A few days later, the Ecto-1 pulled in to the firehouse and came to a stop. Egon, Eduardo, Kylie and Garrett decamped from the vehicle.
'I'm gonna put this guy on ice,' said Eduardo, holding a steaming ghost trap at arm's length.
'Man, that's the third call Roland's missed in two days,' said Garrett. 'Where's he been hiding lately?'
'Maybe he just needs some time to himself,' said Kylie. 'He's got a lot of thinking to do.'
'I just hope that's all he's doing,' Egon muttered.
'Hey, guys. What's going on?'
Everyone whirled around to see Roland silhouetted in the open doorway. He had one arm around a curvaceous young woman, while the other was clutching a familiar textbook to his chest.
'I'll tell you what's going on,' said Garrett. 'You weren't around when we needed you, again!'
'Sorry, I was busy,' said Roland. 'No biggie, right? Hey, baby, you'd better split now. I'll see you later, okay?'
'So you will come to dinner with my parents tonight, then?' Roland's companion asked him, somewhat tersely.
'Yeah, yeah, sure I will,' Roland replied dismissively. 'And afterward maybe we can...'
He cupped a hand over his mouth and whispered in the girl's ear. Her expression darkened, before she slapped him around the face and flounced off down the street. Roland regained his composure to see that Kylie, Garrett and Egon were all staring at him in the utmost surprise.
'She'll come crawling back,' Roland predicted. 'She's crazy about me.'
'Oh, well... we're pleased for you, Roland,' said Kylie.
'You could've introduced us to her, though,' said Garrett. 'What's her name?'
'Oh, I don't know,' Roland shrugged. 'T'Keysha or T'Meyah or K'Deysha or something. Say, is there any food around here? I'm starving.'
He set off towards the kitchen, the book still clasped tightly to his chest.
'What's gotten into him?' said Garrett. 'He's acting really weird. I mean, he's Roland... but he's not Roland!'
'Well, at least he's not depressed anymore,' said Kylie.
'It's that book,' Egon sighed. 'Roland must've released the entity I trapped, and now it's having some strange effect on him. I wish I'd put it in the containment unit myself now.'
'You were right to let him make the choice for himself, Egon,' said Kylie. 'He just seems to have made the wrong one this time.'
'Aha, I knew he was possessed!' Garrett crowed triumphantly.
'I don't think he's actually possessed,' said Egon, 'but clearly his association with this entity – this Professor Gerald Gaubert – is somehow causing the change in him.'
'Are we sure it's such a bad change?' asked Garrett. 'I mean, he has a girlfriend now and he seems really confident in himself.'
'Come on, Garrett – you saw how he was treating that girl,' said Kylie. 'Plus, like you said, he's been failing in his duties as a Ghostbuster. That's not our Roland who's just gone off to the kitchen... and we need our Roland back!'
'Then let's get to work on that at once,' said Egon. 'You two find Eduardo and go to the library; see if you can find out what they know about this haunted book.'
'What's the title?' asked Kylie.
'Roland left his reading list here the other night,' said Egon, producing the crumpled paper from a drawer in the reception desk. 'I think it's the book at the top of the list, but get them to check every title by this Professor Gaubert character just in case.'
'What should we ask them to check, exactly?' asked Garrett, taking the list from Egon.
'Whether they have the books in stock, and whether there have ever been any reports about their being haunted,' said Egon. 'In the meantime, I'm going to get on the internet and see what I can find out about our friend Gerald Gaubert.'
'You think he might've been some kind of nut?' asked Garrett.
'As he seems to have left part of himself in a book, I shouldn't be surprised to discover something of the sort,' said Egon.
'The lightning storm is expected to work its way up the eastern seaboard during the afternoon, passing over New York at about five o'clock before it moves over the Atlantic Ocean,' said the TV weather reporter. 'High winds and strong rain are expected, with possible localised travel disruption. And now for the pollen count...'
Roland switched off the television and turned to face the shimmering blue entity that was emanating from the book on the table beside him.
'Just like the internet forecast said,' said Roland. 'It's almost time.'
'Wonderful,' grinned the entity. 'Now, we must make haste. How long will it take to reach the building you spoke of?'
'Depends on the traffic,' said Roland. 'Shouldn't be too bad at this time of day.'
'We must go now,' said the entity. 'There is no time for delay.'
'Aren't you going to explain that chapter on biotechnical engineering principles first?' asked Roland. 'And what about my date tonight, huh? You're supposed to tell me what to say to impress, um... man, I just can't remember her name!'
'There'll be time for all that later!' the entity said impatiently. 'The storm is coming. Your friends are already suspicious. We must press ahead with the plan. We must do it now.'
'Whatever you say, Master,' said Roland.
'Yes,' chuckled the apparition, 'whatever I say!'
As they approached the firehouse, Eduardo, Garrett and Kylie were almost mown down by Roland's Mustang as it screeched out of the front doors.
'Man, where's Roland going in such a hurry?' said Eduardo, watching the car disappear along the street.
'Maybe he's off to make up with his girlfriend,' said Garrett.
'You're obsessed with his girlfriend, man,' said Eduardo. 'Are you jealous or something?'
'Puh-lease!' Garrett scoffed. 'I am not jealous, okay? Seems to me like you're the one who should be jealous of Roland, Eddie, seeing as he can just go ahead and tell a girl when he likes her!'
'Hey, it was the crazy evil book that made him do that!' Eduardo shot back.
'Maybe not,' said Garrett. 'Maybe he's been going out with her for months and he just hasn't felt like telling us!'
'If that was the case, I think he'd know her name by now,' said Kylie, smiling slightly. 'Now, come on – this conversation isn't doing anyone any good. Let's make our report to Egon.'
She led the way into the firehouse with Garrett and Eduardo tailing behind, casting each other disgruntled looks. They found Egon in his lab, tapping away at the computer.
'Egon,' said Kylie, 'you'll never believe this, but they don't carry any of Professor Gerald Gaubert's books at that library and they never have!'
'Oh, I believe it,' Egon assured her, looking up from the computer screen. 'I'm afraid this situation could be very much worse than I'd even begun to imagine.'
'What did you find out, Egon?' asked Garrett. 'Was this Professor Gaubert character some kind of nutcase like we thought?'
'Professor Gerald Gaubert wasn't anything,' said Egon. 'He is alive and well and living in Florida.'
'But... but if he's not dead,' said Eduardo, 'then how can his ghost be living in a book?'
'It can't,' said Egon. 'It's still possible that Professor Gaubert put some kind of spell on the book to retain some part of himself inside it even though he's still alive, but there's a far more alarming – and, I'm afraid, far more likely – explanation.'
'You mean some kind of demon might be using the book to manipulate some hapless reader into channelling it into our world or something?' said Kylie.
'If pressed, I'd judge that to be the most likely scenario,' Egon sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. 'I suspect that this entity is feeding off Roland's life energy in some way in order to achieve whatever it wants to achieve... and yes, that's most likely to enter our world and cause some trouble, if past experience of this kind of thing is anything to go by.'
'You mean the book is sucking out Roland's soul?' asked Garrett.
'No... well, yes, I suppose it could be,' said Egon. 'It's obviously feeding off him in some way, at any rate.'
'So wherever he's just driven off to at five hundred miles an hour,' said Eduardo, 'it can't be good news, right?'
'Right,' said Egon. 'Oh dear; this could be bad.'
'We have no way of knowing what he's planning to do!' said Kylie. 'How are we gonna help him now?'
Garrett adopted a ruminative expression, propelled himself into the kitchen, and returned a few seconds later with a small metallic item on his lap.
'Bingo!' he grinned. 'Roland left his electronic organiser in the kitchen – I've often seen it lying around in there. This should tell us what he's up to.'
'Come on, man!' Eduardo scoffed. 'Do you really think he's got something like "4pm, go to Battery Park and summon my new book demon buddy into our world" written in there?'
'Hey, it's got to be worth a look,' said Garrett. 'Let's see here... ah, no, he hasn't entered anything into the planner for the past three days!'
'That just proves once and for all that he's possessed,' said Kylie.
'I'll take a look in the General Notes section,' said Garrett. 'Ah, yes, jackpot!'
'What does it say?' asked Eduardo.
'Professor G – E.S.,' Garrett read off the screen.
'Yeah, that's real helpful,' Eduardo said flatly.
'We could at least try to work out what it stands for!' said Garrett. 'Eat spinach? End suffering? Enjoy Superman?'
'I doubt the demon wants to do any of that stuff,' said Kylie.
'Maybe E.S. is a person,' said Egon. 'Or a place.'
'Yeah, it could be the place he's just driven off to!' said Garrett. 'Do we know anywhere in New York it could be?'
'East River?' Eduardo suggested. 'Are you sure it's an S, not an R?'
'Yes, I'm sure – I know how to read!' said Garrett.
There followed a few moments of tense silence during which the non-existent sound of everyone wracking their brains could almost be heard.
'Ooh, I got one!' Kylie declared. 'Empire State!'
'Of course,' said Egon, 'the Empire State Building – the only possible explanation!'
'What, you think Roland's about to pull a King Kong or something?' said Garrett.
'I don't know what he's about to do,' said Egon, rising to his feet, 'but I think we'd better go and find out!'
The Ecto-1 screeched to a halt outside the Empire State Building with lights blazing and sirens blaring. Egon, Eduardo, Garrett and Kylie tumbled out of the vehicle, fully outfitted and equipped for ghostbusting. Lightning flashed in the sky above as a torrent of rain began to descend on the city.
'Do you really think Roland's here?' asked Kylie.
'I'd be surprised if he's not,' said Egon.
'At least he's not really scaling the walls,' Garrett remarked.
'We'll try the observation deck first,' Egon ordered.
'Great idea,' said Garrett. 'I vote we take the elevator.'
A couple of minutes later, the elevator arrived at the observation deck and Egon led the way out. Everyone looked around, and then Eduardo looked up.
'There he is!' Eduardo announced.
'What the heck does he think he's doing?' said Garrett.
'He's probably not thinking at all at this point,' Egon said ruefully. 'That's the problem.'
Roland was clinging to the enormous spire above, his feet planted precariously at the base. The textbook was tucked under one arm, while the shimmering blue strands that emanated from it coiled themselves around the spire in the shape of a corkscrew.
'Roland, get down from there!' Kylie yelled up to him.
'What are you doing, man?' Eduardo added.
'I... I serve my master!' Roland yelled back, the rain lashing his demented face. 'He will break through... he will conquer all!'
'Mmm, yes, things are very much as we feared, it seems,' Egon remarked.
'But why he is clinging onto the spire of the Empire State Building?' Garrett asked.
'What you see up there is the biggest lightning rod on the eastern seaboard,' said Egon. 'Presumably this entity is planning to harness the power of the storm and use it to cross into our dimension.'
'So... so what'll happen to Roland if the spire gets struck by lightning?' said Eduardo.
'What do you think?' said Egon.
'He'll be fried!' said Kylie.
'Yeah,' said Garrett, 'you don't need to be an expert to figure that one out.'
'We have to get him down from there!' said Kylie.
'Evidently,' said Egon. 'The trouble is, I'm not at all sure that we can attack the entity without putting Roland in mortal danger. If we fire our proton beams at the spire, the effect will be very much the same as if it gets struck by lightning.'
'Can't we just direct a trap beam up there?' Kylie wondered. 'You managed to trap it before, Egon, remember?'
'Yes, so I did,' Egon agreed. 'Very well, try that.'
Kylie reached for her trap, opened it and directed the beam upwards. At that moment several forks of lightning split the sky overhead; the trap fizzled and sparked, and Kylie dropped it with a shrill cry.
'The high level of static electricity in the air is interfering with the containment field,' Egon stated. 'And that lightning was alarmingly close to striking this building.'
'Yes!' the voice of the entity screeched overhead. 'It's coming closer – I can feel it! Now I, Daimar the Demon, King of the Dark Dimension, shall cross over into the world of men at last... and I shall rule!'
'Egon, what can we do?' Kylie asked desperately.
'Um...' said Egon. 'I don't know. I seem to be heading toward losing the capacity for rational thought, I'm afraid. The trouble is, we can't do anything to that demon while both he and Roland are wrapped around that pole, and he knows it!'
'Wait... I'm remembering something,' said Garrett. 'Something that might be useful here... something about a book...'
'Don't strain your brain too hard, man,' Eduardo advised.
'Shh, I'm trying to think!' Garrett shot back. 'Ah, yes, I know! Remember how we defeated the Vathack? Roland, drop the book!'
'Yes, of course!' said Egon. 'Quickly, Roland, throw it down here!'
'I... I... I can't!' Roland yelled back.
'You can do it, Roland!' Kylie yelled. 'Drop the book!'
'Just drop it, man!' Eduardo squealed.
'Roland, this time you have to make the choice that you know is right!' Egon encouraged him. 'You are in control of your own life – you're in control of whether you transfer to Stanford, and you're in control of whether you end up fried to a fritter on top of the Empire State Building! This time, there is a right answer – throw us the book!'
'Think of all the reasons you want to stay in New York – your home, your family... us!' Kylie added. 'And think of all the reasons you want to go to California – your education, your future! You'll never get to make that choice for yourself if you choose right now to let Daimar the Demon sacrifice your life for his own evil ends! Drop the book!'
'You can do it, man!' Eduardo yelled.
'Come on, Roland, don't be such a wuss!' Garrett added. 'What would T'Keysha or T'Meyah or K'Deysha think of you now, huh?'
'I... I... I...' Roland yelled over the cacophony of the storm. 'I... I can do it!'
He hurled the book away from him with some force; four proton streams rushed to intercept it before it had fallen more than ten metres. Daimar the Demon began to writhe and scream as the book was blown to smithereens.
'Stop them, Roland, stop them!' the entity screamed in desperation. 'Think of your new life – only I can give you what you want! The world of commercial engineering will be an open book to you! Everyone will want to be your friend! You can have any girl you want – you don't have to stop at just that one, and she's too clingy anyway! Don't let them do this to me, Roland – don't let them do it to us! We can be the ultimate team – we can rule the world!'
'I rule my own world, Daimar the Demon!' Roland yelled back defiantly. 'And I don't need your help to do it!'
At that moment, the book exploded spectacularly and the Ghostbusters switched off their proton streams. Daimar the Demon dissolved first into the guise of Professor Gerald Gaubert, then the crotchety old librarian who had directed Roland to the book, and then into a blue mist which gradually dissipated into the ether. Roland quickly slid down to join his friends; Egon and Eduardo were ready to help him carefully onto the observation platform and steady him on his feet.
'Wow, guys, I... I don't know what to... thanks, guys,' Roland smiled round at his companions.
'Don't sweat it,' said Garrett. 'That's what friends are for, right?'
'It's a shame you had to destroy the book,' Roland remarked.
'Hey, it was evil, man!' said Eduardo.
'I know,' Roland sighed. 'It's just that it was a library book. I'll get fined a fortune!'
'It wasn't a library book, Roland,' Kylie explained patiently. 'Daimar the Demon set you up. That library doesn't actually stock any of the books on your reading list – we checked. They suggested you try the main library in Manhattan.'
'Man, I wish I'd thought of that,' Roland remarked.
Roland entered the lounge at the firehouse, threw himself into a chair, and beamed contentedly at his fellow Ghostbusters.
'I've just given Professor Banks my answer about Stanford,' he announced proudly, 'and I didn't need any haunted books to help me do it!'
'It's just like J.K. Rowling says in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,' said Eduardo. 'Never trust something that thinks for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.'
'Oh, that's where that's from?' said Roland.
'It's good advice,' said Kylie. 'Maybe you're right about Harry Potter, Eduardo – I'm definitely going to read those books.'
'I'll lend them both to you tomorrow if you want,' said Eduardo. 'It's like I've always said, Kylie – you really need to read more.'
'So what did you decide, Rolster?' asked Garrett.
'I've decided to defer for a year,' said Roland, 'and see how I feel then.'
'Talk about having your cake and eating it,' laughed Eduardo. 'You've made your choice, but you haven't made your choice. You'll have to decide eventually, man.'
'I already have – I've decided to wait, and that's the right decision for me, right now!'
'Yeah, well... you know what I mean.'
'Well, I'm just glad to hear that you're not leaving us, Roland,' Kylie said warmly. 'Like I said before, you're our lynchpin, our earth wire, our keystone...'
'Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're all glad you're sticking around, big guy,' Garrett cut in. 'But what about T'Keysha or T'Meyah or K'Deysha, huh? Are you gonna see her again?'
'Oh,' said Roland, smiling slightly, 'I might.'
