"Head's up!" Venkman shouted while he chased a skeleton apparation down one of New York's busiest streets.
Christmas was only a few days away and the Big Apple had turned into an infestation of Christmas shoppers and holiday visitors from out of town, the icing on the cake was of course the thick layer of crisp white snow that made running with a proton pack even harder than it already was. Peter grunted as he shoveled his feet through the snow whilst holding his thrower with both hands. The ghost he chased had been haunting a restaurant but now it was out on the streets, out and very much active.
The pale-white skeleton with glowing yellow eyes roared as it flew through cars and people, leaving behind a trail of translucent purple-ish slime. Peter couldn't fire as the possibility that he'd hit someone other than the ghost was too high, he had to corner it somehow. At a busy intersection the skeleton suddenly stopped mid-flight and just hovered above a few cars, it almost seemed hypnotized by something.
"Alright folks, just move away from Jack Skeleton up there. I'll handle this," Peter said as he moved past a few cars and began to take aim.
The skeleton still did nothing but hover and stare at the cars below its feet, it paid no mind to Peter approaching with his thrower aimed high. With one hand he unhooked the trap that hung on his belt and rolled it out underneath the ghost. And with a bright flash the proton stream cut across the sky as it immediately latched itself around the ghost like a rope and containted it. No resistance whatsoever, the skeleton did not fight as the stream tightened, much to Peter's surprise because he just spent a good 30 minutes chasing it.
"Everyone who's lookin' my way, close your eyes or you'll go Stevie Wonder!" he said as he stepped on the pedal and the trap opened as it shot out a cone of energy. The trap doors closed and with it the ghost was sucked in. "Yep, he's a keeper."
The red light on the back of the trap blinked and smoke blew out as Peter lifted the trap by its cord and he stared at it somewhat puzzled as he wondered what made the ghost suddenly stop. The crowd that had gathered whilst Peter fought the ghost now cheered as he began the long walk back to the restaurant where Ecto-1A was parked.
A few hours later back in the firehouse, Peter and Ray hung out on the rooftop as they shared a few beers and discussed Peter's bust earlier.
"Ray, you should've seen it. The damn thing just stopped and went braindead, it just stared and floated around."
"Maybe it was tired?"
"Thanks Ray, very scientific."
Peter went out on the call alone because Winston had been sick for the last couple of days and stayed in bed. Egon had been investigating reports of a haunting at an abandoned hospital, armed with a pke meter and a voice recorder, much to Ray's admiration. Ray stayed behind in case another call came in.
"That the last time I go on a call by myself, I had to run several blocks before I finally nailed it. You're takin' the next call!" Peter grunted as he hung back against the wall and brushed off some crusted up slime from his jumpsuit.
"I wonder how Egon's doing, I hope he's found something! Imagine how exciting it'll be to bust a ghost in some creepy abandoned hospital. It'll be like a horror movie, us against a demonic spirit," Ray exclaimed with just a little too much excitement as he rubbed his hands together.
"Shut up, Ray."
Meanwhile across town in the old Amberhill Hospital, Egon scanned for any sign of possible spirit activity but so far he found nothing. He wore his lab coat with a red scarf around his neck and a thick grey sweater underneath it, the hospital was freezing cold as the central heating had been shut down some time ago. Abandoned buildings always have that sense of terror about them but hospitals in particular because they are a place of life and death. Egon held his voice recorder in the other hand as he entered yet another operating room.
"So far I have not detected any indication of paranomal kinetic energy, but I am certain that in 45 minutes that will change. After the sun has set, I believe whatever haunts this hospital will manifest itself," he said as he looked at the watch on his wrist and anticipated the events that he believes will happen once the sun has set.
The hospital had been abandoned due to unexplained disappearances of the staff and after months of research by the NYPD they decided to close it down until further investigation would take place. Since it had been closed people say they've seen strange apparations in the windows and even seen lights being switched on and off for nights on end. Whatever hauntings are said to take place have only taken place after sundown and until the hauntings are resolved the cops won't continue their investigation.
After the 45 minute mark, Egon sat down in the middle of the hallway on the 11th floor and sat there with his pke meter in one hand and the voice recorder in the other. He narrowed his eyes and waited for anything strange to happen. Suddenly he heard an odd scratching sound that sounded as if someone or something scratched the wall behind him. It began at the back of the hall but slowly got closer and closer, though Egon wasn't impressed not even slightly.
"Scratching. Not an indication of spirit activity, most likely rats. Thus far nothing happened."
All of a sudden the floor beneath his feet began to tremble and crack open as one long crack came his way. The pke meter sprang into action as it picked up on five different entities and they were all on the 11th floor and surrounded Egon. Still not afraid or even nervous he stood up and gently pushed the chair he sat on aside and stood his ground.
"I am Dr. Egon Spengler, I am speaking to those that haunt this hospital. Are you the ones that disappeared? Is a stronger entity keeping you here?" he said with a firm voice and kept an eye on his pke meter. A shiver of cold ran across his spine as he felt the presence of something hateful and dark.
"Leave...now...leave..." said an inhuman voice that echoed through the hallway.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, if you are the one responsible for the disappearances of the people that worked here. Show yourself," Egon replied as he deactivated the pke meter and crossed his arms. "I wonder if Raymond was right, maybe a proton pack wouldn't have been a bad idea."
"LEAVE!" the demonic voice shouted and every window on the 11th floor bursted as pieces of glass fell like rain. Egon immediately jumped and quickly pushed his back against a nearby wall, fear had began to set in as the scientist/Ghostbuster knew he'd made a mistake when he set foot in the hospital, unarmed and alone.
The elevators in the building weren't operational and so Egon ran back toward the staircase at the other end of the hall, the same staircase he used to climb up to the 11th floor. His heart pounded in his chest as he reached the stairs but he couldn't catch his breath as a loud rumble of stomping footsteps came his way from the darkened hall. "That's not a good sign," Egon said as he turned his head toward the source of the noise and his eyes widened at the sight of something huge and dark in mass running toward him.
Halfway down the stairs right in between the 9th and 8th floor, Egon stopped and took a moment to gather his thoughts as he took out his pke meter and he reasoned that he was a scientist first and a Ghostbuster second. He activated the meter and immediately it picked up on whatever demonic presence had given chase to Egon just a few minutes ago.
"Fascinating. This entity seems to be feeding on my anxiety and fear, not unlike the Boogieman we captured years ago. It manifested itself even stronger after I decided to run for it, I may have experienced fear on a small scale," he said calmly as he spoke into the voice recorder while observing the meter's readings.
"You...never...can go...death...only...fate.." the demonic voice whispered as it echoed down the staircase. A strange scent of rotting flesh crept up Egon's nose, the scent most people associate with death.
"Who are you? What is your name?" Egon asked.
"Name...not...name...death..." the voice replied.
"Death? Fascinating. Are you Death itse—" Egon's words were cut short when suddenly an unseen force sucked him into the wall and the hospital had now claimed its latest victim.