Hi everyone! So, first things first. I'm not dead and I'm not going to abandon this story. I could never do that to you all. But the main thing is that I'm finally back in the grove of writing! I lost inspiration for a while but my life changed recently that made me want to continue this story so here you guys go! I will try and upload again soon (which I hope that promise I can keep this time) but if I don't, please hound me for an update! I need reminders that people still want to read! I feel really bad for leaving you all but a new chapter has a arrived and another is on the way! :D

Again, I do not own anything in this chapter except for Juliet!

Peter hung up his jacket with a sigh and dropped himself onto his couch. He smiled a little, looking at the furniture. A few months ago, he couldn't even afford a goddamn decent chair and table but now, look at him. The thought of finally being able to ask Dana to come over crossed his mind and he frowned. He had gone over to the museum where she worked at and well, it was interesting to say the least.

She seemed to be doing alright but her little co-worker on the other hand was just weird. What was his name again? James? John? Whatever it was, he definitely was a little on the crazy side.

And that painting. The way Dana described it made him think that maybe with everything that had happened five years ago, she was paranoid with anything that looked creepy. But when he actually stepped up to the thing, he felt his skin crawl. The whole thing gave off a creep vibe and though he didn't let it show, it did catch his attention.

The uncomfortable feeling that the painting had given him came back and he reached over to his phone. He listened to it ring and finally after the third ring, the person he called picked up.

"Hello?"

"Julie! Hey, how's everything?" he asked casually. He heard her sigh and he smiled.

"Hi Peter. What do you need?" she sounded a little annoyed but he ignored it as he usually does.

"Well I was only gonna say hi and see how you were doing but since you asked…" he said, his signature cheeky grin on his face. She groaned into the receiver and he laughed. "Ok,ok, sorry. But really, I need to ask a favor."

"What is it?"

"I need you to look up 'Vigo the Carpathian'."

"What? Why?" Juliet asked into the phone and he could hear the confusion in her voice.

"It's for Dana. There's this painting at the museum she's working at and, I don't know, it just came me a really bad feeling when I saw it." he ran a hand through his hair as he sighed.

"How come you're asking me? Why not Ray or Egon?"

"Because they're still stuck working on that slime. Figured they'd be a little too busy to look up some guy in a painting." he said. There was a pause and then Juliet answered.

"Alright. Sure, I'll get right on it. Are...are you worried that it could have something to do with her case?" she asked, her voice getting soft and concerned.

"I don't know. I guess? Call a hunch but I just can't get this weird feeling to go away. The painting is really creepy. Don't know who's bright idea it was to bring that there or even paint it." he muttered. Juliet chuckled and she promised she would look up the name. He thanked her and hung up the phone, running a hand over his face.

Juliet scribbled down a few more notes onto the sheet music on her lap. She played the song in her head and then added a couple more. She knew the play her school was doing already had music to it but she had always felt that she could add a few different things to it, so here she was. Across the room, Egon and Ray were still doing more studies on the slime. Egon had on a focused look on his face as he stared at the notebook in his hand as Ray wrote something down in his own notebook while they both looked at the screen of the computer which showed the emotional readings from the blue cap full of wires and electrodes on Ray's head.

The phone on the wall suddenly rang and the three of them jumped slightly as the silence in the room was broken. Ray gave a sigh and walked over to it, picking it up and answering.

"Hey Pete. Everything alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, Dana's just come over to my place." Peter responded.

"How come? Something happen?"

"Well, actually, her tub tried to eat her."

"What? Are you serious? Well, that's great!" he exclaimed but he caught himself and cleared his throat. "I mean, that's terrible, but it's great for what we were…" he stopped as Peter interrupted him. "Yeah, I will. Sure, we'll get right on it." he hung up the phone and tossed off the cap he was wearing, turning to Egon and Juliet.

"Guys! Major slime-related psychokinetic event." he grinned at them, making the two look up from their work.

"What happened?" Egon asked as he put down his pen and clipboard.

"Something came out of Dana's bathtub, tried to grab her and the baby." Ray explained.

"Oh my god, are they alright?" Juliet asked with wide eyes as she moved her notes and papers in her lap aside.

"Yeah, well, she got out of there and went over to Venkman's" he said as he walked over to grab his jacket. Egon and Juliet followed suit but Juliet paused.

"Wait. Venkman mentioned a painting to me a while ago. I ran the name of it, 'Vigo the Carpathian', through the Occult Reference-Net. Look what I got." She walks over to the computer and shows them the information she found. Egon and Ray look over and scan the words, interest popping up on both men's faces.

"Ooh... Nice ugly history." He looks at Egon and Juliet when he finishes reading. "Think there's a connection between this Vigo character and the-" the slime on the desk bubbles at the mention. "Slime?"

Egon smirked. "Is the atomic weight of Cobalt 58.9?"

Juliet chuckles and slips on her jacket. "We'd better get over to Dana's apartment."

"Yeah. I'd like to check out the bathtub." Ray said with a slight nod.

"It might be a good idea to go to the museum in the morning and get a look at that painting." Egon added as they headed out the door.

8 hours and 5 books later, Juliet dropped her head back onto Dana's couch and sighed.

"I can't read anymore. I'm dying." she groaned. Ray chuckled next to her, his eyes scanning the book in his hands.

"You don't have to keep working.. You can go home. Me and Egon got this covered." he told her.

"I'm not gonna leave all the work to you guys. I want to help." she said with a frown. "It's just that my brain would rather sleep."

"Yeah, I know." Ray agreed. He leaned back as well and ran a hand over his face. "We just can't catch a break with these things can we?" he sat up then and Juliet looked over to him. "Maybe Dana's right."

"About what?" Juliet asked.

"About her being cursed or something. It would explain why these things only happen to us."

"Yeah, I blame Peter. He's the one who started dating her in the first place." she muttered.

Ray smiled and leaned back again. "Hey, do you remember that time in our junior year when we stayed up all night before school? You almost killed our algebra teacher." he said with a laugh.

"Well, it wasn't my fault! I was tired and she woke me up. She should have left me alone." she crossed her arms and gave a small 'hmph!'

"Why'd we stay up in the first place?" Ray asked, feeling his own exhaustion catch up to him.

"I don't remember." Juliet said with a yawn. "Something stupid probably."

Her head fell to lay on Ray's shoulder as she finally gave up trying to stay awake. He looked over to her and decided that sleeping seemed like the better option and he followed soon after.

The next morning, Juliet wished she could just turn off the sun as she rested her head on the passenger window of Ecto-1A. Thankfully, Winston had offered to drive while the others slept and he heard no objections as both Egon and Ray jumped into the back seats immediately.

The car screeched to a halt in front of the curb where Peter had been pacing and they all tiredly got out, Winston mumbling under his breath about the crosstown traffic there had been. Peter quickly walked over to Ray, concern clearly on his face.

"You find anything at Dana's?" he asked and Ray shrugged.

"Nah, nothing but some mood slime residue around the bathtub. But I did get something on that Vigo character you mentioned. Found it in Leon Zundiger's "Magicians, Martyrs and Madmen". Dig that."

"Yup. Vigo the Carpathian. Born 1505, died 1610." Juliet said with a smirk and Peter raised his eyebrows.

"A hundred and five years old. He hung in there, didn't he?"

Ray smiled knowingly. "And he didn't die of old age, either. He was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered."

"Ouch." Peter winced.

"I guess he wasn't too popular towards the end." Winston muttered and Juliet nodded.

"No, not exactly a man of the people."

Egon continued. "Also known as Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torturer, Vigo the Despised and Vigo the Unholy."

"Wasn't he also Vigo the Butch?" Peter joked.

"And dig this!" Peter's comment not affecting Ray's enthusiasm. "There was a prophecy, just before his head died. His last words were: "Death is but a door, time is but a window. I'll be back!"

Peter and Juliet rolled their eyes at his dramatics but were both smiling. They walked up the steps to the museum and entered.

The five of them marched through the doors and stood tall in the entrance. Peter, though, looked at the five of them and sighed.

"All right, suck in your guts, guys. We're the Ghostbusters." he muttered. Juliet heard a sharp intake of breath from the others and she rolled her eyes.

But before they could get anywhere, a small man who was moving and clapping his hands in wild motions came up to them and Ray raised an eyebrow, leaning over to Peter.

"Who's the wiggler?" he asked and Peter gave him a smirk.

"He's yours, Ray. Sic him!"

Ray gave Peter and annoyed look but sighed and got into his 'I'm a professional scientist so shut up and listen' mode. He briskly walked up to the short man and stopped him, grabbing him by his shoulders.

"Hi, Ray Stantz from the Ghostbusters. How are you? We're just doing a routine spook check." he said fast enough so that the man couldn't interrupt.

Juliet smiled at this. He'd make a good professor if he wanted to. She followed Egon over to the restoration room while they left for the others to deal with the man.

Peter paid what he was babbling about no mind as he took off his jacket and handed it to him. The man just grabbed it and continued to talk.

"Dr. Venkman! Dana is not here!" he cried and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, we know that, Johnny." Peter muttered and 'Johnny' gave him a confused look as he finally paused and then went back to talking.

"So why you came?" he asked in his accented voice.

Peter looked down at the camera around his neck and made a few adjustments before looking up at Johnny again. "We got a report there was a major creep in the area, we checked our list and you were right on the top." he gave him a look and then asked, "Johnny, were the hell are you from, anyway?"

"The Upper West Side…" he answered, slightly unsure of where all of this was going.

Egon came up from behind Peter and leaned over to him. "The whole room's extremely hot, Peter."

Winston and Juliet came over and finally saw the painting. They both grimaced at the sight of it.

"Whoa. That's one ugly dude." Winston commented and Juliet scoffed in agreement.

"Dana has to look at this everyday?" Juliet raised an eyebrow, "No wonder she's all freaked out."

Peter looks up at the painting they were talking about and a look of surprise passes over his features for a few seconds before it passes and he lifts up his camera.

"Oh, that's Vigo! Mr. Vigo! Vigs! Could you look this way, please!" he exclaimed as he started to take quick pictures.

Now Johnny really started to panic. "No! No, please no. No! No, Dr. Venkman!" he shouted at Peter as he jumped in front of the painting. "No photographs, please! Slides are available in the gift shop."

Winston sighed and grabbed the man by the shoulders, pulling him away and out of the room.

"Yeah, thanks. Thank you Winston." Peter said and he continued to take more pictures of the painting.

Juliet stared up at the painting and frowned. She could hear Peter spout nonsense in the background and she looked down at her PKE reader. She raised an eyebrow slightly as the thing went nuts, the meter going to the end of the scale. A shiver ran up her spine and she glanced back up at the painting. She felt it staring at her and a feeling of uneasiness passed through her.

Juliet lowered her PKE reader and walked over to Egon, not wanting to be alone. He looked down at her in slight surprise but didn't say anything. He looked down at his Giga meter and frowned, motioning to Juliet to follow him and they both walked over to Peter.

"Venkman? We need to talk." he muttered to him, Juliet glued to his side.

Peter glanced at him and lowered his camera, smirking up at the painting. "I've worked with better, but not many. Thank you."

Egon looks over to Winston and jerks his head to the painting. "Can you see if Ray is done?" Winston nods and walks over to the painting.

Once they exit the building, Juliet sighs in relief to be away from that horrid painting. Winston comes up from behind her and nudges her. She looks at him in a confused manner and he motions to Ray.

"I think something's up with him." he murmured to her.

"What d'you mean?" she asked

"He said he felt a little light headed. Did he get enough sleep?" They both looked at Ray as he slowly walked down the steps to the museum.

"I think so. We both fell asleep at about the same time." she shrugged and they let the subject drop when Egon spoke up.

"There's definitely something going on in that studio." Egon surmised. "The PKE levels were max plus, and the Giga meter was showing all red."

Winston nodded in agreement. "I'd put my money on that Vigo character."

"Yeah, that's a safe bet." Peter smirked. He sent a glance to Ray as he opened the door to the back. "You and Spengler see what else you can dig up on Vigo and this little weasel, Poha. Those two were made for each other."

Ray only nodded silently. He was getting a headache. A bad one.

Peter, Winston and Egon climbed into the back while Juliet went over to the passenger side and Ray to the drivers'.

Juliet looked at him, a little worried. He had said nothing this entire time and he did look a little pale.

"Hey, Ray, do you want me to drive?" she asked softly and he shook his head.

"No," he said. "I'm fine." he slid into the driver's seat without another glance which caused Juliet's worry to get worse and she got into the passenger's seat.

A small, strange smile played across Ray's face as he turned the ignition key and he suddenly slammed his foot on the gas, sending the car screeching away from the curb.

Winston and Juliet shared a nervous glance.

Ray sent the ambulance skidding and swerving around the streets of Manhattan as he headed back for the firehouse. Juliet looked over at him and his eyes looked vacant. His face was devoid of any awareness of the commotion he was causing.

He swerved suddenly and he slammed his hand down on the car's horn.

"Idiot!" he yelled to a passing motorist. He cut off another car. "Move it, you jerk!" he roared.

Juliet's eyes widened. She had never seen Ray this angry over something like traffic. She looked behind her where Peter, Egon, and Winston were being tossed around like rag dolls along with their equipment.

The car continued to pick up speed. Thirty-five. Forty. Fifty miles an hour. He sped through red lights, narrowly avoiding pedestrians.

Juliet looked back at Ray, feeling her heart pound. "Going a little fast, aren't we, Ray?"

Ray sent a glare her way. "Are you telling me how to drive?" he sneered.

She shrunk back. "No, I just thought - "

"Well, don't think!" he screamed.

He practically stood on the accelerator as he barely made it in front of a bus and two cars without crashing. In the back, the other three continued to bounce around.

"I want to talk to our mechanic about these shocks." Peter muttered, his head slamming into the roof of the car.

Juliet moved from panic level to full 'we're gonna die' mode. She turned to Ray. "Are you crazy, Ray? You're going to kill somebody!"

Ray laughed. But instead of feeling her heart leap, a chill ran up her spine at the sound. He turned to her and smiled demonically. "Wrong," he announced. "I'm going to kill everybody!"

He sent the car sailing off the street and headed for a small public park. He carefully aimed the vehicle at a large tree.

Juliet had no idea what made her do it but she was pretty sure it was the near heart attack she almost had at the sight of what was happening. At the last possible moment, she reached over and punched Ray with a strong right hook. Ray's body immediately went limp. She then quickly reached over and yanked the wheel, moving her foot to slam onto the brakes.

The car lurched to a halt, barely grazing the tree.

The five Ghostbusters all tumbled out of the car, dazed and shaken but not hurt. Ray dropped to all-fours, shaking his head. He felt like he just woke up from a long, deep sleep. He staggered to his feet, his senses still swimming. He gazed confusedly at the others.

"What happened?" he asked

"You just picked up three penalty points on your driver's license." Peter responded. Immediately after Peter's comment, Juliet ran to his side and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Winston came up to his other side and gave him a worried expression. "Are you alright?"

Ray nodded, understanding finally flickering across his face. "Yeah I guess so. It was the strangest thing. I knew what I was doing but I couldn't stop. This really terrible feeling came over me and - I don't know - I just felt like driving into that tree and ending it all. Sorry, boys."

He looked down at Juliet, who had her face buried in his chest. He put a hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Julie." he murmured. She only responded by gripping his jumpsuit tighter.

Peter looked at Ray, his eyes showing the worry he felt and looked at Egon next to him. "You and Barlow watch him." he whispered. "Don't even let him shave."

Winston inspected the car and the damage done to it. "No big deal," he said with a sigh. "Just another fender bender in the Big Apple."

Peter only rolled his eyes.

Hope you all liked this chapter! Please leave a review and I will see you all next time!