Disclaimer: darker content up ahead.

Serpentine

We take care of our own

Although her living room felt stone cold from the intense pressure the two ruffians from Centreville exuded, she remained composed in her icy shell. Knowing that one of her children was safe eased her harrowing thoughts about the possible outcome of this conundrum. If the worst were to come, then she would only have to buy Chic enough time to escape. Knowing her son, he was good at that kind of thing. Running away.

Alice had already appraisingly analysed Darla from head to toe – from her scrawny figure to her lack of self-awareness – and concluded that she could easily take her on. But the real problem was the hulk of a man who had just barged into their home – Marcel. The man was taller than FP, with a body build of a carpenter. Considering that she was a 5'6" slender woman, she knew she wouldn't be able to make him flinch.

Still, her azure eyes sharply darted from one end of her living to the other. If she could just find something to stall them, so Chic could also escape, she would have done her job as their mother – protect them.

She licked her dry lips and tried to speak in her usual candour, but she ran dry. She didn't know what to say. Her flare for sharp, witty words had dwindled into a small whimper of helplessness. Not for herself, but for her son.

One wrong move. One wrong word. And it could hurt Chic.

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and pursed lips tight in frustration. She was slowly losing her grip on her sanity, and she could feel her choke on her breath. She wasn't going to plead. No.

Chic must have noticed her grimace to keep her tears at bay because he placed his hand on her knee. "Mom," he whispered softly, "let me handle them."

Her eyes widened. "A-Are you crazy?" she hissed back.

"I-I can handle Marcel. I've done it before."

"And I recall you wounding up here with a lacerated bicep. No, Chic!" Her furrowed eyebrows eased, and her eyes softened. "No. You're not putting yourself in danger."

"But do we have a choice?! B-Betty is gone—"

"What are you two chatterin' 'bout?" Darla chortled, approaching them with a bottle of cold beer in one hand. "You better not be plannin' no escape plan." She eyed Chic specifically. "You've always been a slippery one. No wonder why Darwin got fucked over in the end."

Chic's jawline tensed, and he glared at the woman intensely as she kicked back on the adjacent chair and downed her drink. "My sister will here with the money any moment now; you shouldn't make yourself at home."

Marcel, who had been scavenging through their kitchen cupboards like a goddamn raccoon, stomped into the scene and huffed at the blond's audacity. "How's that wound I gave you? Did it leave a nice scar?"

Chic's lips thinned into a sardonic smile. "How did that pepper-spray feel? It had you hollering like a bitch the last time I saw you."

Marcel's grin transitioned into a look of disdain. "Watch your mouth. I don't want to do something I'll regret."

Chic scoffed. "Too late for that," he then said under his breath.

"Wanna say that again?" Marcel taunted as he leaned forward.

Just as he was about to step closer to Chic, Alice stood up and intercepted him, instinctively placing her hands on his chest to keep him from coming closer. His eyes scanned down from her hands and back to her eyes, and he leaned in close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"Keep your boy in line," he warned, pressing his finger in the middle of her chest.

Alice wordlessly nodded and sat back down.

Marcel smirked at her before he leaned on the chair Darla had lounged herself on. He looked at his watch and raised a brow. "How long is your daughter going to take?"

"T-The bank might be busy at this time of day. G-Give her time. She'll be here," Alice reassured.

Darla stopped midway at swigging her drink, suspicion aroused by Alice's nervously formed sentences. "One hour." She suddenly announced, grabbing both Coopers' attention. "If your daughter is not back by then…." she shook her head and pointed her box cutter at Chic. "He'll get hurt."

"W-Wait o-one moment!" Alice protested. "No. Leave Chic out of this, alright?"

"Mom –"

"No, Chic. Stay quiet for a moment." She insisted, gesturing for him to keep his mouth shut. "I'm the one you want, okay? Not him. So, leave him out of this."

Darla's eyes narrowed in intrigue. "And why would we want anything to do with you? Our ties are with your son, here. Not you. You're just this suburban housewife who got dragged into his problems."

"Because I'm the one responsible for the money. Not Chic. So, if the money isn't here in an hour, I should be the one who should get your wrath." Her eyes were steeled, and her heart was made unmalleable by her ultimatum.

She was going to protect her children at all cost.

"Feisty." Marcel guffawed, lips curling into a darkish grin, gaining a questionable look from the Cooper woman. "Didn't know any housewives in this white picket-fence lifestyle could have the balls you have. I like that."

"Stop looking at my mom like that, you degenerate swine!"

"Chic!" Alice snapped, glaring at him. Honestly, the fact that all of her children inherited her sharp tongued-personality was a curse in situations like this. At this rate, he was going to get them both killed.

"One hour," Marcel agreed. "If she's not here with the money, things will get –"

The door suddenly swung open and the other blonde Cooper member rushed into the living room. "Elizabeth?!" Alice felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. Why can't her children listen to her for once?! This wasn't a game!

"I've got the money," Betty said a matter-of-factly, grabbing out the wad of notes from her bag.

"Hand it over." Marcel snatched the cash from her hand before she could say anything and passed it to Darla. He then gestured for the other stack of cash she had hidden in her bag. "Are you really going to play games?"

Just as Betty was about to give him the money, she pulled her arm away from his reach and glared into his eyes as if to look for the truth in them. "You're going to leave us alone now, right?" When Marcel tried to lunge for the money, she stepped away and asked again: "You're going to leave after we give you the money, right?!" She asked, sterner this time.

"Give. The. Money. Now." Marcel spoke low and dangerously.

"Elizabeth." Alice quipped, eyes cold. "Give it."

Betty sighed and finally handed it over to the man. She crossed her arms as the duo counted each paper in the stack.

Darla smiled and banded all the money together again. "The money is all here." She gave a nod at her co-conspirator.

"So, you can leave now." Alice said, rising from the couch to kick their asses out of their house and from their lives.

"Not quite." Darla suddenly said, shaking her head whilst she tutted. "I kinda like it here – in this house. I mean, look at this house! You guys must be pretty minted to have a house like this, huh…" She looked at Betty and Alice. "Must be nice having everything. You know—"

"You said you'd leave when you got your money!" Chic suddenly roared, standing back up from his seat. "You've got your money. So, go!"

Marcel snidely chuckled. "Sit down, kid."

"Whatcha say?"

"I said sit down," he reiterated as he revealed a thicker blade of a box cutter. "We don't want to ruin your sister's pretty eyes, do we?"

Chic swallowed deeply as he bit back the words he wanted to say. He looked down at his mother who gave him a disapproving look and at his sister who dismissed his presence entirely. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and dropped back down on the couch.

"I think we'll stay here for a bit. And we can get well acquainted with one another," Marcel proposed, specifically eyeing Alice with growing intent.

This time, she didn't evade his leer and she met his gaze with perfect precision. "I think you should take the money and go. We're quite a social family with our neighbours, and they will know that something suspicious is going on if this house stays quiet."

"Hm." He grunted, running his fingers through his greying stubble. "I'll take the risk. From the looks of things, people are quite preoccupied with the mayoral election that's happening in town. I doubt people will have enough time to pay attention to your family right now."

Darla uncapped a second beer bottle and raised it at them, mockingly initiating a toast: "To our friendship."

Alice stopped herself from rolling her eyes back, but she still managed to produce a scoff. While she had the prudence of a mama bear, she couldn't help but express her amusement in the pair's stupidity. Are they really risking their chance of being caught?

"So, what happens now?" Betty asked, sharing glances with her family and the two outsiders. "Do you want me to show you the guest bedroom or something?"

"B-Betty!" Alice shrieked, silently pleading her to stop provoking the two.

"Why won't you go do your homework, hm?" he proposed. "I mean, after you give me your phone first. We don't want you to call your girlfriends over." He tapped his finger on the wooden coffee table. "C'mon, put it here."

Betty groaned and slammed her phone down on the table. "Anything else?"

"Take your brother up with you."

"What?!" Both Cooper siblings gasped.

"W-What are you doing, Marcel?" Darla asked, obviously also oblivious about his intention.

"Go watch them upstairs." He instructed, all the while without breaking eye contact with Alice. "Make sure they don't try to escape."

"And whatcha gonna do with this-this bitch, huh? Make her your sluz or somethin'?"

Alice flinched at their colloquial terminology. "A-A what?"

"E-Excuse me?!" Betty snapped as Chic stood in between him and Alice.

"You need to go." Chic sternly instructed, pointing towards the front door. "Go while you still have the chance, Marc."

"Why? I'm just beginning to feel at home." He smirked. "I'm with Darla on this one – this house is too nice to leave. I've always wanted to live in Riverdale, too; it's far cleaner than Centreville. The people here don't look half bad, too."

Again, his eyes strayed where Chic didn't like. Just as Chic felt an overwhelming urge to knock the guy into the ground, he felt Alice's warm hand on his back, making him ease his stance. "Go upstairs, you two." She softly instructed.

"Mom!"

"What?!"

Alice didn't bother batting her eyelashes at her children as she stood resolute. "Go, Chic. Look after your sister."

"M-Mom! What are you doing?" Betty desperately asked.

"Elizabeth. I'm telling you to go upstairs."

The teen didn't relent, but her eyes brimmed with tears. "Y-You can't."

"Upstairs now, you two."

Darla sighed exasperatedly before she shoved Betty towards the staircase. "Just make it quick, alright, Marcel." She looked back at Chic. "Don't start acting up now, Chic. Let's go."

"It's okay," his mom reassured, smiling faintly as she gently pushed him away from her.

"But—"

"Just go upstairs, Chic."

"Ugh. I've had enough of this bullshit! Get your asses moving before I hurt somebody." Darla groaned at the landing of the stairs, waving her box cutter around.

After both of her children were behind closed doors upstairs, Alice raised her chin and had her head up high. If he thought she was going to grovel at his feet to plead, he was wrong. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of dominance.

"Alice….. Cooper, was it?"

"So, you can read. Am I supposed to be impressed?" Without her children at the risk of being harmed because of her candour behaviour, she didn't feel the need to filter herself anymore.

His grin resurfaced. He placed his hand on her hip and clenched into her clothes and into her flesh. "Your façade isn't working. I can smell fear when I see it." His grey eyes drank in her appearance before he raised his hand that wielded a box cutter.

He slid the thick blade up and pressed it against the skin of her neck, watching her immediately draw her breath in. "What, no wise remarks?" he taunted, lightly gliding the blade down along her neck and onto her cotton jumper. "Say something."

Alice only met him with cold silence.

"Maybe this will get a reaction out of you." His blade tore through her jumper until the hilt of it was pressed against her belly button. She bit her gasp back, but her palpitations were clear. "Don't worry, I won't cut you. Yet."

His spare hand's ghostly fingers traced every crevice of her exposed torso, intricately outlining the shape of her breasts through her black bra, and he grinned. "Do as I say and no one will get hurt."

"I think it's clear by now that your promises are full of bullshit."

He directed her gaze back up by taking hold of her chin. "Guilty." He kept her from titling her head away from him and successfully pressed his lips against her cheek, then slowly to her lips. He expected for her to struggle, to push him away, but he didn't anticipate for her blows to pack as much power as they did. "S-Stop s-struggling. You-You're just going to make this h-har-harder for yourself," he said as he worked to unbuckle his pants whilst simultaneously pinning the blonde down on the couch.

Everything became a blur for Alice as she endured the man's sickening touches. It wasn't long until her shredded jumper was cast aside, leaving her with little dignity left. The straps of her bra were already loose from her shoulders, and the buttons of her pants had been ripped off because she was too uncooperative with the man.

Marcel pinned both of her arms above her head and sighed in relief. "Now, stop your struggling. Do that, and this will be over soon."

Alice whimpered when she heard him unzip his pants, but she refused to cry. No. She was going to hold onto her pride, even if her dignity was now non-existent. This pain will soon subside, this will –

The front door suddenly smashed open and a horde of footsteps filled the entire house. It wasn't long until her eyes saw the man dressed in black she internally wished for, masked in an unexplainable ire she hasn't seen before.

"FP." She breathed.

A/N: I'll surely polish this chapter up, but I was just so excited with writing this up. There will be another chapter coming up very soon! :D Also, even though I liked the tease of Falice at the end, I wish there were more personal interactions between the two of them. I wish FP also came to save the Coopers. I wish FP and Alice talked about it later, and she thanks him before... I dunno... kissing him on the cheek or something coy like that.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading this rendition of mine.

xox