line.

Stepping away from the door, I walked, slowly and curiously, towards the white-picket fence separating the Coopers' property from the Andrews'.

"Archie!" I let out a yell when I spotted his red hair through the open door of his garage.

Looking up from his work, Archie spotted me and sent me a wave. "Hey!" he called out as he got up and came over to where I was standing. "How are you going? I heard about what happened last night."

I huffed and shrugged, trying to hide the fact that I was, indeed, very much afraid. "I - I guess I'm okay. I don't think the reality of the situation has quite sunk in yet though."

Archie pursed his lips and nodded. "Betty got questioned by the police last night," he told me in a low tone. "I - I'm worried about her, you know. We've been friends since kindergarten. If anything happens to her..."

"It won't," I assured him. "Just - er - don't think so negatively."

"But Sheriff Keller said..."

"Archie! Mackenzie!"

Surprised, the two of us turned around to see Betty and Jughead standing, startled and motionless, on the front porch of the Coopers' house.

"Oh, hey," Archie nodded at the two of them. "You okay, Betty?"

Fixating her gaze on me, the blonde bit her lip and said nothing, crossing her arms over her chest.

I exchanged a quick side-glance with Archie before stepping forward, "Look, Betty, I'm sorry. I broke your trust even though I promised you that I wouldn't. But something sinister is going on around here and it's our job to make sure no one gets hurt and that includes you. We have to figure this out - together - and that means, no more secrets."

I looked over at Jughead for support and, to my surprise, he nodded in agreement. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mackenzie's right," he spoke up as he placed a gentle hand on Betty's shoulder. "We need to stick together."

Archie glanced around at all of us and smirked. "Righto. I'm in. Let's catch this dick."

As I looked from Archie to Betty to Jughead, I smiled, I really smiled. "Come on," I probed teasingly. "Let's not waste any more time. We have a murderer to snag."





Gif: Mackenzie as she talks to Archie, Jug and Betty in the front yard.

*PLEASE REMEMBER to give this chapter a vote if you enjoyed and I'd love to hear any feedback from my readers; so pepper me with questions. If you're confused, I'll try and clarify it for you. If you want more information on a certain point, I'll do my best not to give you spoilers. If you just wanna chat 'bout random stuff, then I'm in*

Q: If you were Mackenzie, how would you have reacted to seeing the bloody message on the trailer wall?



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