Heavy streams and large drops of rainwater ran down the partially opened window of Peter Venkman's apartment. In the distance low rumbles of thunder sounded off in a steadily quieter manner as the storm passed over the city and headed North for the night. The brief flashes of lightning illuminated the interior of the dark apartment as the fatigued and aching Ghostbusters paced back and forth slowly through his living room, unable to sit still and unable to rest.

Admitting defeat Peter walked into his small kitchen and pulled open a drawer to retrieve a bottle of sleeping pills. Taking two white pills out of the bottle he popped them into his mouth and filled a glass with water from the tap. As he downed the water his phone began to ring and he let out an annoyed sigh at the intrusion.

"It's almost midnight," Peter grumbled as he slowly stumbled into the small office area where his phone was mounted on the wall. "probably Ray..." As he picked it up to answer he shook his head slowly. "Hello?"

"Peter! It's me!" Dr. Raymond 'Ray' Stantz's voice was brimming with a seemingly impossible level of enthusiasm as he replied over the line. "You need to get down here right now! It's incredible! It's-"

"Ray..." Peter cut off his friend midsentence with a firm but non-aggressive tone that resonated through the phone. "It's late, I'm off the clock, I don't feel well, and I just took some medicine. I'm not in the mood for ghosts and goblins."

"You're sick?" Ray's tone immediately changed from excited to worried within a split second. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I just need to sleep." Peter replied honestly and lethargically. "I'll check out whatever it is you want me to check out tomorrow."

"Okay, sure. Feel better. Let me know if you-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Peter rubbed a hand against his forehead as a painful headache set in. "I'll call. Goodnight, Ray."

"Goodnight, Peter."

Peter hung up the phone before Ray had the chance to say anything else, and he leaned his head against his arm as he leaned against the wall beside the hung up phone. Another low rumble of thunder followed after a quick flash of lightning as the rain began pouring down heavier, creating an ambience of natural white noise.

Too physically tired to walk over to his bedroom just a few yards away he chose to lay down on the nearby couch in his living room and turn on the television to watch the late night monster movie, hoping the sleeping pills would kick in soon and he'd finally fall asleep. As he laid down on the old leather sofa with the dreary black and white film playing out on the TV screen Peter closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh as he tried to relax and sleep through whatever illness it was that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

There was a series of knocks on the closed apartment door that Peter failed to respond to. As he dozed on the couch a spare key entered the lock and the door opened as Ray entered the apartment.

"Peter?" Ray could see Peter sleeping on the couch with the TV still on. From the doorway Ray could see that the white t-shirt Peter was wearing was stained in dry sweat under the arms and around the collar, the baggy gray sweatpants he wore were faded which made his appearance look all the more disheveled. Ray called out a second time. "Peter?"

Unresponsive on the couch Peter continued to sleep while Ray walked over to him.

Slowly Ray put a hand down on Peter's arm and squeezed lightly to try and wake his friend. "Peter?"

"Whoa!" Peter suddenly jerked awake, bolting upright and staring at Ray with wide eyes. His heart was pounding in his chest from the sudden adrenaline rush and he began to sweat coldly again. "Ray? What're you doing here?"

"I tried calling but you didn't answer." Ray explained as he took his hand from Peter's arm. "How many of those pills did you take?"

"Ray, I just told you I was fine! Why'd you come over here?"

"Peter, you told me you were fine last night." Ray's arms crossed defensively over his chest as he studied Peter's overall demeanor. "When you didn't answer the phone this morning or afternoon I had to stop by."

"Morning... Afternoon..." Peter was visibly confused as he processed Ray's words. "What time is it?"

"It's almost five in the evening."

"Five in the... I was out for almost seventeen hours..."

"Are you sure you only took two pills?"

"Yes. Ray. I'm sure." Peter put the back of his hand against his forehead for a moment. "My fever broke, so I guess I needed the sleep."

"Do you want me to make you a doctor's appointment?"

"No." Peter swung his legs over to the side of the couch and stood up slowly. "I just need a shower. Besides, we both know that as soon as Egon sees me he's going to swing into his 'doctor' mode and try to run all sorts of fun tests on me..."

"Good point." Ray unfolded his arms and watched as Peter stumbled into his bedroom to enter the adjoined bathroom so he could shower off his dried sweat. "Are you up for a trip down to the bookstore? There's something important I need to show you."

"It isn't another cursed artifact from medieval times or blurry photographs of bigfoot again, is it?" Peter asked from the still opened bathroom door as he pulled off his t-shirt and turned on the shower.

"Hey! It's not like I knew that pocket watch was cursed by warlock, and there's no way to prove that isn't bigfoot!" Ray defended, his voice shouting over the flowing water from the shower. "But to answer your question; last night while doing some research into the history of the Gozerian Cult I found a connection between-"

Peter shut the bathroom door quickly as he focused more on his shower and less on Ray's discovery.

"-okay, I'll tell you about it later." Ray patiently sat down on the couch and waited for Peter to finish his shower and rejoin him in the living room.

Standing under the shower head Peter tilted his head back and closed his eyes as the water washed down his face, his neck and his chest. The warm water felt wonderful against his achy body as the tension in his muscles began to finally release. Grabbing the bar of soap he used it to wash under his arms and the back of his neck before rinsing off and stepping out the shower.

With a towel wrapped around his waist he stood before the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His face was slightly pale with dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. A fine stubble had grown on his chin and jawline overnight which only made him look worse.

"You've seen better days." Taking the razor and shaving creme from the corner of the sink he lathered up his face and prepared to shave. "But not too many."

Still sitting on the couch waiting for Peter to return Ray began flipping through the channels on the TV until he found a breaking news story that caught his attention. The story was revolving around a man who had suddenly turned violent and hurt his wife after a small argument. The man was arrested and absolutely devastated by his actions, while the wife remained hospitalized.

"Makes me glad I'm still a bachelor." Ray commented as the story unfolded.

Further details indicated that the couple had been together for ten years with no history of domestic violence and rarely argued, which made the man's outburst all the more bizarre.

The bathroom door opened and Peter walked into his bedroom to change into fresh clothes. Stepping out into the living room now dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a clean gray t-shirt and a green button shirt over top Peter slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and joined Ray at the couch.

"Feeling better?" Ray asked as he looked over at his friend.

"Yeah. I'm good. But that doesn't mean I won't need someone to tuck me into tonight or read me a bedtime story."

"Maybe Egon'll stop by later."

"But Egon doesn't read the stories right!" Peter whined playfully.

"How about Winston?" Ray played right back as he stood up from the couch and made his way toward the door.

"He doesn't tuck me in! Not ever!"

It wasn't too long of a walk to Ray's bookstore from Peter's apartment. The streets had dried from the rainstorm from the previous night but the air still smelled of a fresh rain. The clouds overhead were still dark but not as heavy or abundant as they had been during the storm. As the setting sun pierced through the cloud cover the city lights began to illuminate gradually throughout the towering buildings that lined each city block.

"Winston said he'd wait for us inside." Ray stated as he and Peter rounded the corner on the block. "Egon's at the firehouse running a few tests already."

"What is exactly you've found, Ray?" Peter asked finally. He had rudely cut Ray off before the patient engineer had the chance to give him all of the details. "Please tell me it isn't sharp or explosive."

"Sharp, no." Ray replied in his familiar enthusiastic tone. "Explosive, maybe."

"Maybe is better than yes." Peter cocked his head slightly before tagging on a final quip. "Usually."

Ray opened the door to the bookstore and stepped inside with Peter following shortly after. The bell above the door jingled and pulled Winston Zeddemore's attention from the book in his hands and toward the door as his colleagues finally joined him inside the store. The fourth member of the team had agreed to help Ray in his research that afternoon and had been diligently checking through the requested tomes patiently.

Kylie Griffin, a young college student who had recently begun working in the bookstore, barely acknowledged Ray's arrival as she was too enraptured in her own book behind the front desk to look up. Despite her seemingly cold attitude and darkly Gothic appearance Kylie was very kind and impressively empathetic, especially for someone so young.

"Hey guys," Winston closed his book and slid it back into its place on the shelf. "'bout time. Feeling better today, Peter?"

"I take it Ray told you about his midnight phone call." Peter replied somewhat sternly as he walked toward the back room of the store with Winston and Ray at his side.

"He told me he called you," Winston confirmed while giving Ray a slightly annoyed glance. "but he didn't say it was so late!"

"Sorry..." Ray apologized with an embarrassed blush on his face. "I didn't know it was that late and I was excited... Egon didn't mind!"

"Egon doesn't sleep." Peter reminded him as they entered the back room. On the lone round table in the back a wooden square box object was resting in the center was a forest green cloth covering it. "Is this it?"

"Yup!" Ray took hold of one of the corners of the cloth theatrically as he prepared to pull it away from the object. "Ready?"

"Just show us already!" Peter complained as he tried to keep himself from snapping at his friends. He wasn't feel completely well and still had a dull headache, but he didn't want to admit that he was still sick. "I can only pay attention for so long!"

"Alright, alright..." Ray tightened his fingertips around the corner of the cloth and pulled it away revealing the object beneath. "Ta-da!"

Peter and Winston didn't say anything. They just exchanged unimpressed glances before Peter finally spoke up.

"...It's a box."

The square box was small, roughly four by four inches in size with a dark colored oak with a unknown family crescent painstakingly carved into the lid. A gold latch on the front kept the box closed and fully concealed whatever little trinkets could be kept inside.

"It's not just a box Peter," Ray put his hand finger on the latch and lifted it up so he could slowly open the lid. "it's an ancient chest holding a piece of nearly forgotten history!"

"So it's an... old box." Peter quipped dryly in response.

While Winston stifled a laugh Ray just squared his jaw and opened the box to reveal the contents within. "Just look inside, will ya'?"

Peering down inside the box Peter spotted an aged golden charm that appeared to be a likeness of a fox-like creature. The gold was aged but still shiny and the smaller details on the charm had long since worn away from age and neglect, but the overall appearance was still easily identifiable. The body of the fox was resting on a red velvet covering that lined the box and gave the charm a regal appearance.

"A keychain?" Peter's sarcasm was as palpable as his wit was sharp.

"This 'keychain' as you call it," Ray began to go into depth about its origins and why it was so extraordinary without being fazed by Peter's lackluster attitude. "is a piece of the fabled Lydian Hoard! It was created around 547 B.C. and lost until 1965 when it was discovered during a dig near a small village called Gure. It was found in a tomb belonging to an unknown, potentially lost princess and the various pieces were immediately ransacked and sold off to the highest bidders!"

Winston proposed a very interesting question. "So we're holding onto smuggled goods? Is that legal?"

"It's on loan from a friend of mine." Ray explained calmly and casually. "She found it while exploring the Amazon Rainforest and stumbled across a black market type of place. She purchased it with the intent to donate it to the natural history museum in London but sent it over to me so I could run a few tests on it to check for paranormal activity or anomalies."

"Paranormal?" Peter didn't like the sound of that. He pit his hand on the lid of the box and snapped it back shut. "This thing is cursed? I hate curses!"

"My tests haven't proven anything one way or another." Ray defended confidently as he put the green cloth back over the box. "It was reported that those who originally looted the dig ended up dealing with either chronic sickness, constant bad luck and a few even died, but-"

"But?!" Peter interrupted hastily. "You talk about this little doodad could possibly kill us and you add a 'but' like that isn't just a little extreme?"

"He's right, Ray!" Winston quickly sided with Peter on the matter. "I'm not the most superstitious man on the planet, but I wouldn't mess around with curses or bad mojo."

"Listen to the man, Ray." Peter put a hand on Winston's shoulder and motioned toward his friend with the other hand theatrically. "After all, he's the smart one in the group! Right after Egon. And me."

"Relax, as soon as I finish my research I'll mail it back to London where it'll remain locked up behind a glass case away from prying hands or reckless behavior."

"It should be locked up now."

"Egon ran a scan over it yesterday afternoon and again this morning and has been checking the results at the firehouse all day. I'm sure he's finished by now."

"Did he call?"

Winston chimed in before Ray could. "Does he ever?"

"Good point." Peter tightened his hand on Winston's shoulder. "See? You are the smart one."

"Don't worry, I'm going to leave it here where no one will touch it. First thing in the morning I'll send it back, okay?"

"Okay, fine." Peter relaxed a little but his lingering sickness was still pushing him to his limits. "Is this seriously what you called me for last night? One little gold fox thing? Just so you know Ray, even if I wasn't sick last night I still would've blown you off!"

"Gee, thanks." Ray didn't appreciate Peter's rudeness but put up with it for the sake of keeping peace on the team. "C'mon, let's go check in on Egon. I want to see what the PKE meter registered." Pointing toward the doorway he walked through and motioned for his friends to follow. As he passed by the front desk he dropped his key down in front of Kylie. "Lock up for me Kylie, I'll give you a bonus in your next paycheck."

Dr. Egon Spengler was analyzing the collected data and readings recorded by the PKE meter on the intriguing object that Ray had received in the mail the night before. It hadn't taken him long to run a proper scan on the small gold charm and had noticed an immediate spike in the energy level, though the spike itself was only recorded for a single second before dropping back to a lower level of power.

Residing himself to his private lab to work Egon had isolated himself to ensure full concentration. There was a gentle knocking on the opened door's frame as Janine Meltnitz, the receptionist to the Ghostbusters, tried to gain his attention.

"I'm going home for the evening." Janine stated as she grabbed her purse and gave Egon a somewhat affectionate gaze. "See you in the morning, don't work too late."

"Goodnight Janine." Was Egon's succinct reply. He was too focused on his work to look at her or even fully acknowledge that she was even there.

Let out a somewhat disappointed sigh she took her leave for the night. As Janine crossed the garage and made her way to the door Ray, Peter and Winston walked inside and bid her goodnight before making their way to the lab where Egon was still busily toiling away with the data he had compiled.

"Find anything interesting?" Ray asked as he walked into the lab and stood beside Egon.

"A singular abnormality has caught my attention but I've yet to fully analyze it." Egon pointed to the printed readout for Ray to observe. "It appeared yesterday at approximately three in the afternoon and afterward the energy retained a consistent level that hasn't fluctuated since the initial disturbance."

"Wonder what caused it to react, and I wonder what it had reacted to." Ray leaned down over the desk and stared at the readout. "Any calls while I was out?"

"No. The city has been quiet on a paranormal level. However it seems that the living has been affected by an unseen force."

"You saw the news report about the domestic disturbance?"

"Which one?"

"Whoa, wait... There's been more than one incident?"

Peter loudly cleared his throat to get his friends' attention. "Excuse me, but does this really concern that weird charm and do I really need to be here?"

Egon looked up from the data readout and took in Peter's sallow complexion. "Venkman, you still appear to be ill."

"I'm fine Spengz." Peter immediately took a step back knowing that Egon was going to try to examine him. "Just a little-" The phone rang on Janine's desk which gave Peter the perfect excuse to leave the area. "I got it!"

Winston followed Peter out of the lab and over to the desk where the relatively spry psychologist hastily sat down in the seat behind Janine's vacated desk and kicked his feet up on the desk top. He picked up the red colored phone and answered with a professional tone of voice. "Ghostbusters."

As Peter leaned forward, pulling his legs down from the desk top to the floor, he began to frantically write down an address on the notepad and grimaced noticeably.

Winston took the cue and shouted to Ray and Egon inside the lab. "Got a call. Peter and I'll handle it, you two stay here."

Peter was undeniably appreciative of Winston urging Ray and Egon to stay behind at the firehouse while they went out on the call as a duo. Ray's boundless energy was beginning to wear down Peter's patience and Egon's inability to not obsess over any and all health abnormalities amongst the team would prevent Peter from responding to the bust without any distractions.

"Let's get going Zed." Peter tore the slip of paper from the top of the notepad and waved it in the air as he jogged over to the lockers to slip on his jumpsuit. "There's a ghost on the loose at the old theater across the street from the Sedgwick Hotel. Let's just hope it's not another slime ball, I can't afford anymore dry cleaning for the month."

It didn't take long for Peter and Winston to arrive at the designated address of the call. The walk outside of the theater had been vacated by frightened citizens which allowed the Ghostbusters clear access to the haunted building. What was once a grand theater that had seen thousands of glorious live performances for almost a century had been closed for renovations, which had apparently upset the ghosts that had been dwelling within the walls.

The exterior lights and sign for the theater were dark, the windows concealed behind thick curtains, the door surrounded by metal scaffolds and lifts. The ground all around the entrance to the theater was littered with dropped tools, scraps of paper and bits of plaster that had been scattered about in numerous directions by the fleeing workers.

"Ever been a fan of the theater Zed?" Peter asked as Ecto-1 pulled up and parked in front of the building. The entire street was absent of any vehicles along the way, giving the hearse plenty of space to park. "I was in the school play in the fourth grade. I was the best Robin Hood Mrs. Carmichael ever directed."

"Not really, but I did like magic shows as a kid. My dad used to take me ever magic show at the state fair every summer until I was twelve."

The loud eerie shriek of ghost roaming about the interior of the theater echoed in a violent shrill through the walls and over the street. The stench of decay and of dust filled the air as the spectral anomaly floated about aimlessly in anticipation of the Ghostbusters arrival.

"Did you ever learn any tricks? Like sewing a lady in half or making a ghost disappear without a trace?"

"I can make a quarter pop out of your ear." Winston joked as he pulled open the rear compartment of Ecto-1 and hefted a proton pack onto his broad shoulders and fastened the straps properly around his waist.

"Maybe later." Peter joined Winston and slipped on the second proton pack for himself. "Should we knock or let ourselves in?"

Shrieking from within the theater taunted the two approaching Ghostbusters as the increasingly restless and destructive ghost continued to angrily swirl about and cause mayhem within the building.

"You first." Winston suggested as he powered up his proton pack and unsheathed the thrower.

"You're the marine! First one in, last one out... C'mon!"

"But you have seniority."

"But you have courage!" Peter argued childishly. "And honor!"

"Okay, okay. Let's go in." Winston put his hand on the large brass handle of the large, freshly painted red door. "I'll corner it and you throw the trap under it."

"Sounds good to me." Peter pulled a trap by its cable from the rear compartment of the hearse before slamming the door shut. "Lead the way."

In the small lab of the firehouse Egon and Ray worked together to chronicle the collected data on the bizarre and rare trinket that Ray had been allowed to examine. The psychokinetic energy signature emitted by the curious little object would fluctuate sporadically throughout the previous night but there was no discernible pattern to the fluctuations or how high the level of energy would spike which made proper and accurate analysis unexpectedly difficult for the two scientists to calculate.

"What do you make of it Spengler?" Ray asked as he held the long strip of paper with the recorded energy levels between his hands. The strip was longer than his arm span and hung down to the floor in long wisps that pooled into piles on the floor at his feet. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I believe the object in question has been affected by an incredibly powerful ethereal phenomenon that is having ramifications amongst the living."

"How so?"

"There has been a marked increase in violent outbursts throughout the city in the same time span as when the mentioned charm had initially arrived. Such events had been reported by those who had made contact with various pieces of the very collection that the charm had been a part of."

"Yeah... You might be onto something." A new and worrying thought popped into Ray's head as the possible curse being caused by the charm could very well be having an adverse effect on the city and the those who were unfortunate enough to be affected by it. "Do you think the charm is what made Peter sick the other night?"

"It's possible." Egon pondered the notion with a scientifically keen interest. "Ray, I need to do historical research into archeological team that had discovered the lost treasure."

"What're you thinking?" Ray set down the strip of paper and put hands to his hips as he studied Egon's deep set expression.

"It's just a theory, but I believe I now know the connection between the charm and the bizarre events affecting random citizens in the immediate vicinity of said charm."

The pursuit of the ghost through the theater was tiring for the responding duo. Winston had been able to keep up with the fleeing specter with little difficulty but Peter had some trouble joining the chase down the narrow hallways and larger corridors. Still nursing a headache the increase in blood pressure and his heart rate from the physical exertion made his head hurt more than ever.

Pausing mid stride a few paces behind Winston the weary psychologist used the sleeve of his jumpsuit to wipe away the sweat beading on his forehead. Even through the thick fabric of the jumpsuit Peter could feel that he was running a temperature again and needed to take a rest.

"Head's up!" Winston shouted as the red angry ghost threw a giant can of paint at the two Ghostbusters just as they rounded the corner of the corridor.

Winston ducked down while Peter slipped back around the corner to avoid the incoming projectile. The paint can hit the floor and massive splash of white paint stained the floor, the walls and the side of Peter's boot.

"Aw, man!" Peter looked at the mess and peeked his head back around the corner. "We ARE not getting charged for this mess!"

Winston responded to the situation by opening fire with his proton pack and ensnared the blob of red ectoplasmic energy with the proton stream from his thrower. As he wrangled the flailing, struggling ghost he planted his feet firmly to ensure that the ghost couldn't either escape the stream or pull Winston down to the floor.

"Got it!"

"Uh..." Peter shook his head a little as he had to force himself to focus on the bust. Remembering he had a trap clipped to his belt he unfastened the hook and set the trap down on the floor. As he knelt beside the trap he could feel his head swimming and needed to close his eyes. Using his hearing over his sight he put his hand down on the trap and slid it forward across the floor and managed to set the trap very near the ghost itself.

"Hold on!" Winston used his boot to nudge the trap a little closer to the ghost before taking a few steps back himself. "Okay, now!"

Peter made a fist and smashed it down on the release trigger of the trap and waited for Winston to give the 'all clear' as the bright, white ionized light from the trap burst through the top doors and enveloped the red colored ghost and began pulling it downward into the trap itself.

"It's down!" Winston shouted as he turned off his proton stream and waited for Peter to close the trap.

Pressing down on the trigger once again the doors of the trap snapped shut and sealed the ghost within. Wisps of gray smoke billowed out from the trap as the little red light on top of the trap blinked rhythmically to signify that it was currently occupied.

"Nice one." Picking the trap up from the ground by its cable Winston held the trap out in front of him at arm's length as he turned around and saw that Peter was still kneeling down on the ground. "You alright?"

"No." Peter admitted feeling completely horrible and tired. "My head's killing me."

Winston offered a hand to his friend and helped him up to his feet. As looked at Peter's face he winced sympathetically. "You're looking a little rough. Let's get back to the firehouse so you can lay down."

"You were always my favorite member of the team." Peter tried to jest but his voice was too heavy with fatigue to carry the joke properly.

"Come on. We'll bill the theater tomorrow."

Egon had settled down in front of his computer with extensive records detailing the lineage and family histories of the party responsible for the discovery of the cursed treasure on full display across the monitor. Though somewhat limited the records did provide some details that Egon could use to his advantage and potentially confirm his current working theory.

"Take a look at this Ray." Egon leaned back in his chair and pointed to an aged photograph on the screen. "Who does this gentleman remind you of?"

Ray peered at the screen and looked at the person Egon had isolated under his fingertip. "Hey! He looks like Venkman!"

"Because he IS Venkman." Egon confirmed as he moved his finger to the name associated with the man in the photograph. "This is Richard William Venkman. He was one of the members of the original archeological dig and died two years afterward."

"Cause of death?"

"Polio."

"Not a good way to die."

"No, it was not. This particular member of the Venkman family also suffered great misfortune before falling ill."

"How so?"

"According to legal documents and family records Richard had lost his wife in an ugly divorce, his son was killed in a traffic accident at the age of nine and his daughter was arrested for drug possession."

"We know for sure that this Venkman is related to our Venkman?"

"Yes. Richard is Peter's late uncle. Peter himself would've been only eight years old when Richard passed away. I don't imagine in that time Peter would've developed a strong bond with his uncle or really know to much about his life."

"This is all fascinating Egon, but what does it have to do with what's been going on as of late?"

"My theory is that this 'curse' has spread beyond those who had unearth the treasure and have since begun affecting the bloodline of the original explorers."

"And you can prove all this because Peter's been sick lately?"

"His recent illness and the timing of the charm's arrival had set the theory in motion," Egon then directed Ray's attention to the other members of the search party. "however the reoccurring pattern of descendants of the search party have substantiated it."

"Let's see..." Ray began comparing the list of names from the search party to the confirmed names regarding police reports for violent outbursts throughout the city. "Wow, you may be right! It looks like the charm is going to affect all of the family of the explorers until... well, something changes!"

"Ray have you uncovered any documents regarding the removal of curses from bloodlines during your research?"

"Yeah, I've seen a couple. But they all require the affect person to offer some kind of reparation to the one who set about the curse to begin with. It's almost always a blood sacrifice."

The door to the garage opened wide as Ecto-1 backed into the firehouse and parked itself in the center of the garage with a gentle stop. The hearse didn't have its lights or siren sounding off which was always a good sign as it meant there was no urgency during their arrival.

"Wonder how the bust went?" Ray stated as he stood up straight and strolled out of the lab to meet his returned colleagues inside the garage. "Should we tell Venkman about his uncle or wait until after we have a more definitive theory?"

"Perhaps we should-" Egon had followed Ray out of the lab and stopped short when he saw Peter leaning heavily against the side of the parked hearse. He was clearly in distress; his face pale, his body trembling, a sheen of sweat over his skin and dark circles under his eyes. "I'll tend to Peter, you assist Winston with the ghost."

"Right." Ray met Winston at the entryway to the basement to ask him about the bust and the captured ghost while Egon went to check on Peter.

"Peter?" Egon put a hand to Peter's shoulder and could feel the violent trembling that shook the ill psychologist's body. The contact with Peter's shoulder also confirmed that Peter was suffering from a fever due to the intense heat radiating from his body. "How long have you been suffering from a fever?"

"Not long." His answer was somewhat slurred but still quick. "Maybe the last forty-five minutes."

"You must lay down. What are your other symptoms?"

"Uh... headache and fatigue." Peter muttered while he leaned against the vehicle, too tired to stand with his strength alone.

"No issues with your stomach or any other localized pain?"

"No... Just a massive headache and I feel like I'm burning up."

Egon put his hand to the side of Peter's neck to more accurately gauge his current body temperature. "You do feel feverish. I want you to lay down upstairs and get some rest."

"For once I won't argue you with you, pal."

"Now I know you're sick." Egon quipped as he helped guide Peter from the garage up the stairs to the bunk room by replacing his hand to Peter's shoulder for support.

"Ha, ha... Well, I suppose laughter in the best medicine..."

Peter's steps were heavy and awkward as he walked up the stairs slowly. As he ascended the stairs he unzipped his jumpsuit and slipped the sleeves from his arms. His t-shirt was already damp with sweat and his limbs were shaking from weakness.

"I'll get you some ibuprofen." Egon stated as he guided Peter all the way through the rec room and into the bunk room. As Peter laid down on his bed and closed his eyes Egon took a notepad from the drawer of the nearby nightstand made a few notes regarding Peter's current condition and the time. "I'll check in on you in a few hours. Sleep."

"Sure... Goodnight 'mom'." Peter teased as he draped his arm over his eyes to block out as much light as possible.

Egon ignored the comment as he finished his notes on the pad. "I'll bring you something for your headache and for your fever."

"...Thanks Spengz."

Winston had deposited the captured red ghost into the containment unit and had busied himself with charging the trap and charging the two proton packs that had been used during the bust. As he checked on the equipment Ray had run a scan over the ghost in question and compared the results on the ghost's energy signature to try and classify it properly.

"Hm, this is very strange..." Ray muttered as he stared at the data readout on the computer monitor attached the containment unit.

"What's up?" Winston asked as he stood up and walked over from the wall and back to the containment unit. He stood beside Ray and looked at the monitor for a moment before studying Ray's stern facial expression.

"The readings on this ghost are very unusual."

"Unusual how? I mean, it's a ghost that tore up a theater. That's not exactly part of the 'norm', even for New York."

"This ghost by all account is an ethereal incarnation related to our resident 'slimer'. The green ghost from the Sedgewick Hotel is an incorporeal manifestation of one of the seven deadly sins: specifically gluttony. This red ghost is a second incorporeal manifestation of the sin of wrath. By all accounts the two ghosts should be emitting similar psychokinetic energy frequencies but the red ghost's levels are far higher than the green ghost. It's almost as if it had been channeling energy from a secondary source to fuel itself but there have been no ethereal hotspots or any other paranormal sources that could do this to the ghost."

"So how did it get supercharged? I mean, that thing was strong enough to scare out an entire construction crew and those guys are pretty fearless when it comes to be surrounded by power tools, heavy pieces of metal and unpredictable human error." Winston leaned one hand against the side of the containment unit as he recounted the event that he and Peter had just been a part of. "That ghost was fast, mean and strong enough to chuck full cans of paint at us without even the slightest hesitation."

Ray sighed lamentably as he turned off the display monitor and turned to his friend with sorrowful eyes. "I think I might be responsible for this mess, and for all of the other bizarre happenings throughout the city."

"You?" Winston almost laughed at the very idea but could see that Ray was completely sincere. "How are you responsible for all this chaos?"

"I'm the one who received that cursed charm and I'm the one who's let it sit around unguarded in the bookstore for almost two days now. Not once did I consider that it could have ill effects on innocent bystanders or have an adverse effect on the other paranormal entities that naturally exist throughout the city."

"Ray, if that charm is really the cause of all of this then shouldn't sending it back overseas fix our problem?"

Ray's mismatched eyes lit up with eureka and relief. "You're right! Come on, we need to get back to the bookstore and ship that thing out of here tonight!"

"Alright, but I'm driving. You're just a little too wound up for my liking."

As the two walked up the staircase and returned to the garage on the first floor they spotted Egon walking into his lab with a somewhat distracted look on his face. As Egon was always a man of science and emotional discipline to see him with even the slightest twinge of worry on his face was enough to set off alarm bells.

"Hey Egon," Ray called after his friend while he and Winston followed him into the lab. "something wrong?"

"Possibly." Egon admitted as he glanced over his notes; half of the notes were pertaining to research on the troublesome charm that Ray had introduced the team to, while the other half were containing details on the random citizens of New York who were being affected by the charm's presence. "I cannot properly identify the cause of Peter's sudden illness."

"Is it serious?" Winston question was just as relevant as it was unsettling.

"I cannot say for certain. While Peter is in stable condition it's entirely possible for him to degrade quickly and without warning."

Ray folded his arms over his chest as he stood in the doorway of the lab in deep thought. "What're his symptoms?"

"Fever, headache and exhaustion. I've ruled out the common and the uncommon causes of such symptoms and cannot give a proper diagnosis. Fever is indicative of infection but he has no external or internal injuries to account for this; I'm going to run a blood test to rule out anything bacterial or viral but I doubt it'll locate anything abnormal."

"What about his headache?" Winston pressed curiously.

"His blood pressure is normal and he isn't dehydrated, nor has he suffered any damage to his skull."

"Exhaustion?" Ray asked in a somewhat hesitant manner.

"Again, no sign of injury and his sleep pattern has remained unchanged. I'll run a test to check his circadian rhythm to ensure that his R.E.M. cycle is still healthy."

Ray shook his head slightly before informing Egon of his and Winston's plan for the evening. "Well, we're going to go back to the bookstore and make sure that charm is sent out tonight. Hopefully by removing it from the area we can prevent anymore violent outbursts or mysterious illnesses to anyone who happens to share a connection to the original dig team who found that damn thing in the first place..."

"Wait, what?" Winston was a little confused. "What's going on?"

Ray put a hand to Winston's shoulder and pushed him lightly toward Ecto-1 in the garage. "I'll explain on the way." He glanced back over his shoulder toward Egon. "Take care of Peter, we'll be back soon." Ray looked down at his watch and noted the time. "Whoa, we better hurry! The store will close soon and Kylie has my keys!"

"Hold it!" Egon called out to his colleagues before they left the firehouse. The urgency in his voice was enough to stop the two men dead in their tracks. "Ray, you stated that past records have indicated that a 'blood sacrifice' to the offending paranormal forces that cause harm to mortals appears to be enough to end such turmoil, correct?"

"Uh... yeah." Ray was obviously uncomfortable with the question. Having known Egon for so long he had a very good idea what Egon was thinking. "You're not going to hurt Peter, are you?"

"If it'll help him recovery then I'm willing to live with the knowledge of having willingly inflicted pain on my friend."

Winston was just as uncomfortable as Ray. "Are you just going to draw some blood with a needle and store it in a vial? Like a blood test?"

"Unfortunately, no." Egon lamentably confessed. "It's been widely believed that the purpose of the blood sacrifice is to signify pain and to relinquish a piece of one's life. In order for the blood sacrifice to be effective it needs to be one of pain."

"Uh..." Ray didn't know what to say to that.

"I assure you that I would not be doing this unless it was absolutely necessary." Egon retreated into his lab and pulled open the top left drawer of the desk. Inside was an emergency surgical kit that Egon had held onto since he had switched majors from medicine to physics back in college. "I have a sterile scalpel and I will properly disinfect the area before and after the blood is drawn."

Winston was obviously uncomfortable. Delving into the world of paranormal rituals and odd legends had always been one of the more uncomfortable subjects that he'd been introduced to.

"It will only take a moment. I will be quick but I will also be careful." Egon stated firmly as he jogged up the stairs to the second floor with the kit in his hands.

Ray opened the passenger side door of Ecto-1 and sat down. Winston joined Ray inside the hearse, taking his seat behind the wheel and turning the key in the ignition.

"If Peter has really been cursed-"

"Don't Ray!" Winston cautioned him swiftly. "Don't do that to yourself. We don't know that for sure but we both know that Egon is just very cautious and wants to make sure every possible scenario has been taken into consideration."

"Y-Yeah." Ray wanted to believe Winston but the hesitation in his voice didn't fool anyone, including himself.

"Hey." Winston playfully punched Ray in the shoulder. "Everything will work out, you'll see."

Peter was still asleep and resting somewhat fitfully when Egon walked into the bunk room. The physicist entered the room quietly with the kit in his hands and sat down on the edge of Peter's bed. He sat the kit down on the small end table next to the bed and popped open the lid of the metal case. Picking up Peter's wrist Egon checked his pulse and counted his respiration before reaching into the kit to slip on a pair of sterilized latex gloves.

"Venkman? Peter?" Egon spoke to his friend as if Peter was in fact awake and could understand him easily. "You're not going to like this but it's completely necessary."

Taking a bottle of alcohol and a cottonball from the kit Egon soaked the cottonball in the alcohol and swabbed a patch of Peter's skin on his forearm. Next Egon took a scalpel that was wrapped up in sterilized plastic packaging and removed it from the plastic. Taking in a deep breath and holding it Egon took the remarkably sharp blade of the scalpel and used it to cut into the cleansed patch of skin on Peter's arm.

A groan of pain escaped Peter's lips but he didn't wake up during the 'procedure'.

As the blood streamed and pooled from the fresh laceration on Peter's arm Egon took a glass vial and pressed it to the bleeding wound to collecting the deep red liquid. Only when the vial was full did Egon seal it with a rubber top and set it aside for the moment.

"Thank you Peter. I'm glad you stayed asleep."

Swabbing the laceration and surrounding skin once more with alcohol Egon cleansed the open wound before placing a white gauze pad down to cover the wound. Taking a roll of gauze he wrapped Peter's forearm under the protective bandage and gently stood up from the bed.

Slipping off his gloves Egon tossed them into the trash bin in the bathroom before reclaiming the vial of blood and returning to his friends down on the first floor.

Peter had remained completely unaware of what had just transpired save a dull ache in his arm.

Ray watched in the passenger side mirror as Egon jogged back down the staircase with the vial of blood in his hand. Passing off to Ray through the opened window of the hearse Egon didn't say a word.

"Don't worry Spengler. We'll get rid of that curse and make sure Peter gets well."

Egon only nodded to acknowledge Ray as he stared at the painstakingly detailed notes as if he could somehow will the solution to appear before his eyes. While the charm would inevitably provide invaluable knowledge and insight into cursed objects and the ability for ethereal connections to reside for decades, connecting itself to a singular bloodline and causing harm to future generations; the price was too steep whenever an innocent person was harmed in the process.

The hearse pulled out of the garage quickly leaving Egon alone on the first floor to get lost in his work once more. Work he hoped would provide further information on the bizarre case at hand before things escalated any further.

Just as Egon was about to sit down behind the desk a loud 'thud' from the second floor drew his attention. Egon looked up toward the ceiling where the sound originated from and realized that the 'thud' came from the bunk room.

"Venkman?"

The cold hard surface of the wooden floor pulled Peter's heavy eyes open into little slits. He stared with glassy eyes at the floor confusedly before realizing what had happened and where he was. Pushing himself with one arm so he could lean on the limb and on his side he gazed about the room with a swimming head and dots dancing over his eyes.

"Peter?" Egon's voice called out from the door frame. The physicist made his was over to where Peter was laying and knelt down. "Are you injured?"

Looking up at the face of his friend Peter's glassy eyes failed to focus and his eyelids fell shut. "...Spengz?"

"Yes Peter." Egon hooked his arm under Peter's arm and slowly lifted his friend up from the floor and back onto the edge of the bed from where he had fallen. Egon immediately checked the bandage for any sign of bleeding or contamination, but it was unaffected in the fall. "Do you know where you are?"

"...Firehouse." Peter's delayed answer was slightly slurred as he spoke.

"Correct." Egon confirmed. Pressing his hand to the side of Peter's neck he gauged his fever and grimaced. "The medication isn't reducing your fever as it should. You must rest. I'll get you a cold compress."

"...I'm fine..." Peter lied pitifully as Egon guided him down from a sitting position so he could lay flat on his back one again. "Really."

"No. You're ill." Egon refuted as he walked into the adjoined bathroom to pick up a clean washcloth and run it under the cold tap in the sink. "Please don't try to get up again."

"...I didn't." Peter stated lethargically. "I fell."

"I see." Egon returned to the bunk room with the washcloth and a thermometer. He gently draped the cloth over Peter's hot forehead. He smoothed out the material before picking up Peter's wrist to check his pulse and slipping the thermometer between Peter's teeth. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"...yeah." His words were muffled slightly by the glass instrument in his mouth, but Egon could still understand him.

"What was it about?"

"Peck. He... he became mayor of New York. ...Put us out of business and put us in jail..."

"That maybe the most terrifying scenario we'd ever theoretically face." Egon joked as he set Peter's hand back down on the bed and retrieved the thermometer. "You're heart rate is elevated and your fever is one-hundred and two point six. I'm going to give you two more ibuprofen. If you're temperature doesn't begin to reduce within an hour I'm going to have to run a blood test."

"...Hate needles." Peter whined softly as Egon took the bottle of medicine from his pocket and dropped two pills into his hand.

"I know. That's why I won't draw blood unless absolutely necessary." Egon offered the two pills to Peter who slowly picked them up, one by one, and popped them into his mouth. "Need some water?"

Peter didn't respond. After letting out a weary sigh his breaths evened out as he slipped back into the bliss of sleep and became aware of the waking world around him.

"Good. Rest." Egon was glad to see Peter already sleeping. Quietly he took his leave of the bunk room to ensure that Peter remained undisturbed and could sleep easily.

As Ecto-1 pulled up in front of the bookstore the two men spotted Kylie locking the front door of the shop and ready to leave for the rest of the evening. Ray scrambled from the passenger side of the hearse and rushed up to the door to stop Kylie and reclaim his keys from his loyal assistant. Winston joined Ray at the door shortly after. The two men bid Kylie a good night before entering the bookstore to claim the cursed charm from the back and ship it out that very night.

"Good timing." Ray sighed as he unlocked the front door and pushed it open. "I'd hate to have to disturb Kylie at home."

"Well, at least you know she's loyal and didn't try to leave early on you."

"Yeah, good point. Think I'll give her a little bonus in her next paycheck."

The interior of the bookstore was dark. Not wanting to draw any unwanted attention Ray decided to keep the lights off and use the faint outlines of the desk, table, chairs and the bookshelves to guide him from the front of the store and into the back room. Ray's hand bumped against the brass doorknob and he grabbed onto it firmly.

"Let's get this thing boxed up and out of here."

Winston followed Ray into the back and watched as the engineer removed the green cloth and sighed in relief to see that the charm hadn't been moved during his absence. Opening the box he eyed the charm with bitter disdain before pulling the vial of Peter's blood from the pocket of his jacket and opening the lid.

"I hope this was worth it..."

Slowly Peter tipped the vial until multiple drops of Peter's blood stained the gilded trinket, staining it a sickly brass color that now smelled of aged gold and iron.

Ray capped the vial and threw it into a trashcan in the corner of the backroom. Feeling a little queasy about the whole ordeal Ray readily slammed the lid shut and picked the box up tentatively. "Okay... I guess we're ready."

"Who's going to ship this thing out this late into the evening?"

"I know a guy." Ray stated confidently as he walked over to the nearby closet to pull out a small cardboard box and packed up the ancient charm inside of it. "He owes me one."

"Uh... do I want to know why he owes you one?"

"Nothing criminal." Ray affirmed casually as he properly addressed the box and taped it up. "He just wanted someone to confirm that he wasn't going crazy and that there was a ghost in his bathroom."

"...Was there?"

"Nope." Ray finished packing the box and motioned casually toward the door of the backroom. "It was a bat. I got it out from under the sink for him anyway."

"Oh."

"Come on. Let's get this thing out of the city before anyone else goes nuts!"

Winston waited for Ray to lock the door of his store with one hand, and the box with the re-packed charm in the other. The street had been relatively quiet for the evening but soon the sound of horns honking and indistinguishable yelling echoed loudly down the dim street.

"Uh-oh." Winston grimaced in response to the unfolding commotion several yards away. "Let's just hope it's the usual traffic problems and not anything new with your little charm there."

"Yeah... I hope so, too."

Ray took his seat in the front while Winston sat down behind the steering wheel. Ray kept a tight grip on the box while Winston tentatively pulled the hearse away from the block and began rolling down the street toward the chaotic scene taking place just out of view.

As Ecto-1 encroached on the scene the yelling grew louder and more violent.

Two men, one taxi driver and the other a random New Yorker, were lost in the throes of a shouting match as the two had been in a head-on collision. While uninjured both vehicles were damaged at the front. Smoke poured out from under the hoods of both vehicles, puddles of oil and other fluids formed beneath the piles of wrecked metal and the stench of burning rubber filled the air.

"Should we do something?" Ray asked timidly as the hearse came to stop a few yards from the accident. It was impossible to maneuver the large bodied hearse around the two damaged vehicles and it was too late to back up as a cab had pulled right behind them.

"No. Let's wait for the police. I have a bad feeling about this..."

Ray looked down at the package in his hands and shook his head. "I really hope that this wasn't my fault."

"Ray, nothing bad that's happened in the city or to anyone else is your fault. For all we know this crazy day could be the result of a strange cosmic phenomenon or bad 'ju-ju'."

Nodding Ray looked up and through the windshield at the two men arguing as he slunk deeply back into his seat. "I just know for sure that once this 'thing' is gone I'll be feeling a whole lot better!"

Egon had decided it'd be best to stay close to Peter in case his illness suddenly worsened or in case he needed something. Sitting down on the couch in the rec just across the way from the bunk room Egon had turned on the news and found yet another report revolving around violent outbursts from otherwise docile people. While the police had failed to make any connections between the offending parties Egon already knew the root cause and could only wait to see if the removal of the cursed charm would result in normal behavior returning throughout the city.

Peter was lost in a daze as he opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling of the bunk room overhead. As he sat upright on his bed the washcloth fell from his forehead onto his lap lightly.

Pale, sweaty and trembling Peter was suffering greatly from his fever. Having gone the entire day without eating or drinking any water had only weakened his body further and the low blood sugar added to his deliriousness.

"...Hot." Peter muttered to himself as he slowly turned his head to look toward the adjoined bathroom. The idea of a cool shower was too tempting to resist. "Shower..."

In a near trance-like state Peter managed to awkwardly stumble off of his bed and march heavily toward the bathroom, completely oblivious to where he was or where anyone else could be.

From the rec room Egon had heard the heavy footsteps and turned around on the couch in time to see Peter wandering into the bathroom through the door frame.

"Peter?"

When Egon didn't get a reply he rose from the couch and rushed over to the bathroom worried that perhaps Peter had become nauseated or was suddenly in pain.

Peter turned on the water to the shower and stepped inside still fully clothed. The cool water was soothing to his overheated skin and he stood beneath the cascade of clean water with his eyes closed and head tilted slightly back.

"Peter?" Egon knocked on the door frame and peered inside to see that Peter was inside the shower. His first instinct was to pull his friend out of the shower and give him a quick exam to check on his vitals, but instead chose to patiently wait for Peter to notice him and respond. "Peter, are you alright?"

"...I'm hot." Peter slurred as he stayed statuesque in the shower. The bandage on his arm became soaked and threatened to fall loose at any moment, but Peter didn't even notice. "Needed to cool off..."

"I see..." Egon adjusted his glasses as he awkwardly waited for Peter to either come to his senses or pass out from exhaustion. While a bit unorthodox it was seemingly effective to allow Peter to continue to shower in his clothes as it helped his body retain the cooler temperature from the water and counteract the high temperature from his fever. "When you're finished I'd like to take another look at you. To make sure you're not seriously ill."

"...kay."

Ray was resting his head in his hand with his arm propped up against the interior door of the hearse. Winston had both hands on the steering wheel and his forehead was pressed against the center of the wheel. Both men were absolutely irritated by the lack of progress with the traffic accident that barred any movement along the street. The chorus of honking horns had long since become white noise, and the two men were still shouting at one another despite the responding police officers trying to keep the peace had separated the two.

"We've been here for over an hour..." Peter grumbled as he stared at the digital clock on the radio of the hearse.

"Yup." Winston acknowledged as he slowly lifted his head up from the steering wheel. "And we've heard that same argument sixteen times now. Apparently they're both still innocent and still somehow guilty at the same time..."

"Think we should walk?"

"Nah. With as crazy as everything is I'd hate to leaving Ecto-1 alone."

"Yeah, you're right. Don't want to add 'car-jacking' to our monthly report to Peck."

A large tow truck had backed up to the scene of the accident. While the police officers cuffed both drivers and placed them in the backseat of the two separate squad cars, keeping the angry drivers separated was crucial to all involved, the driver of the tow truck set about removing the first vehicle to clear the road while the fire department proceeded to wash down the street of any hazardous chemicals.

"Well, at least there's some progress." Winston commented dryly. "How far away is your buddy, anyway?"

"Four blocks on the right."

"By the time we'd get there on foot the road will be cleared anyway."

"As soon as we get this thing out of here we should barricade ourselves inside the firehouse for the next twenty-four hours. You know, just to be safe."

"I couldn't agree with you more!"

Egon had watched Peter's face pale another shade lighter and decided to intervene before Peter inevitably collapsed in the shower and hit his head on the hard tiled floor. Reaching into the shower Egon turned off the water with one hand and supported Peter's arm with the other, careful not to disturb the bandage in the process.

"Come on," Egon lightly pulled Peter out of the shower and guided him back over to his bed. Reluctant to let Peter sleep in his wet clothes Egon decided to let his friend rest for a while before coaxing him into changing into dry clothes. In the meantime he would only replace the drenched bandages on Peter's arm. "you need to lay down."

"...kay." Peter repeated weakly as he barely understood what his friend was telling him.

Pressing his hand against Peter's forehead Egon was relieved to feel that the fever had reduced greatly. "It seems the shower helped immensely."

"...kay."

"Right." Egon put his hand on Egon's shoulder, his palm becoming saturated in the water that had soaked into his shirt sleeve, and guided his friend back down to resume sleeping. "Since your fever is on the verge of breaking I'll postpone giving you anymore medication."

Rather than replying with yet another 'kay', Peter instead responded with a soft snore as he again fell asleep.

"Perhaps I can record your brainwaves and use them to study abnormal activity in the event of curses or spells." Egon pondered the idea of running tests on his friend while he was all but unconscious, weighing the pros and cons of the decision without Peter's consent. As he replaced the bandage he composed his theory and decided to run with it. "I suspect a scan with the PKE meter will either substantiate or debunk whether or not recording your brainwaves could prove beneficial."

As Egon retreated to the lab on the first floor of the firehouse the garage door opened and the hearse slowly backed in its place in the garage with the two weary Ghostbusters looking absolutely defeated upon their return.

Ray and Winston opened their doors and slammed them shut simultaneously with aggression.

"Was there any difficulty?" Egon asked somewhat confusedly as he claimed the PKE meter sitting on the desk in his lab.

"Traffic..." Winston sighed as he slowly trudged up the stairs to the second floor.

"People..." Ray tagged on as he followed Winston to the second floor.

"Seems rather standard for New York." Egon quipped as he joined his colleagues in the rec room.

"Not the way this day's been going..." Winston sighed as he plopped down on the couch and watched the evening news on the TV.

"He's right." Ray agreed as he sat down beside Winston and buried is face in his hands. "Remind me to NEVER accept cursed artifacts for research, EVER again..."

"Can do!" Winston promised. It was then he noticed that Egon was carrying the PKE meter and adjusting the frequency settings on the device. "What's going on Egon? Is Peter doing any better?"

"His fever has greatly reduced in the past hour but he's still suffering a mild delirium."

"Well, let's hope that the blood sacrifice to the charm actually does some good." Winston's comment was as low as it was odd. "Hate to think we cut him up for nothing!"

"As do I." Egon confirmed with a low tone. "I'm going to check on him, check the PKE valiance to ensure that he is in normal range."

Ray leaned back on the couch and shut his eyes and he kicked his boots up on the table in front of him. "Long, weird day..."

"Yup." Winston agreed as he mirrored Ray's gesture. "Want to get some takeout?"

"Nah, we've been eating too much grease lately. Besides, with the way this day's been going I fear we'd get food poisoning or something!"

"Yeah... Leftovers it is then!"

All through the night Egon stayed up with Peter to monitor his condition with the PKE meter as well as common sense medicine. The cut to Peter's arm had managed to begin healing without any sign of infection or irritation and his fever was nearly broken entirely. The PKE meter detected little to no abnormalities in Peter's brainwaves as he slept, and the psychokinetic energy that was being detected from his body was diminishing steadily as the charm was sent further and further away from the city.

Ray and Winston had opted to stay in the firehouse, not only to support their sick friend but as a sense of camaraderie in the light of seeing how easy it was for good people to suddenly turn bad. The violence that erupted from otherwise peaceful people was upsetting on a level that none of the Ghostbusters had ever experienced before, and hope that they never experience again.

For the first time in two days Peter awoke without a headache or raging fever to drain away what little energy he had reclaimed during his sleep. Opening his eyes he could see Egon sitting on the bed next to his own with the PKE meter still in his hands.

"...Hey Spengz."

"Peter. Good to see you awake."

"Yeah... did I miss anything?" Peter slowly sat up and suddenly became aware of the large white gauze bandage around his arm. "Uh... Like THIS for example? He held up his arm pointed to it with his opposite hand.

"You had been cursed by the charm that Ray has been studying because of bloodline connection between yourself and your late Uncle Richard, as he was part of the original archeological dig that had uncovered the cursed treasure decades prior."

"Uh... All I understood was 'Uncle Richard'." Peter laughed a little. "What does Uncle Richy have to do with anything?"

"I'll explain everything to you, But first you need to get something to eat."

"You know something Spengz," Peter flashed his friend his trademarked cheesy grin. "you ALWAYS have the best ideas!"

"Yes. Sure." Egon awkwardly blushed a little and turned his gaze away from Peter's arm. "Always..."

After a quick breakfast, courtesy of Winston and his family's wonderful recipes, Peter stared at Egon over a cup of steaming coffee with a twinge of disbelief in his eyes. Egon couldn't bear to look at his friend as he still felt horrendous for intentionally inflicting pain and injury on his friend. Ray and Winston decided to give Peter and Egon a little privacy, knowing that Egon would be wracked with guilt and knowing that Peter could be extremely stubborn at the most inopportune times.

Hiding away in the garage on the first floor Ray and Winston gave the entire second floor to Peter and Egon for the morning.

Peter looked at his arm and shook his head. "I fall asleep for a few minutes and you offer my up as a blood sacrifice to an angry curse." Giving Egon a smug grin he kept his voice light. "Hate to see what you'd do if I was recruited by a cult!"

Hearing the joke eased Egon's mind but only a little. "If there was any other way, I assure you that-"

"I know, I know." Peter cut Egon off mid sentence as he picked up his mug of coffee. "Don't sweat it Spengz, it'll heal. And I'm just going to go ahead and enjoy a day without a headache!"

Janine had arrived for her shift that morning and set about her usual routine before clocking in. After greeting Ray and Winston on the first floor she wandered up to the second floor to make herself a cup of tea to enjoy before residing herself to her paperwork and answering the phone.

"Good morning." Janine announced as she walked through the kitchenette to grab the kettle. As she passed by the table she saw the white bandage on Peter's arm and arched a brow inquisitively. "What happened to your arm Dr. V?"

"Cut myself shaving." Peter quipped without missing a beat. He nodded once at Egon as he finished off his coffee. "Now I'm going to go into the rec room to relax. No calls unless the world is at stake!"

Egon took the hint and joined Peter in the rec room where the two sat on the couch and turned on the news. The broadcast reported on the bizarre series of incidents from the night before but no new incidents had been documented.

"Looks like it worked." Peter stated as he kicked back on the couch and propped his feet on the table. "Good work."

"Thank you." The relief in Egon's voice was palpable. His shoulders relaxed and the tension on his face lessened. "Let's just hope that nothing like this happens again."

"Here's to hoping..." Peter agreed wholeheartedly as he leaned back into the couch cushions and stretched out his back and shoulders. "And from now on we keep Ray's little toys, hobbies and 'contacts' out of the city!"

-The End