AN: It's been a little while. Between some personal stuff and the Fallout 4 announcement, I've been pretty busy. Hoping you enjoy this chapter. :) -CakeLegends
The Ghost of Vale - Chapter 2
The acrobat stared intently at the bright, incandescent light of the gas station across the street.
A neon green 24-7 sign shone from the glass windows. A bored-looking man sat at the cash register.
Neo looked to her sides. The road extended on, turning out of sight in either direction. Trees and dense forest covered the surrounding area.
This place was secluded enough.
The acrobat continued her walk, her eyes never leaving the glass door of the convenience store.
Blake Belladonna awoke to the comfort of the dark dorm. A stream of tranquil moonlight poured in through the window. Her eyes quickly adjusted to see through the haze. She turned to the clock.
3:00 AM
She felt her partner release a small moan. Her eyes locked with a sleepy, purple gaze.
"You can't sleep either?" Yang guessed, her voice low and tiresome.
Blake sighed silently.
"We should have stopped her. We shouldn't let her spend a night by herself." Blake mumbled quietly in the darkness. "Especially after she just tried to..."
The Blonde nodded in quiet agreement. She leaned over to her nightstand and flicked on the bedside lamp.
Ruby and Weiss' exhausted forms remained undisturbed.
"Do you think they'll wake up?" Blake asked curiously. "They took forever to come back here..."
"Probably not. What did you expect?" Yang stated with quiet laugh. "They were with JNPR all night. Nora probably had something crazy planned for after the movie."
The couple's smirks slowly faded in thought.
Blake bit her lip cautiously. "Maybe we should we tell them about the lake."
"This soon?" The Blonde shook her head in disapproval. "I...I don't know. They had a tough time in Atlas. I think we should let them enjoy a moment or two without anything crazy going on."
"What do you think Neo is doing right now?"
For a moment Yang was silent. She glanced out of the window to the bright, incandescent light of the moon. A sense of calm overtook the night sky.
"Come on, Blake. You know exactly what she's doing."
"Do you sell coolers?"
The cashier nodded, reaching underneath the counter. "Yeah, I have one right here."
He placed the large blue and white box with the rest of her purchases.
"2 cartons of hydrochloric acid, a plastic tub, a cooler, 2 pounds of ice and a case of beer." The cashier smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Doing something illegal?"
"Nah." Neo mumbled, responding to the joke with a seemingly honest laugh. "I'm cleaning a college dorm room. I live with a bunch of assholes."
The cashier laughed at her flawless lie. Neo waited impatiently as he dragged the items over the scanner one by one. He stopped as he came to the final item: the case of beer.
The cashier squinted closely, overlooking his customer. "Are you sure you're old enough to purchase alcohol?"
Neo rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket. She fished out the only honest piece of identification she kept: her passport.
The cashier took a long look at the card.
"You have to be 21 or older to purchase alcohol in Vale." The employee informed, shaking his head. "This says you're 19."
"21? Seriously?" Neo exclaimed, holding her hands up in misunderstanding. "I'm so sorry; I forgot I wasn't in Atlas."
"Don't worry about it, I travel sometimes, too." The cashier reassured understandingly. "Honest mistake. That'll be 78 Lien."
Neo handed the cashier his money. She dumped her items into the cooler and flipped up the handle. She waved a friendly goodbye to the cashier as she stepped out of the convenience store.
"She seemed nice." The cashier mumbled to himself as he wiped off the counter in front of him. He remembered the case of beer. "Right. I better put this back."
He picked it up and began to walk towards the back of the store, near the refrigeration units.
He looked back down to the case of alcohol in his hand. The five bottles sat comfortably in their container-
A thought sprouted in the cashiers mind. His eyebrow rose in suspicion. "Wait, aren't there usually six in these?"
A good distance across the road, Neo flipped the stolen beer bottle in the air comfortably. She strolled back down the long path, towards her heart of the woods.
"You should go back to bed." Blake advised, noticing the dark circles below her lover's eyes. "I'll wait up for her."
Yang's tired expression contorted with confusion. "Are you sure that's safe?"
"Don't worry, I've got this." Blake reassured. "I can handle her alone."
Yang gave a thumbs-up before immediately falling back into deep unconsciousness. The Faunus gave her slumbering partner a kiss on the cheek.
Seconds turned to minutes.
Blake rose to her feet, pacing silently to keep herself awake.
Her feet stopped in front of the duo's bed. They held each other close, as if the world was trying to separate them.
Blake smiled at the duo. This didn't seem to be one of Weiss' frequent nightmares. Her unconscious smile was genuine.
Blake pondered what she was dreaming about.
The acrobat kicked the door of the shed wide open. She carried the cooler in her hand.
"Hey, Marge." Neo announced casually. She placed the cooler on a counter. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long."
The acrobat glanced around the room. Her target was nowhere to be seen. She began to step forward through the dark workshed.
"Hello? Where are you?"
Neo's foot bumped into something on the ground. With a raised eyebrow, she glanced down.
A severed head lay on the floor.
"There you are." The acrobat mumbled. She picked up the mangled head, brushing the dust off of it. The broken jaw hung downwards. Lacerations covered the face. Three clean holes bore through the forehead. 'I was looking everywhere for you.'
Neo smiled glancing around the shed once more. 'Now, where did I put the body again?'
The acrobat pulled up on the window sill, opening her entry way with silent skill. She slipped back into the darkness of the dorm room, turning around to close the window behind her. A soft sigh of relief escaped her lips: another night without getting caught-
"You can't keep doing this every other night." The Faunus mumbled quietly. Neo gripped the window's ledge in surprise. Blake continued, taking a mental note of the smaller girl's flinch. "Who was it this time?"
There was a beat of silence.
"...I didn't really know her." Neo mumbled.
The Faunus pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "I thought you weren't killing innocents."
"She wasn't innocent, kitty cat." Neo clarified, stepping away from the window. "She was a fucking monster. She was like me."
Blake shook her head disapprovingly. "People almost never think they're the bad guys. They try to...justify their actions by comparing it to worse ones."
"I'm doing something beneficial for once-"
"And you're just going to do what? Serial-kill serial-killers?" Blake retorted quickly. "One of them will be better than you at this. What happens then?"
"This wasn't an outburst. I'm getting...better at dealing with that. It was for a client."
Blake's eyebrow rose. Her curiosity peaked. "Who hired you?"
Neo frowned. "I don't supply that knowledge without consent."
Blake scowled.
"Look..." The acrobat began with an exhausted sigh, stepping closer to the Faunus. "It's late. Let's not talk about this right now."
"We are definitely talking about this right now." Blake began. "We care about you, but you shouldn't be-"
Blake felt Neo's hands grab her shirt collar. Her eyes widened as their lips connected, Neo's legs wrapping comfortably around her hips. Blake held Neo's lower half for support.
The Faunus' lips moved in sync with Neo's soft ones. Their tongues met-
The Faunus disconnected the kiss. She squinted suspiciously at the acrobat. "Have you been drinking?"
"I only had one beer." Neo grinned, clearly buzzed.
"But you weigh 95 pounds. You're probably already hammered-"
'This is exactly why talking right now is worthless, kitty cat.' Neo informed. 'Come on. Things are way easier to talk about in the morning.'
Neo gave the Faunus a brief peck on the cheek. She blushed slightly.
Blake rolled her eyes, releasing an annoyed groan. "Alright. We'll talk about this in the morning."
Blake and Neo returned to bed, both unaware of the magnitude the next morning would have.