Chapter Two: The One with the Ghost in the Library

"As a friend, I have to tell you, you've finally gone around the bend on this ghost business. You guys have been running your ass off meeting and greeting every schizo that says he has a paranormal experience. What have you seen?" Peter said to Ray.

"Seeing isn't believing, Pete; just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not real." I commented.

"Give me an example?" Peter replied.

"Have you ever seen a million dollars?" I pointed out, "Or Dodo birds, they used to exist and no one has ever seen one of those."

Peter rolled his eyes, "You should have stopped after the million dollar comment."

"And of course, you forget, Peter; I was president of the undersea unexplained mass sponge migration." Ray added.

Peter sighed, "Ray, the sponges only migrated about a foot and a half."

Peter went over to Egon and started messing with the table he was trying to listen to. Peter said Egon's name in a way that made it sound like a moan of a ghost and he bang on the table. He finally dropped a hardcover book on the table and that got Egon's attention, "Oh, you're here." He greeted them surprised, standing, and then when he saw me, he smiled, "Hey Anna, have a nice flight?"

"I did, thank you."

"What have you got?" Peter asked him.

"This is big, this is really big. There's definitely something here." Egon replied as we started to walk away from the table.

"Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head, remember that?" Peter replied on the other side of Ray, looking past me to Egon.

"You tried to drill a hole through your head?" I asked Egon, "When the hell did you try to drill a hole through your head?"

"Doesn't tell you everything, does he?" Ray whispered to me, clearly smirking, judging from his tone. I rolled my eyes at the comment and ignored him.

"That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me." Egon replied to Peter.

"What in hell possessed you to want to drill a hole through you head?" I asked Egon. He didn't answer.

One of the workers showed us to the librarian who had the encounter. And she described her attack to us. She described every part she remembered, "And it had arms, I remember because it reached out for me."

"Arms? I can't wait to get a look at this thing!" Ray commented excitedly.

"Wouldn't we all." I agreed, but I had to admit, I wasn't as excited as he was. Although, I don't think anyone could have been.

"Alice, I'm going to ask you a couple of standard questions, okay?" Peter asked for her consent. She nodded. "Have you or anyone in your family ever been diagnosed with schizophrenic or mentally incompetent?" He started with the questions.

"My uncle thought he was Saint Jerome."

"I'd call that a big yes." Her replied and then asked another question, "Are you habitually using drugs, stimulants, or alcohol?"

"No." She replied.

"No, no, just asking. Are you, Alice, menstruating right now?"

"Peter!" I hit him on the back of the head. "I'm sorry, ma'am, about the offensive question; my brother is currently going through manopause. Stress and desperation caused it to come a bit early. Forgive him."

"That hurt, Anna. Go over by Ray and let me proceed with my questioning" Peter replied, and turned back to Alice, "Alice, please answer the question. Were you currently menstruating at the time or are menstruating now?"

"I didn't know they invented a word for what Pete was going through." Ray whispered, chuckling softly.

"They didn't." I replied, "I did."

"It's moving!" Egon announced. Ray and I followed him and Peter was a few seconds behind us. We followed him all the way down to the basement and down an aisle of book. "Look!" Egon exclaimed.

"At what?" I asked not being able to see anything. Peter and Ray had somehow gotten in front of me before we headed down the aisle. I couldn't see over them or through them to see what it was the three of them were looking at. Apparently humans don't become transparent until their afterlives.

"Guys, would one of you let Anna take a look at this?" Egon asked. Ray moved to the other side of the books and let me go ahead.

"Thank you, Egon. Thanks, Ray." I replied and looked at the stack of books. I looked at the spines to see how they were organized. "This is symmetrical book stacking. It hasn't really been used since the Philadelphia Mass Turbulence of 1947; well, it's been used a bit here and there, but it's not popular."

"You're right" Peter said, "No human being would stack books like this. I'm surprised one even knows about it."

"If you actually cracked open a real book once and awhile, you might know about it too." I jeered.

"And this is coming from the little girl who believes in rabbits that have horns." Pete scoffed.

"They are called Jackalopes, and they have antlers not horns!" I retorted. "And when have I ever been little to you? I'm only two years younger than you are!"

Pete cut me off, "Why don't say that a little louder, Anna? The people in Times Square couldn't you. If you've forgotten we're-"

"Listen." Ray caught our attention. "You smell something?"

Egon moved down the aisle first, I followed him, Ray followed me, and Peter was right behind us. We followed Egon to a file room. Some of the narrow drawers used to hold cards were opened to the point that they could fall out if you touched them lightly with the gentlest movement of your hand. There was some type of slimy, mucusy gunk on them also. It looked like someone with a terrible cold decided to blow their nose all over the drawers.

"Talk about telekinetic activity, look at this mess!" Ray exclaimed.

"Raymond, look at this." Egon said. Ray came over to him, I scooted to the other side of Egon, so he could get by.

"Ectoplasmic residue!" Ray exclaimed in awe.

"Venkman get a sample of this." Egon said.

"Which one?" We asked.

"I meant Peter." Egon replied, "Unless you want to get it, Anna?"

I looked at it for a second, and then replied, "I think I'm good…" I backed away from it slightly, "Pete can get this one."

"That's what I thought." Egon replied.

Peter came over to the drawer we were examining, "Somebody blows their nose and you wanna keep it?"

"I want to analyze it." Egon corrected. Ray and I moved down as Peter started collecting the gunk. Ray pointed out the ones that have even more slime and worse readings. Egon told us to follow him and I went after Egon and Ray was right behind me recording everything with his camera. Peter finished collecting the gunk and followed us.

"Egon, your mucus." Peter handed him the container.

A creaking sound came from behind me. I felt a tug at my arm pulling me ahead. A couple of second later there was a thud was heard. I looked down at my arm, the hand wasn't there. I looked behind me the bookcase had collapsed. I looked at Egon, who was the closest to me. "Thanks for pulling me away from that."

"I didn't pull you away from the bookcase." Egon said.

"It wasn't me." Peter answered when I looked at him, "I didn't even know you were behind me. I thought you had gone into a different aisle."

I looked to Ray, but he shook his head, "I would of, if I knew, but it wasn't me either."

"But… But… There was something that pulled me out of the way of that book case." I told them, looking back at the fallen bookcase. Peter looked at me as if I had just lost it. "I'm serious. It happened too quickly for me to do it myself."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Anna."

"I'm not lying."

"Of course not, Anna." He replied, and then looked at Ray, changing the subject back to the bookcase, "This happen to you before?" Ray shook his head. "First time?" Ray nodded. "Huh."

Egon started to move again. Peter went ahead of us.

"Something pulled me out of the way." I stared at the bookcase confused.

Ray took my hand, "We'll check the tapes later to see what or who grabbed you." He reassured me, and then we left to catch up with Egon and Peter. Ray let go of my hand as soon as we caught up to them. There was a feeling that left with it, but I'm not sure what it was though. I was probably just imagining it. We followed Egon down the aisles, till suddenly we came to a stop. "It's here." The ghost was female. She looked like she was from the Victorian or Edwardian age. Her dress was nicely fitted and conservative. Her hair was in a tight do in the back of her head. She could pass for Marian from the Music Man. But one thing was for sure, she definitely was here often while she was alive.

"A full torso apparition...it's real…" Ray exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"So what do we do?" Peter asked us, we kept staring at the ghost. "Could you come over and talk to me for a second, please?"

Peter grabbed Ray's and pulled him back into the aisle. Egon followed, I did not. I don't know what it was that made me want to do this. Call it intuition, fascination – not thinking things through – but whatever it was, it led me to the ghost instead. "What are you reading?" I asked in a hushed tone remembering my library manners.

The lady looked down at me. She looked my age, if not a bit younger. Tilting her head in surprise and confusion, but then with a smile, she answered, "Jane Austen's Persuasion."

"Have you read it before?"

"Yes. It's one of my favorites. I do not have the money to buy it, so I come and read it whenever I get a chance to." She replied with a smile.

I nodded, "Good reason to come, it's a lovely novel. One of her best..."

"Which one do you think is her best if is not Persuasion?"

"I believe I would have to say either Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice. I do love Emma though. That one is just as lovely. What am I saying? Jane Austen does not have a best novel, because they are all absolutely lovely."

"I would have to agree with you on that point." She giggled and then asked, "Do you spend a lot of time here?"

I took a book from one of the shelves my fingers lightly tracing the cover of the book with a hidden smile on my face remembering the past. I looked closer at the book I was holding, it was my mother's favorite, The Tales of Sherlock Holmes, it was the copy I had checked out so many years ago and it still smelled of her perfume. I sat down on the floor. "When I was little, I had my brother come with me every Sunday afternoon here. I would spend all afternoon reading while my brother would go off gallivanting with his friends. And then every Sunday evening, an hour before the library closed I would have a stack of books I didn't finish, before my brother and his friends came to pick me up, to check out. My mother would read them to me and my sister before we went to sleep and then sing to us afterward. I spilled a bottle of her perfume all over a library book, this one actually, and the carpet when I was nine. They were soaked, and forever smelled of vanilla, like she did…. I used to check out the book and lie on that carpet. And oh how I missed her when she went away on trips to London… She died seven years later…from a disease. My sister and I were sent off to a boarding school in England. I stayed there for a long time...this is the first time I've moved back since…" I felt something wet stream down my cheeks like a rain. Tears… The lady was sitting next to me, looking at me sadly, but completely entranced in my tale.

"I never knew my mum…I wish I did…What is it like?" She asked almost curiously, but not happily curious, more of in a sad wonder.

"A mother is the most wonderful person in the world. She's the helping hand that guides you along whether you're right or wrong; she's always one step behind, supporting whatever you do. Honestly, it's really hard to remember a time when she wasn't there for us. I always could depend on her. I took her for granted, I realized that when she was gone… I'm really not explaining this right."

Peter's POV

"What do we do?" I asked them when we got into the corner. Egon pulled out his scanner. I hit the scanner, "Will you stop that?"

"We gotta make contact." Ray suggested, "One of us should try to speak to it."

"Good idea." Egon agreed.

"Speaking of one of us, where's Anna?" I asked them. We all looked back at where the ghost was to find Anna speaking to the ghost as if it were a normal person. Egon's jaw dropped. Ray's eyes widened. I had a combination of the two. "What are they talking about?"

Ray started taking pictures of them talking.

"Vanilla perfume and a soaked carpet." Egon said picking up bits and pieces.

Ray shook his head and corrected him, "She spilled a bottle of perfume on the carpet in the house you were living in while you were growing up. The book and the carpet were soaked." He remarked, he continued before I had a chance to comment, "You and I knocked into her and she spilt the bottle. We, well you actually, cause I wasn't the one who collided into her, you didn't get in trouble for knocking her over because she took the blame for everything. When you went outside to meet Egon…"

"What did you do Ray?" I asked him sarcastically serious tone. He shrugged and kept taking pictures. He started to turn red, which didn't make me too happy. "I think I'd really like to hear what you did, Ray."

He stopped a little fearfully and replied, "I dried the book with a blow dryer. When I went to return it, she was crying because she felt bad, so I stayed with her instead of meeting you guys." He replied. I could tell from his eyes he left something out, but I let that drop. I rolled my eyes, Ray had always had some feelings toward Anna. He had never acted upon them, unlike Egon, who had no problems going after my other sister, Anna's twin, Sarah, when we were young.

"What are we going to do about what she's doing now?" I asked. Ray went back to taking pictures of her. I rolled my eyes. "Egon, you get her attention and get her over her, and then I'll talk to the apparition."

Egon went down the aisle a ways and called for Anna.

Anna's POV

"Anna!" I heard someone call my name, it sounded like Egon. I looked at the lady; she looked frustrated by the noise. I gave her a small smiled. "I apologize profusely about my friend's manners, but I must go. I had a lovely time chatting with you-"

"My name is Emmaline." Her frustrated look melted away and she smiled at me sincerely, "What is your name?"

"Anna."

"It was lovely speaking with you also, Anna."

"Goodbye." I smiled and went off to find the guys. Ray pulled me gently into the aisle they were in.

"What were you thinking?" Peter asked.

"I-"

"Save it, I can already tell you weren't."

"I didn't do anything wrong. Emmaline's nice-" Peter had left.

"Who's Emmaline?" Ray asked.

I turned to face Ray, "The lady apparition, her name is Emmaline. She was around my age and she loves books-"

Then I heard Peter, "I'm Peter. Where are you from…originally?" He asked Emmaline too loudly. She shushed him and went back to reading Persuasion. Ray and Egon were taking pictures of the whole thing. Peter came back in the aisle.

"The usual stuff isn't working." Peter said.

"Yelling at her from across the room didn't work?" I retorted, rolling my eyes, "I wonder why?"

"I got it!" Ray exclaimed, "I have a plan."

"I'm going to stay here and sit out this one, if you guys don't mind." I replied leaning against the bookcase. I still had the book in my hand.

"I'd rather you stayed anyway, Anna, so nothing happens to you in case the plan fails." Ray replied. He was always the one to look out for me, especially when we were kids, more so than Peter. I nodded and watched Yogi Bear and his two Boo Boo's go off.

"Get Her!" Ray yelled. I immediately did a facepalm. I looked out to see what happened. Emmaline turned into a huge skeleton, heck that even scared the bejeezus outta me. It sent them running in my direction. Ray ran ahead terrified, Egon grabbed my hand and rushed us out of there with Peter close behind.

"You see it?" One of the workers called as we all rushed out the door, "What was it?"

"We'll get back to you!" Peter answered. We ran halfway way down the street. Egon and I started to walk. He let go of my hand quickly.

"Sorry, for holding on to your hand for so long. Ray was going to grab you, but I think he got sidetracked by his fear." Egon said embarrassed. If I had been Sarah, I doubt he would have been as embarrassed as he was now.

I laughed, "It's okay, Egon." We were silent for a while as he checked some of the things on his device. I looked up at Peter and Ray talking.

"He knows." Egon said after a while.

"Huh?" I looked at him utterly confused.

"Peter knows about what Ray did the day you spilt the perfume bottle." Egon clarified.

"How?"

Egon sighed, "He got it outta Ray when we were in the aisle. He told Peter about spending the afternoon with you and drying the book." I smiled to myself thinking about what he had done. "The story he gave sounded like it was missing the ending. I'm not going to ask you what it is, I just wanted to let you know. If you need to talk about anything, I'll be there for you, for anything, except if you need a place to crash. You're crashing with Ray, it's already decided. Peter's apartment is for one. I'm working on an experiment with mold and my apartment is infested with it, it would be a health hazard for you, given your severe allergy. Ray has a house that is too big for him."

"He's living in the house he grew up in, isn't he?"

Egon nodded and then looked at his device as we caught up to the other two. "I wouldn't say the experience was completely wasted." He told us, "According to these new readings, I think we have an excellent chance of catching a ghost and holding it indefinitely."

"She's actually nice if you talk to her like a normal person." I commented, "It wouldn't make sense to contain her."

"We won't." Ray promised, "I'm a little too scared to go back anyway." Ray walked ahead with Egon and I, "This is great though. If the ionization rate for all ectoplasmic entities, we could really bust some heads, in a spiritual sense, of course."

Peter ran to catch up with us, "Are you serious about this catching ghosts?"

"I'm always serious." Egon replied.

"Egon, I'm gonna take back some of the things I said about you." Pete commented.

"What have you been saying about Egon?" I asked him.

"You've earned it." Peter told Egon, ignoring me, and giving him something.

"Do I want to know what he's been saying?" I asked Ray. He shook his head.

Ray and I started to talk about catching ghosts and the science of it as we all headed back to the university. "The possibilities are limitless." He exclaimed as we walked through the door of their department. "Hey Dean Yager." Ray greeted the Dean. The Dean looked up and turned around. Boxes were everywhere. Guys were moving things out.

"I trust your moving us to better quarters on campus." Peter guessed, observing the men moving things out.

"No. You're being moved off campus." The Dean stated, "The Board of Regents has decided to abort your grant. You are to vacate these premises immediately."

Peter closed his eyes and said, "This is preposterous. I demand an explanation immediately."

"Fine." Dean Yager agreed, "This University will no longer continue any funding of any kind for your group's activities."

"The kids love us." Peter said.

'I guess he hasn't noticed the 'Burn in hell, Venkman' on the door of the paranormal studies office.' I thought.

The Dean sat down on one of the tables. "Dr. Venkman, we believe the purpose of science is to serve mankind. You, however, seem to regard science as some kind of dodge or hustle. Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe. Your methods are sloppy and your conclusions are highly questionable. You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman."

Peter nodded, "I see."

"You have no place in this department or in this university." The Dean stated before turning, we excused ourselves from the department office.