Suddenly she felt a familiar tingle in the pit of her stomach. Goosebumps crept over her skin. She was sensing the presence of a ghost very near by. The light in the elevator briefly flickered. So this one was bit of a drama queen. Her eyes nervously wandered here and there.
"Buh." A totally unspectacular entrance. Lisa had seen better that involved floating tables and exploding TV sets. She turned around and came face to face with a young man with peroxide blond, almost white hair, a long black leather duster and a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
"A simple 'hello' would have been sufficient, but if you absolutely insist on making an entrance - I would have also appreciated something slightly more inventive," Lisa commented dryly.
"Well, this works with most people," he cocked his head and she could have sworn she briefly saw disappointment flicker in his eyes. "Besides I don't really have much to do these days besides scaring lawyers and annoying Mr. Broody-pants. Who are you by the way?"
"Lisa."
"You're new one, right? Are you another one of those lawyers?" he circled her watching her curiously from head to toe.
"Actually, no. I'm the new...", she briefly hesitated before she continued. You don't usually run around to tell people you are doing some kind of odd job. "...the new psychic, I guess."
"Weeell, let's hope you have better luck than your predecessor," he rubbed his hands in glee.
"What does that mean?"
"Well, she was chocked to death by a dark soul," he answered nonchalantly, inspecting his nails carefully.
"Oh, ce la vie. It appears she wasn't that good at her job or else this wouldn't have happened to her. Beginner's mistake," she raised a delicate eyebrow. " And... by the way, who you are? "
"I thought you were the psychic in here. Aren't you able to tell me?"
Lisa sighed. "If you insist...Just remember that it was you who asked for it."
She closed her eyes and concentrated. Her breath slowed down and reached a calm and steady rhythm. In front of her she could feel his energy burn brightly like a torch in the night. It seemed so easy. Never in her life had she sensed a spiritual energy this intense. It felt like he desperately tried to hold on to this plane of existence. But why? She reached out with her mental powers. Lisa moved hesitantly and carefully as she got closer and closer. It was a very delicate matter. Though he had asked her to do this, she didn't want to force herself on him, so she stayed at the surface. Pictures briefly flashed before her eyes containing information about where he had been and what he had done in the last few hours. Like short clips cut out of different films they weren't making any sense - out of context and incomprehensible to any outsider. Some of them even scared her to death. He had been in a dark place. She shivered and retreated quickly. When Lisa opened her eyes again she saw him looking at her strangely. There was an expression of utter surprise on his face almost mirroring her own.
"I'm sorry, William," her voice was soft and had lost the initial arrogance with which their conversation had started. She recognized that dark place she had seen in her vision. It was hell. A gaping hole that ate the souls of sinners. Lisa had often seen it happening. William was slowly loosing grip on this reality. He was slipping into hell. Well, that wasn't her problem right? She quickly dismissed those disturbing thoughts.
"Anyways, it's your own fault you could have simply told me your name," she quickly recovered herself.
"Never mind," there was something different about him. For a brief moment a hint of vulnerability shone through his rough character.
A soft hum announced that the elevator had reached its destination. The doors slide open and revealed a huge lab. Scientists with white cloaks were busily scurrying around, chemical experiments where bubbling in little glasses, while highly complex simulations were running on computer monitors. Lisa stepped slowly out of the elevator marvelling at the wonders of this lab like a child. A young woman approached her with a friendly smile on her face. She seemed to be about her age.
"Hi, I'm Fred," she circumstantially took off her glasses and shook her hand.
"The science queen," commented the ghost.
"Lisa Gray, pleasure to meet you."
"And she's the new psychic," Spike called over her shoulder, obviously feeling the undeniable urge to interfere with their conversation as much as possibility.
"Now that we all know who we are," Fred briefly gave Spike a disapproving glance which clearly said 'shut up', "Angel told me you would drop by today. We have to run a few tests."
"Okay," Lisa answered coolly, trying to appear absolutely unimpressed.
"Yeah, go ahead and stick a needle into her. I'll lean back and enjoy the show," Spike proposed a tad bit too enthusiastically.
"No, much too old- fashioned," Fred smiled proudly.
"Bugger! I guess, no fun and games for Casper, then," came the muttered curse from behind.
"Does he have to be there the whole time?" Lisa asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"No, but since you are an expert on the spiritual world I decided to make you my 'new best friend'," Spike quipped before Fred could reply anything.
"And why is that?" Lisa asked already dreading the answer.
"'Cause you could help me."
"Alright, Miss Gray...uhm do you mind if I call you Lisa?" Fred asked friendly, trying to reclaim the other woman's attention.
"Not at all.", Lisa answered, immediately feeling some kind of sympathy towards the other woman. "Would you please follow me? We have to run some neuronal scans."
She was let into a little room and told to sit down in a comfortable looking leather chair. Lisa uncomfortably scooted her and there in her seat while about ten electrodes were carefully put on her forehead, her temples and on the back of her neck. She flinched every time they were applied on her skin because they were cool and slightly prickling. By now she could image what a lab rat went through on a daily basis.
"We are trying to measure your brain activity to find out how far your mystical abilities are evolved," Fred told her distractedly over the peeping of the computer programme, while she hacked some data into the keyboard.
Spike had made himself comfortable on the edge of Fred's desk and was grinning at the Lisa with an expression of utter malicious joy. With every second that passed Lisa felt more and more uncomfortable. The light from the monitor reflected as two silvery blue squares in Fred's glasses while her eyes interestedly read the data supplied by the neuronal scans.
"Interesting," the young scientist muttered and reached for her scanner. Lisa stiffened in her chair while the electrical device hovered only inches from her face. After a while Fred finally decided she had collected enough data. ""We are done."
Lisa sighed in relief. She had a strong aversion against everything that remotely reminded her of a visit to the doctors. It was as if every time you were evaluated and either approved of or marked as a complete failure. And the worst part of it was that it was absolutely out of your hands. You could do anything to influence the other person's final judgement about you.
After a while Fred had finished her examination. At least now those pesky electrodes came off. "Lisa, let me be the first to congratulate you. You've got the job. Welcome to Wolfram & Hart," Fred informed her with a friendly smile.