Ghostbusters : The Way Home

Jonathan Caine

Laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. If he slept, IT, would come for him.

Every night for 5 days it came. A bright light emanating from the closet, a guttural growl, the squeak of the doorknob as something from inside tried to turn it.

Then the door was opening, the bright orange light spilling out into the dark room, eerie shadows dancing around the room.

Jon raised his blanket up, bringing it up over his mouth and nose wanting to cover his eyes but so full of fear that he actually couldn't.

So he watched.

He watched a giant shadow fill the door.

He watched a large hoof step from the closet and hit the hard wood floor of his bedroom. Tears began to fill his eyes as the monster emerged from his closet.

The creature was grotesque, with large bat like ears, a sharp pointy nose, evil yellow eyes and a large red grin filled with rows of razor sharp teeth.

Jon shook with fear, hands trembling, tears streaming down his eyes as the creature took one massive step towards him.

This was evil, the thing of nightmares, this was The Boogeyman.

"Jonathannn." The raspy voice called out. It sent chills down his spine as he lifted the blankets up and over his head.

The Boogyman laughed with evil delight, "oh no, the power of cotton will stop me, ahhhhh." With one talon it ripped the blanket off of Jon and tossed it across the room. "There you are." He traced his talon down the side of Jons face, "No more time to play."

The Boogeyman raised his hand and wrapped it around Jon's body and lifted him off his bed into the air.

Jon screamed, but nobody came. The Boogeyman opened his mouth wide and brought Jonathan in. Closer, and closer until its disgusting wet tongue started wrapping around his face.

And,

Jon woke up in a cold sweat. For a moment he forgot where he was then it all came rushing back. He quickly reached beside his bed and grabbed the Neutrona Wand from his Proton Pack. He flipped the activation switch and the Pack came to life filling the room with the comforting hum.

Jon looked around for a moment.

All was quiet. He switched off the pack lowered the Wand and laid slowly back into bed.

The dreams have been a regular staple of his for the last 15 years.

Seeing the demon that was, is The Boogeyman regularly when he was a kid was bad enough, but the dreams were even worse and vivid.

For whatever reason The Boogeyman stopped visiting him when he was seven, by then the damage was already done. He couldn't sleep normally. Therapist after Therapist couldn't help. It seems he was destined to become a complete basket case.

He wouldn't, no COULDN'T let that happen. He couldn't let that bastard win. That's what it wanted, it was The Boogeyman after all.

Jon looked at the time, almost 8am. Even with the nightmare he was able to get almost a full 4 hours of sleep.

"Whoo hoo, before I know it I may be relaxed." He sat back up and grabbed a towel on his nightstand and wiped down his face and chest. He stood and moved towards the bathroom, it was time for a shower, Don't want to go to the office smelling of sweat and BO do you Jonny he thoughtto himself.

After a quick shower Jon pick up a pair of cargo pants from the floor, and through on a white t-shirt featuring the familiar no ghost logo on the front. He scooped up his Proton Pack from the floor and headed for the front door.

Down 3 floors and Jon exited the front door of his building.

He exited in to the cool spring air. Not unpleasant, actually quite nice for mid-March. He looked up to the sky letting the sun hit his face directly. After such a nasty dream, he was happy to have some serenity. It however didn't last as three police cars sped by with there sirens blazing.

Jon smirked and put his Pack into the back of his car and walked to the drivers side.

First coffee, then to work.

It took almost two hours for Jon to get to the firehouse. The traffic was worse then usual. Seemed that there was something going on on every corner. In the drive over he was half a dozen Police cruisers, 3 Fire engines and an Ambulance. Always something happening in New York.

He parked his car along the side of the building and exited. He grabbed his Pack from the back seat and made his way to the front of the building. There were a few smiles from the people walking by and Jon was more then happy to return them, one girl jogging by he even gave a wink to, but she was to busy to noitice him.

He pushed open the small door inserted into the larger one and walked into the main garage.
It was empty.

The large white caddy was gone. Figures, with everything else happening this morning it was no surprise Ecto-1 wasnt there.

"Hello!" He called into the empty garage and walked further down, approching the desk near the end of the building, "Anybody here?" He called again.

He placed his Pack on the ground next to a sofa and moved around the desk to the office behind it, Papers and files lined the desk, but otherwise it was empty.

Jon was just about to sit down and read over a couple of the after action reports when he heard a small blast from upstairs. He smiled and headed for the staircase leading up.

"I wonder whos blowing the place up today?" He said to himself as he took the stairs two at a time.

He reached the top and turned right into the spacious work area. Equiptment was laid out all over. A half adozen work tables were covered in various gadgets and eletrical gear. On one table he could see what looked like the makings of a new Proton Pack, on another was pieces of a standard trap.

He had no idea what was going on.

Jonathan Caine was not a tech guy. He wasnt even really a paranormal studies guy. He was a normal guy with a supernatural backround. He wasn't stupid, but he didnt have the know how to do repairs to the equiptment, hell he didnt even know how it worked, he only knew how to use it and that was good enough for him.

As he approched the last work table he saw sparks shooting out from infront of someone in a white lab coat. He knew immediately whoi is was, the long black hair giving her identity away.

"Kylie!" He yelled over the roar of the torch and blasting fire.

They worked stopped and the girl turned around, a large black pair of goggles covering her eyes. She lifted them up and rested them on her head and looked Jon up and down.

"You look like shit man." She said, pulling a pair of rubber gloves off.

"Good morning to you too." He said. She approched him and quickly took the cup of coffee he had been nursing out of his hand. "Help yourself." He smirked. It was an ongoing thing between them. He wonders everyday why he doesn;t remember to bring a second cup here.

"What are you working on today?" He asked.

"Nothing special, just upgrading a couple of Traps. Standard trap speed is about 10-15 seconds once the proton steams wears down a spirit. I think I can get the time down to 6-7 seconds." She said with a wry smile on her face.

"Well, that is fascinating." He said dryly.

Kylie gave him a look and elbowed him in the gut as she walked by back to her work. :You know, you have been here for a year, maybe you should start learning the inner workings of the equiptment."

"Kylie, I am more then happy to leave the tech stuff to you and Ray. I'll just be the muscle."

Kylie laughed at that and put her goggles back down and started working on the Trap.

"Were;s the Ecto anyway?"

Kylie didnt take her eyes off her work as she talked, "Ray and Oscar are out, standard Class 2 job, left about an hour ago. Should be back soon."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, whats on your mind?"

"Do you think there is a way to, I guess summon, a certain type of ghost?"

Kylie looked back at him, a look of intrigue in her face. "Why do you ask?"

"Just, uh, curious."

Kylie wasn't stupid, he had confided in her months ago about his situation. About his past with The Boogeyman. With him asking now, if there was a way to call a certain ghost, she knew what he had in mind.

"You want to call him?"

Jon looked at her, he didnt speak.

"Have you thought about talking to Ray and Oscar about this, they can help."

"Yeah, you could help too." He smiled at her and blinked thoughtfully.

"Put the puppy dog face away, doesnt work on me."

"Okay, but seriously, is there a way." Kylie hesitated for a moment then began to walk to a computer.

"Well every ghost or paranormal entity has a specific PKE signature. In theory, if we had the specific signature of the entity in question, we could construct a device that would send out a pulse of PK energy that, in theory, could attract the entity to us. In theory." She explained.

"So, In theory."

Kylie shot him another look. "I"ll look into it, but I'm not keeping it from them. You want my help, you talk to them and tell them what you have in mind."

Jon half smiled at here and nodded, He was apart of this team now, there was no reason he needed to go at it alone anymore.