Before.

Betty Cooper could think of many places she'd rather spend her Monday night. Which wasn't ransacking somebody's basement.

"Shit, I can't find it anywhere." Veronica's voice was growing more and more panicked as she fumbled through drawls, tearing through old bits of paperwork. Betty held her breath as she yanked open the third draw in the desk. Though once again, it was old documents and ratty bits of lined paper. The room was dark, apart from a small lamp casting the four of them in a warm orange light. Archie stood by the door, tapping his foot impatiently. Betty couldn't help smile. Archie was always way too paranoid for his own good.

"Can we go now?" He hissed. "They could be back any second," The redhead groaned. Jughead looked up from where he had been rifling through a medicine cabinet. It was just pill, pills and more pills. "Where's your sense of adventure, Arch?" He grinned at the other boy, who rolled his eyes. "At home." He muttered. "Where I'm safe."

Betty couldn't help giggling as she sifted through more paperwork. There was just bills.

Veronica scoffed and turned around, flashing her phone torchlight in Archie's face. "Don't diss the Scooby gang, Archiekins." she smirked, and he sent her a small smile, but still looked wary. "Can you guys just hurry up?" He muttered, before cocking his head. He'd spotted something at the corner of the room. Archie moved forward, using his own phone as a flash-light now. "What's that?" He murmured, pointing to what looked like a a dent in the wall. Betty was quick to investigate, and the others followed behind her. Veronica stood on her tiptoes. "What is it? Like a secret safe?"

Betty shrugged. "I'm not sure." She murmured. Her fingers delicately traced the old plastered wall, scratching off bits of ancient paint. But their marvelling was cut short, when there was a bang from upstairs, and Betty turned white, Jughead stumbling into Archie. "Shit, they're back!"

Betty felt her blood run cold, and she had the overwhelming urge to run. But she couldn't. If she did, she'd be caught, and god knows what they were capable of. Betty could only wait in silence, her heart stampeding through her chest. Jughead dragged the three of them behind a pile of boxes and they crouched together. Betty could practically hear Archie's hissed murmur of; I told you so!

The door to the basement flung open with a metallic screech, and all Betty could do was grasp onto Jughead's trembling arm as footsteps began to slowly descend down the concrete stairs.

After.

Cheryl Blossom normally awakened to the sweet smell of pancakes being prepared by the cook downstairs, and soft sunlight filtering in through her bedroom window. Though when she opened her eyes that morning however, she was instead greeted with none other than Archie Andrews staring down at her looking more confused than her. Archie was noticeably paler, his freckles standing out dotting on his cheeks. Any other time she might have thought it was cute. His eyes were crinkled, lips parted, and his ginger hair was a bedraggled mess. The boy sported his Letterman jacket. He loomed over her as if he was standing over her grave and opened his mouth, his lips twisting in a rush of words as he silently cried out to her. But no sound came out. At first, Cheryl could only stare at him through half-open eyes. Whatever he was yelling wasn't hitting her ears like it was supposed to. Instead he looked like a fucking goldfish.

Cheryl was frozen for a few seconds. She started to mentally scour her brain for any memories of intimacy with Archie the night before, but her mind came back blank. Cheryl narrowed her eyes at the redhead who continued to frown at her as if she was what was wrong. In her bedroom. He had that stupid perplexed look on his face. The one that made her want to both punch him, but then kiss him. Because of his stupid big brown eyes.

Though it hit her. Archie Fucking Andrews was standing in her bedroom.

Eventually, Cheryl sat up and Archie backed away slightly, his brown eyes widening. He seemed to have come to the conclusion that being there was a bad idea.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" Cheryl's voice was choked with sleep. Her first instinct was to grab the closest thing to her, which was her phone. She flung it at the boy, and she must have still been half asleep because she swore it went right through him. Cheryl watched her iPhone smash against the back wall. There was a loud crack and she swallowed a groan. It was her fourth one this year. She really needed a phone case, or at least some kind of protection.

Archie winced at the demise of her iPhone 6 before he opened his mouth, looking like he might say something. But instead, he only managed to impressively imitate a goldfish as he made crazy hand gestures that Cheryl couldn't wrap her head around. The girl's glare sharpened. "Archie Andrews," she growled, sitting up properly on her bedspread. She was wearing her silk PJ's and her long red hair cascaded down her back in tangles. Archie watched her a little too closely as she dragged her hands through her ratty unbrushed hair. "You better have a good explanation for why you're standing in my bedroom." Her gaze traveled up his torso and it was only then that she was noticing that he was pretty disheveled. His jacket was torn in some places, and the front was covered in revealing dark stains that looked a lot like- "Did you spill your breakfast burrito all over yourself?" Cheryl murmured. When Archie rolled his eyes, his lip curling with annoyance, Cheryl cleared her throat. "Well go on then!" She hissed. "Why are you here, Ginger Nut?"

Cheryl's voice was soft. Silky. Dangerous. Archie looked panicked for a second, and started doing those ridiculous hand gestures again while doing a panicked version of his award winning goldfish imitation. Cheryl frowned at him for a few seconds before jumping out of her bed. She'd had enough of games. Cheryl strode over to the boy, her bare soles tickling the fur of her carpet until she was nose to nose with Archie. He only offered her a helpless look. Cheryl was caught off guard for a second, as it slowly began to dawn on her that Archie really couldn't speak. "Did you go mute overnight?" She hissed. Archie only shrugged and gave her a withering look.

Really, Cheryl? His eyes practically screamed the words and he raised his eyebrows, folding his arms. Cheryl didn't think she had ever seen the boy master sarcasm so well, and she'd known Archie since kindergarten.

There was something different about the boy. She just couldn't put her finger on it. Archie looked the same. He smelt the same, which was overpowering Axe spray. He still had the same dumb ass jock jacket that made him look like an extra in a John Hughes movie. So what had changed? Her gaze lingered on the stains on his jacket. Archie noticed and tried and failed to cover them. So he did have a spillage. She thought. Cheryl's lip curled.

The studied the boy for a moment, before stepping back with a sigh. She planted her hands on her hips. "Alright Archiekins, I give up." She muttered. "What's going on?" She frowned at him, getting progressively more agitated. "Did someone rip your tongue out?" She hesitated, glancing at the marks decorating his Blue and Gold jacket, before smirking and folding her arms across her chest.

"And did they wipe it all over you?"

Archie frowned, his expression twisting, as if he was soundlessly yelling; " No!"

Cheryl hissed out a breath of frustration. "Then why the hell are you standing in my bedroom looking like you've just been dragged through a bush backwards?" She demanded. Archie glared at her, and looked ready to reply with actual speech. But before he could say anything, her bedroom door was creaking open. Cheryl jumped. She was pretty sure Archie had jumped too. Jason appeared in her doorway looking confused. His face was pale. But she didn't notice, because in the corner of her eye, Archie was doing wacko hand gestures again.

Cheryl let out a breath of relief, ignoring Archie, thankful for some sanity.

"Jason, Thank god! I woke up to him just standing over me-" She gestured wildly to the Andrews boy, but when she turned around, Archie was gone. Cheryl blinked, and then she blinked again just to see if she was imagining things. But she wasn't. Archie Andrews had completely disappeared. She started to wonder if he had been so startled and fell out of the window, but he had been standing too far away from it. In fact she could mentally pinpoint exactly where he was standing, and it was physically impossible to just... vanish.

"Who was standing over you?" Jason stepped into her bedroom, looking more alert. His voice sounded less dead. But he looked stricken, somehow. His eyes were half-shut, but it wasn't because he was tired. Jason was always up early, way before her, going on his morning run. Cheryl could only stare at the spot Archie had stood. Had she really imagined the whole thing, or had Archie suddenly developed either invisibility? Or was he hiding under the bed?

"Cheryl," Jason coughed loudly when she didn't answer, and she turned to him, pasting a smile on her face. But Jason wasn't smiling. The more she took in her brother, his blank expression, the way he seemed to be holding himself. Her heart skipped a little. She shook her head with a fake laugh. "Nothing, I-" she shrugged. "There was- there was a bird-"

Jason raised his eyebrows. "And you were talking to it?" He shook his head with a sigh when she attempted some kind of explanation which didn't sound crazy. "Forget it, it doesn't matter." Jason muttered. His tone was unusually cold. "Mom wants to talk to you." He wasn't looking her in the eye, his head was bowed, his ginger hair hanging in his eyes.

Cheryl momentarily forgot about her possible descent into madness. "Mom wants to talk about what?" For some reason, her stomach was starting to twist and turn like she was on a roller-coaster ride. Jason frowned at her for a few seconds. He seemed to be deep in thought, before he seemingly snapped out of it. "It'd be better if mom told you, sis," he murmured, shrugging, before letting out a soft breath. "It's pretty hard-hitting, Cheryl."

Once again, Cheryl's stomach was doing somersaults. She swallowed bile at the back of her throat and grabbed her robe, pulling it on. "Do I need to go downstairs?" She asked, discreetly getting on her knees and checking underneath her bed for that familiar mop of ginger hair. He wasn't there. Cheryl's felt her chest tighten and jumped up when Jason sat on her bed. "Nah, she's coming up to tell you." He said softly. Cheryl's mind started spinning. It was rare when her parents came up to her room. The maid normally did her laundry and she hadn't had a decent conversation with her mother or father for what felt like years. Cheryl joined Jason on her bed and crossed her legs. She was shaking. What could possibly be so important that her parents had to tell her themselves?

"Cheryl, sweetheart, are you decent?" Penelope Blossom's voice was soft, and actually like a mother's. Which was the opposite of her usual cold croak. Cheryl swallowed. "Yes, mommy." She said, loud enough for her parents to hear. Cheryl watched Penelope Blossom step into her bedroom her expression was sombre. Cheryl's mother stood at the foot of her bed and Penelope offered her a small, sad smile. "Cheryl, sweetheart. I was informed an hour ago that four of your classmates were found dead this morning." Penelope said it so abruptly that even Jason let out a hiss. "Mom, I'm pretty sure that's not how you break bad news!" He hissed.

Though Cheryl wasn't listening. Her mind was a vacuum.

At first the words didn't hit her. Initially she thought her mother had said 'Hedgehogs' Which was strange, because Cheryl didn't have any hedgehogs. But her mind seemed to register the first insane thing that shot through her thoughts. Cheryl's first reaction was to laugh, and demand why hedgehogs behind found dead was the reason why her entire family looked like they had just been given a day to live. Cheryl started to go over her mother's words in her mind, trying to process them. But then Archie was popping into her head. Sweet Archie. His expression when she had woken up, his scruffy clothing and that burrito stain on his jacket-

Oh .

It was like being hit by a bolt of lightning. She felt the impact, as well as the electricity sizzling through her, igniting her. Cheryl suddenly felt really sick. Her mother's voice was far away, as was Jason's. Though they all seemed to mix into one solemn noise. Classmates found dead. Her mind screamed at an intense volume. Not hedgehogs.

Cheryl managed to recover, even when she was sure she was going to projectile vomit everywhere. She had to know. "I'm- I'm fine," she said softly. But her voice was choked, and her eyes were burning with tears that she shouldn't even have. Cheryl Blossom does not cry! Yet Cheryl Blossom did cry. And it was over fucking burrito stains.

Cheryl brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Who? She said softly. Though she was afraid of the answer. Because part of her knew deep down. It all made a sick kind of sense. But she still asked, once more, and then again when Penelope seemed to be lost for words. "Who?" She nearly laughed at herself. She sounded like a fucking owl. Cheryl wanted to cry Archie's name and beg him to crawl out from under her bed or peek out of her wardrobe with that stupid dopey smile on his face.

His incredibly pale face.

He was there, and then he was gone.

Penelope pursed her lips. She noticed her daughter was shaking. "Cheryl, I don't think giving you their names would be a good idea." the woman seemed to be finding it hard to hold it together herself.

Cheryl shook her head, and tried her best not to cry. She was totally fine. She wasn't losing it at all. Everything was fine.

"Mom, just give me the names." She said softly, swiping angrily at her eyes which seemed to be doing that weird leaking thing that she hated. Jason gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay, mom," he murmured. "I'll look after her."

Penelope sighed. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort. "Thomas Keller told me this morning at seven 'O'clock that four deceased kids had been found in Sweetwater River," she took a breath before continuing. "They were named as Elizabeth Cooper, Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge and Archie Andrews."

Dead. The words seem to swim around in her mind. Dead, dead, dead.

When Cheryl didn't say anything, Penelope nodded promptly. "There isn't a cause of death as of yet, they're just waiting to find out if their deaths were accidental or-" Penelope trailed off.

Or they were murdered. Cheryl thought, her heart jumping into her throat

I'll-" Cheryl's mother sighed. "I'll be sure to update you on the details." The woman nodded at her children. Cheryl, who was staring into thin air trying to process what her mother had just said, and Jason. He was frowning at Cheryl's bedspread, stroking the duvet with the palm of his hand. "I'll leave you two to grieve." Their mother said, before leaving the room, hiding her own stricken expression. Four kids. Four high school kids that were well-known in town were dead.

When Penelope had left, Jason also went to his room, after promising he'd be back when he made some phone calls. She wasn't sure what those phone calls were or who they were to, but Cheryl only nodded in mute silence as she stared at nothing in particular. She could definitely feel tears streaking down her cheeks. Only this time she let them flow. It felt natural for once. Instead of wiping them away with a rough Kleenex tissue.

Cheryl was absolutely positive of two things; Archie and his friends were dead, and somehow, she had seen him after he had been confirmed dead. He had been in her bedroom, looming over her like a sad meerkat, and she hadn't thought anything of it. She might have been wary of the stains on his jacket as well as the rips and tears in his sleeves. But it had all looked completely innocent. Yet now it was a different story. Archie was dead . The word didn't feel right being associated with the redhead's name. Even if it was just being spoken in her mind. Archie was dead.

Cheryl sat there for a long time, frowning at thin air. She had stopped crying after a while, and then started to narrow her eyes squinting, trying to will Archie back. If he was a ghost, or whatever, she needed to talk to him. She needed to know how he and the others died. But no matter what she did, he didn't appear. After some deliberation, she forced herself to get up and dressed. A quick glance at the clock told her it was half past seven.

She needed to speak to someone who wasn't one of her brainless minions. She could already hear their whispers from puckered lips in the shape of O's. "Oh, we were such good friends!" They'd insist to anyone they came across. Cheryl felt sick at the thought of going to school. Though she figured she could fake a sick day. She dressed quickly, throwing on anything from her wardrobe. Which was a sweater and some old jeans.

She wasn't in the mood for anything fancy. It felt wrong. When she turned to grab her hairbrush from her dresser, she found herself face to face once again with Archie Andrews. He waved awkwardly, smiling a little. Cheryl froze and remembered her hairbrush and was about to beat him with it, when she realized that she was staring at a ghost, and was pretty sure a hairbrush wasn't going to do anything to him.

Except maybe piss him off.

Cheryl stumbled back with a yelp, but managed to steel herself against her dresser. "Archie," she choked out. Tears were already burning her eyes, and she blinked them away. The two of them stared at each other before Cheryl cleared her throat. "I- I totally knew it wasn't a burrito stain," she rushed out, and Archie's lips curled into a small smile. He nodded slowly, his brown eyes shining with relief. Cheryl took a deep breath. Breathe. It's just Archie. Her mind told her. Except it wasn't. Cheryl had seen ghost films. She knew that she was looking at an apparition of the dead boy, who was gone. He was dead and gone, and yet here she was- face to face with him.

She shivered, and Archie looked torn. Like he wanted to hug her and stop her from trembling, but also it seemed to dawn on him, that he was the reason why she was shuddering uncontrollably in the first place.

"So, what is it?" Cheryl finally managed to choke out decipherable speech. She offered him a watery smile. "Why are you here, Archie?" Her voice broke. "Who killed you?"

Archie's eyes flashed with irritation, his lip curling, before she understood. "I mean you guys," Cheryl corrected, her voice quivering. "What killed all four of you?" She was being pretty insensitive, but to hell with it. She needed to know.

Archie only adapted a sad smile, before pointing to his throat with a slender finger. Cheryl automatically understood. "You can't speak." She murmured. He nodded, before bringing his finger into the air as he began to sketch out a letter, dragging his finger up and down. Cheryl followed it, but she couldn't understand anything except that he was drawing a name.

"Archie, I can't understand you." She said, and he looked frustrated, and began to write something else. Cheryl shook her head. Her mind was still all over the place, and it wasn't even 9am. She still hadn't had her morning coffee and she was trying to understand a ghost boy who looked like he was having some kind of epileptic fit. She sighed, wiping at her eyes again. "Nope, I'm not getting any of it."

Archie tipped his head back, letting out what Cheryl presumed was a silent groan, before dragging a hand through his scruffy red curls. She caught a glimpse of scarlet on his forehead, beneath his hair, and her stomach knotted. Blood. She was 100% sure of it. Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead had been murdered. Their deaths weren't accidental at all.

And if the police announced it as some kind of tragic accident, she knew from the many films she'd seen, that Archie and the other's wouldn't be able to move on. They'd be stuck.

C'mon Cheryl! Archie's eyes blazed with desperation. It was clear he needed help from her. But Archie was the worst at charades. If he was trying to act out what happened to him, he was doing a really shitty job. Though he was dead, so she wouldn't say it to the poor kid's face.

"Okay," She murmured. "You guys were clearly killed, and I know that I'm basing all of this on films, Archie, but this is honestly the first time this has happened to me," Cheryl let out a hysterical laugh. "Okay? So bare with me." She managed to compose herself and sniffed loudly. "We need to find your killer before the police rule your death as an accident."

Archie shook his head. Cheryl, I know the killer! He mouthed. But Cheryl Blossom couldn't lipread to save her life. That was going to be a problem.

"I need help." Cheryl murmured. She meant it both mentally and physically, but Archie's face lit up and he mouthed; Yes! As if this was all a game, and she wasn't in need of help to find his killer. Cheryl sighed, and looked Archie up and down. "You really were too fucking hot to die, Archie Andrews." She muttered. The boy rolled his eyes. Thanks Cheryl . She could practically hear his deadpan tone as his brown eyes board into hers. She stared at the boy for a few seconds, her gaze going over every inch of him, before she felt her eyes start to sting again. "Alright, Caspar," she murmured, swiping her eyes once again. Stupid leaking eyes. They always struck at the wrong moment.

"Let's find your killer."

"Cheryl?" Kevin Keller's voice was mid-yawn as he opened his door. He dragged a hand through his straggly brown hair and fixed her with a confused frown. His eyes were barely open, and he stood in a vest and pyjama shorts. "What are you doing here?" He mumbled, leaning against his door frame. Cheryl suddenly lost the ability to speak. The words stuck in her throat. Kevin didn't know . Sheriff Keller mustn't have told him yet. There was probably a reason. After all, Kevin was pretty much best friends with all four of them. Cheryl felt her heart sink. She cast a panicked glance to Archie, who was standing next to her. He shrugged, his lips pressing into what she presumed was a look of reassurance. Though he seemed more interested in Kevin's house for some reason. He didn't leave her side, but she could tell he was itching to get inside. He kept trying to look around Kevin. Something had attracted his attention. Great help, Archie . She thought bitterly. Suddenly she felt irrational anger for the redhead. He just had to go and get himself murdered and then haunt her in his afterlife. Cheryl shook her head with a sigh and pasted a smile on her face. "Can I come in?" She asked as politely as possible, and Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Uh, sure?" He took a step back and opened the door wider so she could follow him inside. Archie was eager to get in, and before she could stop him, or try and discreetly stop him, he had wandered off. "So, no offence, but why exactly are you wanting to talk to me of all people at 8am?" Kevin smirked at her, before leading her down the hall.

Kevin's house was pretty small, but cosy. Kevin lead her into the living room where there was a large leather sofa strewn with blankets in front of a flat screen TV, which was paused on what looked like a trashy TV drama. Cheryl recognized one of the actresses. Was Kevin watching Gossip Girl? She watched him slump back down. There was a bowl of half eaten cereal on the coffee table in front of him. Cheryl glimpsed his phone next to him. She figured it was dead. Otherwise, Kevin would surely know the grisly truth about his friend's fate.

"Do you wanna sit down?" Kevin said cheerily. "I'm not at school till the afternoon, so I'm spending my morning watching reruns of Gossip Girl." He grinned at her, and Cheryl forced a smile back. "Where's your dad?" She couldn't help asking. The boy shrugged. "No idea, he's been out all night, and I haven't been able to call him since my charger isn't working." He rolled his eyes and picked his phone up, before dropping it back down on the floor. He let out a sigh.

"Stupid thing." He muttered, glaring at the phone, before his gaze found hers. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

Cheryl opened her mouth to answer, but she caught a flash of blonde hair in the doorway, and she felt her heart stop. Cheryl turned to the door, her heart hammering. She didn't know what she expected. There was a blonde girl peeking around the door-frame as if she was trying to stay hidden. But Cheryl knew her. It was Betty Cooper, one of the dead kids. And yet, like Archie, she was standing right in front of her, clear as day.

Betty was scuffed up, like Archie. Her blonde hair was in rats tails dangling in her face, her blue eyes were wide, her skin as pale and gaunt as Archie's. But Cheryl noticed Betty too was covered in scarlet stains. The jeans and baby pink low-cut t-shirt she was wearing were almost soaked through with claret. Oh god, so much blood.

Lastly, Betty was barefoot. Unlike Archie, who was wearing his chucks. Cheryl started at Betty for a long moment, trying to figure out how to say I can see you without freaking Kevin out. Betty smiled at her. But it wasn't soft and sweet like Archie, it was almost a grin. Like the girl was playing a game. Cheryl frowned at the blonde. What the hell are you doing? She mentally hissed at her.

Wow, Betty enjoyed being dead a bit too much. She found herself captivated by Betty Cooper's bright smile.

"Cheryl?" Kevin's voice snapped her out of it, and she blinked, tearing her gaze away from Betty, before looking back at Kevin, who looked slightly worried. "Cheryl, are you okay?" He followed her gaze to where Betty still stood in the doorway. But of course he didn't see her. "Dude, is there something riveting that only you can see?"

Cheryl shook her head but didn't look away from the three ghosts. Kevin frowned. "Let me guess," he giggled, his voice still a sleepy murmur. "You see dead people?" He shrugged with a smile. "Great film by the way, I totally recommend it." He seemed to catch himself for a second; "Cheryl, no offence, but why are you here?" Kevin chuckled. "I mean I love whatever this is, but I can't help wondering why the sudden change of heart?"

Cheryl frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "You called me Ugly Teen Wolf last week."

Cheryl couldn't take it anymore. The words were at the back of her throats before she could stop them. Before Kevin could continue with his nonsensical garbage, she just went out and said it before she could think of repercussions.

"Kevin, I can see Archie." She said softly. And right then, she could. Archie had appeared behind Betty, dragging along another figure. When she squinted, she realized it was Jughead Jones. He seemed to be disagreeing about something, his mouth set in a grim line. Jughead was like the others, his clothes practically shredded. He wasn't wearing his jacket, only his S shirt, and some jeans that were once again covered in deep, dark red stains. She didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know what the stains were. Betty and Archie were covered in it. Jughead Jones was splattered with blood.

Oh. Cheryl felt her blood run cold. Jughead wasn't wearing his beanie.

Instead, the boy's hair was a scruffy mess, like the others. Though she noticed there were resemblances between his and Archie's states. They both had smears of blood decorating their forehead, and almost identical tears in their clothing. It was harrowing. But Cheryl mentally noted down the details. Had they been killed separately? Jughead and Archie and then Betty and Veronica? Though she abandoned that thought when she noticed Jughead too was barefoot.

And where was Veronica in all of this?

It was strange watching them. They looked they were having some kind of ghost intervention. Archie looked annoyed at Betty and Jughead for reasons unknown, while the two of them- grinning Betty- and stubborn Jughead, weren't listening. They were scrambling at the door, pointing fingers and muted yelling. Cheryl tried really hard not to watch them, but it was fascinating. "Cheryl." Kevin cleared his throat. "What are you talking about? We see Archie every day," he smirked. "Is there something wrong? You've gone pale." He cocked his head, his eyes widening with worry.

He wasn't getting it, and Cheryl really didn't want to be the one to tell him. "Kevin, I have no idea how to tell you this because it's all crazy," she said softly. Cheryl's chest felt like it was about to explode. She tried to hide her face, and ended up glancing at the three ghosts still in the doorway. They weren't in an intense argument anymore. Instead, Archie, Betty and Jughead were watching her, their expression's soft. Eyes haunted.

Jughead quirked his lip slightly, and it might have been a smile. She couldn't tell. But it was enough. In a way, she had received their consent to tenderly break the news to their best friend. There really was no way of gently telling a kid that four of his closest friends were dead. Not just dead. Murdered. And standing in his living room.

Kevin lost his smile. "What is it?"

Cheryl choked on the words. "Look, there's no easy way to see this," and then hell, she was crying again. Stupid, stupid tears! Cheryl tried hard to straighten herself, tried to regain her voice, but she was a mess of sniffling and sobs, and Kevin was staring at her looking uncomfortable. Cheryl held her breath. If she didn't say it now, she never would.

And then, before she could stop it, there it was. Word vomit in its purest form, splurging from her mouth before she think to close it. She said it all in a rush, as if saying it faster would somehow make it better. She told her everything. About the murder, Archie and the others coming back to haunt her, and that she desperately needed his help. When she had finished, Kevin was scowling at her. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" He jumped up, stumbling a little. Cheryl shook her head. "Kev, I swear, I'm telling the truth."

Kevin was shaking his head, and his eyes were squeezed shut. "No, no, you're wrong." He said softly. "I saw them all last night! They were- they were-" He trailed off when she dug in jacket for her phone and pulled up a rather morbid article of the scene before shoving it in his face. Cheryl felt a pang of sympathy for the kid, but he had to know. He had to understand and he had to help her, or Archie and the others were stuck.

Kevin read the article, skimming through it. The more he read, the more tears welled in his eyes, sliding down his cheeks. He pressed his hand to his nose and mouth to hold back a sob, and the phone dropped to the ground. With a blink of an eye, Jughead was standing right in front of her, and he was staring at Kevin's abandoned phone on the floor, his expression contorted. Why was he so interested in Kevin's phone?

Cheryl snapped out of it, trying to ignore the Southside boy bending down and attempting to pick it up. Though his fingers kept going through it. Archie joined him, and the two boys were suddenly engaged in a silent conversation, which seemed to be getting progressively more heated the more they each grabbed for the iPhone.

Cheryl's attention turned to Kevin, who looked distraught. She saw how vulnerable the boy looked, how broken and upset he was. Before she knew what she was doing, she was wrapping her arms around him and letting the boy sob and heave and screech gibberish into her chest. That was when she seemed to lose control too. She started to cry. Not as heavy as Kevin. Her tears were silent as she bowed her head, allowing herself just a moment to break. When she looked up, Betty was right in front of her. The girl gave her a sad smile and reached out, tenderly wiping Cheryl's eyes with two fingers.

Cheryl didn't feel her touch, but from the look of concentration on Betty Cooper's face, it seemed like she was trying to wipe Cheryl's tears away. When she was done, Betty nodded with a smile. Her own smile looked broken, but Betty wasn't crying. She joined the hug, wrapping her ghostly arms around both Cheryl and a trembling Kevin. Cheryl swore she felt an icy chill prickle over her neck.

"Kevin," Cheryl murmured after a while of just holding the boy. She glimpsed the others when she bothered looking up. Archie and Jughead were still knelt on the ground and were smiling at her, as if reassuring her that she was okay. They were okay. Betty was still entangled with her and Kevin. The blonde girl was trying and failing to grab the Keller boy's hand. Her expression was getting progressively more frustrated and upset every time she reached for it, before watching as her hand simply went straight through he friend. That was when Cheryl Blossom broke. Kevin had finally relaxed into her arms and was silent, his head still buried in her chest. He acknowledged her with a grunt. Which was good enough for her. She made a pact to herself there and then that she would protect him for them, for his dead friends, and would find out who yanked them from the world so young. She took a breath and nodded at Archie and Jughead.

"I need you to help me find their killer."