Chapter Text
For years they’ve lived in the shadows, banished to where no human would dare venture. The town of Riverdale was divided into the North and South sides, allegedly to maintain peace between the humans and the vampires, but it wasn’t quite that simple.
The North side was the nice, respectable side for the nice, respectable, human families. Meanwhile the vampires were banished to the slums beyond the southern border. They had to live on only animal blood, and even that was scarce, and their strength was reduced over time due to famine.
Every vampire knew better than to try to venture to the North side. Most humans knew better than to try to visit the South side, but there were occasional exceptions: teenagers mostly, exceptionally stupid ones daring each other to see how close they could get. However, once they heard or even caught sight of an actual child of the night, most would simply run away screaming.
One night, two teenagers, childhood best friends, decided to do this.
It was the redheaded quarterback’s idea, the blond girl simply went along with it, her curiosity getting the best of her once again. After all, she’d spent her entire life wondering about the monsters that were banished to the other side of town, wondered if they were truly as evil as her parents had always made them out to be.
So, they snuck out, into the night.
For a while, the two remained behind a tree, right next to the border, still too afraid to cross it.
There were very strict rules about the southern border. No vampire was allowed, or even able, to venture north of it: a witch from the north side had made sure of it. And once a human made the poor choice of going south, they were fair game for hunting.
“Archie, I️ have a bad feeling about this,” the blond admitted.
At first, it seemed like a good idea: getting up close and personal with and discovering the truth about the children of the night. Maybe if they were lucky they could even prove their parents wrong. But then, in real life, it was dark and cold and creepy and there could be real live vampires within a few feet of them.
“C’mon Betty, don’t back out now,” the fire haired boy replied.
Betty sucked in a breath of the crisp night air. She felt sick to her stomach due to the looming possibility of being eaten by vampires that night.
“I don’t know…” she began.
It was right then that Archie chose the absolute perfect moment to forget all of his years of athletics, losing his balance and tripping. In normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have been such a big deal. However, they had been right at the edge of the border, and Archie managed to fall right into the Southside, skinning his knee as he did so.
Within a split second, a vampire caught the scent of human blood, grabbing the human boy in a flash.
Betty began to scream. She could barely see a thing through the darkness.
When she heard Archie cry out in pain, she herself crossed the border. She knew it would’ve been wise to run away, but she couldn’t just leave her friend there to die.
It wasn’t long before someone or something grabbed her, pinning her against a tree. She caught a glimpse of pink hair before the vampire flashed her fangs, ready to take a bite out of her.
That was when a voice cut in, stopping both vampires in their tracks.
“Stop!” the voice commanded.
At that, the vampire drinking from Archie detached his fangs from the boy’s neck and turned his attention toward the source of the sound.
“Oh, come on,” the vampire girl protested. “They crossed into our territory. They’re fair game.”
“Yeah and we barely have anything to eat over here,” the vampire boy chimed in.
The boy - the one who stopped the two - flashed glowing red eyes at this point. Betty, still pinned to a tree, couldn’t help but stare in awe. She knew she should still fear for her life, but the boy with the jet black hair, the grey beanie and glowing red eyes made her feel safe somehow.
“I️ said enough,” the raven haired boy snapped. “Unless you want my father to hear about this.”
“Fine,” the pink haired girl grumbled.
“Snitch,” the other muttered.
In a flash, the two were gone, leaving just Archie, Betty, and the mystery boy who saved them.
“Archie? Archie, are you okay?” Betty inquired frantically, making her way to his side.
Archie nodded, still clutching the wound at his neck. There was blood trickling between his fingers.
Betty used her phone flashlight to get a better view of her friend, gasping when she saw the damage.
“I’ll be fine. It didn’t take that much,” Archie reassured.
Betty sighed with relief, but knew that it was still best that they got him home soon. With a hand still tenderly resting on Archie’s shoulder, she turned to the mystery vampire.
“Thank you,” she utter sincerely.
“You should leave,” he replied coldly.
Betty flinched, taken aback by his response.
“Can I️ least get your name?” she asked.
“I️ said go,” he replied.
She looked at him for a moment longer before returning her attention back to Archie.
“C’mon, Arch. Let’s get going."