In a dirty backstreet somewhere in New York City, Roland was holding a squirming, writhing ghost in a proton stream.

'Guys, I've got him!' Roland announced. 'I could use some backup!'

Kylie and Eduardo approached from different directions. They both fired their proton blasters somewhat carelessly.

'Hey, watch out!' said Roland. 'You both nearly crossed my stream.'

'Sorry, man,' said Eduardo.

'Yeah, sorry,' said Kylie.

'Kylie, it'd be more useful if you shut off your stream and threw the trap,' said Roland.

'Huh?' said Kylie. 'Oh... sure, yeah, okay.'

With quick, automatic motions she holstered her gun, unclipped the trap from her back, threw it into position and opened it. Roland and Eduardo cut off their proton streams and the ghost was sucked into the trap, which promptly clanged shut. Kylie and Eduardo both approached it, then pulled back when they saw each other.

'Sorry,' said Kylie.

'You take it,' said Eduardo.

Without another word, Kylie picked up the trap and set off back towards the Ecto-1. Roland followed her.

'Okay, Eddie, I just have to say this to you,' said Garrett, wheeling his way up to Eduardo from the other end of the street. 'There's way too much tension between you and Kylie – it's getting dangerous!'

'You mean for the job, right?' said Eduardo.

'Yeah, but probably for all our sanity as well,' said Garrett. 'Why don't you guys just talk and get it over with?'

'I don't know, man,' Eduardo shrugged.

'You'd better find out, then,' Garrett advised, 'for all our sakes.'

'Are you trying to tease me?' Eduardo asked, giving Garrett a searching look. 'Or do you really care about... well, y'know?'

'What do you think?' Garrett returned.

'I think it's time we got back to the car,' said Eduardo. 'Come on.'

As Eduardo and Garrett emerged from the alley, Kylie and Roland were getting into the front of the Ecto-1.

'I'm sorry to be so blunt about it, Kylie, but I really don't want my face burned off the next time we get a call,' Roland was saying.

'It's fine – you're right,' said Kylie. 'I just... I'm a bit scared, to tell you the truth.'

'Of what?'

'Of where it might end, if we really start talking.'

'Where do you want it to end?'

'Well, I...'

Kylie stopped speaking as the back doors opened and Eduardo and Garrett boarded the vehicle. A heavy silence prevailed for a few seconds, before Roland started the car and drove off.

Back at the firehouse a short time later, Eduardo, Kylie, Garrett and Roland were mooching around in the reception area, not talking and not really looking at each other. At length Garrett's face creased into a frown and he opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of the basement door opening made him close it again.

'Another one safely stored away,' said Egon, emerging with the empty trap. 'Well done, everyone.'

'No sweat,' said Garrett.

'Is everything okay up here?' asked Egon.

'Oh yes,' said Roland, 'just fine.'

'Are you sure?' Egon pressed. 'I thought I could sense something in the air.'

No one responded to this statement. Egon opened his mouth to say something else, but he closed it again when Slimer floated up to him and whispered something in his ear.

'Oh,' said Egon. 'Oh, I see. Thank you, Slimer. Eduardo, didn't you want to go home around this time? You can leave now if you want to.'

'I still got a half-hour,' said Eduardo, glancing at his watch.

'Hardly time to go out on another call and make it back in time,' said Egon. 'Go on – we can manage without you.'

'Why are you leaving early, Eduardo?' Kylie asked the floor.

'I have to get home for my nephew,' Eduardo explained. 'Carl and Beth are out of town for the night so he's coming back to my place after school.'

'Why aren't you staying with him at their place?' asked Garrett. 'It's much bigger than yours.'

'I don't know, man,' Eduardo sighed. 'Maybe Carl doesn't trust us not to wreck the place... doesn't trust me not to wreck the place.'

'You sure are lucky to be clocking off early,' said Garrett. 'Me and Kylie are gonna be here all night on emergency standby.'

'You are?' said Eduardo in surprise. 'Why?'

'We've had a special request from City Hall,' Egon explained. 'Apparently the mayor thinks that another horde of zombies is about to rise from the grave. He believes things like that always come in threes; so after the Halloween zombies, and then the Day of the Dead ones...'

'The next zombie apocalypse is due anytime!' Garrett grinned.

'That kinda sucks,' said Eduardo. 'I mean, the mayor used to treat us like garbage... and now we're setting up night shifts for him!'

'He's paying us to do it,' said Egon.

'Oh, well, I guess that's different,' said Eduardo, smiling slightly. 'I'll take my turn tomorrow night, okay?'

'Fine,' said Egon. 'Go along home, now – see you tomorrow.'

'Okay,' said Eduardo. 'Um, well... bye.'

With that, he scurried out of the firehouse and slammed the door behind him. Egon, Roland, Garrett and Slimer turned to Kylie with varying expressions on their faces; she smiled sheepishly.

Eduardo entered his apartment to find Kevin lying spread out on the couch, watching TV.

'Hey, man,' Eduardo said to the back of his nephew's head. 'You got here okay, then.'

'Yeah, the school bus stops right on the corner of the street,' Kevin replied, not removing his eyes from the TV screen. 'I've done it before.'

'So, erm... how was school?' Eduardo asked.

'Great,' said Kevin.

'I bought us steak and kidney in pastry for dinner,' Eduardo ventured, 'and a blueberry pie for dessert.'

'Swell,' said Kevin. 'I'm sorry, Uncle Eduardo, but I can't really talk to you 'til the end of this.'

Eduardo turned his attention to the programme Kevin was watching on the TV. His face gradually formed a confused expression.

'Is this some kind of Dungeons and Dragons thing?' he asked. 'What are they trying to do?'

'I'll explain it to you later,' said Kevin.

'Are those British kids?' Eduardo persisted.

'Yes,' said Kevin. 'It's a British show on this cable channel.'

'Is it a game show?'

'Yeah.'

'Why do they keep spelling out S-P-A-D-E? It obviously doesn't do anything.'

'They've gotten the name of the spell wrong.'

'Aren't they supposed to be getting rid of that dude who's holding the stick?'

'That's what they're trying to do but they're spelling out the wrong word.'

'Why don't they try something else? They're just... oh, are they dead now?'

'Yeah, they're dead now.'

'Is that the end of the show?'

'No, they'll get the next team started.'

Eduardo adopted a bemused expression and wandered off to the kitchenette.

A short time later, Eduardo and Kevin were facing each other across Eduardo's desk, arm-wrestling.

'Come on, man – you can do it,' Eduardo encouraged his nephew.

'I don't think so,' Kevin laughed. 'Maybe in a couple of years.'

'Ha, I wouldn't be so sure about that!' said Eduardo. 'I've always been really good at this.'

'That's because you have unnaturally large lower arms, like Popeye,' said Kevin.

'I do?' Eduardo asked worriedly.

He stared down at his right arm, dropping his guard for a moment. Kevin took the opportunity to push against Eduardo with all his strength. Eduardo's eyes widened in surprise as he found his arm hurtling towards the table; he quickly got his head back in the game and heaved Kevin's arm through one hundred and seventy degrees, down onto the other side of the table.

'You little shark!' Eduardo laughed. 'You almost had me there.'

'Next time I'll get you,' Kevin grinned, shaking out his right arm. 'I just need to think of a better distraction.'

'You hungry yet?' asked Eduardo. 'I could put the steak and kidney pie in the microwave if you want.'

'Sure, yeah,' said Kevin. 'I'll get started on my homework while you do that.'

Eduardo went into the kitchenette, found the steak and kidney pie, put it in the microwave and set the timer. After several seconds of uncertain searching, he managed to find two plates and two sets of cutlery. As he put the plates on the desk, he looked down at what Kevin was writing.

'What's that?' Eduardo asked with interest.

'My homework,' said Kevin, giving him a look.

'I know, man, but what's it about?' Eduardo pressed. 'It looks like you've drawn a picture of a demon.'

'I have,' said Kevin. 'That's Lamia. I'm writing this paper about her.'

'Is everyone writing a paper about a demon?'

'No, we got to do a project on whatever we wanted. I chose Lamia.'

'Ancient Greek and early Christian,' Eduardo read off Kevin's paper. 'Supposedly she was a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating demon. Later Christian traditions created an entire class of demons from her called Lamiae. These seduce young men and feed on their blood. Since the early Nineteenth Century there has been an active Lamia cult in Glens Falls, New York State.'

'I'm gonna do a whole section on them,' Kevin said proudly.

'Yeah?' said Eduardo. 'This stuff interests you, then?'

'Sure, I love all that supernatural junk,' said Kevin. 'Didn't you know?'

'Yeah, I guess I did.'

'Do you think I could be a Ghostbuster someday, Uncle Eduardo?'

'Sure you could,' said Eduardo, ruffling his nephew's hair. 'If I can be one, anyone can.'

'You shouldn't say things like that,' said Kevin, returning to his work. 'You're not stupid, Uncle Eduardo.'

'Yeah, well...'

A tremendous explosion erupted from the kitchenette at that moment. Eduardo and Kevin ran to investigate.

'The steak and kidney pie!' Eduardo fretted.

'It's exploded all over the microwave!' Kevin marvelled.

'How the heck did that happen?' said Eduardo.

'Did you pierce the lid?' asked Kevin. 'You always have to pierce the lid with that microwavable stuff.'

'Aw, man,' Eduardo sighed. 'Why didn't I read the instructions?'

'Because you're stupid,' Kevin giggled.

'Hey, you just said I wasn't!' Eduardo laughed, giving Kevin a light punch on the arm.

'I'm sorry – of course you're not,' said Kevin. 'Everyone makes mistakes. Shall I order us a pizza while you clean up the mess?'

'Yeah,' said Eduardo, 'good idea, man.'

A few hours later, Eduardo was putting the finishing touches on the conversion of his sofa-bed as Kevin emerged from the bathroom.

'You're sure you don't mind top-and-tailing?' Eduardo asked. 'I know I've got a blow-up mattress somewhere...'

'I like top-and-tailing with you,' said Kevin. 'We used to do it at Grandpa's house... I mean Abuelo's house.'

'You don't have to call him that for me, Kev,' Eduardo said gently. 'You just say what comes naturally to you. And I can't believe you remember that – you can't have been more than three!'

'Sure I remember,' said Kevin. 'I remember everything.'

He gave Eduardo a wide-eyed look; Eduardo averted his gaze.

'I'm sorry,' said Kevin. 'You don't like to talk about it, do you?'

'No,' said Eduardo. 'But I'll talk to you about it if you really want.'

'Well, I don't really want to right now,' Kevin shrugged, climbing into bed. 'Maybe sometime, but not right now.'

Eduardo smiled at him and then went off to the bathroom.

A car horn sounded in the stillness of the night and Kevin's eyes snapped open. An expression of discomfort came to his face.

'Uncle Eduardo!' he whispered.

There was no reply. Kevin sat up and stared at Eduardo's motionless form.

'Uncle Eduardo, I don't feel so good,' he ventured. 'That pizza and blueberry pie isn't sitting well.'

Eduardo did not move. Kevin clutched his stomach and groaned for a few seconds before running to the bathroom. There came the sounds of vomiting followed by rushing water, before Kevin emerged with an expression of serene calm on his face. He walked back over to the bed, looked down at Eduardo's sleeping form and moistened his lips.

'No,' he muttered. 'No, not here...'

And with that he dashed across the room to the front door, unlocked it, threw it open and ran out into the night.

Eduardo woke with a start. He noticed that he was alone in the room.

'Kevin?' he called in a whisper. 'Kevin, where are you, man?'

He got out of bed and took a look in the bathroom. He then returned to the main living area and noticed that the front door was wide open.

'Aw, man,' he muttered. 'What the heck is going on?'

Acting on some indefinable instinct, Eduardo went to his closet and dug out the PKE meter that he always kept there. As he ran it over the sofa-bed, his eyes widened in surprise and alarm to see trace readings quickly register on the display. Sweeping the meter across the room, Eduardo found the strongest PKE signal coming from the dining table, where Kevin's homework was still spread out.

'Lamia,' Eduardo muttered, and ran from the apartment.

Kylie was roused from sleep by the sound of someone noisily entering the firehouse on the storey below. She jumped to her feet and went to the couch to wake Garrett.

'Garrett!' she hissed. 'I think there's someone downstairs.'

'Just five more minutes, Mom,' Garrett muttered, without opening his eyes.

'Okay, then I'll just have to do this myself,' Kylie muttered.

She went into the kitchen to retrieve a rolling pin before running downstairs to investigate. She found the main light on in the garage area; she also found Eduardo leaning over the reception desk and fishing the keys to the Ecto-1 out of a drawer.

'Eduardo,' said Kylie, lowering her rolling pin. 'What are you doing here?'

'I need to borrow the Ecto-1 and drive to Glens Falls,' Eduardo replied. 'Right now.'

'Any particular reason?' asked Kylie.

'Kevin's gone missing from my apartment.'

'What makes you think he's gone to Glens Falls, of all places?'

'Because he... look, I don't got time to stand here and explain it all to you,' said Eduardo. 'Just tell Egon I'm sorry for borrowing the car without asking, okay?'

'I'm not telling Egon anything,' said Kylie. 'I'm coming with you.'

Eduardo stopped his flurry of activity and gave Kylie a look.

'Why?' he asked.

'You can't do it by yourself.'

'Sure I can.'

'Well, I'm not going to let you do it by yourself,' Kylie insisted. 'Remember the first rule of ghostbusting? Never go solo.'

'Who says I'm ghostbusting?'

'You think Kevin has suddenly decided to run off to Glens Falls – I'd wager dollars to doughnuts that there's some kind of ghost involved!'

'Yeah, well, you're right,' Eduardo admitted. 'Unless I'm wrong about this whole thing. What are you doing?'

Kylie had grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and was now writing something.

'I'm leaving a note for Garrett and the others,' she explained. 'They'll wonder what's going on if we just take the car and leave.'

'Maybe they'll think we've eloped,' Eduardo said glibly, and then instantly regretted it.

'You grab a couple of proton packs,' said Kylie, unable to conceal the small smile that was playing on her lips. 'I'll get a trap, and a couple of walkie-talkies in case we need to split up.'

Half a minute later, the Ecto-1 was loaded with the equipment Kylie had described and Eduardo was climbing into the driving seat.

'Are you sure you're okay to drive?' Kylie asked, as she got into the passenger seat beside him. 'You don't look like you've had much sleep.'

'I'll be fine,' said Eduardo. 'Maybe you can take a turn after an hour or something.'

'Okay,' said Kylie, 'let's go.'

A little later, the Ecto-1 was speeding along an unlit road in upstate New York with Eduardo still at the wheel.

'And that's the whole story,' he was saying to Kylie. 'I don't know if he's gone to Glens Falls at all... I don't even have any idea how he would've gotten there... but it's the only thing I can think of!'

'We'll have to come back home and call the police if we don't find him there,' said Kylie. 'I wonder what kind of connection this Lamia thing has to his homework.'

'The kind of connection that makes him run out into the night,' said Eduardo. 'That's all we really need to know for now.'

'I guess you're right,' said Kylie. 'Do you want me to drive for a while?'

'I'm good for now,' said Eduardo. 'I just want to get to Glens Falls and find my nephew.'

'Of course you do,' said Kylie, patting him on the knee with more than a little awkwardness. 'And I'm going to help you.'

'Thanks,' said Eduardo. 'It's been good to be able to tell someone all this. Man, I hope the mayor's zombie apocalypse doesn't happen while we're out here with the car and half the equipment.'

'I'm sure it won't,' said Kylie. 'Zombies are different from ghosts, anyways – this equipment probably wouldn't be much use against them.'

'Don't you think zombies are trappable, then?' asked Eduardo. 'I guess we haven't really tried so far.'

'It wouldn't surprise me if they weren't,' said Kylie. 'They're reanimated corpses of people from our world, not beings from another dimension. But I guess a proton stream might suck the demonic reanimation force out of them, and we could trap that.'

'I wouldn't expect to find a demon inside a zombie,' said Eduardo. 'Would you?'

'Oh, I don't know,' Kylie sighed. 'Why are we even talking about this?'

'Go on – tell me what you think,' said Eduardo. 'Talking with you is taking my mind off Kevin, plus it's stopping me from feeling sleepy. Tell me about zombies some more... please.'

'Well, I just think that zombies aren't the people they used to be when they were alive; not like ghosts are,' said Kylie. 'You said it yourself, Eduardo – the remains aren't the person, and I think that's still true if the brain gets reanimated by some supernatural force. But ghosts are the people they used to be, just without their bodies – it's the soul that's really the person... or the person's really the soul.'

'Some souls get corrupted by other forces before they become ghosts,' Eduardo pointed out, 'or they get bound to some place or object. Not all ghosts are simply the spirits of the dead on their own.'

'That's true,' said Kylie. 'But I still believe that all ghosts hold the true essence of the people they once were. That's why I became interested in ghosts in the first place, because I so desperately wanted to speak to my Grandma Rose again after she died... I still do.'

'I understand that,' Eduardo said, 'but are you sure you really want to see her as a ghost?'

'What do you mean?' asked Kylie. 'Why wouldn't I?'

'Well, I just mean that if she's a ghost, she won't have managed to... well, pass over or whatever you want to say,' Eduardo said carefully. 'Wouldn't you rather your Grandma Rose was at peace, not roaming the world of the living where she doesn't belong anymore?'

'What do you mean, doesn't belong anymore?'

'Well... I mean, she's dead, right?'

'Yeah.'

'How old was she when she died?'

'Eighty-nine.'

'Then she did okay, didn't she? I mean, it's right that she's moved on now, isn't it? Aw man, am I just coming over as really insensitive here?'

'No,' Kylie sighed. 'No, you're absolutely right. It's just that if Grandma Rose is at peace, and she isn't a ghost... well, then I won't ever get to see her and talk to her again, however long I'm a Ghostbuster!'

'Maybe you will someday,' said Eduardo. 'We don't know exactly how things work when people die but... well, we know it's not the end, don't we?'

'You're right again,' said Kylie. 'I'm just being selfish, I guess.'

'It's not selfish to love someone and miss them when they're gone,' said Eduardo. 'I've just always thought... well, personally I'd like to think that my dad is happy and peaceful in... y'know, Heaven or wherever, not stuck between worlds as a ghost. I mean, we have to wander about the earth lost and confused our whole lives, so at least when we're dead we should get to lay back and chill for a change.'

'Hmm, I've never really thought about it like that before,' said Kylie, 'but you're right again, Eduardo. Do you think the ghosts we catch manage to find some kind of peace inside the containment universe? You've been there.'

'Oh, well...' Eduardo said uncertainly. 'I'm sure some of them do, yeah.'

There followed a few seconds of silence.

'You've never spoken to me about your dad before,' said Kylie at last. 'In fact I've never heard you speak to anyone about him... other than to say very matter-of-factly that he's dead.'

'Yeah, well... I just felt like mentioning him, that's all,' Eduardo shrugged. 'There's a first time for everything.'

'He was a cop, wasn't he?'

'Yeah. He was a lieutenant with the detective squad at the Sixteenth Precinct... in the end.'

'And he died in the line of duty?'

'Yeah. Do you mind if we stop talking now so I can concentrate on the road?'

'I really think you should let me drive for a while,' said Kylie. 'You must be pretty tired by now.'

'So are you,' Eduardo pointed out.

'I'm perfectly fine to drive,' Kylie insisted. 'Come on, stop the car – we're swapping places right now.'

The Ecto-1 continued its long journey through the night, this time with Kylie at the wheel. In the passenger seat, Eduardo's head had flopped to one side and he was snoring softly. Kylie's eyes started to slide shut as well. She blinked fiercely and glared at the road ahead. Then her eyes closed again. She snapped them open. When they closed for a third time, a tremendous juddering, jarring thump suddenly rocked the entire car. Kylie's eyes snapped open and she slammed on the brakes.

'What the heck was that?' asked Eduardo, fully awake now.

'I don't know,' said Kylie. 'I think I hit something.'

'Aw, man,' said Eduardo. 'It wasn't a person, right?'

'I... I guess it could've been,' Kylie stammered. 'I didn't see. I think I fell asleep at the wheel. I'm sorry.'

'We'll have to get out and inspect the damage,' said Eduardo.

Slowly and nervously, they both got out of the vehicle. In the beam of the headlights, they saw a large stag lying on one side of the road, limp and motionless.

'Well,' said Kylie, 'at least it wasn't a person. Oh, but I killed a deer – that's terrible!'

'No you didn't,' said Eduardo. 'It's still alive – look, it's breathing.'

'Oh, the poor thing!' said Kylie. 'It must be in terrible agony that's beyond imagining. We'll have to put it out of its misery.'

'You mean kill it?' said Eduardo.

'We can't just leave it there.'

'But... but... how are we gonna do it? You can't just stamp on that thing and squash it – look at the size of it!'

'There's a toolkit in the back of the Ecto,' said Kylie. 'We'll have to plunge a screwdriver through its eye socket and up into its brain – it'll be quick and painless.'

Kylie went to the back of the car and retrieved the toolkit. By the light of the headlamps, she took out a long screwdriver and began to approach the floored animal. After only a few steps, she turned back.

'Eduardo, you do it,' she said. 'I can't do it.'

'Okay,' said Eduardo. 'Give me the screwdriver.'

Eduardo went up to the limp head of the wretched deer and loomed over it with the screwdriver. He stood there for several seconds.

'Can't you do it?' Kylie called to him.

'Sure I can do it,' said Eduardo. 'It's only a dumb deer.'

He knelt down on the road and held the screwdriver next to the stag's face. Then he let his hand drop.

'I can't do it,' he announced.

'I'll do it, then,' said Kylie. 'I should do it – I hit the poor thing. I just can't bear to see it lying there in agony any longer.'

'No, it's okay – I'll do it,' said Eduardo. 'Now, let's see here...'

He made a vague stabbing motion towards the creature's eye, but pulled his hand back when he saw the eye blink. Suddenly the stag raised its head, shook it, scrambled to its feet and ran off into the night.

'Hey, it was only stunned!' Eduardo exclaimed in relief.

'Thank goodness for that,' said Kylie. 'You really would have done it, Eduardo, wouldn't you? Even though you didn't want to kill it, you would've forced yourself to put it out of its misery.'

'Well I wouldn't have left it there in agony,' said Eduardo. 'That's just not in my nature.'

'I know,' said Kylie.

They stood there in the lamplight and smiled at each other for a few seconds.

'We have to carry on, Eduardo,' said Kylie.

'Huh?'

'To Glens Falls.'

'Oh, yeah. Y'know, Kylie, this is only a hunch I came up with on the spur of the moment... it's bound to be wrong!'

'Why is it bound to be wrong?'

'Because I'm always wrong!'

'No you're not,' Kylie said, calmly but firmly. 'I believe we're gonna find Kevin in Glens Falls, and so should you.'

'Belief might not be enough,' Eduardo sighed. 'Not on its own.'

'Maybe not,' said Kylie, 'but it's a good start.'