Worst ten minutes of the year. The year had just begun, but Egon had no doubts about those ten minutes being the absolute worst he would get that year.
He and his colleagues stood scattered around Janine's desk as she shalemessly flirted on the phone.
He couldn't tell if her voice had changed again or if she was voluntarily trying to sound like her artificial self from a few hours earlier, but the results were toxic to his nerves.
Sitting down on the stairs, Egon tried to act nonchalantly by reading the billing file of the month. Which was depressing but at least not pissing him off.
"Not regretting your fantastic idea, are you?"- Peter whispered, sitting down by him. He was impressed by Janine's behavioural change, that had happened as soon as her target had picked up the phone. He wouldn't admit it openly but he had taken mental note of some of her flirty lines. It was some pretty good material.
The other man just glared at him, then resumed reading about the poor state of their bank account.
Soon enough all four of them were sitting on the stairs. She was having some hard time battling to have the info by phone and fending off the offers to have a talk at his place or in a restaurant. The guy was persistent as hell.
Five more minutes later, Janine put down the receiver and walked past the men and up the stairs- "Best offer I could snatch is a quick drink at the cafè down the road. I'll go get decent."
"Don't get too decent."- Peter couldn't help recommending before she disappeared upstairs.
"What you waiting for? Follow her."- Winston prompted Egon, who had been silent all along- "We still need to keep an eye on her, remember?"
"I... don't really feel like it."- the blond muttered. He couldn't decide if it was her attitude or the fact that it was Delacroix she was using her charms on, but it had definitely stirred him towards a dangerously silent jealousy fit.
"It'd get really awkward if any other of us stalked her while she 'gets decent', you know." - Peter reminded him- "And she wouldn't let us. And we need to make sure she's safe at all times."
"I get it, I get it."- Egon huffed and swallowed the toad. He put down the billing files and walked up the stairs.
They waited for him to be gone before daring to talk.
"This ain't gonna end well."- Winston sentenced. The others nodded solemnly.
Janine was already in the bathroom when she heard knocking on the door. She put the oversized T-shirt back on and opened the door- "Hello. Have you been elected as my new guardian?"
"Sorry, I'm not in the mood to joke."- Egon walked past her and sat down on the bath's edge.
"So you gonna just watch me undress without even offering me some conversation?"- she provoked him. Those twenty minutes on the phone had made strongly emerge her fake personality.
He wasn't sure she was even aware of the change, and wasn't sure why she had changed - which made him regret his lighthearted decision to propose to make her call Delacroix.
He had provoked her first, so he decided it wasn't the right moment to have an attitude- "I'll look away when you'll undress, don't worry."
"I don't mind if you look, you know that."- She took off the shirt again and sat by him in her underwear.
"Janine, you're not acting like yourself." - he looked away, wanting to respect the privacy she'd have probably wished for.
She gave him a baffled look- "Ain't I?"
The lost look face she put up made him relax a little bit. He handed her the discarded t-shirt for her to put it back on again, she complied.
"You're acting predatory."- he passed an arm around her waist- "Just close your eyes for a second, take a couple of deep breaths."
Janine obeyed, holding him in silence. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, soon starting to feel her chest lighter. She came to the conclusion that she had been somewhat controlled again by her guest. It made her miss terribly the peaceful state of mind she had achieved only a couple of hours earlier.
"I'm sorry, it was a bad idea to have you call him."- he rested his head against hers- "You don't have to go, we can find some other way."
"I'll do it. I feel like we don't have time to spare."- she still was convinced that they couldn't do anything anymore to save her, but she wanted to let them try all they could. To ease their minds and be sure they wouldn't feel guilty after she'd be gone- "Or... Do you not want me to do it?"
"I think he makes me upset more than everything. I don't trust him. But I trust you."- he gently detached from her- "Get ready, so you won't be late."
"Will you guys come with me?"- she asked, standing up. She had been feeling drawn towards Marcus for reasons she couldn't understand. Yes, she was just looking for easy prays to test her charms on, and he had taken the bait nice and easy. But definitely not her type.
Yet there was something in that man that made her feel drawn to him. Else she'd have forever erased him from her phone book at once after he had shamelessly tried to force her to kiss him on their first and only date.
Egon followed her with his eyes as she resumed doing her hair in front of the mirror- "We won't be able to be inside the place, as it's too small to hide. But we'll be watching from as close as we can."
Janine felt much better hearing those words and smiled.
He smiled back, but the knot he felt in his throat tightened as only one thought kept roaming through his mind:
"There is no happy ending."
Marcus got off of the taxi perfectly dressed and ready to turn that quick meeting at a coffee into a really wonderful and hopefully eventful date. Having bragged with one of her bosses, now he had to wrap it up and smoothly show her the way to his bedroom.
He headed into the cafè and picked a corner seat. She was being a bit late, but it had to be expected.
Ordering a decaffeinated coffee, he replayed the conversation he had with her on the phone.
So those four jackasses weren't even able to keep spooks away from their secretary's home. The news had caused a wave of satisfaction run through him. She had to be in a lot of distress to call him asking about sleeping pills and antidepressants.
He couldn't understand why she had insisted on meeting so close to the Ghostbusters' office. He hoped it wasn't so that her bosses could stalk them out. Or worse, what if the demon had attached to her and those idiots needed to be close to patch up the situation if anything went wrong?
In movies it happened, so it could maybe happen in real life too. That line of thought made him very nervous.
But when the little bell over the door dingled, making Marcus look up, all nervousness faded away.
There she was, that golden haired goddess, clad in the grey cotton of her office outfit that made her perfect skin almost glow under the lights. He felt like he didn't just want her in his bed. He plain and straight wanted her. Such a beautiful wife would have opened him the doors to New York's socialitè events, granted him fame.
He raised his hand to silently call her, she noticed it and those luscious lips spread in a graceful smile. As she walked to join him, he noticed her movements weren't as model-like as the last time he had seen her. Also her eyes looked less shiny.
He took them as signs of distress.
"Hey."- she greeted him in a very simple manner, sitting down in front of him.
"Good Evening."- he replied, discreetly observing her face. Her eyes looked different than the sky blue he remembered, but he had met her by night and hadn't really paid attention to the eyes, so he couldn't be sure- "How are you?"
The waitress appeared before she could reply, so she quickly ordered a coffee and a piece of cheesecake. He ordered the same as her.
"I'm so tired, Marcus."- she sighed- "I'm so upset I can't even sleep at night."
"Do you want to talk a little about it?"- he asked- "You've been rather evasive on the phone."
She mentally recalled the details of the lie Egon had told him earlier that afternoon before answering. A little dramatic silence could only do good to her victim role.
"Oh it's so horrible. All this time i've worked for the Ghostbusters i've never seen such an awful haunt."- she shamelessly lied, tamponing an imaginary tear with a plain cotton handkerchief she had in her jacket's poket.
The waitress interrupted him as he was about to slide his hand on the table to pat her hand.
Why service had to be so good at such a critical time?
They thanked her and Janine's hand slipped out of reach to wrap around her cup. She brought it to her lips and blew lightly to cool down its boiling content.
He found that simple gesture so stunningly cute he had troubles not staring at her mouth. Which was ridicolous because she was so taken by her drink that he could be staring at her boobs instead.
Not being the time to act like a douche, he didn't stare at either of those parts and directed his attention to his own coffee.
"Why is it so horrible?"- he resumed conversation when she put down the cup.
"My home's completely devastated, even the neighbours had to move out too."- she said. Egon hadn't laid it down so thick, but something inside her told her that it couldn't hurt to be dramatical about it.- "I don't know if I'll ever be able to even step in there again even just to pick my stuff. If there is any left in decent conditions. Worked all my life to buy that apartment, and now..."- she shook her head- "All I own is what I have on me right now. The guys said they will help me, and I believe they will. But it's all so depressing. I just wish i could sleep, get the screeches of that demon out of my ears."
"I'm so sorry. I hadn't imagined it to be so bad."- he was genuinely worrying. How could those animals let her down so much?- "I'll do anything I can to help."
"Thank you so much, Marcus."- She smiled between fake tears she kept pretending to dry.
The sharp pain in her back made her mind feel comfortably numb and, as if following an unwritten script, she let her hand rest on the table.
He finally could cover her hand with his own, and she let him.
"I said 'anything'."- he repeated suggestively, looking straight into her magnetic eyes.
Her stunningly blue eyes.
"Dude's right on time. Like a swiss clock. Over."- Peter commented into the walkie talkie from his hiding spot on the other side of the road. He was cramped inside a phone booth with Ray, whom was busy stalking the cafè with his beloved infrared goggles. Which were useless, but they made stuff more fun.
"Or like death. Over."
"I don't like it when you get this dark, Egon."- Peter replied, trying to act nonchalant as people walked by.- "Over."
"He ordered something."- Ray whispered, taken by his inner mental movie about himself being a great spy. People passing by and giving the two men weird looks were of a completely different opinion, but he evidently didn't care.
"Janine's just out of the door."- Egon's voice came out metallic from the portable device- "We'll get ready and come take position in the alley. Over."
Peter put the walkie talkie back into his pocket. Soon enough he saw Janine walk into the cafè, her femme fatale attitude in high gear. Hoping they were doing the right thing, he tried to focus.
On his part, Egon was about sure he shouldn't have let the meeting happen. He left his observation spot nearby a window on the second floor and joined Winston in the lab - "Ready?"
"I'm not sure about this wave modifier, but I am ready yeah."- Winston said as he practiced operating his modified rifle. Ray had installed and tuned the device he had built earlier on Winston's proton pack 'just in case'.
Him being a good shooter and usually able to keep his cool automatically had elected him to be the proud user of their last resort weapon.
"Do you have doubts about how to activate it?"- the physicist asked, wearing his own pack and checking the battery level of his meter.
"No, it's pretty easy to turn on. I know this is just a precaution, but I don't ever want to use it."
Egon could only agree with him- "We will do our best to make things go smoothly."
Absent-mindedly, he opened his locked drawer to look for a particular screwdriver to fix a lightly loosened screw on the meter.
"You gonna take the feather with you?"- the other man asked- "It could be a good idea."
Screw fixed, the blond took the velvet case in his hands. Simply holding the case made him feel the typical wave of peace he'd feel when touching the feather directly. Something had changed. Was it because of the end of the lunar month approaching?
Egon nodded- "I think I just might do that. I can fit it in the pouch on my belt."
He removed the feather from its case and accomodated it into a plastic bag before transferring it into the belt. Something told him it'd be a good idea to have that thing near.
And so off they went, driving Winston's anonymous looking car to the spot in the alley siding the cafè they had planned to occupy to get good readings of Janine.
"It's almost funny to see how suddenly things can change."- Janine looked deeply into the man's eyes, her fingers playing with his- "Is your life going as you had planned it to?"
"Well, I have gone to a good college, I now have a good job... a nice house. Good friends."- he answered to her unexpected question- "I suppose you could say that."
"So 'good' and 'nice' are enough for you."- she replied, stopping her hand.
From her reaction he knew he had to raise the bet- "Offcourse not. I aim to the top, but it's a long way. Let's say that I'm still climbing."
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if there'd be a shortcut."- she purred, her fingers again entwining with his.
"It would, but there is none."- Marcus couldn't look away from her. It was as if her eyes were drawing him nearer and nearer- "What about you?"
"I have seen the top. But we seem to have one common enemy that made both of us postpone our success."- to his surprised reaction she continued talking- "Yes, I've been knowing all along about the... uhm... little accident between you and my bosses. What other wonderful way to make them pay than to accept their enemy's attentions?"
He couldn't stop being surprised by that beautiful creature- "I like the fact that we are on the same page."
She leaned her torso over the table, her breasts barely contained by her clothes.
"I know a perfect way to get back at them."- she whispered.
He swallowed a huge amount of saliva, feeling heat rise- "My place?"
"I have a better idea."- Janine sat back and finished the last bit of her dessert with a pleased smile as the windows of the cafè shattered.
Peter and Ray had decided to relocate behind a truck parked next to their phone booth.
Which was less cramped but much colder.
"I'm freezing."- Ray moaned, trying hard not to sneeze.
Peter adjusted the scarf around his friend's neck- "You better not get sick again. Go to the car and trade places with either Egon or Winston."
"Ray. Ray you hear me?"
It was Winston's voice coming out of Ray's pocket.
After a few moments of surprise, the occultist dug the walkie talkie out and replied- "I hear you nice and clear. Over."
"PKE levels are rising. Standby."
The two men raised their heads to look from the device to the alley in front of them. Their colleagues were standing right out of the car, Egon seemed very busy looking at his meter.
"Bullshit, we're not picking any-"
Peter couldn't even finish the sentence before their own meters started beeping. At first very softly, but then, in the span of a few moments, they reacted at full power.
Barely having the time to turn their packs on, they witnessed the windows of the cafè explode, glass shattering on the sidewalk.
They weren't as nasty as those summoned by the original Makeoveris, but those two dogs were losing no time breaking havoc.
The few customers and the staff of the cafè fleeing the scene at once were barely registered by the minds of the four men that had quickly regrouped in front of it.
"Janine's gone."- Peter stated the obvious. They hadn't seen her run out. And she knew the places where they would have been controlling the area, so, had she wanted to find them, she'd already be by their side.- "These dogs are no biggie, but it could take a while to take 'em down."
"We don't have time to spare. You come with me."- Egon's reaction as he took hold of Winston's arm and pulled him back towards the car left his colleagues disoriented.
"I come with you were?"- Winston protested, putting up resistence.
Egon's reply was short and scary- "To where it all started. The entity's going to end the cycle."
Realization made Ray's back go stiff- "Egon's right. You go ahead guys. We'll wrap this up and meet you there."
They parted, all of them feeling an unpleasant dejavu sensation.
"That was fun."- Janine laughed, comfortably seated in the back seat of a taxi.
"F-fun?"-Marcus echoed. It had all happened so fast that his heart was still beating at maximum speed. The windows exploding, those demonic looking creatures popping out of nowhere.
He'd probably still be sitting there, paralyzed by fear if Janine hadn't dragged him out by the backdoor, making him run all through the small kitchen of the cafè.
"Yeah. I'm kinda used to that. It gets fun after a while."- she simply replied.
"So where are you going?"- the driver asked. That weird couple had bursted into his taxi and ordered him to drive, but hadn't told him no address. He wanted to get 'em off his car as fast as possible, they smelled like trouble.
Janine gave him an address Marcus didn't have idea where it could be. It sounded like somewhere near the docks.
"Where are we going?"- he asked when the woman sat back beside him.
"To a special place."- she passed her arms around his and leaned against him- "Let's not let those stupid ghosts ruin our special night. Those should keep my bosses busy for a good while."
"Keep them busy..? So they were spying on us?"- Marcus' heart kept raging, not just because of the good fright he had just had. Her breasts were pressed against his arm and her legs so close to his.
She was being the sweetest torture he had ever had to endure. And he loved it.
"Yeah.. But we're winning this round."- she stated, relaxing against him.
He passed an arm around her, feeling a deep sense of victory.
"So what the hell is going on?"- Winston drove as fast as he could without risking to get stopped by some random cops.
"I honestly would have never imagined the entity could be strong enough to completely override her. There must be something that had refueled its power."- Egon kept tormenting himself about not stopping Janine when he could have had.
"She did act weird after she talked to Delacroix on the phone."- Winston raised his voice to overtop the rumble of the engine gaining speed - "Maybe it's not ending the cycle, it's starting a new one."
"Delacroix is in grave danger."- the physicist's voice didn't match the content of his sentence. He couldn't worry about him too at the moment- "And it's likely she'll die if the transfer takes place. Either by shock or by drowning."
All of the fibers in his body were screaming that he could have avoided that situation by not suggesting to let her be the one to contact the guy or by playing the jealousy card and cancel the encounter. He could never forgive himself for making such a terrible mistake. Never in a million years.
"Calm down, man."- Winston took one hand off the wheel to squeeze Egon's knee- "I need you to be focused. We can still win this."
The little physical contact helped the physicist find his way back to somewhat straight thinking. He could just nod.
"What's our strategy?"- both his hands back on the steering wheel, the older man was determined to keep his friend's mind occupied with useful thoughts.
"If we can make it in time, we'll need to seize her first thing and try to make her regain control over herself."- Egon fought to set aside emotions and do some planning- "If it's too late, or if she's started transforming then our top priority is to keep Delacroix safe and we'll have no other choice than to forcedly extract the entity from her."
"We will make it in time."
Winston set his whole heart and soul on the vital task he had and speeded up.
Being in such a bad area of the city at such time of the evening with the only company of a lady made Doctor Delacroix very nervous. They had been indeed left in front of a long row of badly illuminated commercial docks.
"Isn't this place romantic?"- Janine asked, still securely attached to his arm as they strolled real close to the water.
He wasn't really agreeing, but he played along- "Anywhere's fine if it's with you, my dear."
She laughed - "So you do know how to please a lady. I had my doubts after our date."
"I... I'm deeply sorry about that. I had a few too many to drink, and I feel so attracted to you.."
"It's ok. We are more similar than I could imagine."- she criptically said, letting silence fall over them for several minutes.
"We're both passionate and striving for perfection. But maybe you need some help with that."
"How do you mean?"- he asked, puzzled. What was she getting at?
"I'm your passport to the very best that this city has to offer."- she stopped and turned to look at him: he was as tall as her and, not wearing any high heels, she didn't have to crank her neck to do so.
"A man taller than me..."
That thought made her close her eyes, feel dizzy. The pain that had never left her since she had entered the cafè resumed feeling unbearable. She opened her eyes and got aware of the fact that she was somewhere really dark and alone with none other than Delacroix himself. What had happened?
"Why are we here?"- he asked, his hands on her hips. He looked lost.
She was about to admit she didn't have a clue herself when her mouth refused to open.
Struggling inside her with a newfound energy, her guest was fighting for its survival. Numbness she didn't have the strenght to fight flooded her mind once again.
"Give in to me and let me show you the way."
It was her voice, but she couldn't feel her mouth move. Her hands moved on their own to cup the man's face and gently stirred his lips closer to hers as two spots on her lower back throbbed in pain.
She realized something was growing out of her back and that Marcus was the designed prey of her dangerous guest. And she'd been knowing all along that without that parasite she was as good as dead.
Their lips touched, the pain intensified making her see distorted blots of light dance around her as the entity took over her body.
"I'm sorry, Egon. I'm so sorry..."
It was her last thought before pain caused her coscience to shut down.