The cold autumn breeze whipped around Ray as he sat on the edge of the dried up fountain. He looked out over the tombstones which hid in the swaying tall grass. The place was eerily quite as usual, and after sitting there for some time he sadly hung his head low. He had hoped that maybe she was here in the old cemetery, but there was no trace of a sweet ghost. He sighed as he thought of where else Renee could be. There had been no sign of her since that evening on the balcony where she had left him. Ray furrowed his brow over the memory, his heart still hurting from that night. He also remembered how upset Peter was, questioning why he had left the date so early. Peter urged for answers and Egon had to practically drag Peter away. That's when Egon accidently spilled the beans that Ray had just been dumped by his girl. Ever since then, Peter had been sympathetic but still questioned why Ray had never talked about this mysterious girlfriend of his.
Days and nights had gone by without the sound of her voice and Ray struggled to carry on with daily life. He couldn't eat, barely spoke and had stopped work on the aura device he and Renee had been working on. The only thing Ray looked forward to was sleep. He anticipated nightfall and was the first to go to bed in hopes of finding Renee there waiting for him in his dreams.
Still, there was no trace of her. Night after night she would never be there. When the realization that perhaps she did leave for good entered his mind, it would cause him great pain. Tired of hurting, he decided to go out and look for her as much as a man could search for a ghost. He checked all the places she could possibly be and didn't care if people stared oddly at him for calling out her name. He searched the Laundromat, the bookstore, and now here at the graveyard, but she was nowhere.
Street lamps blinked on as the sun set. Ray decided to head home and slowly walked along the sidewalk, not caring if crowds of bustling people bumped into him. He turned the corner and glanced up at the ratty-looking building to his left. In one of the windows a florescent light flickered with the words "Psychic Palm Readings". He stared at it for a moment as he contemplated going in or not, knowing full well these establishments were usually run by con artists. He decided to go inside anyway, desperate for all the help he could get, hoping this person could give him some kind of information he could work with to help find Ren.
The old door creaked open as he poked his head inside. The room was dark, lit only by candles and strung funky lights. The walls were covered in random newspaper clippings, voodoo dolls, star maps, and weird artwork. Dusty shelves held glass jars of odd objects and thick red colored rugs covered the floors. Ray shut the door behind him as an old but wise looking black woman in a long dress with a white turban on her head emerged from the beaded curtains.
"I have been expecting you. Come." The woman held out her hand, offering a seat at the wooden table. Ray said nothing and took a seat. The woman sat across the table from him. He could feel her eyes pierce into him as though she was reading his thoughts.
"So, you've been expecting me, huh?" Ray said skeptically.
"I knew I would have a weary soul come visit me tis day," the old woman's voice croaked.
Ray stared back at her, beginning to feel that coming in here was a stupid idea. He began to rise up from his chair. "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have..."
"Stop!" The woman held out her hand, which made Ray fall back into his seat. Her beady eyes studied him as she lowered her hand. "You are searching for sumting, yes?"
Ray only nodded. The old woman squinted her eyes at him once more.
"You...I have seen you before...on da TV. Ghostbuster."
"Yes, ma'am. My name is..."
"Not important!" her voice interrupted. She ignited a flame from a match head with just her finger tips, then lit a large candle that sat in the middle of the table. Ray watched the flame flicker and dance. The woman's beady eyes studied him once again. Ray sat still not knowing what he was supposed to do. Then suddenly the woman said something that made Ray sit up straight in shock.
"Renee." The name slipped out from the woman's wrinkled lips. Ray's heart began to beat faster.
"Yes!" he cried happily. The woman held out her hand again as if to settle him down. Ray quickly shut his mouth, though he breathed in and out excitably through his nose. The woman reached her hand out for Ray to take.
"Take ma hand."
Ray held her wrinkled hand and watched her roll her eyes into the back of her head. Ray wondered what she was doing and gulped nervously over the strange scene. Then her eyes shot wide open and looked down at their folded hands. Slowly she lifted her head up to his stare, and with a soft smile she finally let go of his hand. Ray pulled his hand away and hid it in his lap, awaiting to hear what the woman had to say. She continued to smile and nod her head at him as though she had just figured something out.
"Ya know Ghostbuster, I feel spirits all of da time. Lots complain about you," she chuckled to herself.
Ray's wide eyes blinked. "Really?"
"I could feel your complaints with them as well," she chuckled once again. Then her face grew soft. "But I also felt something else when I held your hand. Amongst all da dislike you have for da spirits, I could feel a strong bond for one in particular."
Ray's heart beat faster and faster in his chest. This was all so amazing! This voodoo woman definitely tapped into him. There's no way she could have known about Ren. She had to be a legit spiritualist.
"I felt a surge of love."
"Yes!" Ray happily replied.
She smiled, showing her crooked teeth. "Your soul keeps repeating the name Renee to me."
"Yes!"
"You love this spirit, then?" The old woman crooked up an eyebrow at him.
"Yes!"
Her face grew suddenly serious. "But da Renee spirit you seek has passed, I sense."
Ray's face went white. "What?! What do you mean?!"
The woman then pulled out a velvet pouch and dumped the contents onto the table. Ray watched small odd objects such as baby's teeth, a key, a stone, a chicken bone, and other various things spill across the table. The woman then closed her eyes and hovered her hands over the mess as if she were figuring out a message. Ray sat quietly with a pained expression. Renee couldn't have left him. Did she figure a way into the light? Finally the woman spoke.
"The Renee spirit is somewhere in between."
"What do you mean, 'in between?'" Ray's sad eyes stared at the woman.
"Half of her is till here and half is in da beyond." The woman looked up and smirked at Ray. "To be more clear, she is too chicken to go all da way into the light." The woman then chuckled.
Ray's eyebrows lifted in joy. "So she's still here? She hasn't left?!"
"Part of her is still here, yes." The woman flashed her crooked teeth once again.
"Can you talk to her? Tell her to come back to me, can you?" Ray desperately asked.
"Do you have anyting belonging to her wit you? Anyting at all?"
Ray thought and then pulled out the folded-up newspaper clipping of her photo and handed it to the woman.
"Will this work?"
"Yes, dat fine." The woman laid it out on the table and covered Renee's photo with the palm of her hand, her eyes once again rolled into the back of her head. Ray watched as his heart pounded in his chest. After a moment, the woman came to and shook her head. Ray's shoulders lowered.
"I can't connect wit her fully. I did perhaps send her a feeling."
"A feeling?"
"That she is being searched for."
Ray glanced down into his lap. "Only I could really talk to her." The woman listened as she causally picked up the odd objects from the table, placing them back into the pouch. "Only I could hear Renee's voice, though I still don't know why." Ray exhaled loudly.
The woman chuckled to herself, making Ray look up to her.
"Of course you can talk to her," the woman said with sureness. "You are soul mates." The woman grinned as she stood from the table and turned around to walk toward a shelf. Ray sat blinking his eyes over this realization. The woman turned back around, finding Ray still stunned in silence. She smiled and approached him. "You see, soul mates naturally have strong bonds. It does not surprise me you can talk to your Renee. To be honest wit you though, it tis rare for da living soul and passed soul to still have such a strong communication like da two of you have." Ray blinked his eyes up at her.
"I need to find her. How can I get her back?"
"It tis not up to you. Only she can come back. It tis up to her."
Ray bowed his head as his fingers ran through his hair. The woman stood over him with a smile.
"It tis sweet, to witness tis."
Ray looked back up at her with sad puppy dog eyes. "Witness what?"
"Love, especially a man in love." The old woman placed her hand gently onto Ray's shoulder. "Tis such a cruel world, it tis nice to see that love still exists in it and perhaps even in da afterlife."
In some dreamlike realm surrounded by stars, Renee sat with her knees hugged tightly against her chest as she looked outward. She was high up in the sky on a cloud. She drifted there, eyeing the other lost souls sitting upon their own clouds who bobbed by her through the night sky. Her eyes glanced to the bright light in the far distance. The sight of it made her nervous. Blinking her eyes, she looked downward and away from it. Her eyes then stared down to the Earth below. The city lights twinkled like diamonds. The sight made her smile, knowing somewhere down there was the man she loved. The more she stared at Earth below, the more she could feel a strong pull, as though something was telling her to go back. "Ray," she whispered before hiding her face into her knees. She missed him terribly and wanted nothing but to just go back to him, but she knew it wouldn't be right. She had to move on and let him live his life. But the idea of going into that strange light, not knowing what was on the other side, not knowing if she would ever see Ray again frightened her. Feeling confused and scared, she began to softly weep.