Alec: I thought we posted this, we've had this next chapters done for a while… sorry.
Author's (Kate) Notes: Please get me out of this car. We are traveling through Wyoming as of right now.
Disclaimer: Overwatch is not ours.
Chapter 4: Veil of Night
The two found themselves at a hotel in Amarillo Texas for the as yet another turning point in their journey. Around 4 in the morning, Lena awoke to the sound of the shower running through the thin walls. Pulling off the thick blankets of the soft hotel bed, she got up and stretched, putting on whatever clean clothing items she had left in her backpack. In a matter of moments, Amélie departed from the bathroom, hair blown dry and sporting a new outfit the driver hadn't seen before. With mutual agreement, the two decided to check out early, beginning their daily trek early.
As Amélie departed from the checkin counter, she scrunched up her nose at the revolting smells that surrounded the area outside the hotel, filling the air with an overwhelming and heavy earthy and manure scent. "How do people live here?" she asked, disgust firm in her voice.
The driver just gave a half shrug. "I guess they get used to it." She opened the trunk with the press of a button, shrugging off the backpack she had tossed over one shoulder before letting it slide in. Once again, both parties found themselves entering the appropriate spots just before taking off on to the road once again.
Hours came and went as the road in front of them stretched impossibly further. Overtime, scenery had turned to rolling farmlands, flat in its features as hills grew to mountains by sheer comparison. Around them, miles of corn and wheat littered the ground in pristine rows guarded by lines and lines of fences.
The passenger shifted in her seat, attempting to get comfortable in the cramped, eventually just growing more and more annoyed by the inability to do so. Despite having passed the majority of cow-focused areas, the smell was a feature that could not leave her memory, burning a permanent scar in its place that would be ever present in a lifetime. Her normal gaze out of the windows became a lost interest as the landscape became even more monotonous.
Amélie shifted her focus to the inside of the taxi, something that she had studied in detail ever since she had stepped in that fateful night. The posted prices of travel had been long studied time and time again, serving as little entertainment in such a dull and monotonous environment. Given such a feat as driving from LA to New York proved to be long, strenuous; taking far longer than expected. Her mistake was beginning to take a toll as the woman began feeling time pass by slower than it had before. With few things to look at and fewer things to do, the passenger began feeling the weight of her mistakes.
After skimming over the posted signs once again, her gaze drifted forward, landing on the driver in front of her. From between the seat's headrest and back half, an exposed strip of pale skin could be seen. Amélie couldn't help but stare at it as she took in the sight. Just from the bottom of the rest, strands of brown hair twisted down, ending shortly about the base of her head. From there, patterns of freckles splotched across, collecting and pooling in certain areas before stretching across almost untouched expanses. In sheer boredom, part of her traced them, creating connect the dots figmations.
Eventually her eyes drifted down to her hands. With a little less than perfectly manicured thumb, she began picking under her other nails, grooming as best as she could. This was to no avail, however, as exactly how little she had to do became everpresent. A sigh escaped her lips as she adjusted in her seat once again, trying to push down the growing annoyance. "So," she began, breaking through the general silence. "What brought you to America anyway?"
Lena was a bit taken aback by this question as her focus was shifted from the road, part of her wondering where exactly this came from. "It's just what I wanted."
"You wanted to be a taxi driver?" The passenger asked, eyebrow partially arched as her gaze met the brunette's in the rearview mirror.
To say that the comment didn't hurt would be an absolute lie. "What? Well, no. I just thought-"
"Let me guess," the passenger began, a finger poised about her chin in a mock act of thought. "You came to LA hoping to become an actress, didn't you?"
Lena became a bit flustered, stumbling over words. "No, I-"
"And now you know you can't and you're too afraid to go back home and admit it." As the words left the woman's lips, the tone of the situation seemed to darken, matching the escaping and depleting sunlight around them. With each word escaping, a growing sense of sick enjoyment developed from the other's misery.
"That's not it." A defensive tone took over her words as the other continued to pry.
"Then why are you doing this?" Amélie asked, words quickly cutting the other off.
"Why are you doing this!" Lena's voice raised, her hands grabbing the wheel in such a jerky motion that the cab veered sharply to the right as she pulled it off onto the side of the road. Bringing it to a halt, she quickly put the vehicle in park and killed the ignition before fully turning around in her seat. "I honestly don't know what's wrong with you. I get it, something happened, but do you really have to be such a bitch?" Borderline exasperation played throughout her words, giving the passenger a sense of just how long she had been fed up with the other. As she looked over the other woman, she was almost shaking in her seat.
"You wouldn't understand." Amélie stated simply, turning herself around in the seat to further face the window. In doing so, her gaze caught a glimpse of the sky. With how the clouds were rolling in, the presence of the sun proved to lessen and lessen by the minute.
Lena let out a little scoff at that. "Are your problems really that hard?" Sarcasm heavily laced her words as she pulled the door's handle, letting her out onto the road's side. At this rate, air and space was all she needed.
The back door flew, Amélie emerging from the space as she got out, closing the distance between her and the driver. "Get back in," she said, voice tight and exact in her usual commanding way. "I can't waste my time arguing with you."
"Then maybe I won't waste my time driving you everywhere," Lena offered.
"You already wasted everyone's time when you tried acting." Her dark eyes narrowed as she scowled at the driver.
Before Lena could get another word in, an overwhelming and eerie sense of darkness fell over them, bathing the two in an unexpected shadow. Around them, the air grew colder, chilling the atmosphere by a good ten degrees. Almost in unison, the two cast their gazes upwards and to the part in the heavy clouds around them. Illuminating the edges stretched pure white and glowing light, rays projecting outwards in a circular array. Almost as if in agreement, the two stopped and stared as for just the moment, the sun remain fully hidden.
Slowly, harsh yellow rays began breaking past the blockade, exposing the star's true nature once again; the eclipse finally coming to completion. Both Amélie and Lena looked at each other in that moment, eyes meeting in mutual agreement.
The passenger was the first to open her mouth to speak, but the driver was the one to take action as her gaze drifted down, settling her sights on her own feet. "I didn't come here to become an actress. I came here to help support my girlfriend, at the time. She's the one who wanted to act."
Amélie gave the other an understanding, almost sympathetic nod. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't-"
The driver cut her off, not allowing for another word of explanation. "It's fine. She's not worth it anymore." She gave a small, sad smile, more to herself than anyone else. "Now I'm just trying to live for myself. I think that's why I was somewhat okay with this. I think I just wanted to run away just as bad as you did."
Part of Amélie wanted to reach out for Lena, to pull her in and wrap her arms around her. This, of course, was a notion pushed back down as she reserved this action.
Lena let out a slight sigh before defaulting to her normal, smiling face. "We have another three hours to St. Louis. We should get going."
Amélie silently agreed, taking a few steps as she began heading for the backseat.
"Wait," Lena began, halting the passenger in her place, hand almost poised to grab for the handle. "You can sit up front if you want."
Amélie simply nodded.
Author's (Alec) Notes: As I said as a warning, next chapter is rated M. I hope you've all enjoyed it so far. Chapter 5 is almost done. Also I have a new slogan for Minnesota; "At least we're not Wyoming." I'm sorry I ever talked talked bad about you, Minnesota, I didn't know.