In the beginning there was only engine oil {Open}

[lance]

...

What are you doing?

He raised his eyes and saw here there in the side view mirror, pouting as if she was just a fair skinned woman, her eyes hid beneath her sunglasses. “What looks like I’m doing?”

Being boring? She asked him, visibly annoyed.

Sighing, Lance rolled his eyes. “I have to work to pay the bill.”

You had a perfectly good job back at Boston, you know?

“Yeah, and where that got me? A couples of weeks in a hospital bed after being almost killed by a psychotic serial killer and with a demon stuck in my head? Thanks but one of you is enough already. If you’re bored you could just leave, you know that?”

No reason to be such a jerk Lancey! I have no interest into being stuck into someone’s brain that I can’t even have a conversation with. I can’t believe you left Boston to become a grease monkey out here! Come on, let’s go out and have some fun…maybe some dancing? I bet I can help you meet some cute girls…

“Can’t you just behave for a few hours, Ravenna?”

Lancey darling, we both know that isn’t possible.

Sighing once more, Lance turned to the radio, finding a suitable station with mind numbing rock and turning the volume high enough to make it difficult to hear his own thoughts...or maybe just the demon in his head. He knew the demon inside his head and knew that she really was incapable of behaving, heck she was the reason he no longer had mirrors on his bathroom, it was to stop her from leering at him while he was taking a shower.

Rolling up his sleeves, he concentrated on his job and ignoring the pouting demon on the mirror did what came naturally to him. He had worked at his father’s auto-shop for years before his girlfriend at the time got him into the psychic business and since them he had been shot at, kicked and punched, a maniacal running after him with an axe…and one of his favorites, stuck with a disembodied demon in his head. But it was time for a new start before the next psycho got lucky and chopped him into cat food. And New Orleans seemed the perfect place for this.

Just a few more hours and he would close up shop, get into the upstairs apartment for a shower (while hearing Ravenna once again whine about the lack of mirrors there), order a pizza and maybe get a cold beer while watching a game on the TV. It wasn’t a glamorous life, but at least there were no cops, serial killers or supernatural stuff, right?

[Kaylie Fugate]

{Mind if I claim this?}

[lance]

(Its open, so feel free to reply)

[Kaylie Fugate]

Not even a month in town, and Kaylie already got herself in trouble. Lord only knows who she had pissed off, but now it was her turn to be fuming when Kaylie saw what some psycho had done to her car. The 2009 Acura, one a pristine silver and windows tinted as dark as a limo's, now had paint splashed across the hood as dark as blood. Across one side of the car, 'BITCH' was carved across the driver side door. Every word imaginable had left her mouth when she saw it, enough to make a sailor blush. She didn't hesitate to get in and search the town for an auto-shop.

About an hour after she'd left, screeching tires marked the somewhat-calmer female pulling up to the shop. "Finally," she groaned, throwing the car in park and opening the door up. Yes, up, not out. It was her own mini Batmobile. Tri-color hair was straightened to nearly pin-straight and hung over her shoulders, layers in the front framing her pale face. Dark jeans, worn and torn around the thighs and knees, laced up the outside of either leg and hugged her lower curves. A black tanktop, lace lining the dipping neck, was layered under a black and white pinstriped coat. Certain movements tugged up at the top, exposing just the edges of side tattoos and the one across the front of her hips. Her boots clicked as she walked towards the shop, lifting sunglasses off of dark eyes and nestling them in her hair as she followed the loud music.

"'Scuse me? 'Scuse me!" Such a strong voice came from such a small girl, Kaylie trying to adjust her eyes from the light outside to the auto shop. "Hey!" She finally yelled, sighing and stopping in her place, looking over towards the only other person she saw in the shop. "You do body work? I kinda got a problem goin' on..."


{OOC: Sorry it's not so great, running late for class x.x }

[lance]

Immersing himself into work, something natural made him feel centered. Anyone had any idea how unpleasant it was to touch a chainsaw and relieve the last moments of someone who was hacked to pieces with it? It wasn’t something Lance missed from his previous job, not to mention having a demon in his head made it all the more vivid and freaky.

No, getting his hands dirty with engine oil was better than some psycho trying to introduce him to the sharp end of an axe. He liked his head exactly where it was, thank you very much.

At first it was hard to hear the voice under the music, but he was sure he had heard someone this time, so turning down the volume, he glanced over the old Cadillac’s hood to see a blonde standing there…well, she might have been blonde sometime, there was at least two other colors in her hair.

“Will be with you in a minute,” he told her wiping his hands in an old cloth and spying at Ravenna in the mirror.”And you behave,” he said in a soft whisper, to what the demon in there just scowled…he was sure she was going to give him a headache yet.

Oh right, it was evident that she would once he got there and saw that lithe cute thing that screamed racing girl if he ever seen one, and he wasn’t just saying it because of the car.

“Yeah, I do body work…” –shut up Ravenna- he said stepping closer to the Acura and tracing his fingers over the carvings on the side door. “Looks like you really pissed someone off, huh?” he could tell when he could see in his mind the angry face of the guy as he carved those letters.

[Kaylie Fugate]

Shifting her weight to one leg, Kaylie popped out her opposite knee, slender hands falling on her hips. The shirt tugged up slightly, exposing the last curves of letters that tainted either of her sides from breast down to her hips. Once the music was turned down, her stature seemed to relax a little. Her eyes traveled down her own body, catching the defensive pose she'd unconsciously been striking and quickly fixing it. She kept her weight on her right leg, though dropped her hands from her hips and cradled them together infront of her lap.

The moment he got closer to the car, she instinctively tensed up. The car had been bribed, and bought, before it was officially released and she took care of it like it were her own child. Turning around, she followed after him for a few steps, eyes focused on the damage to the car. She dropped her hands from before her, one brushing against the keys in her back pocket while the other motioned to the splash of red on the hood.

"Nah, I just wanted to piss away some money," she smirked, shaking her head slowly. "Crazy bitch went...Well, crazy, is more like it," shaking her head again, Kaylie did her best to refrain from rolling her eyes. You talk crap to one guy and just happen to, offhandedly, say his girl looked like a cheap blow-up doll. Nothing big....Nothing big, either, when Kaylie followed up by saying she'd seen teen queens with better implant jobs than said female. Her mouth really did tend to get the best of her...

"So how much is it goin' to cost? Can we try and keep the silver or do I have to get a new paint job?" Thin brows raised slightly, one hand lifting to run through tri-colored hair slowly. "I'd do it myself, but I can't screw that up, it's my baby...So that means you can't screw it up either," she offered a brief smirk to show she'd been kidding...partially. She hesitated only a moment before going on, rubbing at the back of her stiff neck roughly. "I don't have anywhere to go...So is it okay if I just chill while you work? You can blast your music and pretend I'm not here watching you like a hawk."

[lance]

Giving the woman a smile at her reply, Lance proceeded to take a walk around the car to fully assess the damage done to it. A shame someone would do that to such a nice car, but then again it was good for his business, wasn’t it? And he wasn’t in the position of passing out work.

“Don’t worry, I just opened so I will give you a good discount so you will come back when you need my touch,” –shut up Ravenna-

Raising his head, he watched the woman for a moment and his eyes wandered for a moment, after all he was only human.

Lancey honey, you’re totally trying to check out her ass…

Gritting his teeth, he knelled on the opposite side of the car and looked at the side view mirror and sighed with a whisper. “Shut up Ravenna!” he added throwing her a dirty look. It wasn’t easy when he was doing business to have a demon inside his head talking stuff like that…even if the thought did cross his mind, but he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

“We can keep the original silver, but I will have to do a paint job to the door. Don’t worry, after I’m done you won’t be able to tell it was any different than before your boyfriend touched it.”

And by the way she was looking at him, she wasn’t at all kidding about watching him like a hawk.

“So why don’t you take a seat back there,” he said pointing to the bench on the other side, “And I will get started?” Lance added and knelled next to the door. It would take some time and fancy work to get it looking like no one had done anything to it, so he better get started.

[Kaylie Fugate]

"If I need your touch," Kaylie was quick to add in, a wicked smirk playing across her lips. Growing up with her brother and his friends, it was no surprise her mind was far from corruptions and often her sentences came with more than one meaning. Her eyes stayed on his, briefly wandering when his own did, her right eyebrow arching in just the faintest of ways. Opening her mouth to comment, she stopped, pressing pale lips together tightly.

She watched him move around the car, rarely blinking while her eyes searched for the faintest movement. She'd always been a bit...well...paranoid about her vehicles, considering the care she put into them. During her freak out earlier in the morning, she'd made sure to check around the car and the gas tank the best she could. All she needed was someone pouring sugar, or Lord only knows what, into her tank. When he knelt, she raised her brows, though didn't question him. Hey...whatever he had to inspect on the car was fine with her. His comment couldn't help but make her snicker out a laugh, head shaking and the faintest shades of red starting to creep up her neck.

"Wasn't a boyfriend, was some crazy bitch. It's a long story, trust me," ever since her stint that sent her to prison, she'd been careful about who to confide in about her racing. Too many people knew cops, or were cops, and Kaylie had lost connections with the friends that helped her hide last time she was in trouble. As for boyfriend? Lord don't let her get started on that....The woman had never had an "official" type of boyfriend, and couldn't figure out what the hell was happening with Kel and herself. It didn't help the two hadn't seen each other for months, after she ran from him screaming at his resurrection after being shot in the head. Their previous union before that...Was interesting in it's own way, though she'd been doing her best to shake from her head any thoughts of relationships, even outside of him. Emotionally connecting yourself to someone was something she'd been working on not doing. It caused too much trouble and drama...Like with her car. The guy she was talking smack to had an emotional connection to the girl who threw in some comments, which caused Kaylie to let her big mouth go, which now caused her baby to be hurt.

Glancing to where he pointed, she nodded silently. Turning on heel, she stepped her way over to the bench, boots clicking lightly with each step until she laid out across it. Tugging down her sunglasses, she stretched her legs over one end of the bench. "I'm watchin' you, pretty boy," she called out, smirking from her spot. "Don't screw up, or no money for you, buddy."

[lance]

Oh great! Had he run into another Ravenna type? With a nice rear?

I knew you were trying to take a peek Lancey.

Hooray, he could already feel that Ravenna induced headache coming in when she said those words and started to make suggestions that would make a nun run to the hills. Of all the demons in the world he had to be stuck with a succubus one? Women used to say men were bad, they hadn’t met a succubus.

Ok, get to work, ignore the babbling demon and her fantasies. Even if it was five hundred years worth of fantasies. Gees! The only other time she was happy was when he was risking his neck or helping her find a way to break her curse.

Getting his tools, he got to work. Damage wasn’t that bad, but it would take quite some fancy tinkering to get it red paint and scratch free. He’d have to pass up the idea of watching that game on the TV.

After a few hours of work, there it was his stomach growling. Maybe that headache wasn’t all Ravenna induced after all. Think race girl would be upset if he took a break for a pizza? Ah heck, he was the boss after all and he wasn’t up for another hour or so of working on an empty stomach.

“Hey…uh, I need a little break before I die out of starvation here,” he said wiping the sweat from his brow. “Tell you what, I was thinking on calling for a pizza anyways and I have a couple of beers upstairs in the fridge,” –shut up Ravenna, I’m not flirting…am not!-

“So, what do you say, a couple of slices of pizza and a beer, on the house? After that I will be able to finish your car before long. Its either that or you can come back to pick it up tomorrow morning.”

[Kaylie Fugate]

Getting comfortable, Kaylie laid back and rested her arms behind her head the best she could. She watched his choice of movements, following what tools he chose and what he did with them. For the first hour, she couldn't shake off the tense feeling of someone messing with her car while she sat back. Eventually, however, the feeling did pass, and she stayed quiet and kept up her calm demeanor.

When he'd spoken up to her, her body jerked. She sat half way up, blinking hard behind her sunglasses. Had she fallen asleep? Blinking again, she waited until her eyes adjusted before sliding the sunglasses up to perch on the top of her head. Silently, she cursed herself for falling asleep around a stranger while her car just sat there. Then again, this was the girl who'd fallen asleep on her kitchen table and, years ago, at concerts her and her brother went to. Reaching up, she rubbed at one eye, careful not to smudge the light eyeliner around it.

"Hm?" She finally said, pushing herself to sit up straight. Biting back a stretch and a yawn, she glanced at her car, staring at it for a few seconds before she turned back to him. "On the house?" She raised her brows, lips pursing while she contemplated for less than a minute before shrugging. "You're crazy if you think I'm leaving my car somewhere overnight, sweetheart," her last word dropped off as her body gave him, letting a yawn slip by her lips. Straightening up, she placed slender hands on the small of her back, giving a faint arch to stretch out her spine. "Beer and pizza sounds good to me...Wait, upstairs?" Blinking, she looked directly up, as if picturing what the unknown was above the shop. Looking back to him, her brows furrowed.

"Do you live above the shop? I'm not stalking you or anything...But you just said earlier about upstairs and I didn't know..." Trailing off, Kaylie stood up and placed her hands back on the small of her back, mimicking the same move as moments ago until she heard the faintest pops. One of these days, something was going to pop that wouldn't be good. But until then...Hell she'd pop her neck and risk snapping it until it happened. Taking off her sunglasses, she used one hand to hook them on her pocket while the other pushed layered hair out of her face. "Lead the way Mr....Whatever your name is?"

[lance]

With a raised brow, he watched the girl stir and held back a laugh, she had fallen at sleep, but the costumer might not appreciate him laughing at it.

“I live upstairs, it’s nothing fancy but I live on a mechanic’s salary, so I have to adjust,” he told her with a shrug. Sure working for the cops had a bigger paycheck, but as a mechanic the risk of waking up in the form of hamburger meat was significantly less.

“I’m Lance, Lance Matthews mechanic extraordinary at your service,” he said guiding her towards the stairs that led to the building’s second floor. Some food in him would surely make him feel more relaxed…if not that cold beer would. It had been a long day of work and seemed like racing girl wasn’t going to come back tomorrow, so he would have some more work before the day was over.

The apartment upstairs wasn’t much to look at, and ignore Ravenna’s suggestion to give the girl a tour starting at the bedroom. But even if it wasn’t much, it was home and he had lots of space in the living room between the couch, TV set and the punching bag in the corner. Not what you’d call a lavishly furnished place.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he told her and pulled the phone to order the pizza. “I think I’m going to take a shower” – yeah Ravenna, alone – “And I will be right back.” – no Ravenna, fully dressed-

After a few moments, Lance returned…fully dressed, and refreshed from the shower. He was about to offer that beer to the girl when there was a ring in the intercom. “That was fast,” he told her and moved downstairs believing it to be the pizza delivery. But he was surprised when he found a panicking young girl waiting downstairs.

She had heard from Lance back from Boston, something about him having psychic powers and helping the police. Apparently he hadn’t hid as far as he hoped. Her boyfriend was missing and she wanted him to help her out to track the guy down.

Sighing, Lance shook his head. “Sorry miss, I don’t do that anymore. I’m just a mechanic, you’d be better of looking for the police to help.”

She slapped him, cursed him and tossed a picture of her missing boyfriend at him before storming out.

Crap, that went well…

[Kaylie Fugate]

"Hey, it's better than my salary...None." Kaylie laughed weakly, having paused long enough before her last word to think up what to say. There was no way in hell she was just going to spit out that her array of money had come from illegal street racing. If asked, she'd think up some excuse...usually no one wanted the details if you said a long deceased relative had left money in your name, right? Eh, sounded like a good excuse to her, if need to be used.

"M'name is Kaylie....Fugate. Kaylie fugate," She nodded after hearing his name. She hesitated at the thought of giving her last name out, though with a shrug she spit it out. Following him upstairs, her eyes taking in whatever she saw as she went. Once inside, she couldn't help but smirk briefly. It looked like her basement back home, which her brother had dubbed "The Man Cave" and decorated with couches and general lounge "equipment." At his comment, she nodded silently and wondered over to the couch to sit down. She had no snarky comment to make about his shower, there was a time and place for inappropriate comments and now wasn't the time. Especially when free food and beer were on the line.

When he came back, she was still on the couch, playing with the laces for her boots. She'd unlaced and relaced both of them three times, at one point lacing them backwards so they tied down by her toes. Glancing up when he came in, she offered a childish smile while she fixed the ties. "Be sure to tip well," She smirked, watching him walk off for the pizza. It took her a few seconds, though she was quick to follow after him...It was awkward just sitting in a stranger's apartment.

She'd gotten more than half way down the stairs before she stopped. Her brows furrowed while she tried to make out what was being said, though she mainly caught on to the different pitches. She heard the cursing and the slap as clear as day, however, and was quick to come down the rest of the steps. Her brows stayed furrowed as she caught the end of the argument, slowly looking towards him.

"Guess it wasn't pizza...Old pissy girlfriend?" She blinked, looking around briefly before looking back to him. Slowly wandering towards him, she did her best to try and laugh off the slap she heard. "Y'know...Red typically isn't a good look for people...I'm sure the handshape won't help much. Y'need anything?" Tilting her head to the side, her off topic question rolled with the rest of her statement, brows raising just slightly.

[lance]

The past certainly had a way to sneak upon him. Lance had packed everything that night, after that huge fight with his ex-girlfriend that had ended with her telling him to go to hell…instead he had chosen New Orleans, it was probably just as hot as hell anyways. He had left all his past behind, or so he thought. What he wasn’t counting with was some strange girl showing up at his shop and demanding he’d go back to play the psychic detective. Crap, if he wanted that he would have just stayed back at Boston. And the worst part of it? He could feel Ravenna bouncing in his head, itching for the excitement.

“Don’t even think about it Rave,” he mumbled softly.

Oh come on Lancey boy, we both know you’re a sucker to help those in need and you know it

Groaning at the demon’s remark, he leaned down to look at the picture. It was a photo of the girl and her boyfriend, the guy looked like he was barely past twenty years old, just like his girlfriend. Heck, why was that they had to look so happy in that picture? Why that they had to look like a couple of kids?

Come on Lancey, do your thing. You know you won’t sleep while you don’t help them…and I’m not talking about just your conscience, I’m going to pester you to death if you don’t

And then there was that other female voice.
Crap, crap, crap! Did she hear it?

Giving the girl an embarrassed smile, Lance nodded. “Yeah, something like that…” he wasn’t going to win any oscars by his acting, but hopefully she would buy his lie. “Look, I uh, I won’t be able to finish your car tonight. If you want to take it to another shop that’s fine, I won’t charge you for what I’ve done so far…sorry but…”

Great, like he didn’t need the money! But he knew his own conscience was merciless, not to mention Ravenna.

Reaching out for the picture, as soon as his fingertips touched the edge of the photograph Lance was tossed back as if he had just been hit in the head by a baseball bat...and the pain it followed was just as close as he smacked his back against the car behind him. Holding his hand against his burning head, he groaned in pain.

There was darkness, growling, fangs and blood.

“What the hell was that?” he stuttered back in confusion as the pain receded. There had been darkness and blood in his visions before, there had been a chilling sensation of evil, but never something so intense and strange as this.

[Kaylie Fugate]

Shifting her weight from one leg to the other, Kaylie lightly crossed her arms over her chest. Her right brow arched as she watched him carefully. She began to smirk likely at the beginning of his comment, though when it turned to not being able to finish her car the look quickly left. Slender hands slid to her hips and her body straightened up, eyes narrowing just slightly.

"Excuse me?" She asked, voice soft and brows raising. Her head tilted to the side just slightly, voice low as she went on. "Are you kidding me? Do you realize how long it took me to find a shop around here?! There is no way in hell that I'm leaving here with a half-ass job because some ex-bitch of yours showed up. I'm paying you to fix my car, Lance, not bullshit me." She growled lowly, fingers digging into her hips lightly as she began to walk towards him. It wasn't meant to be confrontational, but Kaylie adored the vehicles she owned. She absolutely refused to drive around with the car in any condition far from pristine. She hadn't meant to be a bitch, but she wanted to get her point across about finishing the car.

Stepping towards him, she stopped when he went to pick up the picture. Her hard look softened, just slightly, as she watched him. With a sigh, she dropped one hand from her hip and lifted it to rub her face lightly. "Look I--" She began with a sigh, though it dropped quickly as she caught sight of his sudden movement. Her body tensed, eyes widening as she watched the scene before her. Quickly, she backed up until her back pressed tightly to the nearest wall, staring at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"What the hell was that?!" She copied him, lips resting apart just slightly out of shock. "Look, I-I'm not into playin' games, you do that another time, Lance. Look, I...I'll just leave..."

[lance]

Crap, crap, crap!

If a headache wasn’t bad enough, now he had the girl thinking he was some kind of nutjob? That certainly wasn’t good for business if she’d run around telling people ‘Hey, what about that new guy that opened an auto-shop? He is clinically insane, better stay clear of his shop.’

Nervously jumping to his feet, Lance knew he had to say something to fix it, but how could he? Right, the truth would make him look sane…nope, not a chance in hell of that. “Wait I can explain…I…crap! Look, I’m not insane, I just…just…”

Okay, now it would be a good idea to come up with a good plan to stop her from running away and calling the guys in white lab coats and drugs – and no Ravenna, kissing her and squeezing her butt isn’t going to work at all, how could it? Never mind – deep breaths, that helps, got to remember to breathe.

Raising his hand in a hold on motion, he tried to sound as calm as he could.

“Look Kaylie, you heard of psychics before right? I’m kind of one. It’s not all the time, I worked with the police some time ago in a few cases. I quit that to work as a mechanic, fewer chances of getting killed. Please don’t tell anyone alright? If you do I won’t get any jobs.”

Half truths were better than nothing. There was no way of denying it and pretend he had just slipped anyways. All he could do was to try to point out his story in a convincingly way and hope she was inclined to believe in psychics.