13. Warning: Equipment May Be Pointless
The room the Ghost Busters were staying in had been completely transformed. At first it looked like moderate sized hotel room. There had been three neatly made beds, a big mahogany dresser and matching bureau. The walls were an old, faded blue, and the dark wood floor was covered by a navy and lime green floral rug. One small window provided the room with light. When Peter Venkman had first walked into the room along with Ray and Egon, he had said "Well, this is quite a charming little room, very pleasant. Too bad we shall have to redecorate it."
The three men had done just that. They removed all the furniture except the beds out into the hall, hoping someone would be attentive and remove them. They took down all the paintings of bowls of fruit and country vistas, adding them to the pile outside the room. Lastly they rolled up the rug, throwing it onto the furniture and breaking a leg off of a spindly chair. Once they had emptied the room and all that remained were the three beds shoved into a corner, they began to renovate it. Now it was a full blown science lab, with more equipment and high-tech technology then a college physics class room. There were all sorts of blinking and ticking metal instruments. There were beakers and test tubes, something that resembled an oven, and something under the window that resembled a water heater. There was something that resembled a vacuum, something that resembled a DVD player, and a small metal box labeled (DANGEROUS SPECTRAL SUBSTANCE). There were machines to test the ghost's cellular makeup, test the properties of the ghost's aura, test the ghost's spectral secretions, test the ghost's blood pressure, and to give the ghost a deep tissue massage. There was a table in the corner that held the jetpack things (which were actually called a nuclear accelerator or proton pack) when they were not on the Ghost Busters backs.
The purpose of the proton packs was that the streams of nuclear energy would suck the ghost into the chamber on their backs, which would break down the ghost's protons so that it could be transferred to the little metal box, which was where they kept all of their ghosts before they had the chance to test them and transfer them to a safe holding tank. Ray was slightly doubtful that the Opera Ghost would be able to fit into the itty bitty mettle box, he seamed so solid and human-like. Ray almost doubted that he was a ghost at all, no other ghost had, well, talked to them. Except for the possessed Zule, but that was another story entirely. But if the managers were so convinced that the Phantom of the Opera was a ghost than Ray would go with it, after all, he had been wrong before.
On the same table as the nuclear accelerators was where Egon kept his mold, spore, and fungi collection. The scientist was sitting by the table, examining his specimens, poking them and rearranging his Scizomycetes. Peter was eating a bologna and horseradish sandwich, and Ray was stretched out on his bed, reading a book about the famous ghosts of Paris. Once Egon had the last spore in place, he got up and walked over to Peter. "Hey Venkman," He said, "We should probably go to bed so that we're bright eyed and bushy tailed when we hunt for that opera ghost."
Peter sighed and put down his sandwich, "Yeah, you're right Spengler. Something tells me this'll be a hard case, probably the fact that the ghost himself told us that he was a man and not a ghost. Will the proton packs work on humans? He probably is a ghost and he's just trying to scare us" He said.
Ray muttered a "Yup" as he flipped a page of his book.
Egon glanced at the title, "Why are you reading that?"
"I just wanted to see if it said anything about our phantom, but it's too old anyways" Replied Stantz.
The three got into bed, turning off their lights and pulling up the sheets. Suddenly, as Peter put his head on the pillow, he exclaimed "What!"
Egon reached up and turned on a lamp, (hey, they're not supposed to have electricity!) and mumbled, "What is it Peter?"
Dr. Venkman pulled something from under his pillow with fascination. "I found a book under my pillow" he said. All three men got up and went over to a table, gasping at the book. It was titled Successfully Catching the Opera Ghost for Dummies.
"Well this will solve all our problems! We'll have our ghost tucked away in no time!" Said Ray happily. Peter began to flip eagerly through the book, and the other two men leaned over his shoulder to read. But to their great dismay and disappointment the only thing printed on the first page was Silly Wabbit, Twix are for kids! That was, in fact, the only thing printed on all 256 of the pages, and the men gaped hopelessly down at the bold black words sitting mockingly on the page.
After a moment of silence, Ray tentatively suggested, "It could be a code. Maybe."
Egon just shook his head and looked back at the book, disgusted. "No, it's a stupid trick. I knew it was too good to be true, a book that would guide us through catching that weird ghost. It was just a sick prank" He said.
Peter said, "Maybe the tooth fairy left it as a way of getting back at me for not flossing" taking a stab at humor.
Egon sighed, "Yeah, right. Come on, let's get to bed."
"What's that?!" Erik exclaimed, sticking a hand under his pillow. He pulled out what felt like a book, and reached up to turn on his lamp (Oh, come on, what time period are we in people!!?!) to get a better look at what he was holding. It was a book titled Successfully Avoiding and Driving Away the Ghost Busters for Dummies. Erik blinked at the book, stunned. He had never found anything under his pillow before, and now this odd and very ironic book appears when he was about to go to sleep. Perhaps it could be useful, he thought, staring at the title. Although, other then the laser things they carried on their backs the Ghost Busters hadn't seemed that dangerous. It might be a good idea to read the book anyways, though. Besides, he hadn't been enjoying his current book, The Cell by Stephen King; it just wasn't his kind of story. This one would be informative, and possibly, though he doubted it, lifesaving, so he cracked the cover. In bold, black lettering on the first page were the words You're on your own on this one. Sorry. He scowled at it, and dumbly turned the page. The second page was the lyrics to Puff the Magic Dragon, and so was the third, and the fourth, and all 317 other pages repeated Puff the Magic Dragon. Erik sighed deeply, and mumbled to himself, "Oh well, I probably didn't need it anyway."
He got up and walked over to the lake, then he threw the pointless book in the water. For a moment it floated idly, and then there was a tremendous roar and splash, and a huge, grayish, slimy tentacle burst from the water. It swiped up the book and pulled it quickly under the surface of the lake. There was a deep moan and a growl, then a repulsive slurping noise, and then the air fell silent, and the water was completely still. Erik stood, his feet frozen to the ground, utterly stunned. That was the weirdest thing that had happened to him in 2…3…maybe 5 years. It could be more, he had no idea. He had a giant squid living in his lake, and it ate books. He slowly reached out to his desk and picked up The Cell, and tossed it in to the water too. It only rested on the surface a few seconds, the pages barely began to absorb water, before the tentacle sprang up and the whole thing happened again. Once the ripples had gone from the lake's surface Erik finally said to himself "Oh my god." This was an interesting discovery. He would have to find out what else it ate, and he could never fall out of his boat. Ever. I probably shouldn't tell Christine about this…he thought to himself as he walked back to bed. The Ghost Busters would be on the prowl tomorrow, and he had to be well rested.
A/N: Well as you have probably noticed that I don't write many authors notes…and it's true, I don't. And I will not be writing regular ones every chapter, but I'll put them in every once in a while, when I feel it necessary. I wanted to tell everyone that's read up to this point, thank you! Read and review, it makes me feel glittery inside! Hope you're liking the story, and I love to hear feedback from you!