Rockstar Ghost PG-13 Version

by KuroKoneko Kamen

  Chapter 6: Personality Crisis

  Carrie reached out and took a strand of Rosalie's thick, curly, black hair between her fingers. "It's easier to cut curly hair after it's been straightened. Take a seat Rosalie." Carrie said dragging one of Blake's chairs over to the center of the living room.

  Rosalie obediently took a seat and Carrie used her Flat Iron to straighten Rosalie's unruly locks. The Goth whipped out two pairs of scissors - one normal pair of stainless steel scissors and one pair of texturizing shears. She spun the scissors around her index fingers and got to work cutting Rosalie's hair and adding lots of funky layers.

  Blake hovered nearby and watched Carrie cutting Rosalie's hair with interest. The witch really seemed to know what she was doing. The singer had to admit he was impressed and surprised by the Goth girl's skill. However, his eye began to twitch when he saw that Carrie was getting hair all over his Persian carpet. "Hey, watch it, witch! That's a million dollar carpet you know!"

  Rosalie blushed as Blake continued to swear about the mess Carrie was making.

  Carrie noticed Rosalie's expression with amusement. "Blake is complaining about me making a mess isn't he? He's so predictable?" The Goth girl grinned maliciously as she purposefully dropped a lock of hair on the carpet. "Oops?"

  Blake's eyes widened as he saw Carrie purposefully drop that last lock of hair right on the carpet. His blood was beginning to boil. "Freakin witch?" The lights inside of the penthouse began to flicker.

  Rosalie tensed and looked around the penthouse nervously. "Carrie?please don't tease him. You're making him angry."

  "Tch. Tease? Angry?" Carrie stopped cutting and shrugged. "I'm surprised it bothers him so much. I mean, he's dead. So what if I mess up his Persian carpet?it's not like he'll ever get to walk across it again. To still be attached to material things even after you've passed on is?pathetic." The witch's lip curled back in a sneer.

  Blake bristled with anger. Impetuous girl! How could Rosalie have a friend like Carrie? Gah?! Blake ruffled his hair in exasperation.

  Rosalie was beginning to sympathize with Blake. How would it feel to be dead and have people in your house?and not respecting your belongings? Rosalie figured it wouldn't feel good at the very least. "Carrie." Rosalie's voice was firm. "Stop it. You're being cruel." Rosalie accused.

  Carrie gave Rosalie a surprised look before she shrugged. "Whatever?let me finish your front layers." The witch added some face framing layers and dramatic angled bangs to Rosalie's hairdo next. She then used some pomade to stick up certain layers in the back to give her new rockstar hairdo some more style.

  "There! Finished!" Carrie declared taking a step back and observing Rosalie's new edgy haircut from every possible angle as she walked around the chair to look at the medium's hair. "It's perfect." She looked at Rosalie through a box she made with her hands by putting the tips of her thumbs and index fingers together.

  Blake couldn't help but agree as he let out a whistle. Rosalie's hair had turned out really nice.

  Carrie could sense that Blake was pleased with how Rosalie looked. She smiled smugly. She knew she was good.

  "Can I see?" Rosalie asked.

  Carrie shook her head. "I'm not done with you yet, young lady. I need to wax your eyebrows and do your makeup first."

  "Wax?" Rosalie asked, head tilted.

  Carrie had a strange gleam in her eyes. Next thing Rosalie knew Carrie was putting hot wax beneath her eyebrow's arch with a small wooden spatula. The Goth did the same to her other eyebrow before placing a small, rectangular-shaped piece of white linen cloth over the wax and pressing down with her fingers. Lastly, Carrie gripped the cloth and ripped the hair and wax off in one swift motion on either side.

  "Ahhh!" Rosalie screamed in pain but mostly surprise.

  Blake flinched, having sympathy pains. Yep, beauty was pain. He remembered the time he had to have embarrassing sensitive places on his body waxed in preparation for a VOGUE photo shoot where he was dressed in nothing but a Speedo.

  Carrie bopped Rosalie on the head lightly. "Don't make such a big deal out of it, crybaby." The Goth scolded but put an ice cube against the medium's skin to take away the pain anyways. Next, Carrie got out her stainless steel makeup box and opened it to reveal a nice collection of brand name makeup: MAC, Benefit, Stila, Hard Candy, and Urban Decay.

  Blake was nodding to himself as he recognized some of the brands he himself had used. As a rockstar it was not unusual for him to wear stage makeup consisting of heavy eyeliner, glitter, black lipstick, and the occasional colored mascara. And there was nothing gay about a male rockstar wearing makeup, okay.

  Carrie began to apply Rosalie's makeup. First, she used a concealer to hide the medium's skin imperfections. Next, she applied a liquid base using a sponge, and then dusted powder over Rosalie's face with a brush. Then she started on Rosalie's incredible ice-blue eyes?

  First, the Goth used an eyelash curler to shape Rosalie's lashes. Then she applied a shimmery gold base to Rosalie's entire eyelid all the way up to her brows. Using a dark blue eyeshadow she accentuated Rosalie's closed eyelid by creating a blue 'V'. This made Rosalie's eyes appear wider and larger.

  The witch then lined Rosalie's eyes with black liquid eyeliner and then finished the medium's eyes by using waterproof mascara on Rosalie's eyelashes. Carrie dusted a pale pink blush along her cheekbones. Lastly, Carrie applied a pale pink colored lipstick to Rosalie's lips and topped it with a clear lip-gloss to give Rosalie's lips a high gloss look.

  Carrie nodded to herself, pleased with her finished product and went to fetch a hand mirror so she could show Rosalie what she looked like now.

  Rosalie fidgeted nervously in her chair as she waited for Carrie to return. "Do I look okay?" Rosalie asked Blake, unable to wait.

  Blake moved to hover in front of Rosalie - right in front of her face and stroked his chin thoughtfully. Truthfully, the girl before him didn't even look like the 'Rosalie' or the 'beggar girl' he had come to know and lo-! Blake coughed into his hand.

  She looked like a princess. The medium really had made a Cinderella-like transformation, and Carrie was like her Goth Fairy Godmother. Blake thought to himself amusedly.

  Rosalie's ice-blue eyes really stood out now, especially without her glasses. Her glossy, plump lips looked extremely kissable.

  Before Blake even realized what he was doing he began to lean in towards Rosalie's lips.

  Rosalie's eyes widened. Was Blake going to kiss her?!

  However, the spell was broken when-

  "Found one!" Carrie declared reentering the living room with a hand mirror.

  Blake immediately floated backwards and away from Rosalie. He turned his back to Rosalie swiftly. He didn't want the girl to see his conflicted expression and flushed cheeks. He covered his mouth with his hand. What had he just been about to do? Had he really been about to kiss beggar girl?! Why would he want to kiss her? Ah! What the hell is wrong with me? Blake gripped his head in frustration. He was Blake White. Girls like Rosalie were completely beneath him.

  Rosalie jumped and turned to face Carrie, her face bright red. Had Blake really been about to kiss her? No way. And would she have felt anything anyways? Blake was dead?a ghost. Rosalie frowned at the depressing thought.

  Oblivious to Rosalie's inner turmoil, Carrie held the mirror up in front of Rosalie and for a moment the gloomy girl didn't get what she was seeing. She blinked repeatedly and then her eyes widened. "Is that?me?" Rosalie couldn't even recognize herself?that pretty girl in the mirror couldn't be her!

  Carrie laughed. "Of course it's you, silly. Geez?and we're not even done with your makeover yet. Blake suggested it would be safer for you to come up with an entirely new identity, right? That means we still need to pick out clothes for you to wear. And what's your new name going to be?"

  Blake thought about it a moment before he responded. "Ro Ripper. Rosalie is a common name so it should be okay for her to keep it as long as she abbreviates
it for now."

  "Ro Ripper." Ro repeated thoughtfully, trying out her new name.

  Carrie nodded, "Ro Ripper. I like it. It's macabre."

  "Tell Carrie that she needs to help you order some business cards online that have your new name on them as well as your profession as a pro stylist. You should also set up an email. Since you don't have your own cell phone number yet we'll just put this penthouse's telephone number, and your email on the card for your contact information for now." Blake instructed.

  Ro repeated Blake's instructions to Carrie. The Goth agreeably pulled out her laptop and connected to the Internet via the hotel's Wi-Fi. Carrie went to www.hotmail.com and created Rosalie a new email. RoRipper@hotmail.com. Carrie continued to surf the net and at Blake's suggestion went to www.fedex.com and ordered Ro her very own business cards.

  "Now, all you need is a fake ID, right? I wonder where we can get you one?" Carrie began giving Ro a helpless look.

  "Um?I might know someone who could make me a fake ID." Ro piped up.

  Carrie and Blake shot incredulous looks towards each other (though Carrie's gaze was directed at the sofa). Carrie raised an eyebrow at Ro. "Who?"

  "CJ?he's a young man who lives in my neighborhood. Well, former neighborhood." Ro began to explain.

  Carrie knew that Ro used to live in the hood and the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. "Alright, I'll take you to the hood on my bike. But before that there's one more very important thing that we need to do." Carrie stated as she got out a pad of paper and a pen.

  "What's that?" Ro asked as she came to stand behind Carrie and peered over her shoulder at the piece of paper.

  Carrie uncapped a red pen. "We need to make a list of the murder suspects. That way you can cross people off the list once you've figured out if they're guilty or not, and we can clearly narrow it down to the perpetrator."

  Ro nodded in agreement. "Alright." The two girls discussed who the current suspects were and came up with the following list:

  Murder Suspects:

  1. Devon Decayn

  2. Vincent Sangre

  3. Joey Bones

  4. Sadie Skellington

  5. Damion Hellsing

  6. Gol Gotha

  7. Morg Di Morte

  8. Harper the chauffer

  9. Manager Brody Beck

  10. Leila Darkchylde

  11. William Wraythe

  Carrie stared down at the list and capped her pen. "Done." She stood up and grabbed her helmet motioning for Ro to follow her. True to her word, Carrie took Ro back to her original hometown in the hood. The Goth rode through the street until Ro pointed out CJ's apartment building. CJ and his friends were sitting on the front steps listening to Erotic Corpses explode from their boom box. The teenaged delinquents looked surprised and happy to see Ro (alive). Carrie pulled her bike right in front of them.

  "Hey, it's white girl, I mean, Nurse Galloway!" "She's still alive!" "Sweet!" "Hey girl, did you pop that jerk?"

  Carrie looked at the African-American teenaged boys curiously. They looked harmless enough. They were all wearing hoodies, baseball caps, beanies, and had fake gold chains around their necks. They were obviously trying to get the gangsta look going but Carrie knew they were too young to be actual gangsters.

  Blake was beginning to figure out where Rosalie got her hands on that gun. He laughed out loud and grinned at the little hoodlums. At least they had good taste in music! Blake liked these teens already!

  Ro blushed. Carrie looked confused.

  CJ grinned at Rosalie revealing his bright white teeth. "What can we help you with this time, Nurse Galloway? You need more bullets?"

  "Um, I need a fake ID." Ro declared firmly.

  CJ and his buddies looked at each other before they all burst out laughing. "This white girl is funny! Why am I not surprised?I see you already gave yourself a new look. Why?? No, never mind, in the hood we don't ask questions. Ah, you got money, right?" CJ asked Rosalie who nodded her head vigorously. "Good, it's gonna cost you a hundred bucks. One fake ID coming right up. Follow me, white girls." CJ stood up and motioned for the two girls to follow him into the dilapidated apartment building as he swaggered inside.

  Carrie looked up at the suspicious looking apartment building. Several of the windows were broken and it looked like bullets had caused the holes in the glass. Carrie clung to Ro's arm. "Are you sure we can trust him?" Carrie hissed in Ro's ear.

  The medium nodded.

  Blake was amused by Carrie's sudden nervousness. "Heh, are you afraid of some kids from the hood? What? Are you racist, witch?" Blake asked, but Carrie couldn't hear him?that was so annoying. Blake huffed as he followed Carrie, Rosalie, and CJ inside the apartment building.

  CJ led the girls up some stairs and to his apartment on the third floor, number 305. CJ opened the door and motioned for the girls to follow him inside. "Make yourselves at home?" CJ said as he went to grab his camera from his bedroom.

  Carrie was still clinging to Ro's arm as she looked around the messy apartment. Trash was all over the floor - empty pizza boxes, empty Chinese food boxes and not so empty boxes with rotten food inside, and dirty dishes were piled high in the sink. Flies were buzzing around an open trashcan. That oddly enough didn't smell so bad. Carrie noticed the Febreze Stick and Refresh thing attached to the lid of the trashcan and crinkled her nose at it. That had to have been the worse invention for lazy men who didn't want to take out the trash.

  Carrie thought she saw movement from within the trashcan and gulped. She hated bugs. Anything with more than two legs really creeped her out! She really hoped there weren't cockroaches in this apartment. Carrie's eyes were drawn towards the table that was in the center of the room next. There appeared to be a pile of white powder on the table. Carrie paled, cocaine?

  "Do you think that's cocaine?" Carrie hissed in Rosalie's ear as she pointed a trembling finger at the table.

  Rosalie looked at the table in question and saw the small pile of white powder on top of a white piece of paper and frowned.

  Blake hovered over to the drug and inspected it. "Sure looks like cocaine to me?let's hope there's not a drug bust while you girls are here?"

  A mouse skittered over Carrie's boot and she screamed. "Ahhh!"

  Ro slapped her hand over Carrie's mouth. "Shhh! Do you want to attract the cops?"

  CJ came running out of his room, camera and film in hand. "What's wrong, white girls? Is it the cops? Crap!" CJ whipped out a gun and began pointing it around the room.

  "Um, no, a mouse." Ro explained dully.

  CJ let out a breath of relief and stuck his gun back inside of his jacket. "Oh, is that all. We have a ton of those little bastards?but at least they help wash the dishes?" CJ grinned with a shrug.

  Carrie felt faint.

  CJ shrugged. "Well, let's get this show on the road. Stand over there with your back to the wall, Nurse Galloway and take your glasses off. I'm assuming you're going to get contacts - it would help to completely change your image." CJ suggested slyly.

  Rosalie nodded, removed her round glasses, folded them, and put them into her pants' pocket. She stood with her back to the wall and CJ began to take a few headshots.

  "Okay, done. Give me some time to develop the film and I'll make you your new passport and driver's license." CJ declared as he went off to develop the film in a separate dark room.

  Rosalie put her round glasses back on.

  One hour later, CJ had the photo and began to make Rosalie her new identifications. "What's your new name going to be?" CJ asked curiously.

  "Ro Ripper." Ro explained.

  "Ro Ripper!" CJ smirked. "Cool." CJ asked Ro some other questions about the information she wanted on her IDs and Blake gave her the appropriate responses. In just one more hour Rosalie was soon holding a new American passport and driver's license. She felt like Jason Bourne all of a sudden.

  "From this moment onward you are no longer Rosalie Galloway - you are
Ro Ripper!" Blake declared.

  Carrie patted her friend on the back. "Well done. I'll give you a lift back to your?place." Carrie gave CJ a wary look. Not wanting to say something like 'penthouse suite' in front of the hoodlum. "Then I have to get my ass to work."

  "Thanks Carrie." Ro smiled at Carrie and then turned to thank CJ. "And thank you CJ. You're a real lifesaver." Rosalie took out a hundred dollar bill and handed it to CJ.

  CJ blushed and scratched his cheek nervously, looking away. He had never noticed how pretty Nurse Galloway was until today. "No prob?if you ever need any more help don't hesitate to come to me. We've got your back here in the hood."

  Ro gave CJ a surprised look, but smiled and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."