Keeping their composure in check Erin, Egon and Ray ventured into the front lobby of the recently vacated Mercado Hotel. Only a handful of staff remained inside the building as the storm outside built intensified at an alarming rate. Green lightning shot across the sky through the darkening clouds as a faint, cold drizzle began to fall from the storm clouds above.

"Excuse me?" Erin spotted the front desk receptionist attempting to gather her personal items before joining the guests and other staff members in the evacuation. Approaching the desk she put her hands down on the surface and locked eyes with the red headed woman. "What's going on here?"

"You're kidding, right?" The receptionist asked. "Of all the people in the city I figured you'd be the one on top of things."

Ray awkwardly looked away from the receptionist as he discreetly resumed scanning the area. Egon, however, was a little stunned to see that the hotel receptionist was in fact Janine Melnitz. She too had a change of career in this world, just like Ray.

"What do you mean?" Erin asked with sincere confusion. "I saw the report on the news and the storm outside, that's it."

"Yeah, well," Janine grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. "you and your friends know more about this spooky business than I do. You got that pain in the ass Rowan out of here so you can stay here and take a look around. Just don't tell my boss I let you do this."

"Uh, thanks? I guess..."

"Don't thank me." Janine cautioned Erin as she huffed out from the behind the desk and joined a bellhop at the front door. "It makes me an accessory to... whatever it is you do. Just lock the door on the way out."

As Janine passed by Ray and Egon the two men tried to avoid eye contact but they could feel her staring intently at the duo. Without another word she slipped out the door and left the three Ghostbusters alone inside the hotel.

"Egon," Ray showed him the meter's display and whispered calmly. "the whole building is very hot."

"The building is the epicenter of paranormal activity. There must be a catalyst somewhere in the immediate area."

"Right, find it and contain it."

Erin joined her colleagues where they stood by the doors. "Well, she gave us the run of the place. Should we take advantage of her offer?"

"Yes." Egon decided firmly. "You should call the others and have them meet us here. Bring all of the equipment you have."

"No problem." Pulling her cellphone from her pocket Erin dialed Abby's number. "Holtzmann has been stockpiling gadgets just in case of a situation like this."

Ray had an interesting thought on the manner. "Good thing she's on our side."

Back at the firehouse Abby was painstakingly trying to explain the situation to Kevin, who had left the firehouse the night before without being introduced to Egon or Ray, and she was losing her patience. Kevin was a very nice guy who tried hard and always had an upbeat attitude, but his understanding of science or the commonalities of the world around him still had a lot to be desired.

"So... The guy I carried up here is a friend of ours?" Kevin asked dimly. "And he's from another world? But he's not an alien?"

"Yes, that's right." Abby's frustration was palpable, but Holtzmann and Patty were just sitting back on the couch and enjoying the odd show. "Egon is from a parallel world and he's going to help us."

"How is he going to stop a storm?"

"The storm isn't a normal storm," Abby reiterated in a slower tone of voice. "the storm is being caused by a paranormal event at the Mercado Hotel."

"Oh." Kevin was finally beginning to understand. "Then shouldn't you be at the hotel?"

"We'll go if-" Abby's phone started to ring. "Hold on." Answering her phone she took a few steps away and began speaking with Erin on the other end of the line.

Holtzmann looked over at Patty with a twisted grin on her face. "Think Erin would be mad if we put Kevin in a maze and timed how long it takes for him to find the cheese?"

"Yeah, but I don't care." Patty shook her head a little. "Sometimes I'm amazed at how oblivious he can be. I wonder if he ate paint chips as a kid."

"Paint Chips?" Kevin heard the odd comment. "I don't know that brand. Is it good?"

Holtzmann and Patty just exchanged glances of absolute shock without saying a word.

Abby returned to her colleagues. "Okay ladies, that was Erin. We need to get our gear and get down the hotel."

"Yes!" Holtzmann shot her arms in the air in excitement as she jumped off the couch. "It's about time!"

"Aw, man..." Patty was far less enthusiastic than Holtzmann. "I hope we're going to get paid for this."

Abby put her hand on Kevin's arm. "Kevin help Holtzmann carry the heavy things and put them in the car. Then stay here and watch the news, okay?"

"Sure boss, no problem!" Kevin followed Holtzmann to the storage cabinet and began hefting the larger pieces of equipment over his broad shoulders. "Happy to help!"

Abby looked over at Patty. "He may be as dumb as a mule but at least he's as strong as one."

Erin showed Egon and Ray to the basement of the hotel. The large pieces of machinery that Rowan had accumulated and twisted into a contraption designed to channel the flow of the charged Ley Lines had long since been removed by city officials and locked away, but the electrical scorching on the walls and floor remained in place. The outline of the machinery was a macabre tribute to his devious work that made Erin's stomach turn.

"This is where Rowan had set up his machines." Erin explained. "After charging Ley Lines across the city he used his machine to focus the power before he... killed himself."

"Killed himself?" Ray was a little shocked by that detail. "Can't imagine why the newspaper left out a story of a hotel janitor offing himself in his secret lab in the basement."

"Yeah, anyway," Erin stopped next to the outline on the floor and tried to visually remember the set up. "along with the machine he also had these large mirror like objects that housed ghosts that had followed the trail emitted by the Ley Lines and when the machine powered down the ghosts disappeared."

Egon began scanning the walls and the needle of the display spiked instantly. "There's a high amount of lingering psychokinetic energy infused with the very foundation of the building. The entire structure is acting like a lightning rod, drawing in power entities but they have nowhere to go except for the internal construction of the building itself."

Erin folded her hands nervously and pressed them to her face. "The entire hotel is haunted. Every square inch is housing paranormal energy. It's no wonder a gateway to another world opened here."

"Where exactly did you end up?" Ray asked Egon as he looked around the basement curiously.

"According to Dr. Holtzmann and Miss Tolan I was found in the renovated ballroom on the top... floor."

"Egon? You okay?" Ray could see that a disturbing thought had entered Egon's mind.

"Renovation." Egon repeated sternly. "The hotel's recent renovation had disturbed the paranormal energy which is what allowed the gateway to gain enough power without a secondary device to focus it. This is why I ended up here in the hotel in another world."

"That's one mystery solved." Erin pointed out with a low tone. "But one mystery still remains."

"How do we get Egon back home?" Ray tagged on. "Can we use the excess psychokinetic energy to create a stable enough gateway, and if so, how do we know it'll send him to the correct world?"

The sounds of multiple footsteps rushing down the basement stairs caught the trio's attention. "There you are!" Abby shouted as she caught sight of Erin. "Sorry, it took us a while to get here. It's a little difficult to find a cab that'll carry three people AND unlicensed equipment without asking too many questions."

Abby, Patty and Holtzmann reached the interior of the basement, their jumpsuits were soaked at the shoulders and chest with the rain that had become heavier over time with the powerful storm brewing overhead.

"Sorry..." Erin winced after realizing her mistake of taking the hearse and leaving her team without a vehicle. "We should definitely get a second car."

"You think?" Abby sarcastically asked as she shoved Erin's jumpsuit in her arms. "Here. Suit up."

"Thanks."

Holtzmann handed Egon his own jumpsuit. "This is yours. You might want to suit up."

Egon accepted his jumpsuit gratefully.

"And this," Holtzmann handed a jumpsuit of a somewhat similar design and color to Egon's over to Ray. "is for you. I found it in storage when I was cleaning out the firehouse. I took the liberty of attaching a logo to the sleeve so you didn't look weird."

"Uh, thanks."

Patty handed Erin a proton pack after she slipped on her own jumpsuit and zipped it up. "Here. No woman should be unarmed."

"I remember." Erin pulled the pink Swiss army knife from her jumpsuit's leg pocket. "Never go on a bust without it."

Egon and Ray zipped up their own jumpsuits and continued to scan the air for paranormal anomalies. Only four proton packs had been constructed and were fully functioning, and logically the women who had the most experience with the packs were going to use them. Armed with the four packs and four traps the group of six ventured forward deeper into the hotel.

Abby powered up her proton pack and checked the current energy level. "I'm good to go. So where am I going?"

"We need to check out the ballroom." Egon stated without flinching. "I believe we will uncover the catalyst and as a result we can contain the building psychokinetic energy before it becomes unstable."

Deafening thunder shook the hotel as the already dim lights flickered in response to the strengthening storm outside.

"I hope you're right." Abby sighed as the group made their way back up to the ground floor. "I don't want a lawsuit on our record."

Holtzmann gave Abby a playful look. "Why not? It gives us credibility as a legitimate business."

...to be continued...