It didn't take Janine long to clean and bandage the injuries that had racked Egon's body. Using Egon's guidance Janine found it rather simple to properly disinfect the cuts and cover them under the protective bandages. The pain alone had left Egon exhausted and he had quickly fallen asleep under Janine's care as she happily volunteered to watch over the Ghostbuster that she greatly admired. Keeping an eye pack pressed gently over Egon's swollen eye she watched his steady breathing and silently thanked whatever holy deity that could be watching over the Ghostbusters for allowing Egon to survive the attack and return to the firehouse, and to her.

Winston walked into the bunk room and sat on the bed next to Janine, next to Egon, as she kept vigil over the slumbering physicist. "How's Egon holding up?"

"He's been asleep for a while now." Janine stated softly as she partially lifted the eye pack to check his eye before replacing it gently. "He's banged up pretty badly, maybe we should take him to the hospital."

"I think you're right." Winston agreed though he didn't make a move from where he sat. "But Ray and I are sure that Egon would try to discharge himself from the hospital and try to help until we find Egon. The more he stresses the longer it'll take to heal. Besides, we still need a few details about the attack so we have a better of what kind of deity we're dealing with."

"Well, when I was cleaning up his cuts he told me a little about what happened." Janine stated as she pulled her hand from the ice pack and sat back on the edge of the bed. "He said a powerful she-demon used some kind of earth tremor to knock him and Peter off their feet before she attacked them. Egon said that he's certain that she's a powerful telekinetic who can bend the environment to her will. Or something like that, I can't remember everything he said exactly."

Winston nodded as he took in the information. He leaned forward and folded his hands together and pressed them to his chin as he contemplated the task at hand. "Did he say anything else? Mention a portal or doorway or maybe a prophecy?"

"Uh, nothing like that." Janine wasn't quite sure how to respond to the odd questions. "But he did say that the demon, Moirai, used a strange purple colored energy to drag Peter away."

"Purple energy? That could be an important detail." Winston rose from the bed and gave Egon one last solemn glance before leaving the bunk room. "Thanks for all your help Janine. Let us know if Egon says anything else."

"I will." She agreed as she resumed her watch over the injured man. "Just find a way to bring Dr. V back home!"

"I will."

An irritating dryness in the back of his throat awoke Peter from his much needed sleep. Sitting up awkwardly, his weighted arms making his movements sluggish and uncoordinated, Peter coughed pathetically and leaned back against the cold stone wall of his lonely cell. The stagnantly cold, dry air of the dungeon was enough to chronically sting his throat and lungs.

"I wouldn't cough so much." The strange feminine voice who had spoken to Peter once before was now addressing him again.

"Oh?" Peter cleared his throat and shook his head, the lingering pain of his headache making dots dance in front of his eyes in the process. "And why's that?"

"Any sound is a sign that a prisoner is rebelling." The voice cautioned firmly in a low tone of voice. "And coughing is seen as weakness. If you try to rebel Moirai she will punish you. If you seem weak she will torture you."

"So... I'm stuck between a rock and hard place?"

"I assume that is an Earthly saying."

"You assume correctly." Peter confirmed as he forced himself to stifle another cough. "So... What's your name?"

The voice giggled as if amused by the question before replying. "I am but a lowly prisoner like yourself. I am nothing more than a series of numbers registered in a forgotten void."

"Humor me." Peter persisted in a somewhat annoyed but still lighthearted manner. "Please."

"I was once known as Naiad." The voice answered in a sincere tone. "But now I am no one."

"Well, 'no one'," Peter retorted sharply. "I think I prefer Naiad. I'm Peter."

"It's unfortunate we were ever introduced." Naiad's voice was suddenly heavy with sorrow.

"Why's that?"

"To know me is to be lost to oblivion by Moirai."

"How... How long have you been here?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Naiad's voice was quickly filled with spirit once again. "That's enough for now."

"Come on!" Peter hated the silent treatment, even if it was by a disembodied voice that he had never known before. "Please! Talk to me!"

Naiad didn't answer. Her voice was as silent and empty as the corridor outside Peter's locked cell.

Residing himself reluctantly to the overwhelming silence of his imprisonment Peter pulled his legs up from the floor of the cell and onto the bench as he tried to wrap his cuffed arms up and around his legs to desperately try to keep warm against the relentless cold of the ethereal dungeon. As another cough barely escaped his lips Peter pressed his face down against his kneecaps and shut his eyes.

Trapped, weak and without any allies to rely on Peter Venkman felt, for the very first time in his life, truly helpless.

With the new information passed on to Ray from Winston and Janine the dedicated engineer resumed his search for answers in properly identifying the correct course of action with locating and rescuing Peter. Little did anyone know that the detail of the purple energy would prove itself more invaluable than anything else at the time.

"Ah-ha!" Ray pressed his fingertip down on a passage in a massive tome detailing energy signatures of the ethereal plane. Isolating a single paragraph Ray excitedly read the information aloud to Winston. "We got it! Purple energy of an ethereal origin is a signature of a spirit descending of a regal bloodline. Those who carry such a signature are often of a poltergeist of a vengeful nature."

"So we know what she is," Winston wasn't nearly as excited about the new information as Ray was. "now how do find where she is?"

"Getting to that!" Ray exclaimed boldly. "Poltergeists exhibiting this level of power are capable of creating portals between the plane of the living and the plane of the dead on land that connected to their bloodline."

"The abandoned lot?"

"The abandoned lot." Ray confirmed with a confident grin.

"So how do we get inside the portal?"

"Well, first we-"

A crash from upstairs and muffled voices drew their attention from one another and up the ceiling overhead.

"What was that?" Winston asked as he walked out of the lab with Ray following close behind.

As the two men reached the second floor of the firehouse they spotted Egon kneeling on the floor with Janine right beside him. A broken water glass was on the floor all around Egon, who appeared exhausted and weak.

"Egon!" Ray shouted in surprise. "Janine, what's going on?"

"I tried to keep him from getting up," Janine said as he pulled on Egon's arm. "but he insisted on helping you."

"Hey man," Winston grabbed into Egon's opposite arm and worked with Janine to lift him back up from the floor. "take it easy. We know where Peter is and how to get him back."

"You do?" Egon's eyes were red from the strain of looking around with his glasses. His pupils were also slightly dilated and glassy.

"Yeah," Winston helped guide Egon back to the bed and to lay down. "Ray found some information on that Moirai deity and we're going to follow up on a lead."

"I'll go with you." Egon tried to sit up again but Winston was able to easily overpower him and keep him down.

"No. You're not."

Ray walked into the room and whispered into Janine's ear as as she stood next to Egon's bed. She gave Ray an unsure glance but soon after nodded in agreement. "Winston, you should stay here with Egon."

"Wait, what?" Winston didn't understand why Ray would leave him behind. "You can't go out there alone."

"I won't be." Ray put a hand on Janine's shoulder. "I'll have help."

"Are you..." It was then Winston realized why Ray wanted him to stay behind as he was able to easily keep Egon from getting up again and quickly played along. "Right. No problem. I'll watch over Egon until you two get back."

Egon wasn't fond of the idea and tried to protest, but before he could utter a word Ray interrupted him. "Egon we know you want to help bring Peter home, but you're injured! Not only are you covered in cuts and bruises, but you're eye is swollen shut and I can tell from here that you're suffering from a mild concussion. You can't go out on a bust, you might pass out or exasperate your injuries. It's too risky."

Winston agreed with Ray. "And before you try to insist that you're fine and can go out there, let me ask you this: if it was me, or Ray or Peter who were in your condition would you let us go out on a call or deal with a pissed off ghost?"

Unable to deny that he'd do his best to keep his friends from harm Egon relented and remained quiet as he laid on the bed.

"Don't worry Egon," Ray spoke up with a genuine confidence. "we'll be back in an hour. I'm certain."

"Please don't go out there without a proton pack." Egon urged adamantly. "I know she was able to destroy my proton pack but I had let my guard down. You must find a way to subdue her power before you attempt to confront her." He looked over at Janine with uneasiness in his remaining good eye. "And please, don't get separated."

"We'll be well armed." Ray patted Janine's shoulder to signal her to follow. "One hour. That's all we'll need."

As Ray and Janine took their leave of the bunk room Winston sat on the bed next to Egon to watch over his friend. "Try to relax. Ray's certain he knows what to do, and Janine is far more courageous than we'll ever know."

"I know." Egon's voice was unsteady but he didn't try to argue. "I just hate to stay behind uselessly."

"You're not useless, you're injured. Just give yourself time to heal and try to stop blaming yourself over what happened. You two were ambushed, it's that simple. No one could know what she was planning on doing."

Egon nodded slowly and closed his heavy eyes. The fight against exhaustion was quickly over as Egon submitted to the blackness that stole his mind as he fell into a much needed and deep sleep.

Taking Ecto-1 out to the abandoned lot Ray informed Janine of his plan and of to properly set up the ion trap to channel the energy signature and frequency that was emitted whenever Moirai used her power. By tapping into that energy with a device that can focus and channel it Ray knew that he'd be able to open a gateway to connect to the ethereal dominion where Moirai was lurking.

It was late in the evening when the Ghostbusters returned to the abandoned lot, but it'd take more than the impending night to frighten the engineer or fiery receptionist.

"Where do we start looking?" Janine asked as she stepped out of the front passenger seat of the hearse and stood beside the vehicle.

"Over there." Ray pointed as he walked backward from the front driver's side door of the hearse and toward the rear compartment to retrieve the trap. "That's where Winston and I found Egon."

Janine followed behind Ray as he pulled the trap out of its storage rack in the rear of the hearse and made his way over to the scene of the attack. The setting sun was symbolic of the over appearance of the battleground and of the fate of the two Ghostbusters had been ambushed by Moirai earlier that same day.

"Right here should work." Ray stood at what appeared to be the epicenter of the activity. There was a perfect circle carved into the concrete by a massive crack caused by Moirai's power and surely would provide an adequate connection between the two planes. "Stand back while I turn on the trap."

Janine stayed outside the circle in the concrete while Ray knelt on the ground and placed the trap in the absolute center of the circle. Pulling the long black cable out to its full length he backed out of the circle and set the release trigger for the trap down on the ground and hovered his boot over it.

"Okay, I calibrated the trap before we left so this should work..." Ray stated as he took in a deep breath then stomped down on the trap.

The ground shook as the trap doors burst open with a beam of white light that transitioned into a vibrant purple hue. As the light intensified a surge of cold air swept over the ground and the loose stones began to tremble on the ground.

"Is this normal?" Janine asked as she stepped closer to Ray fearfully.

"I'm not sure. But-"

A massive shockwave erupted from the ground and sent the loosened stones flying through the air. Ray stepped in front of Janine to shield her from the incoming debris and had taken his eyes from the trap for only a second.

Moirai had sensed their arrival and had broken through the trap's newly opened gateway with a tremendous force. Emerging from the trap she loomed over Ray and Janine ominously.

"Do not interfere." She hissed as more stones flew about through the air.

Ray stepped forward, keeping one arm up to protect his face from harm. "We're not leaving without Peter! Release him or face the consequences!"

"Who are that would command me?" Moirai all but laughed at Ray's threat. "Mortals are so pathetic."

Janine's eyes went wide with fear as a large jagged stone rose from the ground and guided by Moirai's hand flew toward Ray.

"Ray! Watch out!"

Before he had time to react a sharp pain in his stomach dropped the engineer to his knees in great pain. Blood began to seep through the fabric of his jumpsuit as the dangerous rock cut into his flesh and knocked the wind out of his lungs. Too pained to speak Ray gasped for breath as blood flowed freely from his fresh wound and oozed through his fingers as he pressed his hands against the catastrophic injury to his abdomen.

"Ray!"

As Ray fell from his knees and onto his side Janine knelt beside him and leaned down as if she could somehow shield him from Moirai in the same way that he had tried to shield her from the stones.

"This behavior amuses me." Moirai wickedly sneered at the two helpless humans before her. "Perhaps I shall keep you as pets."

Before Janine could say or do anything she found herself and Ray enveloped in Moirai's purple light and being pulled into an icy darkness that she couldn't identify. Just as quickly as the light surrounded her it faded away, revealing an empty stone cell where there was once a wide open lot.

"Ray..." Janine straightened up and rubbed her hand sympathetically along his back. "Ray, please try to get up!"

Weak but determined Ray managed to get to his knees only to fall backward against a stone column in the cell, his hands still clutching at his bleeding abdomen. "J-Janine... Where... Where are we?"

"I don't know." She could see the fear in Ray's eyes and grabbed onto his hand, holding it tightly as she stayed at his side. "But wherever we are I need you to hold on! Alright? Just please, hold on! We're going to make it out of here!"

...to be continued...