Chapter 4
The six sat on the ground, watching Egon and a shapeless phantom play chess.
"How long have they been in there?" Garrett asked.
"Three hours," Roland answered.
"I can't believe this. Chess. Of everything it had to be chess!" Garrett complained.
"Could have been Monopoly," Ryder joked.
Kylie glanced at him, then back at Egon.
"Checkmate," Egon said, his voice sounding like it was amplified by a bullhorn.
The ghost, table, game and guards disappeared. The six got up and walked over to Egon.
"Chess champ!" Garrett laughed.
Egon straightened his glasses. "He was a very challenging opponent."
"Yeah, but you're better," Garrett said, smiling.
Egon smiled, a rare expression for him. They all laughed.
"On that note, shall we?" Janine said with a sigh.
They started walking and it seemed hours before they came to the next line of guards. The seven stopped.
"Only the horseman may pass," One said.
"Ah man!" Ryder cried. "That's me."
"Good luck man," Roland said, clapping Ryder on the back.
"Yeah. Good luck," Garrett added.
Ryder took a deep breath and walked forward. The guards let him pass. The area beyond lit up and there was a huge black horse tied to a pole. It had flaming red eyes and was snorting fire. Its hooves were made of steel and it was foaming at the mouth as it chomped on a thick straight steel bit.
Ryder froze, staring at it.
"You must stay on for eighteen seconds," a voice boomed, spooking the horse.
"Eighteen seconds! It's only s'pose' to be eight," Ryder yelled.
There was no response. The six heard Ryder weakly add, "And from a chute so I can get on."
Ryder approached the horse and untied the rope from the pole. He moved fast, almost vaulting into the saddle. The horse jumped, bucking hard. Ryder gripped the saddle horn with both hands and wrapped his legs around the horse. The horse spun and reared, bucked and pitched, working up a frothy sweat trying to dismount Ryder. A buzzer rang and everything disappeared with Ryder high up in the air. Roland and Egon ran toward where he was falling, trying to catch him. Instead they broke his fall, all three crashing to the ground. Ryder leapt up, almost single-handedly pulling Egon and Roland to their feet.
He let out a whoop. "Did you see that?" Ryder clapped Egon on the shoulders, his shining hazel eyes flashing with excitement. "Did you see that ride!? And for eighteen seconds! I rode that monster for eighteen seconds!"
Egon nodded. "You did."
Ryder spun, letting out another whoop. He grabbed Kylie, whirling her around with him. She laughed, pulling away. Ryder spun around to face Janine and when she hardly smiled he stopped. All his previous excitement and joy left.
"That just leaves one of us," Ryder said, watching her.
Janine looked down, holding her queasy stomach.
"You'll do fine, Janine. We have faith in you," Ryder added.
Janine offered him a weak smile. They began walking again. Half an hour later found them at the last line of guards. Janine walked towards them, trying to keep her mouth from going dry. Beyond them light revealed a series of uneven bars spanned a gap. Below molten rock bubbled and boiled. Janine stopped, staring.
"I haven't done uneven bars in... In twenty years," Janine whispered.
Behind her Egon held his breath.
Janine took off her jacket and kicked her shoes off. She walked over to the ledge, looking down.
"This is a twist to the event," Janine whispered.
She stepped back, closing her eyes. She took a long deep breath as she backed, and then let it out. Janine opened her eyes, looking at the first uneven bar. She ran towards them, leapt and grabbed the first one. Janine started across the bars, the bars creaking in the silence. She was halfway when a fire burst up from the lava below. Janine was about to let go to the next one and almost lost her grip. She spun up and held herself straight up, waiting for the flames to die down. It finally did and she continued. Janine reached the last bar and dismounted with a triple spin, landing on her feet. Janine froze where she'd landed, expecting the world to end suddenly. Then Egon was holding her. Janine let out a shaky sigh, holding him tight. "You did it," Egon said, hugging her. "I knew you could." Janine smiled, hugging him back. They turned, following the others down the only path left. It disappeared into a dark tunnel where light seemed forbidden. The seven stopped at the tunnel entrance.
"I'm scared," Olivia whispered.
"We all are," Janine told her.
"It's the only way," Kylie said. "The bridge collapsed behind us."
They started walking as one into the darkness. The end appeared suddenly, opening into a wide room. There was a narrow earthen bridge stretching across boiling lava. On the far end of the room, at the top of a stone staircase, a demon sat on top of a throne of bones. He had two huge canine teeth sticking up from his lower jaw and a thin face covered with wiry hair. Sharp pointed bones stuck out of his face and neck and he wore robes as red as the lava below. At the bottom of the staircase were two of the guards they had kept meeting. Each guard held a huge long handled battle-ax. Eduardo was sitting at the bottom of the staircase, one arm resting on his knee with his chin in hand and drawing circles in the dirt with his other hand. Eduardo looked up, saw them and his face brightened. He got up, heading towards them. The guards brought their axes down, stopping him. The earth began to shake and the group pressed together. The bridge on either side of them collapsed, leaving them stranded on a pillar high above a sea of lava. The seven looked at Eduardo.
Eduardo spun, facing the demon. "You promised! You promised if I stayed here while they finished we could all leave!" Eduardo yelled.
The demon chuckled. He pressed his bony hands together in a steeple. "I lied," the demon said in a low voice full of dark humor.
"Let us go," Eduardo demanded. "We played your stinkin' game and we won!"
The demon leaned forward, his red eyes showing his ill humor even more. "And wasn't it fun? Now for the grand finale."
The ground began to shake again and around the seven chunks of pillar began falling away.
"You were the only true entertainment," the demon told Eduardo. "No one ever leaves here alive."
Eduardo spun, shoving down on the axes and throwing the guards off balance. He jumped over their axes and hit the ground running. Eduardo jumped to leap across the gap between the land and the bridge and something grabbed his ankle, pulling him down just short of falling off the edge. Eduardo grabbed the edge, pulling against whatever had him by the ankle. Eduardo looked at them.
"Garrett, I need it," Eduardo yelled.
Garrett looked at him. "Need what?" Garrett yelled back.
"The trap, Garrett. Toss him the trap," Kylie said.
"What good will that do?" Garrett asked.
"Maybe nothing," Egon said. He moved away from the crumbling edge. "Or maybe save our lives."
Garrett pulled the trap out from behind him, waiting for Eduardo to look up at him.
Eduardo had turned and was beating on the tentacle of black cloud that now had him by the waist. The tentacle pulled let go finally. Eduardo jumped up, holding out his hands. Garrett tossed the trap, watching it sail across to Eduardo. Eduardo grabbed it, hugging it to his chest. Black cloud tentacles leaped out from the air, wrapping around him. Eduardo yelled and fought against them. The tentacles drug him back to the stairs and let him go halfway up the staircase. Eduardo scrambled to his feet, watching the column fall away from under the seven.
"You will be here a long, long time," the demon laughed.
Eduardo got to his feet, staring where the seven had been. He put his finger on the button, holding the trap to his chest.
"Messin' with the Ghostbusters was a big mistake, ghoulie," Eduardo said.
"Oh really?" The demon laughed.
Eduardo spun, pushing the button. Light burst into the darkness, shining on the demon. He screamed, shielding his eyes with his arms. The demon called for his guards. Eduardo spun as the demon disappeared in the trap. The guards turned to run from the light but met the same fate as their master. The room became a swirl of color as everything the demon had created was pulled into the trap. All of a sudden Eduardo found himself miles above the water of Jamaica Bay. Eduardo started plummeting towards it, watching the last of the island disappear into the trap. The trap snapped shut and something bright flashed in Eduardo's eyes. He turned his head, closing his eyes.
#
Eduardo sat up, grabbing the couch. He looked around, dazed for a moment. He was back in the Forestation and the morning sky was a shocking pink and peach. Kylie was asleep in the chair. She looked like she was just slipping away from a dream that had pulled her into a hunched ball. Eduardo let out a sigh, rubbing his face with both hands. He sat up and began searching for the television remote. His hand slid under the blanket and touched something cold and hard. Eduardo lifted the blanket, staring at the trap beside his hand. For a few minutes he could only stare as reality hit him. It had been no dream; and the flashing light indicating it contained a ghost was proof of that. Eduardo held his breath when Kylie sighed, but she only turned over without waking up. Eduardo looked back at the trap, gingerly picking it up by the handle. He got up and half ran down to the basement. Eduardo hurried to put the ghost in the Containment Unit, expecting Egon or Kylie or Janine to appear at the door any moment. He tossed the trap in the box by the workbench at the back and hurried upstairs. Eduardo sat down at Janine's desk and began doing paper work Egon had assigned him last night. Janine came in five minutes after eight, late for her, and fell into the chair by her desk.
"Rough night?" Eduardo asked.
"Don't ask," Janine growled.
Roland came in, followed by Garrett. Eduardo wandered upstairs, falling onto the couch. He switched on the television and the morning news came on. Eduardo started to change it, but Roland grabbed the remote, turning up the volume.
"...Medical officials are still at a loss as to the reason behind the coincidentally similar dreams. Dozens of people in the New York area have been reporting them, yet no evidence of this 'mountain of terror' has been found as of yet. We will keep you updated throughout the day. In national news..."
"Mountain of Terror?" Roland mused aloud.
Eduardo looked up, finding everyone gathered around the television. He grabbed the remote from Roland and switched to morning cartoons. Eduardo pretended to be paying attention to the cartoons, but listened listening closely to what the others said.
"I had a dream we were all in a place and we had to meet these challenges," Janine said.
"So did I," the four said in unison.
Kylie looked down at Eduardo. "And you were in it."
Eduardo grinned, not looking away. "You dreamed about me?"
Kylie slapped his shoulder. "You were a witch in it."
Eduardo laughed uneasily. "Me? A witch? Yeah. Right." Eduardo looked at the television, grinning. "I had a dream about Cindy Crawford. Alone. On a beach. And—"
"That's more than we needed to know Tweedle-Dum," Garrett said.
"There must be some reason we've had the same dream. Perhaps we should look into it," Egon suggested. Egon and Kylie wondered towards the stairs, Janine trailing behind.
"I'm going to work on my shot," Garrett said, having lost interest.
"I need to work on the car," Roland said.
Eduardo found himself alone and his smile faded.
"They would'a hung you from the rack if you'd spilled the beans like that. Too close. Way too close Eddy," Eduardo whispered to himself. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh, then turned his attention to his favorite cartoon.