Just Another Day In The Neighborhood {Kevin}

[Bella McKinney]

It was a dark night and the humidity was horrible. Bella sighed, secretly she hoped to be in bed asleep. She could not sleep however, because she had a job to do. Bella couldn't believe how popular she had become. She had went from nothing more than a paranormal investigator working out of her home, willing to lend a helping hand in need. Then she solves a major haunting, and now everyone wants her.

She still had her skeptics, those that accused her for being fake. Her visions were not fake, if she could give those skeptics her head ache- she so would. Of course it wasn't the visions that made her popular, it was her expertise. Bella had been investigating the strange and paranormal right out of college. Of course her parents looked down on it, but she didn't care. It was something she enjoyed, she finally found something she was good at.

The wheels rolled up the alley way as Bella pulled up to the crime scene. It was a busy scene- cops,people and lights were everywhere. Opening up her car door; the paranormal investigator emerged from her car. She took a deep breath trying to take in her surroundings. The chaos surrounding the scene made her a bit nervous. 'suck it up Bella' she said to herself as she headed for the crowd.

Bella made her way up to a group of CSI investigators and hello out her hand. "Hello, I'm Bella McKinney, I am looking for a Detective Kevin Slame?" One of the men admired her for a sec, while the other scowled. She wasn't sure why, perhaps it was the choice of attire. Bella wasn't one for busyness stuff, especially when on the field. If it was in the station, sure- she would have worn something a little more professional, but she wasn't about to be going around a dark dirty alley dressed as such. No, she preferred to be comfortable wearing her black tank and jeans.

"He's right over them mam." The scowling mans partner said as he pointed in the direction she should be going. "Thanks so much." Bella said with a smile and heading in the direction the Detective should be.

It didn't take her long to find him, it seemed he was studying the body and was trying to make sense of the situation while the CSI's did their work. Bella approached the man from behind an gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Detective Kevin Slame, I hope" She said with a grin as she waited for the man to turn around.

[Detective Kevin Slame]

Followed the piper's sweet whistling
Guided down the path by the wrong hand
Close my eyes for the chance of a better view
Plug my ears so I couldn't hear you

And I know you are the one
And you know I am the one
Your bitter taste of hell

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“What do ya have for me, Harrison?” The younger officer standing in front of the yellow caution tape jumped a foot, his thin hand flying to the butt of his gun. Blinking as he realized who he was talking to, his face relaxed and stance straightened.
Right out of the academy, this one was.

“Got a murder, Detective Slame.” The kid replied, blinking sleepy brown eyes at the crime scene in front of them.

Well…duh. Anyone standing in front of a practically red-washed alleyway would think ‘murder.’ Maybe the mutilated body in back was giving him the hint? But wait for it, the kid just needed a bit of steam…

“Me and my partner were the first on the scene; got a call in about a body found in the alley. Thought it might’ve been some kid pulling our leg and high, being prom night and all, but we came anyway and…well, there it is. Looks like someone went all out on him, Detective.”

Slame only nodded, his eyes on the body in front of them. From what he could tell from the various…pieces of flesh still attached to bone, it was probably a male, white, and if the tattoos were any indication, definitely not one of the city’s finer socialites. There was some chains around the slashed neck, adding to that…and fuck him, a finger lying near the dumpster than had a ring on it.

Great, now he could deal with family members AND the press. Wonderful. Just fan-fucking-tastic. As if he didn’t have enough people looking to kick his ass into next Tuesday.

The Lieutenant was going to love this one. What was this now? The third killing in the past week, all with the same MO? They could seriously start looking into a serial killer angle, and his boss was probably going to shit a brick when he realized that he’d assigned the department psycho to the actual psycho.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he stood. From deep inside the pocket of his coat, he took out a pack of cigs and quickly lit up, needing the sweet release of nicotine. While the scene techs and beats started mopping up, and the reporters squawked into their microphones near the street, he cleared out everything from his mind and slowly turned to look back at the scene. He took in every inch of the place; the blood stained brick walls, the grimy cement, the broken door to the Laundromat off to the side. He walked the scene, going over the details in his head and pictured a wanna-be gangsta running for his life, eyes wide open in terror and mouth set in a silent scream.

“Detective Kevin Slame, I hope?” The voice and his name rang out in the alley, momentarily distracting him from the movie in his head. Blinking in surprise, he glanced up, watching as an unfamiliar woman proceeded to tap Harrison’s shoulder.

Bad idea, honey, he thought with a sigh, rolling his eyes as the young cop proceeded to whirl on her, just as he’d done to him. Man, they needed to go stick the kid behind a desk before he hurt someone.

With a martyred sigh, he strolled over, taking a deep drag of his cig. Stopping a few feet in front of the woman- woman or girl? Mmm…whatever she was, she was definitely hot- he looked her up and down. Nicely proportioned, had a killer smile, probably had a nice ass if she turned around and bent over…yeah, all in all, not bad looking.

Now, if only she wasn’t barging into HIS fucking CRIME SCENE.

“Calm the fuck down, Harrison, before you add another body to the scene. Don’t you have some yellow tape to watch? Get on it,” Came the unhappy snarl. His lips curled into a nasty smile as the cop proceeded to scuttle away.

Now, his attention focused on the lady, he took another drag of his cig and blew the smoke in her general direction. “Watchoo want with Detective Slame, beautiful?”


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[Bella McKinney]

The startled man made Bella jump herself, her eyes widen as she noticed the man going for his gun. Instantly her hands went up in a defensive fashion as she back up. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the other man saved the day. Well to her it was kinda like that, he did after all stop her from being shot.

She watched the other officer reprimand the one with the gun and realized that she had the wrong man. Feeling a little embarrassed by the situation that just un-folded; Bella lowered her head. She took a few breaths in and out before lifting her head, only to be confronted by smoke causing her to cough.

If there was one thing Bella could not stand, it was cigarette smoke. The nasty little things, she really couldn't understand how people could poison their bodies in such away. Bella waved the smoke a way. 'What a charming individual' She thought as she extended her hand. She still wasn't sure if this other officer was Detective Slame or not, but something in her gut told her it was. "I'm Bella McKinney, the Paranormal Investigator assigned to this case, I was told I would be working with a Detective Slame, would you be him?"


She hoped it would, she really hated this guessing game thing. She really hated how some people could not give enough information. A picture would have been nice, hell the address given wasn't even right. Of course that what she got for taking a case like this at the last minute.

Bella sighed, she could have been home right now having a nice bubble bath but no. She had to be the nice person she was and take the case. Bella had a thing for helping people. If she could somehow help stop the string of murders that have been happen, then she was willing to lend a helping hand. Sometimes she wished she knew how to say no.

Her eyes turned to see the bloody heep laying on the ground and gasped. It wasn't what she expected, but then something caught her attention. The bloody finger with the ring, she had seen a vision of the finger days ago. Now she knew why she ended up there, it was from one of her visions. The bloody heep on the ground, the finger, and the....smoke. It was coming back to her, this case was going to be more serious than she thought.

[Detective Kevin Slame]

Man, and here he’d thought that his week couldn’t get any worse. Taking another drag of his cigarette, he just looked down at her hand as he turned his head to blow out the smoke. He’d made her flinch the first time around and that was enough. He was a douchebag, but at least he knew when to stop.

Not that any of that made him reach out and shake her hand. Aw, was he being rude? Really? Boo-frikking-hoo. There was no way in hell that he’d be welcoming some little girl into HIS investigation…especially not when his fuckin’ badge was on the line.

Not to mention his sanity…which was definitely compromised, because if he didn’t know any better, he’d have thought she’d just said paranormal investigator. For a few seconds, he stood there, waiting for the punch line to the really lame joke she’d just told. Paranormal investigator, really now. Just wait for it, wait for it…

Fuck, she was actually serious. Man, when the moon was full, the crazies really did come out in force.

“You ain’t shittin’ me, are you,” He said by way of reply. When no ‘ha, ha, GOTCHYA!’ laughing came, he let his stare turn into the shocked and confused variety. “Jesus Christ, paranormal investigator? As in ‘Ghost Adventures?’ Seriously? WHO the fuck sent you down here to screw up my case? It was O’Doyle, wasn’t it?”

Man, he was really getting pissed off now. With a side step forward, he moved so that he was blocking the bloody scene with his body. Blowing out yet another blast of respiratory therapy, he tossed what was left of his cig into an open dumpster and pulled out another. Oh, Friend Nicotine, please save him from the migraine that was starting to crawl over the top of his head!

Thoroughly pissed off, Slame forgot those mandatory compassion classes he’d been forced to take and took a menacing step toward the girl. She was a cute little thing; all innocence and politeness, but none of that stopped him from getting up in her grill.

“You can go back to that shit O’Doyle and tell him where to stick this shit, lady. I want you off my crime scene in the next five seconds, or I’ll throw your bony ass onto the street myself. You got me? Get moving!”

[Bella McKinney]

Bella shook her head and turned to face the detective. Sighing, she folded her arms. Of course she has heard it all before- ha, ha it was all one big joke. She could understand why people could be so skeptical, it was better than facing the truth after all. The truth that humans were not alone, and haven't been for many centuries. Her arms folded as she stood in a mildly irritated fashion. "No, I am a real paranormal investigator, I don't make up things just to get my name out there or become famous." She shook her head. "No,I received a call from the District Attorney's office requesting my assistance and expertise."

Again she watched as he- what seemed to be on purpose, blew the smoke directly in her face. Bella coughed and waved the smoke away. She was being tested wasn't she? Bella sighed and stepped back so she could keep a good distance from the smoke. "You know Detective Slame, I don't only deal with ghosts.." She watched as he blocked her from the crime scene. Bella grinned a little at the move. It didn't bother her much at all, she had already seen most of it days before.

Her grin however did not last long. The grin faded as the Detectives voice raised and he was now coming at her. Her instinct was to back away or cower like some scared little dog. Of course she knew this could not be done, she had to be professional- no matter how much her stomach turned in knots.

She had to stand her ground. Bella stood tall, holding her head high not once losing eye contact with the detective. "I don't know who this O'Doyle guy is, so you can go to him yourself if you have a problem." Deep breath, come on Bella don't faint. She thought as she felt her hands start to sweat. "I was sent here help work on this case, and I'm going to do just that. So if you are actually here to help people, then I say suck it up and let's get to work. If your have a problem and it's all about ego, then I say take it up with the DA."

With that, Bella turned swiftly and headed for her car. Her hand went to her chest, she could not believe she had just done that. The act in it'self about made her have a hard attack. She had to get away so she could gain her composer. The last thing she wanted the detective to see was that she was intimidated by him.

Her hand slid into her pocket as she brought our her keys. She pressed one of the round buttons; unlocking the doors. Bella opened the front door and bent down inside as she looked for her sketch book. She began to feel kind silly and self-conscious, wondering if people were staring as her butt. Finally she found the sketch book and climbed out and shut the drivers side door.

Bella turned and headed back towards the Detective proudly. When she finally approached him, she held out the sketch book for him to see. One thing she always made a habit of, was to sketch out her visions. It always came in handy if she ever had to try and remember what she saw. Of course she almost never forget some of the horrid images, but the sketches helped nevertheless.

The sketch book she held before the Detective was littered with different images that came from her visions, including the visions about her, no his, no their current investigation. "You can block me all you want, doesn't matter. I've already seen it all, I have visions Detective Slame, and though I did not see what attacked this man. I did see what happened."