Part 7: The Case of the Lion

Eduardo fumbled with the keys, trying to hurry but not drop them, as he locked the door. He finally heard the bolt latch and jumped down the stairs. He jumped into the car just as Garrett was throwing a wise crack.

"…rld record in being late," he finished. He looked up as Eduardo climbed in the car and turned on the now innocent eyes.

"Shut up Garrett," was all he said. He was too nervous about his new tail to come up with anything better. He couldn't feel it twitching but he was cautious anyway. Whatever he was turning into, with his luck, would have a hyperactive tail. He remembered being Pagan again, and how its, his, tail had twitched and swished and moved all the time. Oh please don't let me be a cat! he thought.

By this time, Roland had gotten the car started, and they were on their way. Eduardo was still quiet, concentrating on his tail, and imagining what would happen if, or when, his secret was discovered. Unfortunately, this brought attention to him, since he was usually complaining and yawning this early in the morning. Kylie decided not to say anything, surprisingly, because she was tired of fighting with him.

Actually, it was Roland who broke the silence. "You seem quiet, Eduardo."

"Shh! You'll ruin the moment!" said Garrett. Unfortunately for Eduardo, he didn't notice. "Earth to Eddy? Hello…" he said waving a hand in front of Eduardo's face. This drew his attention, and he said most gracefully, "Huh?"

"Leave him alone Garrett," said Kylie, trying to avoid a fight this early in the morning.

"I can take care of myself, Kylie," said Eduardo. He was about to answer Garrett when he realized that he had just started another fight with Kylie. He quickly tried to right himself, "Kylie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I didn't have a great night last night." It was lame and he braced himself for a comeback.

But it never came. "It's alright, Eduardo. I didn't mean to, well it's alright." It was lame and Kylie knew it, but it served its purpose.

Everyone, including Eduardo, relaxed when he asked, "So, where we goin'?"

"To the zoo," Roland answered. "They reported a disturbance at the lion cages."

"Great, first disappearing and reappearing guards, and now a few ruffled leaves around some overgrown cats."

It turned out to be more than a few ruffled leaves. There were some very disturbed cats when the Ghostbusters arrived. The lions were growling and leaping at the bars whenever a person walked by. The zoo personnel were baffled at the behavior and were starting to get extremely worried about the cages. They called the Ghostbusters because their eyes were a glowing red.

"It's a dead give away when the eyes start to glow," joked Garrett. He revved up his proton blaster and took aim.

"Stop!" Roland explained, "The lions aren't possessed directly. Look at the PKE readings. They must be being controlled by a powerful ghost who can project mind control over a large area…" Roland kept explaining the possibilities about how this might be accomplished.

Meanwhile, Eduardo walked closer to the cage. The lions were growling and pacing their cage, but they weren't charging. Somehow, even with their glowing red eyes, they managed to look confused about something.

Eduardo walked even closer now. One lion sat down where it was; the other walked towards Eduardo. Eduardo seemed drawn towards the lion, though he wasn't really aware of anything at the moment. The voice from the dream was back, "Eduardo-do-o, you will do my bidding-ing-g. You will serve me-e Eduardo-do-o." He was slowing down…he stopped inches from the bars and the lion…the voice was still repeating over and over again...Eduardo squatted down till he was eye to eye with the lion…the voice……the lion……Kylie's voice screaming, "EDUARDO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

That snapped him out of it. He jolted up to standing so fast that he stumbled backward and fell. He looked over to where the others were standing, staring at him.

"Um…I was examining the lions."

"How did you get so close?" asked one of the zookeepers. "We haven't managed to even get close enough to feed them!"

"It was just luck I guess." Eduardo stood up and looked back into the cage. The lions were still looking at him, confused. Then he noticed something that told him why. I saw his reflection in the lion's water dish. He saw his eyes. They weren't normal. They were yellow and had pupils shaped like vertical footballs. He had seen those eyes before when he had looked in a mirror in Kylie's room. He was Pagan at the time. His eyes were the same as a cat's.

Roland was still talking as he and the zookeepers walked over to the cage beside Eduardo. He had to do something, fast. "Yo, where's the bathroom?" The zookeeper pointed left without even looking at Eduardo. He thanked him and jogged off in the specified direction.

Luckily, there was a souvenir cart on the way. He grabbed a pair of sunglasses and paid for them in a few seconds. He came back to find the group back on the path, panting like they had seen a ghost, which of course was an understatement considering they had seen hundreds of ghosts.

"Eddy, what's with the shades?" asked Garrett.

"These are for Kevin," he lied. "What happened to Roland?"

"As soon as you walked away, the lions pounced." Kylie would have been suspicious but she was trying too hard not to fight with Eduardo. Eduardo was just glad that she wasn't asking him about the shades.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be anything we can do for these lions," said Roland, still panting a little. "We had better go report this back at the firehouse."

The firehouse! Eduardo thought. Now maybe Egon could figure out what was wrong with him. The Ghostbusters walked back to the ECTO1, still hearing the growls and roars of the lions. Roland started the engine just as the radio came to life. "Ghostbusters, we just got another call," Egon said.

"Do you want us to come back to the firehouse?" Eduardo asked, hopeful.

"Negative. The house is in the opposite direction from where you are."

Eduardo sat down hard with disgust, right on his tail. "OW!" he burst out.

"What'd you do now?" asked Kylie.

"Man, I sat on my tail...bone. My tailbone, yeah, that's it," he smiled at her, reassuringly. She bought it. He gave an inner sigh. Man! I almost gave myself away! How stupid can you get?

Roland got the address and they were off, away from the firehouse to the dismay of Eduardo.

But, across town, it was a victory for one. She sighed to herself, That was a close one. I must be more discreet in my contacts with him. Luckily he's doing the hiding without my provocation. I don't think I could handle the takeover and taking care of him at the same time. He is strong, but he will weaken, and then I will strike. And so both she and the Ghostbusters got back to work.