Arriving on the Scene

Many students stood outside the institute as Abby, Erin, Holtzmann, and Patty arrived in the Ecto-1. Right when the siren was heard, Taylor and Kendra walked up to the car as it parked. Gary and Michael were not too far behind the girls, as they were ready to talk to the Ghostbusters about what they had just seen.

All four women got the packs from out of the back. Abby picked up the PKE meter to help track where the entity is.

"Are you all ready?" Abby asked the other three.

"Of course," Holtzmann said. "Let's do this."

Taylor, Kendra, Gary, and Michael approached the quartet right when they started walking.

"Excuse me, are you Abby Yates?" Kendra said. "And are you Erin Gilbert?"

"Yes, we are," Erin said. "What's up?"

"My friend here got some pictures of the ghost we saw," Kendra said.

Taylor got out her phone and went right to the photo gallery. She stuck her phone out and handed it to Abby so that she could see. Abby flipped through the pictures to see the entity. The closer she looked, the ghost started to look more and more familiar.

"Erin? Do you think that this ghost looks like Samuel Walker?" Abby asked.

Erin got closer so that see could see the picture.

"Yes, that does look like him," Erin said. "I wonder why his spirit is terrorizing this place."

Patty and Holtzmann got closer to see the photo, too.

"Wait, what's going on?" Patty asked. "Who is that and what is the deal with that ghost?"

Abby replied, "Patty, this is the ghost of Samuel Walker, a scientist who was killed in a lab accident many years ago. He was a respected scientist."

"Until it was thought that his biochemical research was false," Erin said. "He kept trying to prove that he was right and then at some point some formulas mixed in with the wrong substances which led to his demise."

"Oh, man, that sounds horrible," Patty said. "I don't know nothing about no science like you ladies do, but I am behind you on all this."

Taylor butted in a bit. "The ghost flew right through the walls of the lab. We were studying and also trying to prepare ourselves for a presentation but then we saw the entity. It was crazy."

"I have read your book," Kendra also butted in. "I saw that it was a Class-4 entity."

"Hey, what's going here?" While the eight people continued to talk, a voice was heard out of the blue.

The four students backed up to help pave the way and right then, Dean Shanks approached them.

"Oh, thank goodness you are here," Shanks was rather relieved to see them.

"Really now?" Abby said, as she was less than pleased to see her former boss. "Says the guy who didn't believe in the paranormal and fired our asses."

"Look, there is no time for that right now," Shanks said. "I saw the ghost come into my office. You know more about this stuff than I do, so I need your help. I don't want to argue about this, so just do what you need to do."

Abby was reluctant to help out Dean Shanks, but Holtzmann and Patty looked over at her and mouthed "Come on."

"Okay, we're going to catch that ghost," Abby said, and she turned towards Holtzmann. "Just CATCH the ghost, not destroy it."

"Okay, okay," Holtzmann said.

As the quartet started going inside, Taylor and the other three in her group tried to catch up to them.

"Wait," Taylor said. "Are you guys really going to catch that ghost?"

"That's our plan," Abby said.

"Well, I was thinking of maybe sending these pictures to you later on," Taylor said. "Would that be okay with you?"

"Sure thing," Abby said. "Just as long as we catch it and do some research on it."

The quartet walked into the building. Holtzmann got out some special goggles that she made in order to see where a paranormal entity may be. Abby turned on the PKE meter to do the same thing.

"Okay," Abby said. "Erin, you and Patty head down to the left side. Holtz and I are going to investigate the right, like in our old lab. Call us when you found something."

"We will, Abby," Erin said. "If we see the ghost, we will let you know."

"Should we get out our guns if we see it first?" Patty asked.

"If the entity moves around a lot, just zap it and we will be on our way," Abby said.

"I have the trap, so we're good," Holtzmann said.

The four ended split their own ways to investigate. Abby and Holtzmann were already familiar enough with the facility to check out a lot of places to see where the entity may be. However, Erin and Patty were more unfamiliar, although Erin had been to the facility before.

"So, Erin, I was wondering, what was the deal back there with Abby and the dean of this place?" Patty asked.

"Abby and Holtzy used to work here," Erin said. "They were paranormal researchers and had a department here. The dean fired them because…well he didn't believe in the paranormal. He was a real asshole and felt that this shithole institute had a reputation to uphold."

"Whoa, you're calling this place a shithole?" Patty said. "You're not just saying that because you were a professor at Columbia University, are you?"

"Relax, Patty, even Abby and Holtzy have said that this is a shitty university," Erin said. "Remember, I was fired for a similar reason from my old job."

Suddenly, a strange sound was heard from behind the two ladies. Both Erin and Patty turned around.

"What the hell was that?" Patty yelled.

Erin looked down the hall. She stuck her head to her right and moved it forward to get a better look at stuff.

"It might be the ghost, but we don't know for sure," Erin said.

Meanwhile, Abby and Holtzmann checked out the area where there lab used to be. They even came across their old lab.

"Hey, Abby, look," Holtzmann saw the saw sign on the door. "This sign is still on the door."

The sign said "DON'T WRITE STUPID THINGS ON THE DOOR."

"Really, I thought that they would have taken that off by now," Abby said. "Talk about lazy guys at this place."

Abby and Holtzmann entered their old lab and all of a sudden the PKE started going a tad faster and the number on the screen started going up. Holtzmann took off her glasses and put on her goggles to get a glimpse of any ectoplasmic residue.

"Do you see anything, Holtzmann?" Abby asked.

As Holtzmann looked through her ecto goggles, she had noticed some tracks on the floor and what appeared to be what was left of a puddle of slime on the wall and to the floor.

"I think we got something, Abby," Holtzmann said. "It looks like the ghost had gone though other parts of the facility. We need to head north of here."

Abby got out her walkie-talkie. "Hey, Erin, Holtzmann had found something. I need you and Patty to head north of wherever you two are."

"Okay, we'll meet you two," Erin said. "Let's go north. Holtzmann found some stuff."

"Right, let's go bust that ghost," Patty said.

Meanwhile, outside, Taylor and Kendra stood there with Gary and Michael.

"What do you think is going on?" Michael asked Kendra.

"I think they're going to try to catch the ghost and do some tests on it," Kendra said.

"How do you do that?" Taylor asked. "Don't they have to trap it? How would they do some tests?"

"I think they have some kind of equipment that they use for this kind of work," Kendra said.

"Have you read through their whole book, Kendra?" Gary said. "You seem like you know about this stuff."

"I have read the whole book from cover to cover," Kendra said. "Also, I have seen my share of paranormal sightings before, and I mean even before what happened when those girls had taken on all of those ghosts in Times Square."

"Hold up," Michael said. "You mean you have witnessed paranormal activity before? Can you tell us about it?"

"Not right now," Kendra said. "I will tell you later."

Taylor looked at the pictures in her phone. She scrolled through every last one of them and then looked closely at one of them.

"Um, guys," Taylor said. "Did you have any idea what led to the ghost coming into the lab while we were studying?"

"No, why?" Gary said. "What's up?"

"Well, you know how we saw a big cloud of smoke when he first saw the ghost?" Taylor said. "Well, looking at the wall now, it appeared that that there was already some substance on the wall. I think that this ghost somehow entered into the lab while invisible and the smoke made him visible."

"You mean…?" Gary said.

"What Taylor is implying is that this ghost is the kind that can be visible and invisible," Kendra said. "For all we know, the ghost might be near them but they won't be able to see them."

"Oh, no, we have to find them," Taylor said.

"NO!" Kendra yelled. "These ladies know what they're doing."

Inside, Erin and Patty were still trying to see some evidence where the ghost may have been. The headed north of the corridor and saw some more residue around there and it was a bit messy. Erin picked up her walkie-talkie.

"Abby, the ghost had probably been where we are," Erin said.

"Don't get out your guns until we meet up with you," Abby said. "Where are you now?"

Erin looked around on the walls. "I see room numbers 114 and 115, do you know where that is?"

"Yes, I do," Abby said. "Holtzmann and I are on our way."

Patty looked around and saw more slime around.

"Looks to me like the ghost is having fun," Patty said.

"If you can call it that, then yeah," Erin said.

Erin and Patty continued to look around and then suddenly a squeaking sound was heard.

"What was that?" Patty turned around at the sound. "I must be hearing things."

Another squeaking sound occurred.

"Wait, I think I heard something, too," Erin said.

The sound occurred more and the more it occurred, the louder it got.

Patty picked up her walkie-talkie.

"Abby, Holtzy, are you guys on your way now?!" Patty said. "Shit is getting crazy now!"

At the sound of Patty's scared tone of her voice, this prompted Abby and Holtzmann to speed it up to meet with them. Right when they saw Erin and Patty, Abby wasted no time in getting out the PKE meter. The meter started spinning faster as she got closer. Holtzmann still had her goggles on her forehead put them on without hesitation.

"Holy shit!" Holtzmann yelled.

"What?" Abby said.

"The ghost is right behind Patty!" Holtzmann said.

Patty's eyes widened right when she heard that.

"What! Oh hell no!" Patty yelled.

Patty and Holtzmann got out their guns, but Abby yelled stop to them.

"Don't! Not yet!" Abby said. "We don't see anything. This might be a different kind of ghost we're dealing with."

"Different? How so?" Patty said.

"Well, it's invisible, but that doesn't make sense," Abby said. "Holtz and I had felt presences before and gotten EVP's before, but Shanks said that he saw the ghost. So did those students. I don't know what we are dealing with here."

Outside, the four students still waited with Dean Shanks and some other students.

"We have to help them," Taylor said. "I don't think that they know that the ghost can't be seen."

"How?" Kendra said. "How can we help them?"

"There has to be a way to help them," Taylor said. "Like I said before, it's possible that the ghost only became seen once some smoke hit it. Maybe we can start a fire or something to help bring it out."

"No, we don't want to burn the place," Michael said. "But do any of you have lighters and cigarettes or anything used for smoking?"

"I have some cigarettes and a lighter," Kendra said.

"I have some weed and some paper," Gary said.

"Wait, you have pot on you?" Taylor said.

"Don't sound so judgmental," Gary said.

"No, I don't care if you smoke pot," Taylor said. "I think that may help a little more."

Kendra got closer to Gary's ear.

"Hey, can I get a hit?" Kendra said.

There was no time for anything else. At that point, the quartet of students had to sneak away in order to go inside to help the Ghostbusters. Dean Shanks still sat around with his left hand against his left cheek.

How in the hell did I get into this shit? First I fired those ladies for believing that the paranormal is bullshit and now I ask for their help. I can't say I blame Yates for not wanting to help at first.

The students found an entrance to the building. With the building having been evacuated for the paranormal entity, it was smooth sailing for them to hurry up and try to find Abby, Erin, Holtzmann, and Patty.

"Okay, guys, do you have anything in mind to try to catch it?" Abby said.

Holtzmann thought of something.

"I have an idea," Holtzmann said. "Why don't I keep my goggles on and try to catch it? You guys need to get behind it."

"Great idea," Erin said.

Holtzmann had her goggles on. Patty and Erin tried to walk forward to where Abby and Holtzmann stood, but then Erin felt something on her shoulder and then her leg. Next thing that happened was that she started to float in the air.

"Guys, what the hell is happening?!" Erin yelled. "Why am I in the air?"

Holtzmann looked through her goggles and saw that the ghost was holding Erin.

"Oh, no!" Holtzmann said. "That ghost should not be doing that!"

"Guys, what's happening?" Erin was scared in that very moment.

"Erin, calm down," Patty said.

"We think that the ghost is holding you," Abby said.

Erin's left arm went back a bit and her head raised and tilted back for some reason. Holtzmann looked through her goggles. The ghost held Erin in a human-shield position.

Holtzmann got out her proton pistol to see if she can get a shot in the ghost.

The students ran towards the direction where they heard the voices. Lucky for Gary, he already had a joint rolled up.

Holtzmann pointed the gun right to the ghost, who still held Erin in a human-shield position while floating.

"Holtzmann, are you sure you know what you are doing?" Patty asked with a rather concerned tone.

Erin looked at her. The look on her face was mixed with worry and fear, but also a touch of her indicating that she should pull the trigger. Holtzmann's mouth opened and sweat ran down her face, like she could not believe what she was about to do. She had never been in a position like this before. She was scared that the stream would hit Erin.

The students were on the other end of the hall and saw Erin in the air in an awkward position while Holtzmann pointed the pistol to her.

"STOP!" Taylor yelled, which caused Holtzmann, Abby, and Patty to look over where the students were. The ghost had noticed the Ghostbusters looking in the students' direction and turned around in the process, while it still held Erin.

Gary lit the joint right then and there. He inhaled the smoke and blew the smoke towards the ghost and Erin, but not without the smoke hitting Erin in the face.

"Oh, god!" Erin yelled.

Right then, the ghost started becoming visible. Gary passed the joint to Kendra, who then inhaled the smoke so hard and blew a big cloud of smoke, which caused the ghost to come out more. Of course, she also blew the smoke into Erin's face. Michael got the joint now and took a hit and blew it, except this time Erin held her breath so that she won't get high in the process.

It was now Taylor's turn. Michael tried to pass the joint to Taylor.

"No, I have never done this before," Taylor said.

"Come on, we have to help them," Michael said. "It's the only way."

Taylor grabbed the joint from his hand.

Here goes nothing.

Taylor took a deep breath and took a hit, so hard that once she blew the smoke, she started coughing. Erin held her breath once again, and as the smoke hit the ghost, his form came out more. In the process, he had dropped Erin. Kendra helped Erin get up onto her feet.

"Erin, are you okay?" Abby asked.

"I'm fine," Erin said, who took a deep breath. "LET'S CATCH THIS GHOST!"

Holtzmann pulled the trigger on her pistol, which kept the ghost at bay. Abby, Patty, and Erin all got out their proton guns and shot the streams to keep the ghost from going anywhere.

"I got the trap," Holtzmann said, who then pushed the buttons on her shoulder control. She threw the trap to the ground.

"Are you all ready?" Holtzmann said. "Now!"

Holtzmann stomped on the pedal to open the trap, which then sucked the ghost into it. The trap closed.

The four Ghostbusters got closer to the trap.

"What the hell kind of ghost was that?" Patty said.

"I don't know," Abby said. "But we caught it."

"Hell yeah we did!" Holtzmann said. "I wasn't going to let that ghost get fresh with Erin."

"What?" Erin said. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Holtzmann said, as she smiled.

The four students approached the Ghostbusters.

"Hello, Taylor, is it?" Abby said.

"Yes," Taylor said.

"Right, listen, we can't thank you enough for what you just did," Abby said.

"You're very welcome," Taylor said. "I found out some stuff as I looked at the photos a little while ago."

"You guys all saved me," Erin said. "Thank you, even though I did not think that marijuana would have worked. By the way, I am hungry all of a sudden."

Holtzmann replied, "Maybe we can go get ourselves some sandwiches or pizza, how ever many you may need."

"Wait, what?" Erin said.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that I am sure that being held by a ghost like that can get anyone hungry," Holtzmann said, who then looked at Patty in the eye, who then started laughing to herself.

"Well, thanks again," Abby said. "We will keep in contact for our report that we want to put on our website. We are in your debt. We'll find a way to repay you soon."

"Thanks, Ms. Yates," Taylor said.

"Call me Abby," she said.

All eight people had gone outside the institute with the ghost in the trap. Dean Shanks turned around and sensed an odd smell.

"Well, did you catch it?" Shanks said.

"Of course we did," Holtzmann said, as she lifted the trap. "We put a ghost in this box right here."

"Listen, thanks for everything," Shanks said. "I wish there was a way to repay you. How about if I give you your jobs back?"

"Forget it," Abby said. "We have our own thing going on."

"Look, there has to be a way for me to return this favor," Shanks said. "We will pay you a really good amount of money."

"Hmmmmm," Abby said. "That sounds reasonable, well, for now, anyway."

"Okay, the institute will pay a good sum of money for all that you've done," Shanks said. "We will send you a check soon."

"That sounds good," Abby said.

The four Ghostbusters left the facility in the Ecto-1 to go put the ghost in the containment unit at the firehouse. Meanwhile, the four students sat back and talked about what they had just experienced.

"Wow, I feel a bit odd right now," Taylor said.

"Don't worry about it," Kendra said. "Weed isn't that powerful."

"No, I mean I can't believe I just saw a ghost," Taylor said. "It's not that I didn't believe in the paranormal at first. It's more that I have never witnessed it."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Kendra said. "Let's go get something to eat or something like that."

"You're right," Taylor said.

The four students walked away to go ease their minds from the experience they just endured.