A woman and her small daughter were alighting from a train at Grand Central Station. The mother checked to see they had all of their luggage, then turned round and realised that the child had vanished. She looked frantically about her, then reached out and grabbed a small hand that had almost disappeared into the crowd.

'Livvy!' she said. 'Stop getting lost!'

'Sorry, Mommy,' the child said, with a gap-toothed smile.

'Just keep hold of my hand, honey, okay? Now, we'd better go find your fath–'

She was cut off as the sound of dozens of people screaming filled the air. A moment later, she found herself being pushed and buffeted by stampeding rail passengers, and so she let go of all her luggage and stooped to lift Livvy into her arms. She was holding tightly onto the child when the source of all the commotion came into view: a sharp-toothed woman in a long, flowing dress, flying overhead and screaming like a banshee.

Everyone was running for the exits, while the banshee-like woman flew round and round and kept on screaming. Then suddenly she stopped moving and she stopped screaming, and her eyes homed in on something. It was Livvy. The little girl was clinging to her mother's neck, keeping her head down and her face buried as they were knocked in all directions by the crowd.

The screaming woman screamed again, then flew at the mother and daughter. Everyone else scattered as a great wind got up around the frightened pair. The mother held her daughter in a suffocating grip, but all too soon the child was wrenched from her arms.

'Mommy!' Livvy cried, as she was whisked into the air, despite her mother's best efforts to stop it.

'No!' the mother yelled, snatching at the empty space in front of her. 'LIVVY!'

The Ecto-1 pulled into the firehouse, and the four Ghostbusters piled out. They were all stained in various places with a viscous liquid, and Kylie was carrying a full ghost trap.

'Well,' said Garrett, 'that wasn't so bad. Just like spending the morning with Slimer.'

'But better,' said Eduardo, 'because you get to trap it at the end.'

'I'll put it in the containment unit, Kylie,' Roland said, holding out his hands for the trap.

'Great,' said Kylie, giving it to him. 'And while you're gone, we'll decide who gets first shower.'

'Shower?' someone said aggressively, and the foursome turned to see a familiar and unwelcome figure striding towards them. 'For crying out loud – you don't have time for a shower!'

For a moment, no one knew what to say. Then Kylie said, 'Hi, Jensen.'

'We never touched the mayor, dude,' said Garrett. 'Whatever it is, we were at the Brooklyn Museum the whole time.'

'That's just the problem!' said Jensen. 'Why weren't you at Grand Central Station, huh? Huh?'

'All right, Mr Jensen, that's enough,' said Janine, stepping in front of the irate executive. 'They were on a call, but now they're back, so we'll handle it.'

'Well,' said Jensen, 'you'd better! The mayor is very upset about this! What do you think he's going to say to all the distraught parents out there?'

'Distraught parents?' said Roland. 'What's happened?'

'Some kind of monster has been kidnapping children at Grand Central,' said Janine, and the four Ghostbusters all uttered sounds of shocked surprise.

'Oh, good, you're here,' Egon said, appearing on the staircase across the room. 'You're just in time for the press conference.'

Egon, Janine, Roland, Kylie, Garrett, Eduardo, Slimer and Jensen all stood or sat around the TV and watched as Mayor McShane, perspiring visibly and blinking against an onslaught of camera flashes, did his best to answer the questions that were being hurled at him.

'What's being done to recover the children?' a woman's voice yelled.

'Everything that can be done, is being done,' the mayor replied. 'We have every state-enrolled official working tirelessly to remedy this situation.'

'What exactly does this monster want with them?' a male voice asked.

'Good grief, man,' said McShane, sweating even more profusely, 'I don't know!'

Jensen winced. 'Don't say that!'

'How do we know this monster story is true?' asked another female voice.

'There have been hundreds of eyewitness accounts,' said McShane, 'but there is absolutely no guarantee that those people saw what they thought they saw. We're looking into all possibilities.'

'What possibilities?' someone shouted.

'Yeah!' someone else cut in, before McShane had a chance to answer. 'Since when do you blame stuff like this on monsters? What's really going on here?'

'No further questions, please,' said the mayor, attempting to back away, but finding himself impeded by swarms of people with cameras and microphones.

'Don't leave now!' cried Jensen. 'They'll think you don't have a clue what's going on!'

'Hey now, come on,' said Garrett. 'It's no more obvious than usual that he doesn't have a clue what's going on.'

'Why aren't you keeping an eye on him, Jensen?' asked Kylie.

'Because,' said Jensen, turning away from the television screen, 'my job right now is to keep an eye on you people. The mayor is relying on you to clean up this mess.'

'How come he didn't mention us just now?' asked Garrett.

'The mayor would never endorse us publicly, Garrett,' said Roland.

'You're right,' said Jensen. 'He still says you're a group of psychotic vigilantes, but he knows by now that there are ghosts and demons out there, and that's why I'm here: to tell you, on behalf of the mayor, that if you don't get those kids back you'll be very sorry.'

'Nice guy, your boss, isn't he?' said Garrett.

'Obviously we'll get the kids back if we can,' said Eduardo. 'I mean, we don't have any idea if they... what happened to them.'

'True,' said Egon, who was still watching the TV screen, 'but let's remain optimistic for the time being. It doesn't look like this news report is going to be much help. You'd better get to Grand Central Station immediately.'

'Obviously,' said Garrett. 'What are we sitting around watching the news for? Let's go!'

'You don't want to take those showers first?' asked Janine.

'We don't have time for that, Janine,' said Roland. 'Anyway, it's raining out.'

'What luck,' Eduardo muttered, as he followed Roland and Kylie to the pole.

The Ghostbusters got out of the Ecto-1 and stood, slime-free and dripping rain, on East 42nd Street and looked across the road at Grand Central Station.

'I've never seen this place so deserted,' said Garrett. 'We'll probably find the demon has moved on, if it's driven everyone away.'

'Is that your idea of being optimistic?' said Kylie. 'We can make a start here, anyway. Come on.'

She began leading the way into the station building, marching confidently across the deserted road. As a result, she was almost run over by a taxi as it screeched to a halt; Eduardo had to grab her shoulder and pull her out of its path. A moment later Jensen got out of the taxi, and said through the window to the driver, 'I need a receipt. This is city business.'

'So,' said Garrett, 'you're actually going to keep an eye on us?'

'Are you sure you want to be here, man?' said Eduardo. 'You know, with the demon and all.'

'Of course I do,' said Jensen, hurling some money at the cab driver and accepting his receipt without a word of thanks. 'I'm not a child, am I? It's not interested in anyone over the age of... I don't know, twelve? Anyone older than that, it just scares them.'

'It sort of sounds like you've seen it, Jensen,' said Garrett.

'I've done my research,' said Jensen. 'You don't get to work directly under the mayor of New York City without using your initiative. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get in there!'

So saying, he sprinted off towards the station. The four Ghostbusters exchanged a puzzled look, then pursued their self-appointed companion at a more leisurely pace.

The station was not a quarter so busy as usual, but nor was it entirely deserted. A few important-looking people in business suits were wandering around the lobby, glancing at the departures boards and looking irritably at their watches.

The Ghostbusters were waving their PKE meters around when Jensen found them. He was still moving at a swift run, and had to skid to a stop in front of them to avoid a collision.

'Well?' he demanded.

'I'm getting a reading,' said Kylie.

'Well, that could mean anything!' said Jensen. 'Could you try being a little more specific?'

'Hey, man,' said Eduardo, 'do you wanna knock it off with the attitude?'

Jensen glared at him, and opened his mouth to reply, but Kylie cut off whatever he was going to say with, 'It's almost on top of us.'

'It is?' said Jensen, looking vaguely around him. 'Where?'

'As if on cue,' said Garrett, pointing, as the entity appeared screaming from one of the platforms with a dozen or so frightened people running before her.

Garrett got ready to shoot, but Roland put a hand on his arm and said, 'Wait – you might hit one of those people.'

'Do you wanna chase that thing all over the stupid station?' Garrett retorted. 'You gotta take your opportunities, Roland.'

'The guy's right,' an unfamiliar voice said, and they all turned to see that one of the impatient businessmen had approached them, briefcase in hand. 'Whenever a train comes in, she scares all the passengers away, and then she disappears until the next one comes.'

'There you are, you see?' said Jensen. 'What did I tell you?'

'You've been watching her?' Garrett asked the businessman, pointedly turning his back on Jensen.

The man shrugged, and said, 'I've just been waiting a long time, that's all, because my stupid train is delayed. I actually ran away from her the first time I saw her, but then she disappeared so I came back in, and the next time I saw her I didn't run. I figured she's harmless, and I was right. She hasn't actually done anything to anybody.'

'That is not true!' said Jensen. 'That thing is a kidnapper!'

The man looked at him in surprise. 'A kidnapper?'

'You haven't seen it nap any kids?' asked Garrett.

'No,' said the man. 'It's a weekday. They're all at school, aren't they?'

'They should be,' said Jensen. 'What were they doing here, anyway? The little ones, okay, but one of the moms was saying her ten year old was taken. I hope the school puts that down as an unauthorised absence!'

'Getting kidnapped, an unauthorised absence?' said Eduardo.

'Not the getting kidnapped, you idiot!' snapped Jensen. 'Their being here in the first place!'

'Jensen,' said Kylie, with a scowl, 'you're really going to have to stop yelling at us, okay?'

'Finally!' the businessman said, looking up at one of the departures boards, as a female voice uttered something over the intercom in the background. 'My train's coming in. She'll be scaring the people getting off, so you'd better be ready. Gotta run!'

He ran. Moments later, a swarm of people came screaming into the station lobby, tripping over each other and pushing past each other in their efforts to get away. This time Jensen and the four Ghostbusters were in the path of retreat, and they had to get out of the way very quickly, because those people were fast. The lobby was soon all but deserted once again.

'Now?' Garrett asked, as the last people were lost to view, and the entity doubled back with the apparent intention of disappearing into the ceiling.

'Now,' Roland agreed, and all four Ghostbusters fired. They contained the entity quickly and efficiently, and Kylie reached behind her for the ghost trap.

'Wait!' Jensen shouted, making a grab at Kylie's arm, the word barely audible above the sound of proton fire and the screaming demon.

'You don't have to touch me!' Kylie yelled back, frowning at his hand on her gloved wrist. 'What is it?'

'What about the kids?' asked Jensen. 'We don't know what she did with them!'

'He has a point, guys!' Roland shouted above the noise. 'We must save the children!'

'So let's trap her already!' Eduardo shouted. 'Maybe they'll just, like, reappear!'

'Worth a try!' yelled Garrett. 'Kylie, throw the trap already!'

Kylie shook off Jensen's hand, threw down the trap and opened it. The entity was sucked inside; the trap smoked a little, and all was quiet.

No children appeared.

'It didn't work!' said Jensen, as Kylie went to retrieve the trap. He looked at her a moment, then looked round for somebody else, and found Garrett. 'Why,' he said, grabbing the front of Garrett's clothing and shaking him, 'didn't it work?'

'Hey!' said Garrett, pushing him off, just as Eduardo and Roland each grabbed an arm. As such, Jensen came away very easily, and found himself having to shake the two men off his elbows.

'All right, all right, I'm sorry,' he said, adjusting his jacket. 'It's just that... what can you do now? You can let her out, right? You have to! She's the only one who knows what happened to the kids!'

'We're not letting her out here,' said Kylie, hugging the trap to her chest. 'If we get her back to the firehouse, then we can talk to her while she's in a containment field – you know, guys, like we did with the brownies – and then maybe –'

'Why would she tell you anything?' Jensen demanded. 'What's in it for her? You're not going to torture it out of her, I bet. You're not going to promise her freedom and then contain her anyway.'

'I can see why you're a politician, Jensen,' said Garrett.

'You'll have to let her out,' said Jensen. 'Oh my gosh, look, there's a kid – we can follow her and see where she takes him!'

'No way!' said Garrett.

'Out of the question,' said Roland.

'Yeah, man,' said Eduardo. 'What's wrong with you?'

'Nothing is wrong with me,' said Jensen. 'The mayor, he, he... he's getting away!'

This statement was puzzling enough to make all the Ghostbusters turn to see whom Jensen was referring to. It was the little boy, heading with his father to one of the platforms. Kylie opened her mouth to say something, but Jensen was too quick for her. In the split second that she was off her guard, he wrested the trap from her arms, and whatever she was going to say turned into a shout of anger and surprise.

Upon hearing this, Eduardo took a menacing step towards Jensen, but Roland put a restraining hand on his arm and said, 'Now, Jensen, that's going too far. I'm going to have to ask you to –'

'For Pete's sake,' yelled Garrett, 'get that trap off him, now!'

But it was too late. Jensen had found the right button, and suddenly the entity was swooping and screaming around them with such force that they had to cover their ears and close their eyes against a powerful wind.

'Behind you!' Jensen yelled at her. 'A kid!'

'Jensen!' cried everyone, horrified, as the entity turned in the direction of Jensen's pointing finger. She took in the sight of the man and the little boy, and then she turned back towards her quintet of tormentors.

'Blast her again!' said Garrett, as the entity began to fly towards them. 'Jensen, give me the trap!'

But there was no time for Jensen to give Garrett the trap even if he wanted to. In the shortest of moments the entity had swooped down, grabbed Garrett by the shoulders and plucked him out of his chair. He cried out in terror as she carried him off.

'GARRETT!' yelled Roland, trying to run after them, but coming back when he realised that they had flown out of sight. When he rejoined the scene, Kylie was snatching the trap back from Jensen and Eduardo was glaring at him, his arms folded across his chest and his jaw set with strong, silent rage.

'All right, guys, don't panic,' Roland said, putting one hand on Eduardo's shoulder and taking out his PKE meter with the other. 'We'll find him.'

Garrett, meanwhile, was being carried into the depths of a dark cupboard. He let out a cry of protest as he was dropped, and landed heavily on a pile of mops, buckets and other cleaning paraphernalia. He took a moment or two to recover, then manoeuvred himself into a sitting position and found the entity staring him right in the face.

'Who are you?' she demanded, in harsh and feral tones. 'What do you want?'

'Listen, lady,' said Garrett, 'you're on my patch now. So, who are you, and what do you want? What did you do with the kids?'

'Oh,' the entity replied, 'so you want to see the children?'

'Well, yeah.'

'But of course you must see the children,' she said, her voice changing abruptly and becoming sickly sweet. 'We shall raise them as our own, my love. Kiss me!'

She moved her head towards Garrett's, and he blinked in surprise.

'I, I, don't want to.'

'Yes you do...'

'I do not!' said Garrett, knocking over buckets and bottles with his elbows he tried to wrestle her away from him.

'Yes,' said the entity, her voice beginning to take on its harsh quality once again, 'you do!'

As she said this, her eyes glowed red and she opened her mouth to reveal a set of very sharp teeth. She then grabbed Garrett's head, jerked it to one side and made a lunge at his neck.

'Whoa!' said Garrett, trying to wriggle away from her. 'You're a vampire?'

The demon stopped what she was doing, leaned back to glare at him and said, 'No!'

'So what are you?' asked Garrett.

'That is not for mere mortals to know,' the demon said, and then went back to trying to bite his neck. Garrett, however, was not going down without a fight. He reached behind him, grabbed a mop and hurled the hard end at the demon's head. If this didn't hurt her, then it certainly surprised and angered her. She roared, picked up the broom, snapped it in two and hurled the pieces at Garrett. He lowered his head and put up his hands to shield his face.

'Why can't you just give in to my feminine wiles like the rest of them?' she roared.

'Because,' said Garrett, 'I know what you are!'

'No you don't!'

'Yes I do! You're an ugly old vampire whose breath smells like a cross between toilets and death!'

At this, the demon screamed and melted into thin air. Garrett stared in amazement at the darkness where she had stood, until suddenly the cupboard was flooded with light. He had to squint and hold his hand up against the glare. In the doorway, of course, stood his three teammates and Jensen.

'Great timing, you guys,' Garrett said, as Roland offered him his chair and he began to climb into it. 'I'd have been dead by now if I hadn't figured out a way to get rid of her.'

'Okay,' said Kylie, once they were back at the firehouse, and she was on the couch with a book in her lap. Eduardo, Roland, Garrett, Egon and Jensen had gathered around her to listen. 'It looks like we're dealing with a demon called Empusa. She was the daughter of Hecate, a goddess of the Underworld, and she'd scare travellers on the road to her mother's lair to keep them away.'

'So what's she doing here?' asked Eduardo. 'This Hecate chick isn't in New York.'

'You don't know that,' said Kylie. 'It also says that she'd disappear if she was insulted, so that definitely fits.'

'It sure does,' said Garrett. 'I insulted her good. What about the neck-biting?'

'Well,' said Kylie, 'Empusa is possibly one of the Lilin, or a close relative, and they like using their feminine wiles on guys and then draining their veins of blood.'

'None of this matters!' said Jensen. 'What about the kids?'

'Well,' Kylie said again, rather impatiently, 'legend has it that Empusa's children were killed by the goddess Hera, so she kidnapped other children because she was jealous of the joy they gave to their mothers. I guess maybe that's why she didn't care about that boy being with his father.'

'It doesn't matter about that,' said Jensen. 'What did she do with them?'

'Well,' said Kylie, and then she bit her lip.

'Tell us, Kylie,' said Roland.

'Well,' Kylie said again, 'it says here that she eats them.'

A collective gasp went through the group.

'No!' said Roland.

'That's gotta be wrong, man!' said Eduardo.

'Well,' said Garrett, 'she did imply that the kids were alive, but she could've easily been lying...'

'Jensen,' said Egon, which made the four younger Ghostbusters look up. 'Are you all right?'

'It can't be true,' whispered Jensen, not blinking, his lips barely moving as he spoke.

'Now listen, all of you,' said Egon. 'Until we know the absolute truth, let's not –'

'JENSEN!' an angry voice cut in, and everyone looked round.

Somewhere in a dark place, a dozen or so children were waking up on a hard floor. The small ones started to cry, with the exception of Livvy from Grand Central Station, who got to her feet and said furiously, 'What's going on here?'

'So now,' said the voice of Empusa, and the creature herself emerged from the darkness with a little boy in her arms. 'You've woken up. My powers must be diminishing in this place. I shall have to find some sustenance.'

'Where are we?' Livvy asked irritably.

'It is the Underworld, my dear,' Empusa said, grinning toothily.

'What are you going to do with us?' demanded a boy of about eight years.

'Why, take care of you,' the demon said, 'for my very own.'

'Really?' asked Livvy, looking dubiously round at her companions. 'All of us?'

'Well,' said the demon, baring her razor sharp teeth, 'perhaps not every single one. Here's a new member of the family,' and she dumped the small boy at her feet. 'You don't have to worry, my dears. I was a good mother before, and shall be again. Better than your real mothers, dragging you all over the land and tiring you out. You are very tired, children, aren't you?'

Apparently, all of the children were tired, for at once they started going to sleep again. Once they had all gone under, Empusa stooped to lift the chin of the boy she had just dropped at her feet. He snuffled, yawned and murmured something, indicating that he was not as deeply asleep as his captor would have liked. She looked thoughtfully at the other children for a moment, went to lean over one of the bigger ones and opened her mouth. Then she closed it again, and vanished.

Meanwhile, back at the firehouse, a red-faced Mayor McShane was glaring at Jensen from the top of the stairs. Janine was behind him, and Slimer was above him, dripping slime onto his head.

'Oh,' bristled McShane, whirling round to face Janine, 'will you get rid of that thing?'

'Mr Mayor,' said Janine, gently shooing Slimer away, 'I must ask you to amend your tone. Egon,' she went on, peering around McShane's body, 'I'm really sorry about this. I told him Jensen was here because I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret.'

'Neither did I,' said Egon. 'Mr Mayor, we were under the impression that Jensen was here on your orders.'

'What?' screeched McShane. 'Jensen, what is the meaning of this? Where were you at the press conference this morning? And where were you when I had to figure out, I mean, go over what I'm supposed to say for this stupid classical music thing tomorrow? And where were you –?'

'I was here, sir,' said Jensen. 'And then I was at Grand Central Station. And now I'm here again.'

'But why? You know these people are –'

'No,' said Jensen, 'they are not! They saved you from that Piper person, didn't they? And the little green man? And now, Mr Mayor, those kids have to be recovered!'

'Hey wait a minute, you guys, knock it off,' Garrett said suddenly. 'What exactly is going on here?'

'Pay attention, Garrett,' said Kylie. 'Jensen knew we were the only ones who could stop this thing, so he came to us behind the mayor's back.'

'But that doesn't seem like something Jensen would do,' said Garrett.

'Yeah, well,' said Jensen, 'I did do it, didn't I? You don't know me!'

'He's right, Gar,' said Eduardo. 'Lot about him we don't know.'

'But I know you, Jensen!' said the mayor, still red with anger. 'What were you thinking? Didn't you think about my reputation at all?'

Then suddenly Jensen broke like rocks before a waterfall. His eyes filled with tears, and he cried out, 'It got Livvy!'

There was a moment's silence. Then McShane said, 'Who?'

Jensen frowned at him. 'Olivia.'

'Who?'

'My daughter, you stupid jerk! You met her just over a year ago, at the office Christmas party, and now she's been kidnapped by some, some, some Lilin or something, and finding her is my absolute top priority. I'm prioritising my workload, sir. You understand.'

'Yes,' said McShane, completely cowed. 'Of course. Jensen, I... I'm so sorry!'

Kylie, meanwhile, had moved to where Garrett was sitting, and was saying close to his ear, 'I feel really bad now for saying the demon had maybe eaten the kids.'

'Well,' said Garrett, 'you should.'

'I do!'

The phone rang downstairs, and Janine went to answer it.

'I should say something to Jensen,' said Kylie. 'Garrett, what should I say?'

'I don't know,' said Garrett. 'Just tell him that most legends are a lot of baloney.'

'But they aren't – not most of them.'

'They do get things wrong, though. Exaggerate.'

'All right,' said Kylie, and she took a step towards Jensen. 'Jensen, I'm really sorry about your daughter. And what I read... there's no guarantee that it's true. In fact there's a fair... I mean, a very good chance it's not. Legends really aren't that reliable.'

'I know that,' Jensen said reasonably, 'and it doesn't matter what's in that book anyway. I just need to find out what's happened to her... to them. All the kids' parents do.'

As he spoke, Janine reappeared at the top of the stairs.

'We found your demon, guys,' she said. 'It's moved on to JFK Airport.'

'Makes sense,' said Roland. 'Plenty of travellers there. Let's go.'

'You coming, man?' Eduardo said invitingly to Jensen.

'Yes,' said Jensen. 'Please. And, um... do we have a plan?'

'Oh,' said Garrett, 'we'll think of something. We always do.'

'And we're not coming back until Empusa is dealt with,' said Kylie. 'That's a promise.'

'Question for you, Jensen,' said Garrett, now back in the Ecto-1 with Jensen between him and Eduardo. 'Why didn't you just tell us? I mean, dude, you know that would've been better than all the yelling and snatching.'

'Hey, man, leave the guy alone,' said Eduardo. 'If he don't wanna talk about it, he don't wanna talk about it.'

'No, he's right,' said Jensen. 'If I'd just told you the truth in the first place, then maybe I wouldn't have acted the way I did. I guess I'm just touchy about Olivia.'

'You don't have to tell us anything, man,' said Eduardo, beginning to look uncomfortable.

'I was a lousy husband,' Jensen went on, 'and now I'm a lousy father too. I was only going to take the afternoons off while Livvy was staying with me, and dump her in daycare in the mornings. It's the mayor – he can't do anything without me. Or maybe he can. He's a grown man. Livvy's the one I should be running round after. She's just...' His voice started to crack. 'She's just a little girl!'

'Um,' said Garrett, wriggling in his chair away from Jensen. 'You're... not gonna cry, are you?'