A/n: had this idea niggling in the back of my mind for a little while. This story will feature plotpoints from the show but will mostly run its own course so if things happen a little differently then thats why. Hope you enjoy!
It was 18 minutes past midnight when Ally's ugly orange Camaro came to a wheezing stop just outside of Riverdale.
With a snort she shook her head.
It was as if the car was it's own sentient being, a being that could sense the darkness of Riverdale and wanted no part of it.
She agreed with the hunk of metal, heck she wanted no part of it either.
Her journey down here had been a tiring one, but the weather had been rather sunshine filled up until about an hour ago when the sun had been stolen by a swirling cloud of black and grey and purple.
Another ominous sign.
Not surprising since she was literally on the outskirts of hell.
She sat in her car for a few moments then reached for her phone.
Surgery on a human was a cakewalk for her, but the same could not be said for cars.
Which meant she would have to call for a tow truck and an uber.
Inside her purse, Ally's credit card cried.
Ally let out an irritated exhale, as the signal on her phone flashed from 1 bars to two then back to one and then nothing.
Grabbing the discarded cardigan from the backseat of her car, she wrapped it tightly around herself, and clutching her phone in her left hand, bravely stepped out into the storm.
Immediately she regretted her decision.
It was freezing, and it took barely no time at all- 2 minutes and 43 seconds to be exact- for the rain to seep through her clothing, leaving it sodden and sticking uncomfortably to her skin.
Her right hand protested in the cold, the dull ache becoming sharper as the rest of her numbed.
She called for the tow truck and then waited.
A sharknosed bmw roared past without pause, its driver and passengers howling and roaring with laughter as they cut through the storm, spraying Ally with a weapon of sharp and icy rain.
She swore at them loudly.
They disappeared into the rain with more howling.
About 4 minutes later she spotted a red car, racing towards her.
Well, she heard it first. The loud purring engine harmonising with hooting and hollering was fierce and undeterred, fighting with the rainfall trying to drown it out.
She expected the car to speed off and spray her like the previous; it was obvious to her now that the nightriders were engaging in some sort of streetrace.
So it came to her as a surprise when the red vehicle paused by hers.
It shot forward, then fell back, then shot forward; teasing and testing her until it came to a stop right in front of her.
Closer and more focused in her vision she could see the shadows in the vehicle had now formed into people.
Spiky, leather coated people.
Serpents?
She swallowed.
A studded cuffed arm hung idly out of the car window, followed by a mop of curls with a lazy smile.
He looked her up and down slowly; she was not an unpleasant looking thing, in fact if she was one for self praise, Ally would have to say she was a lot more than pleasant looking, and rather quite beautiful.
Though that may have been a factor in having eyes currently on her, she assumed that the main reason was more due to the state the rain had left her in; her clothing was stuck to her like a second skin and today of all days she had skipped out on wearing a bra.
Frowning she folded her arms over her chest.
The lazy smile formed a mischievous smirk.
"You look like you could use a ride."
Ally turned on her heels, and laughter left her, fading into the distance as the red vehicle pulled out and drove off, searching for the next thrill.
Shortly after, a cab arrived.
"You been to Riverdale before?"
The cab driver questioned after a long portion of the journey was spent in uncomfortable silence. Her eyes which had been closed, immersed in the pitter patter of ricocheting rain and struggling to fight much needed sleep that was trying to consume her, opened.
She sent a hardened hazel stare through the rear view mirror.
"No."
The cab driver nodded, the old man averting his eyes before returning them back to her.
"Well then as you're a newcomer let me give you some advice,"
She raised an eyebrow.
"As soon as you can i'd get out of the Southside, those serpents running around everywhere are trouble."
Ally nodded.
She could attest to that, she had no intention of involving herself with those snakes any more than patching them up if she ever found them in the ED.
She promised herself that as soon as she'd finished her residency in Southside General Hospital she'd head somewhere like Beijing or London.
When the sight of fancy flashing buildings and quaint suburban homes started to disappear and her surroundings become more dismal and grey, Ally became more unsettled.
Her leg bounced upwards and to stop her trembling right hand she curled it into a fist.
If she had it her way she would've rented a room in the Four seasons hotel she had passed-no actually if she had it her way she wouldn't be completing her residency in Riverdale at all.
But in her previous hospital a few towns over, Ally's mentor had hated her and jumped on the chance to get rid of her, exiling her to the most hellish town he could find.
And a town rife with murder scandals and gang wars was perfect.
There was also the added unintentional bonus of her past that she didn't want to even think of.
Ally couldn't stop the thoughts of said unsaid events plaguing her mind, and the agitated trembles became more aggressive.
The cab driver thought she was shivering because of the cold and turned up the heater.
It's fine they won't recognise you, not with the new nose and shaved jawline anyway.
She inhaled and exhaled to calm herself.
That was right, she'd paid good money for her makeover, removing as many traces of her family's prominent features as she could.
Sometimes she would even forget that she wasn't a natural blonde.
"Those Ghoulies too, the Serpents are criminals but the Ghoulies are criminals and crazy."
Ghoulies?
What a ridiculous name.
She wondered if the studded streetracers she had encountered were Ghoulies; most likely since they had definitely seemed to fit the profile of crazy.
The cab came to a stop in front of what could only be described as the epitome of sleazy motels.
A garish pinky purple neon sign blinked overhead, aptly reading 'Apego', spanish for addiction.
She didn't really know what she had expected to end up with when she asked the cab driver to take her to the cheapest motel near Southside General Hospital but she supposed this was exactly it, yellow paint-chipped stained walls, strong smells of alcohol and weed laced with death.
The cab driver noticed she was yet to make an attempt to leave the vehicle, and he turned to her with a look of understanding.
"I can take you somewhere else, there's some nice places in the Northside of town, they can be a little pricey but they're safer for a young thing like you."
Ally supposed she should have said yes to something safer, the Four seasons had looked awfully inviting and a night or two there wouldn't exactly put her out of pocket, but she had grown up for so long without any state of comfort that discomfort seemed like a preferred state.
Besides, the money she made wasn't for her but her little brother. She could live without a lavish life if it meant her brother could eventually have a better one.
"No, it's alright."
The man gave her a look like she was sentencing herself to death, reluctantly letting her pay her fare and remove her belongings from his car.
"Good luck kid."
Ally held her breath as she made her way towards the front desk of Motel Apego.
A plump woman with overspilling curves and dark plum coloured lips acknowledged Ally through a hazy swirling cloud of smoke.
The woman assessed her like an animal assessing its prey, searching for strengths and weaknesses. She mumbled something in spanish about Ally being too skinny, not enough meat on her bones, easy bait and a doll that would be broken easily.
Ally's fierce stare made the woman realise she understood her. She rolled her cigarette to the side of her mouth so she could speak.
"You lost girlie?"
What she was really asking was-no she wasn't asking anything but rather giving Ally a warning.
A nice girl like you shouldn't be in a place like this.
But Ally wasn't that much of a nice girl.
"I'd like a room." Then she added perfunctory "please."
A cloud of ash was blown into her face, burning her nostrils.
"How many nights?"
"You have any longstanding guests in this place?"
The woman plucked the cigarette from her lips to flick ash in a tray, it was rimmed with a smudgy purple.
"A few."
"I'll be in town for a while." Ally explained and the woman laughed.
"Don't be so sure chickadee."
"I'm always sure." She shot back firmly, and the woman's features morphed from doubtful amusement to curiosity.
"Well then, here's your keys."
Ally jolted upright, forcefully brought out of her slumber by the sound of shattering glass. Scanning the room for her intruder she let out a relieved exhale when she caught sight of a fluffly orange thing hopping on top of the dresser.
"How did you get in here?"
She frowned, kicking off the garish peacock print bedsheets and moving straight for the door, avoiding the smashed vase and sad looking flower in the process.
Locked.
She headed to the bathroom, finding the window slightly ajar. Stretching on the tips of her toes she yawned, pushing it shut.
Her furry intruder purred, loud and demanding but she had nothing to give it. She didn't even have anything for herself, the grumbling of her stomach being a reminder of that.
"Come on furball out you go, I don't want you and I have nothing for you."
She had managed to coax the cat to the door to her motel room, and nudged it with her foot, pushing it across the threshold and into the outside.
As the cat protested she shut the door firmly and locked it.
Ally glanced at the digital clock in her motel room, outdated much like the rest of the furniture. She wasn't sure when it had stopped working, but she was pretty sure that it was not 11:03am because otherwise that would make her horrendously late.
Reaching for her handphone, a much more reliable piece of technology she saw it was actually 5:16am.
Which meant she had just under 45 minutes to get dressed and eat.
Where would she even go to eat? Maybe she could ask the woman on the desk, if she was even there at this time of day.
She'd probably have to settle for a chocolate bar from a vending machine.
Whilst she dressed, Ally was reminded of the fact that she currently had no car, which meant she was going to have to get a cab to the hospital, and call up the shop later to check on the Camaro.
She left the motel in a hurry, not noticing a familiar red car in the parking lot.
Ally had hardly eaten anything all day. The hospital had been surprisingly busy and sadly unexciting- the brunt of the patients were drunken and overdosed youth, sprinkled in with the odd few motorcycle mishaps involving a few snakes.
It was about 10pm when Ally and a handful of other had been given an hour window of freedom before they were to return for the nightshift, so with food on their minds they had travelled from south to north and ended up in a booth in Pops chocklit shop. It had took Ally some convincing to go, Pops chocklit shop was popular among Riverdale's youth, which meant there was a high chance of her bumping into her baby brother. After a self reminder that she had a new face, and the persistent whining of her sort of friend Chloe, Ally eventually yielded. Chloe was one of the other residents, and had followed Ally to Riverdale.
Well not exactly followed since the girl had arrived in Riverdale a day earlier courtesy of her dads private chauffeur. Ally had been reluctant to befriend the petite brunette, at first thinking her a vapid rich kid, but after being stuck with her as a shadow during medical school Ally had realised that she was actually quite lovely, and only a little bit naive.
"The milkshakes here are my favourite." Chloe exclaimed, clapping her hands as a second pink shake was slid along the counter in front of her. Ally sipped her coffee and finished the last of her fries.
"Down your pink drink quickly we gotta head back to the E.D." "Ally's right," Agreed another resident doctor, and to their surprise Chloe gulped down the drink like a man would a pint of beer. "Okay let's pay and go."
As Ally reached for the door it swung open, and she collided with a teen. Normally she would have yelled at the kid and told him to watch it, but her words had gotten lost and she could do nothing but blink and stare.
That ridiculous hat.
Oh god. "My bad sorry." He mumbled brows furrowed at her shocked state. She blinked and smoothed out her scrubs and nodded.
When had he gotten so tall?"Cool hat."
She offers a smile that only deepens his frown.
"Uh thanks."
Ally moves, stepping one foot out of the door.
"Ah wait a second.."
A cold dread rushes through her, freezing her in place.
"What is it?"
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
Ally pulls herself together, a calm mask and a smile.
"Not at all, we've never met."
Well I hope you guys liked this first chapter! And I hope you'll get to know and like Ally too. See ya next time!