Extreme Ghostbusters:Magic in Manhattan
By A. Rhea King

Chapter 1

Wearing an evil smile, the woman watched the sailors pass by where she hid. She passed her hand over her body; palm facing her; her figure wavered and resolved into another dungaree clad sailor. The woman walked off the boat with the other sailors, disappearing behind a stack of crates. She came out of the shadows behind the crates as herself and slipped through the wharf gates unseen. She stopped a block down and looked around, smiling again.

"Now all I have to do is find the orb. And everything will be mine," She said.

She started walking, disappearing into the dark.

#

Kylie came around the corner and stopped. Potato chip crumbs, a dirty plate, and half a glass of soda littered the coffee table. Eduardo had his feet propped up on the table amid the mess and was snoring in deep sleep.

"Eduardo!" Kylie snapped.

Eduardo jumped, knocking the glass over and sending the plate flying. Garrett looked up from his seat in front of the coffee table when the plate landed in his lap, costing him a man on his video game. Garrett scowled at the plate, and then tossed it back on the coffee table. He turned back to the television, listening to the two.

"Eduardo, why don't you do something for a change? Like clean this up!" Kylie snapped.

Eduardo looked up at her. "You woke me up for that?"

"Yes. I woke you up for that."

"I was having a cool dream."

"Now you have a cool job; cleaning this mess up."

Eduardo frowned at her, but started cleaning the coffee table.

"And when you're done with that, Egon assigned us to clean the traps today," Kyle added, walking around the corner.

"AH MAN!" Eduardo cried, "Why I always get stuck cleaning the traps with YOU!?"

Garrett looked back at Eduardo. "Because deep down she really enjoys your company. Gives her someone to make miserable and you know that's her first passion,"

Eduardo shot Garrett a glare. Garrett looked back around, chuckling to himself.

"Besides, when's the last time you did anything around here?" Roland added from behind Eduardo. "I think that other job you said you have is starting to interfere, Eduardo."

"Yeah. You're missing out on your beauty sleep," Garrett taunted.

Eduardo stood up and dumped a handful of potato chip crumbs on Garrett's head. Garrett spun his chair around, glaring at Eduardo. His words died as thoughts. There was something not right about the look on Eduardo's face, something that closely resembled anger.

"Don't do that again," Garrett said, but lacking the threat usually behind it.

Eduardo looked at Roland. "If my other job's interfering, then maybe it's time I quit this one," Eduardo hissed, then went into the kitchen.

Roland and Garrett exchanged surprised looks.

#

Kylie and Eduardo both looked up when the door at the top of the stairs opened. Garrett hesitated, watching Eduardo.

"We have a call," Garrett said.

"We'll be right up," Kylie said.

Garrett nodded, leaving.

Kylie looked at Eduardo. He'd already turned back to cleaning the trap

"What was that about?"

"What?"

"What's up between you and Garrett?"

"Nothin',"

"So he normally gives you strange looks?"

Eduardo stopped what he was doing, looking at her. "Perhaps I should go look 'nothing' up for you? Oh. Wait. I forgot. According to you three I can't read," Eduardo threw down the trap he was cleaning and stormed upstairs.

Kylie stared slack jawed at him, not sure what to say against that.

"And I thought I was sensitive!" Kylie muttered to herself. She set her trap down and hurried upstairs.

#

The four stopped outside of the bar, watching people run out of it.

"Ever notice how they're just always so overjoyed to see us?" Garrett asked.

"It's your breath, Garrett," Kylie teased.

Garrett faked laughter, slapping his knee. "Oh! That was so funny!"

Garrett looked back at Eduardo. Eduardo was trailing behind and hadn't said a word since they had left the Firehouse. Garrett looked back around. Maybe with this unusual bad mood Eduardo was in it was better he said little.

"That's our cue," Roland said after the last person ran out.

The four walked in and stopped inside the door. A skinny, twig limbed ghost was hovering above the bar. A man crouched behind the bar, hugging something to his chest. He looked up at Eduardo.

"DO SOMETHING!" He yelled.

Eduardo shrugged a little, pulling his blaster. Kylie, Roland and Garrett pulled theirs and all four aimed at the ghost.

"Three!" They said together and shot the thing.

It dodged, heading for the wall. They shot ahead of it and it got caught up in the beam. There was a strange, high-pitched squeal and then it popped. The four shut their blasters off, staring where it had been.

"What just happened?" Garrett asked.

"Good question."

Kylie pulled her PKE meter off her belt and switched it on. Nothing showed up.

"It's dead. Nothing."

"RIGHT ON!" Garrett said. "Now that's the way to exterminate!" Garrett turned, looking up at Eduardo. "Ain't that right Ed?"

"Sure," Eduardo said quietly.

Kylie and Roland looked at him.

Eduardo was standing where the ghost had vanished, looking at something on the floor. The three joined him, staring at a pile of what looked like charcoal dust.

"What's that?" Kylie wondered out loud.

"Dust," Eduardo answered.

Kylie looked at him. He was walking over to the bar having lost interest in the dust. Kylie looked back down. Roland was brushing it back and forth with the toe of his shoe.

"He's probably right," Roland said.

"Maybe we should get some for Egon," Kylie said.

"You want us to get a dust sample?" Garrett asked.

Kylie started to answer, looking around at Eduardo. She stopped, her brow furrowing. He and the bartender were talking quietly. The man had handed Eduardo a box and was listening to what Eduardo was telling him with an occasional nod. Kylie turned and walked over. The two men stopped talking when Kylie approached.

"What's that?" Kylie asked, pointing at the box he was holding.

"Nothin'," Eduardo answered.

"What are you two talking about?"

"My girls," the man pointed to a picture behind him of two grade school girls. "He's been baby-sitting."

"That's your second job?" Kylie asked Eduardo.

Eduardo nodded, looking at the man. "I'll be there,"

He nodded, watching Eduardo leave. Kylie watched him go outside, and then looked back.

"What did you give him?"

"A present for my oldest. I won't see her till tomorrow night and it's her birthday,"

Kylie faked a smile. "Oh. That's sweet."

The man's nervous smile betrayed him, revealing the lie she had been probing for. Kylie followed Roland and Garrett out to the car. Eduardo was waiting in the back seat and the box nowhere in sight. The three got in and Roland drove them back to the Firehouse.

"How old will she be?" Kylie turned in her seat to look at Eduardo. "The guy's daughter."

"Seven," Eduardo answered quietly.

"Kind of an elaborate box for a seven year old."

"You don't know Andrea," Eduardo answered. "She loves antiques."

"I don't believe you," Kylie said.

Eduardo looked at her, glaring. He reached under his seat, pulling the box out. Now Kylie saw it had a handle now. Eduardo cranked it and a jack-in-the-box suddenly sprang out at Kylie. She stared unamused at Eduardo.

"Cute," She said.

Eduardo pushed it back in and closed the lid.

"I guess I didn't see the crank when you almost ran out of there."

Eduardo raised an eyebrow at her. "Guess you aren't as perfect as you fake."

Kylie's set her jaw as she turned around.

"Ed, that was kinda harsh," Garrett whispered over Eduardo's shoulder.

Eduardo looked down at the box in his hands. He didn't apologize to Kylie, but he was careful about what he said to her the rest of the day.

#

The bartender waited anxiously at the door. Two knocks sounded through the door and he threw it open with a sigh. The sigh stopped half expired at the sight of the black-haired woman. The man stumbled back from her, his eyes growing large.

"Who are you?" He asked, putting a chair between him and the stranger.

She walked in, forcing him to step back. The door slammed shut behind her. She flicked her hand and the chair flew to the side. The woman started walking towards him, a sinister smile crawling across her lips. The man tripped over something behind him and sat down hard in a chair. The woman stopped in front of him, leaning over. She put a hand on the back of the chair and ran a single black painted nail down his face, her nail grating against the stubble on his face.

"Where is it?" She asked quietly, her eyes sparkling with evil.

"Wh-Where's w-w-what?" he asked.

She ruffled his hair, leaning closer. They were close enough to kiss and he could see the black lip liner on her lips.

"The orb. Where is it?" she whispered, her eyes watching his nervous ones.

"I don't know about any orb," the man whispered.

"You had it here. In the Box of the Keeper. You are the Keeper." She ran her finger down his cheek to his neck and began running the nail back and forth across his neck. "Where is the orb?"

"I'm not the Keeper. I was holding it for the Keeper. He came and got it today. It's not here."

"Who's the Keeper?" She asked.

"I don't know. I never saw 'im in my life. He's a Ghostbuster."

"A what?"

"A Ghostbuster. That's all I know. He showed up with them when they came after this thing attacking me."

She smiled, sliding her hand around to the back of his neck. She squeezed hard, pulling his face even closer to hers. Her eyes seemed to be swirling circles of gray and black.

"For your sake, you'd better not be lying to me. Tell me, where can I find these Ghostbusters? What does the Keeper look like?"

The man swallowed, staring into her eyes. He found he couldn't hide anything from her as he spoke.