Buried Memories
Disclaimer: Last chance to turn back if my having an OC in the story bothers you.
Note: I don't own RGB
It was a pretty quiet day at GBHQ. Janine was sitting at her desk, filing her nails(again), and Clara was upstairs in the shower. The guys had to step out and get more food, since the fridge was almost empty thanks to Slimer and his non-stop snacking. Except for Egon, who stayed at the firehouse to work on an experiment with a new sample of fungus he found recently. Soon, Ray, Peter and Winston returned home and were now unpacking the groceries. "Man, Slimer really needs to go on a diet." Peter muttered.
"Sure, and the devil will have learned to ice skate." Winston said.
Without realizing that Clara was still in the shower, Egon walked into the bathroom when he came upstairs. He didn't know that she had taken a shower, since the window in the bathroom had been open, therefore no moisture had built up on the mirror, it wasn't any warmer, and Clara had turned the water off. The door had also been left open a crack too. Since the curtain was a dark, opaque colour, Clara had no idea who it was she heard walk into the bathroom. She just hoped that it wasn't Peter. Clara slowly pulled back the curtain to see if it was Peter, but saw that it was Egon, even though all she could see was his back. Uh oh, Clara thought as she felt a sneeze coming on, pulling the shower curtain closed behind her. "Oh no." She whispered quietly. But it could not be suppressed. "Ah-CHOO!" Clara covered her mouth, hoping she had stifled it enough. After a couple seconds passed, she got back to drying herself off. But Egon had heard something. As Clara continued drying herself off, she heard the toilet flush and Egon walking out of the bathroom, thinking maybe he didn't hear her sneeze. But she was wrong. Egon returned, this time, with his PKE meter. Even though he wasn't getting anything on the meter, Egon wasn't taking any chances. He threw back the curtain. A serious mistake.
"AAH! EGON!" Clara screamed.
"CLARA!"
"WHOA!" Clara yelped as she slipped and fell back against the bathtub, pulling the shower curtain down on top of her. Her hand clasped down around the shampoo bottle. She threw it at Egon and it smacked him on the head.
"Ow!" he cried, dropping the PKE meter. His glasses fell off. "My glasses!"
"What are you doing? Get out!" Clara screeched.
"I-I'm so sorry Clara." Egon stammered, fumbling around trying to find his glasses.
"NOW!" She snapped, frantically covering herself with the towel. Egon then found his glasses. After putting them back on, he picked the PKE meter that he had dropped.
"I'm going, I'm going." Egon scrambled out of the bathroom. Peter and Ray came upstairs, wondering what all the ruckus was about.
"Hey Egon, I heard Clara screaming. What's going on?" Peter asked.
"Never mind." He snapped. Ray noticed Egon's face was bright red."
"Come on Egon, it can't be that bad. Can it?" Ray said. Egon didn't answer. Instead, he went into the living room to work on more equations. Ray shrugged as he and Peter went back downstairs.
Finally, Clara was dressed, and she found Egon still in the living room, still working on his equations. "Egon?" He turned around suddenly.
"Clara, uh about what happened earlier-" She held up her hands.
"Egon, it's alright. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I kinda overreacted a bit." Clara sat down beside him. I guess it's time he knew, she thought."There's something I need you to know."
"What's that?" Here goes, Clara thought.
"This happened when I was fourteen. I was living in Spanish Harlem at the time with my four older sisters in 1975. This one night, I was alone in the apartment and I was taking a shower. After I turned the water off, I felt this light breeze, and it was very cold. No windows were open, and the heaters were off. Next thing I knew, I was pushed against the wall, and-and-" Clara stuttered, starting to cry. "I could feel this breathing on me, and-and, something inside me. I-I was raped." Her shoulders shuddered with each sob.
"Oh no. Well, did you tell the police?" Egon asked.
"How can you tell the police that you were raped by someone you couldn't see?"
"Were you blindfolded?"
"Egon, no. My eyes were wide open. Whatever it was, it was invisible. But I could feel him on me, breathing, him inside me. It was awful." Clara cried.
"It was an Incubus." Egon told her.
"A what?"
"An Incubus. It's a male spirit that rapes women." Egon explained. "The female counterpart is called a Succubus."
"Right. Anyway," Clara sniffed, wiping her face. "It basically explains why I reacted the way I did in the bathroom. Bad memories."
"Uh, I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry that happened to you. You've had to live with that memory for all these years?
"Yeah. I mean, who can you tell? No one would believe a story like that. I'd be laughed at, or they'd think I made it up. So I learned ways to bury the memories. That's why I got involved in so many extra-curricular activities."
"The musical instruments?"
"Yes."
"Am I the only one you've told?"
"Yes." Clara replied.
"None of your sisters know?"
"Nope."
"What about your parents?" Egon asked.
"They were dead then. A drunk driver killed them when I was eleven."
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"No, it's okay."
What was the name of the apartment complex you lived in?"
"La Villa Montana. Why?" Clara asked.
"Maybe that incubus that attacked you is still there."
"Oh no. Egon, I don't know if I want to go back there. What do I tell the superintendent? And what about the other guys? What do I tell them? You're the only one I can trust with this, rather sensitive information."
"I'm glad you feel that way about me. In fact, I feel, honoured that you can trust me." Egon said.
"Yeah. I can't explain it, but I just feel like I know that I can trust you the most. Winston, probably. Ray, maybe. Peter, he treats life as one big joke. I don't think he'd take me seriously if I told him. Then again, I don't know him as well as I know you. With you, I can just sense something in you that makes me believe you are trustworthy. But, I still don't want to go back there."
"Don't you want to put the memories to rest?" Egon asked. Before Clara could respond, the alarm went off. Another call, another bust. Egon and Clara joined everyone else downstairs.
"What is it this time Janine?" Ray asked.
"I don't know. The caller was very frantic and I couldn't understand much of what he was telling me because of his heavy Latino accent. Here's the address." Janine handed Ray a piece of paper.
"Let's Roll!" Peter whooped as everyone piled into the ECTO-1.
With Peter at the wheel, it was a very wild ride. "Can I see the address?" Clara asked. Ray handed the paper to her. "Oh no." Her face fell and just about turned white as a sheet.
"What is it?" Ray asked.
"I know this place."
"How?"
"I used to live there. Oh god, I hope it's not what I think it is."
"What?"
"A ghost that attacked me several years back." She looked over at Egon. "I was just mentioning this to Egon a few minute ago."
Minutes later, they drove into Spanish Harlem, where the address was located. "Man, look at these buildings. They could sure use a lot of elbow grease." Peter commented.
"They're for low-income families." Clara explained. "When my oldest sister Liddell won legal guardianship of my other sisters and myself, we had to move into someplace she could afford with her two paying jobs. Dexa, the second-oldest also got a job too. They were the only ones with jobs while my other sisters Kayla and Azita, as well as myself we're still in school. So, we ended up here." Soon, they found the apartment building where the call came from, and where Clara had lived as a teen. "Now when we were here, the superintendent's name was Teodoro Suarez. I hope still lives here." Clara looked through the list of all the apartment's tenants. Finally, "T. Suarez, " she read, "That's him. He's still here." Clara buzzed his number.
"Quien es?" a man's voice asked.
"Senor Suarez? It's me, Clara Hamilton. I'm with the Ghostbusters. May we come in and talk to you?"
"Si, of course. Un minuto." Another buzzer sounded as the main door unlocked. They went in and came up to Mr. Suarez's apartment on the sixth floor.
"Clara, it's been long time." He greeted, giving her a hug.
"Senor, these are the Ghostbusters." Clara stepped back so that they could introduce themselves.
"I'm Dr. Egon Spengler." Egon shook hands with Mr. Suarez. "And these are my colleagues, Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Raymond Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore. And of course, Clara, who you already know."
"Si, you guys, very famous. Uh, but what can I do for you?"
"Um, well, when my sisters and I were living here, there was this time when I, well, let's just say, encountered something unusual in the apartment this one time I was alone." Clara told Mr. Suarez.
"We're wondering if there were any previous tenants in apartment 13B." Egon added.
"Well, Clara first move here in 1973 Dr. Spengler. But, records from 1973 and before, all destroyed."
"Are there any tenants in 13B now?" Ray asked.
"Si. But before, years ago, only Clara's sisters and herself. I never be able to rent 13B to nobody after they leave. Until a few months ago. Now they tell me something happen, they call you and left in big hurry."
"Any reason why you weren't able to rent out the apartment until now?" Winston asked this time.
"Well, anytime I show people around, they tell me they like place, but feels like there is presence in there, even though it's just them and myself, no other people." Mr. Suarez explained.
"Yeah, well now your recent tenants are saying that whatever is there, if anything, it has them so frightened they couldn't explain clearly what it was that happened." Ray said.
"Mr. Suarez, with your permission we'd like to investigate 13B, run PKE sweeps, see what those people were feeling was actually the presence of a possible ghost." Egon said.
"Si, of course. Although, I don't know if you find nothing. But if you do, and get rid of it, I be forever grateful. My tenants too, grateful as well." Mr. Suarez led the way up to the thirteenth floor of the building., since he had the master key. When they got to 13B, he opened up the door. The floorboards creaked and groaned as the Ghostbusters went inside. "Let me know when you finish." Mr. Suarez told them before he left down the hall. The door creaked as it was closed shut.
"Well, where should we begin?" Ray asked.
"I suggest we split up. We'll cover more ground that way." Winston replied.
"Agreed. Clara?" Egon turned towards Clara.
"Uh, yeah sure. Okay."
"Um, one question. Are we gonna get paid for this job?" Peter asked. They all looked at him strangely. When they split up, Peter took the kitchen, Winston went into the living room, Ray checked the bathroom along with Egon, and Clara was checking out the bedrooms. Nothing was being picked up on the PKE meters, until Clara walked into the master bedroom. The antennae on her PKE meter began to flash and beep wildly.
"Hey, I think I got something." She turned to find out if anyone heard, and right then, the door slammed shut. "C'mon guys what are you doing?" She tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Peter is this some sort of joke?" But Peter was still in the kitchen, checking out the cupboards, no less. As if he'd find anything, except for a few layers of dust. "This isn't funny." Clara said, still trying to open the door. Now it was starting to get cold in the room, and a small breeze came up, even though no windows were open. A funny feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. All of a sudden, Clara was thrown violently against the wall by an invisible force. She was knocked so hard that her particle thrower was jarred out of its holster. Because her arms were held up as well, she could not reach for it. A disembodied voice whispered in her ear.
"I remember you." It said. Clara tried to free herself, but the ghost's strength had grown over the years.
"EGON!" She screamed before an invisible hand clamped over her mouth. Though the door was closed, Egon heard the screams and came running. He was the only one that made it out of the bathroom before that door slammed shut, trapping Ray inside.
"What the-?" Ray fiddled with the knob, but couldn't get the door to open. "Hey!" He yelled, banging on the door. Winston came to help get Ray out.
When Egon got to the master bedroom, he couldn't get the door open. "Hellllllllllp!" Clara shouted as her suit's zipper was pulled open.
"I can't get the door open!" Egon grunted as he struggled with the knob. Peter and Winston, who heard the commotion, came running to help also.
"What the heck's going on out there?" Ray shouted, but got no response as Winston had left to help Egon. Finally Egon took a few steps back, and rammed himself into the door, flinging it open. Seeing the outline of the ghost and taking care not to hit Clara, he fired his particle beam. Winston helped him out by firing his beam too. For a brief moment, Clara could see the face of the ghost as he writhed and struggled in the beam's wake.
"Somebody call for a ghost trap?" Peter asked as he ran in and threw the trap underneath. He stomped on the pedal, and the ghost that attacked Clara was sucked in. It was gone, and he would bother neither her, nor anyone else again.
"Are you alright?" Egon asked as he and Winston helped Clara up.
"It was the same ghost." She said.
"What? How?"
"He said he remembered me." Clara explained. "And for a brief moment, while he was caught in the beam, I saw its face. It wasn't an incubus. The ghost used to be human."
"Are you absolutely sure?" Egon asked.
"I'm very positive. I never forget a face." Egon pointed at her suit zipper, which was still undone.
"It tried to attack you again." She zipped it back up.
"I know. Guess he wasn't satisfied with the first time."
"Again? First time? What's going on here?" Peter asked, confused.
"Never mind Peter." Clara told him.
"Oh come on Clara, I'm a nice guy. I won't-"
"Peter please." Egon interrupted. Winston gave him a look that said, Drop it.
"Fine, okay." Peter threw up his hands in frustration and left the room.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Egon asked Clara again.
"Now that he's in that trap, I'm fine." They got Ray, who was able to get out of the bathroom once the ghost was trapped, and left to tell Mr. Suarez about what happened.
After doing some research, it turned out that the ghost was that of a man named Edwin Jimenez, who was accused of raping a fourteen year old girl named Amanda Quinteros in 1970. The case never went to trial due to lack of evidence. Five days after his case was dismissed in September 1970, Jimenez was found mysteriously murdered in his apartment, the same apartment that Clara and her sisters moved into in 1973. His murder was never solved. With his ghost trapped forever in the containment unit, Clara could finally re-bury the memory, this time for good.
The End.