serpent ♔ juliet

Her fingers fit perfectly between his as they always had and as she was sure they always would; however, it was the only tether she felt tied to reality as she stared blankly out at the empty street in front of them that had been flooded with police cars and officers taking away her father in handcuffs only a few hours earlier. After all, Betty had gone through at the hands of the Black Hood, only to find out that it had been her father the whole time, she continued to feel numb. This was her mind's method of protecting her by shutting off portions of herself for the purpose of keeping her safe. She was being manipulated, and she was being tormented. Where does this lead? Betty had taken copious notes and jotted down pertinent information after each and every contact with the masked killer; nevertheless, at this point, she was faced with questions rather than answers. Even though Jughead was the only one left there after everyone else had gone in, humiliation, questions, uncertainties, and a profoundly terrible sensation were now buried in her gut.

As her crazy father revealed the complete history of the Blossom and Cooper cover-up, it meant something entirely different to be Betty Cooper. The horrifyingly twisted home video that dad had forced her and her mother to see, which revealed the nightmares of his youth, just reaffirmed what she had always dreaded and what she had known deep down for some time: the evil that lurked inside her, who Betty indeed was. The child of the figure is known as the Black Hood.

"This battle, Jug... this fight represents all that I have ever done in my life." She turned to look him in the eye when she finally spoke, her voice quivering with emotion as she attempted to keep it gentle. "All that has gone wrong because of my father. I ought to have put a stop to it earlier since I had the ability to. Yet I was able to assist him." She felt a wave of overwhelming nausea wash over her as the knot in her gut tightened and twisted inward.

She had her doubts about the darkness he said was there in each and every one of them. It was much too simple for her to recollect the same memories that he did that evening in the booth at Pop's after the surprise birthday party from hell that she had masterminded out of her own good purpose. The admission that she had made to him about the scars in the form of a crescent moon that was located on her hands and the darkness that she feared existed inside her. The fact that she had finally been given evidence of something she had long feared—that the darkness was absolute—made her feel sick to her stomach. It wasn't a sickness that she'd conjured up and that made up some part of her; somewhat, the revelation that her father was the Black Hood solidified the worst things that she'd always hated about herself throughout her entire life. It wasn't a sickness that she'd manifested, and that made up some part of her.

To what extent did she resemble her father in that he was nothing more than a ticking time bomb? How much longer had he lived a life devoid of abnormalities, his actual nature lying latent till it was reawakened by her remarks at the jubilee? Betty had toiled on that speech for days, thinking only of promoting Jughead and the innocence of FP Jones. Yet, it had been twisted into something so profoundly wicked that she was unable to endure hearing the words echoed back to her by her father just a few hours ago. " Riverdale must do better... We must do better... " Scary now as they continued to play in a never-ending loop. Betty sprang to her feet and tried to run away, but she could only make it as far as the bushes surrounding the Cooper home's front steps before she threw up. Her fingers were immediately ripped from his grasp.

Betty attempted to settle herself and calm her anxiety by wiping the inside of her lips with the sleeve of her jacket, taking a deep breath, and shutting her eyes. She used this strategy. Control. What a sour idea it is now, the one purpose that had dominated her life and been ingrained in her routine for such a significant amount of time, and just look what it has gotten her! A family that was shattered by lies, and she was the only one left to bear the weight of the consequences. "What if I'm not good at this Jug? What if I'm not strong enough to handle all that's happening?" When she turned her back to face him, she made a gesture toward the town around them. "Wait a minute, what do you mean by the fact that your battle isn't done either...." now realized what he'd been trying to tell her about the mantle on his jacket and what its significance was for the Serpents and the Southside in the conflict that was still going on.