Chapter 18
That was supposed to be a good day.
Luke was slowly acclimating to Riverdale. The hardest part was being accepted as a trainee officer by the local sheriff. Even with the Brotherhood backing him, being an undercover agent was new for him - and the quick training he got to the Brotherhood had hardly prepared him to being an actual cop.
But against all odds, things appeared to unravel just fine. His fake references had quickly been accepted, and the work wasn’t so hard, Riverdale being - apart from strange events - an overall calm little town. He even felt like he was starting to gain a little confidence from his targets. At least, they didn’t seem to suspect him of being a brotherhood member - even less of being the one who had gassed them and left them tied up for a whole night.
Things were really going well.
But then came the phone call.
It was a little after 11 a.m., and Luke immediately understood that something was wrong. The number of his phone was one of the brotherhood’s , but it wasn’t time for his report, and most importantly… that was a number reserved to the elders.
He picked up at once.
“Luke here!”
“We have a problem”. This was a hoarse voice. Maybe elder John, but Luke wasn’t sure. “Where are the two targets you were supposed to watch?”
“I… I c-can’t watch them constantly. They must be at home or downtown, I can check…”
“No need. They are at the gates.”
“What?”
“The gates, Luke. They’ve been apprehended by our guards. Right now, they’re trussed up in their shed, waiting for our next move!”
“Wait, so he… ah, I didn’t think they might actually do it. This Jughead spoke about that but I thought me and the sheriff had persuaded him not to go there. And where did they find a car?. I… I’m sorry, I obviously underestimated his determination”.
“Clearly you did”. The voice was calm, but it sounded like a guilty verdict.
“B-but… all things considered… isn’t it a good thing? I mean, they were our targets after all and…”
A loud, deep sigh cut him off.
“You are just thinking like the Winchesters and those idiots at the gates. Yes, we need them, but there are two problems. First, we need to cover our tracks, which means we can’t just grab them without making up a good story explaining their disappearance. Plausible death, or other things. That’s why we needed to set fire to your buddy’s house, remember? Officially, you’re both dead”.
“No need to remind me that…” Luke muttered.
“What was that?”
“Uuuh, nothing, elder! Sorry!”
“And second, we need them on our side. Which means that we must use a minimum of persuasion before we try to convert them. Unless, our conversion process might not work… What was your friend’s name again? Nico, or something like that?”
“Nick…”
“Ah right! So you know what I mean. By the way, you were supposed to take care of that part, but clearly you’ll need some help. Anyway, the emergency now is to take them back to Riverdale without compromising us. Listen well, here’s what you’ll do…”
***
Two hours later, Luke was driving at breakneck speed in a Riverdale police car. During the whole trip, he had been rehearsing in his head the scenario the Elder had told him. Hopefully, they’d buy it. He didn’t know how he'd find the boys. Scared? Angry? They would have been kept immobile, probably deafened and muted for almost four hours…
At least he came in sight of the Brotherhood’s mountain. Thirty minutes later, he was engaging in the small dirt road leading to the entrance. A blonde guard - Doug, if he recalled well - was waiting for him, clad in his ranger disguise. His face was expressionless. Luke didn’t have many interactions with him during his time at the temple, but he didn’t feel like he was very sympathetic to him.
“You took your sweet time!”, he said as a welcome.
“Not quite, believe me!” he answered, quitting his car. “I’ve driven like crazy on the road and…”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever”, he replied. “Hey Jeff!”, he turned around, yelling in the direction of their cabin. “The idiot’s here! Come and bring the boys!”
“Hey!” Luke replied angrily.
“What? Wasn’t it your job to watch them closely?”
“And what about your job?”
“What about it? I guard the gates, I caught the intruders!”
“Didn’t you fail to report to the Temple at some time? I distinctly remembered the Elder calling you an idiot too. Apparently, keeping them tied up for hours wasn’t in the plan either!”
They were still bickering when Jeff came up, holding Archie Andrews in his arms. Coils of chains were wrapped around his body, while sturdy and rigid handcuffs were locked tight on his wrists and ankles. Despite those bindings, the boy was still clearly wiggling and trying to struggle. He wasn’t at his wildest though: even if he was blindfolded, he must have felt he was being carried away and knew a fall would just harm him without setting him free. His protests were real though, but severely muffled by the thick cloth gag firmly pressed over his lips, concealing an inner stuffing that was immobilizing his tongue, thus rendering any attempt of intelligent speech useless.
“Ssssh, guys!” Jeff said, obviously deploying some efforts to carry Archie - and maintain him in his arms. “He’s wearing ear mufflers but I don’t know how efficient they are, so you’d better quit crying like that”.
“Hmpf!” Doug replied, upset at being lectured by the one he didn’t have any esteem for. “I’ll fetch the other one”, he said, turning around and walking away to the small house, while Luke was offering Jeff his help to have Archie sit in his backseat.
Ten minutes later, he was driving on his way back, with now two bound, gagged, blindfolded and deafened teens sitting in his car. He drove slowly, using only secondary roads, with many turns. He was taking some distance from the Brotherhood estate. Keeping on an isolated road would lessen the odds of an unwilling encounter. Just anyone could wonder why a single officer would have two boys chained and gagged in his car. Also, it’d allow him to keep a glance at them in the rear mirror.
Archie was struggling the most, moaning in his gag from time to time, and also wriggling his torso, as if he was trying to dislodge the chains. That wouldn’t work, Luke quickly convinced himself, as the chains were also going over his shoulders, thus anchoring the links going all around his torso and locked in his back.
Apparently, Jughead was more quiet. Luke only heard a muffled grunt coming from him as he was landing him on his seat. He had realized that his metal bounds were useless to fight, but when watching him closely, he was far from inactive. First, he managed to discreetly turn around, and despite his cuffs, he managed to test the door handle. Luke congratulated himself for having checked the door lock before. Jughead couldn’t expect to flee from the car in his state of bondage, but this could have definitely driven some unwanted attention. And second, he seemed far more attentive to his environment, despite his ears being plugged. He even gave Archie slight elbow knocks every time he was starting to moan too loudly, as if he was trying to memorize the vibrations of the road or the number of turns…
After a good thirty minutes, Luke was slowly coming out of the forest. Before crossing a small town, he took a turn and parked his car along an old industrial area. Both boys were now heads-up, moaning softly and quizzically as they felt the car stopped and Luke exiting the car.
He seized Archie, taking him with some difficulty in his arms, before seating him on the road, his back against the car. Despite some muffled grunts, the redhead stud seemed relatively compliant. He might have been exhausted by his previous struggles, Luke thought. Or maybe he had just realized these chains would not cede to brute force.
He then grabbed Jughead, expecting no difficulties since he was calmer and didn’t weigh as much; but as he extracted him from the seat, taking him from under his armpits, the teen managed to land a swift - yet very painful - kick. His solid sole hit Luke right above his own thick boots, right on his shinbone, causing him to yelp in pain and surprise. Jughead must have felt it, since he let out a satisfied grunt behind his gag.
“That brat”, Luke thought, sitting him next to Archie. But he couldn’t really blame him. In his perspective, he was being manhandled by evil cultists.
Well, here came the difficult part. Luke braced himself, ready to put on a show. Hopefully, they’d buy his story.
He first removed the earbuds from Archie and the plugs in Jughead’s ear. Paradoxically, this calmed the boys, as they understood he was intending to restore their senses. Then, almost perfectly synchronous, he lowered both boy’s blindfolds, letting them hang around their necks.
Both blinked due to the sudden incoming of light, and then their eyes widened, almost perfectly synchronized.
“LLMMHHM??!? MMhnph phhm fnch?”
“MMHNPH nrm mnn nnnng hmrm?”
“Hold on, guys”, Luke said, after letting them gagged for ten more seconds, letting them assimilate his presence. He then went to remove Jughead’s gag, swiftly lowering the cloth tightly wrapped over his mouth, then helping him spit the wadding that had been filling his mouth.
“Good thing I always keep my gloves on”, Luke said, as he was tossing away the disgusting spit-soaked cloth.
“Gah”, Jughead finally said, savoring his newly restored ability to talk. “Thanks, Luke, but what are you doing here? Are you part of them? Where are we? What do you…”
“Hey, hey, slow down, Jughead!”, Luke said. “I’ll get these chains off you, there are just… quite some locks”, he said, as he was showing several thin keys from a keychain. “Will take some minutes. In the meantime, tell me what happened. From your point of view!”
“Yeah! We found them!”
“Who?”
“The Brotherhood!”
Luke expected that. Thus, he managed to keep a neutral face, not showing any sign of surprise.
“Oh really?” he added, as he was starting to unlock the strong cuffs linking Jughead’s ankles together.
“Mmph. Mm nph phrnm. Cnn mnn rmmnfm mm gng phnn pmmnphm?” Archie tried to intervene, squirming in his own binding chains.
“Hold on, Archie! I’ve started on your friend, I’ll unbind him, then I’m with you. Carry on, Jughead. What happened… when you found them?”
“There was… a big wall. And then I fell into a trap, I got gassed, maybe chloroform”.
“What, again? On the outside?”
“Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but they must have some things like that all over the place. Anyway, when I woke up, I was already chained in a small shed and so was Archie. These two guys wearing ranger uniforms gagged me and plugged my ears. And then they spoke to a radio transmitter, but I managed to read on their lips a little…”
Luke frowned as he was tackling the chains binding Jughead’s torso. This could be problematic. Doug was shockingly careless, despite being an annoying know-it-all…
“And what did you hear?”
“... not much. Just “trespasser” and “brother”
“Hm”, Luke grunted, trying to hide his relief. At that moment, with a loud click, the last padlock locking Jughead’s chains gave up, and the metal binding almost instantly fell over the ground. His hands were still handcuffed in his back, but Jughead welcomed this almost recovered freedom.
“Pmmnphm! Mm phnrn! Mm phnrn!” Archie mumbled again behind his gag, nodding and trying to catch Luke’s gaze.
“Yeah, coming!”, he said, as he removed Archie’s gag, just like Jughead’s.
“Ha! Thanks dude! I couldn’t stand chewing on that thing anymore!”
“At least it’s not one of your dirty socks this time…” Jughead taunted.
“Jeez! You’re still mad about this?”
“Guys, please”, said Luke, as he was unlocking Archie’s ankle cuffs. “Would you like to hear what happened from my point of view now?”
“Actually, yeah!” Jughead said. “What are you even doing here? Had you business with these fake guards?”
“Actually, you are true on one point, Jughead. These are indeed fake guards!”
“I KNEW IT”, he exclaimed, then slightly winced in pain as he was trying to raise his hand in victory, before the strong handcuffs reminded him he still couldn’t move his arm freely.
“They are undercover agents of the United States. NSA, probably, but I’m not sure…”
Both Archie and Jughead froze as he stated that.
“What ?” Jughead only managed to say after a few seconds.
“This is what happened: a few hours ago, Sherif Keller and I received a phone call from a quite high ranking officer. He didn’t tell anything about his exact position, but explained he was in charge of a secret research base in these mountains, and that his men were detaining two teens attempting to trespass. They had already identified you, so they knew you came from here. The thing is, they didn’t want to detain you for too long, or to charge you with an official trial for trespassing, as it would draw unnecessary attention to something which shouldn’t officially exist. So there was the deal: no more question, we pick you up quickly, and deal with a proper punishment ourselves. Keep it local, you see?”.
“And you believe that?” Jughead exclaimed, as Archie’s chains were coming off. “Obviously, this was one of those cultists playing with you”.
“Actually, it makes quite sense, Jughead. First, that would explain why this place doesn’t show on maps. Second, he was quite specific and gave the sheriff some credentials. And third… does it really make less sense than a bunch of cultists who should hide in this mountain for… what purpose, again?”
Jughead bit his lip,knowing he was falling short on arguments.
“Oh, come on, let’s head back to Riverdale and talk about this later. Can you remove our cuffs, Luke? We’ve been bound for hours now”.
“You didn’t listen well, Archie. I can’t do that!”
“What?! Why?!” both exclaimed.
Luke stood up, crossed his arms and gave both teens a stern look from above, then took a deep breath.
“Archibald Andrews and Forsythe Jones, you are under arrest for trespassing on a military
classified area. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time”.
“Seriously? You’re fucking mirandizing us now?” Jughead exclaimed.
“I should have done it before, I know”, Luke smiled, “but I’m still a trainee, remember? Besides, it was odd to tell you to stay silent while you were still gagged. Now come on, we still have some road ahead of us”.
***
The second part of the trip wasn’t so quiet. In fact, Luke came to understand why the Brotherhood’s guidelines recommended keeping the prisoners gagged at all times.
“Hey, Luke, these cuffs are really tight! Seriously, couldn’t you remove them?”
“Archie, for the… what, third time? NO! I was directly instructed to keep you under arrest. Which means, according to the regulations, at least handcuffed. And I could even have kept your feet shackled, you know!”
“But they hurt. I’ve been bound for at least half a day, please!”
Luke sighed. “Really? I thought you were a tough guy!”
“But they’re super-tight!”
“They weren’t last time I checked!”
“I should have tighten them while I was sitting then”
“Can’t happen. Handcuffs have a lock system to prevent that”.
Jughead wasn’t as feisty but was trying another strategy.
“Luke”, he said, thinking over it again and again, “you know this is fishy. Who was that officer who called Keller?”
“I don’t think he’s given his full name. His rank and organization was enough though.”
“And is it enough for you?”
Luke shrugged, keeping his hands on the wheel, focusing on the road.
“Was enough for the sheriff. He was at the end of the line, not me!”
“I’ll talk to him”, Jughead said, forcing himself to look confident. “Trust me. I have known Keller since I was a child. He won’t buy it!”
***
But he did buy it. Even more than Luke could have hoped for.
Sheriff Keller had been waiting for them when they arrived at the small Riverdale police station. He was already casting a dark glance at both high schoolers even before Luke had time to extract them from the car.
“Sheriff, we…” Archie started.
“NOT A WORD, BOTH OF YOU!”
“But…”
“SHUT YOUR CAKEHOLE TOO, JUGHEAD. You’re in enough trouble like that. Luke, lead them inside and suit them.
Archie and Jughead glared at each other. “Suit?”
***
Inside the station, Luke led them to a small locker room, then - finally - removed their cuffs. But then, he indeed gave them both a bright orange suit which he instructed them to put on. They both protested, but Luke remained inflexible; but truth is it was only when he threatened to report to the sheriff that they complied.
Now fully clad in their new uniform, the two lads followed Luke to the sheriff’s office.
“Here they are, sheriff!”
“Thanks Luke”
“Sheriff, listen to us, we…” Jughead tried his luck again.
“SILENCE! I’m not done with you. We directly instructed you not to try anything, but once you have an idea in your empty head, you are to stick with it, right boy?”
“But…”
“ENOUGH! Do you know how serious a crime like trespassing in a restricted area is? It could lead you directly to Juvie!”
“Then what are we here? Don’t you think…”
“You’re here because I don’t want the Riverdale register issuing a headline like: “Two Riverdale boys expose a secret base by accident”. But you’re right, I’m still too kind! Luke, chain them up!”
“What? Not again…” Archie desperatly complained. “Please, sheriff, we…”
“Like I said, I’m being too kind here!”, he cut him again, while Luke was returning with a set of new manacles - handcuffs and legcuffed linked together by a short chain, designed for prisoner transportation”.
“Start with Jughead!”, Keller ordered him. Silently, Luke complied, cuffing Jughead’s hands in front of him. He didn’t have to negotiate this time; either Jughead was impressed by the sheriff’s authority or, more likely, he came to understand that he’d have better chances if he let the storm pass for now.
“And I can’t believe you did that with my own son’s car!”
“That’s right!” Archie exclaimed. “We don’t have it back? How can we…”
“They’re keeping it for a deeper checking. To definitely prove that you’re not spies, just random idiots! We should have it back in a week. And I hope it won’t have any scratches. Otherwise, the bill’s for you”.
“Sir…” Jughead tried again, while Luke was finishing hobbling him. “I know this sounds crazy, but if you think about it for a minute…”
He swiftly came close to Jughead, his face almost touching his own. “What I think, Jughead, is…” he swiftly moved his hand to Jughead’s face; Jughead blinked, thinking he intended to slap him, but he just quite brutally removed his beanie “... is that is NOT part of the community service uniform”, he ended, then tossed it on a drawer nearby. Luke didn’t miss a piece - after all, the woolen crown was explicitly mentioned in the prophecy…
“Community service?”, Archie asked, as Luke was also cuffing his hands in front of him.
“Like I said, it’s that or Juvie. It’s in the best interest of everyone we do a… off-record plea-bargain arrangement. So here is what I’ve decided: you’ll spend the rest of your holidays - 10 days - doing general chores in the street, and in that uniform. And the five next nights, you’ll pass them in my cells”.
“What?” Jughead exclaimed. “But sir, really, we didn’t…”
“AAOOWW”, Archie suddenly exclaimed, as he felt a sharp pain coming from his right ankle.
“Ah, sorry Archie”, Luke said, “I think I’ve pinched you. My bad! Uh, sorry boss!”
“Still have progress to do with the restraints, I see…”, Keller commented.
“Little do you know…”, thought Luke. “I was just focusing on the beanie…”
“So”, Keller said, “it’s settled. Lead them to the cell and find them some work for tomorrow, Luke! I’m heading home. There’s another one needing a lecture for lending the car I bought him to just anyone…”