I really really really am sorry for notupdating for the past week. Like I said before, last week really hit me hard. I knew it would, but I was still surprised that I didn't even have energy to write when I got home every day like I usually try to do. I hope you guys forgive me! But last week did have its perks...I splurged and got a Ghostbusters costume from Spirit Halloween Friday, sort of as a celebration for surviving the week. I LOVE IT.
Please tell me if I need to change anything in this chapter, or any suggestions you may have for where the story goes in the future. I'm always eager to get some feedback! :)
Keira looked around confusedly. She was once again in the alley from Lucille's past, only this time it was empty. Silence surrounded her as she tried to figure out how she'd gotten there this time. She peered through the shadowy corners, expecting the men to come running at her. She waited, looking for any sign of Lucille's fiancé, John, but there was no sign of movement anywhere around her.
"Now we're both trapped here."
Keira turned at the sudden cold voice.
Standing behind her was a tall, pale woman with dark hair. She wore a deep green dress with a thin black sweater and matching heels. Her bright green eyes shone through the dim lights of the alley.
"…Lucille?" Keira said quietly. The woman narrowed her eyes in anger. Her dark red lips twitched as she stepped towards Keira, arms crossed.
"You said you were going to help me." She said, keeping her voice even. Keira blinked and shrunk back from Lucille, shivering with the cold.
"You led me to believe that I was helping you. But that clearly wasn't your plan. You're trying to get rid of me so you can take over!" Keira protested. Lucille grimaced and grabbed Keira's left wrist. A sharp pain ran up her arm and Keira looked down to see the fresh cut across her wrist.
"Well, I'm the only thing keeping you alive right now, so it looks like you need my help." Lucille said. Keira yanked her arm away from the ghost, and studied the wound. It looked like a clean cut straight across her wrist, only…there was no blood. It was as if she had nothing but darkness under her skin.
"Lucille…where are we?" She cried out. The surrounding alley seemed to be swirling in and out of focus. Lucille merely raised an uninterested glance around her before glaring back at Keira.
"In your unconscious. Stuck here because you stupidly tried to commit suicide to try and stop me." Lucille said sharply. Keira backed away as the ghost's eyes flashed in irritation.
"The last I saw…the paramedics were coming…" Keira said.
"And you left me in a position that I couldn't get out of. So they took us away and when I tried to escape, they sedated me." Lucille rolled her eyes. "You're so weak, do you know that? I mean, even with my combined supernatural strength, they had enough to put us down."
Keira blinked at the young woman in front of her. It was unsettling to see the ghost look so normal, but that did little to calm Keira's nerves. She looked around as a breeze drifted through the alley.
"What are you planning to do when I wake up?" Keira asked nervously. Lucille's red lips turned into a smirk.
"It won't be you that wakes up. I'll take care of whatever's going on out there and then I'll be back on track." Lucille leaned forward and Keira jumped back in surprise. "And then you'll just be that tiny voice in the back of my mind that I'll always ignore."
"Lucille, you can't do this! There's got to be something else I can do to help you. You can't just…take everything I have and change it around to make it your own!" Keira exclaimed, stepping back once more as Lucille shook her head. A wicked smirk appeared on the girl's face.
"Keira…" She said, her voice low as she feigned concern. "Is this about Matt?"
Keira froze as the memory of his visit to her apartment that morning rushed back to her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned away from Lucille's taunting stare.
"There's nothing but pain left for you there, Keira. Let me take care of things for you." Lucille said.
Keira's shoulders slumped and she felt her throat tighten in emotion. What if she did let the ghost take over? Where would that put her? She finally glanced back up to Lucille and was shocked to find that she was no longer there.
"L-Lucille?" She called, her voice echoing through the cold alley. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned to look behind her.
Suddenly cold hands latched onto Keira's neck, shoving her back against the alley wall. She cried out in surprise and saw Lucille's gleaming green eyes flash in anger.
"…Stop!" Keira shrieked as she twisted and shoved Lucille against the wall, breaking her grip. Keira quickly spun around and fled away from the ghost. She ran as fast as she could, stumbling as sudden shadowy obstacles appeared in her path. Her vision started to blur and the alley seemed to slowly melt away.
"Keira!" Lucille screamed. Her voice was distorted as the wind in the alley suddenly howled, reflecting the ghost's anger.
Keira felt a sudden warm grip tighten around her left hand and she felt herself yanked upward. For a brief second, her vision was totally black. Then she found herself lying in bed in a strange white walled room. She could hear a monitor beeping to her right in time with her pounding heart. She still felt a grip in her hand and she looked to her left to see who was holding it.
"Dr. Stantz?" She asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. The Ghostbuster stared down at her. For a long time he said nothing and then straightened himself as he looked from her hand that was clenching his tightly back to her terrified face.
"Keira?" He said softly. "You…are Keira, aren't you?"
Keira blinked in confusion and then remembered that he had speculated her possession before. She nodded slowly, struggling to see past the foggy feeling in her head from the medication.
"I think so." She said. Ray nodded, staring at her worriedly.
"What just happened?" A voice from the other side of the hospital room said. Keira glanced up, startled as Peter crossed the room and stood on the other side of the bed.
"I could ask you both the same thing." Keira said slowly, staring back and forth from Peter's skeptical face to Ray's curious one.
"Do you know where you are?" Ray asked her gently. She swung her gaze back to him and then scanned the room around them.
"In…the hospital?" She said unsurely. Ray nodded. "H-How did you know where to find me?"
"We went to your apartment when Janine told us you'd called. When you weren't there, one of your neighbors told us about your…accident." He said slowly. Keira blinked as she threw a quick glance at her tightly bandaged wrist. Her heart sped up as she remembered what Lucille had told her and the lack of blood from the wound. Part of her wanted to unwrap the bandage just so she could confirm what she'd seen but the other part of her was terrified.
"…you alright?"
Keira looked up hurriedly as Peter raised an eyebrow at her dazed look. She felt her fingers tighten around Ray's hand which was still in her grasp. She looked at his hand curiously as he turned hers over and realized that he was examining the thin tan line where her engagement ring had been. When he noticed her looking, he quickly released her and coughed uncomfortably.
"It…wasn't an accident." She said after a long moment. Ray cast Peter a glance.
"What do you mean?" Ray asked.
"It's all true. Everything you tried to tell me about that ghost…she's trying to kill me!" She blurted out. The monitor next to her sped up in time to her rapidly beating heart. Ray gently pushed her back into the large pillows behind her.
"We know…that's why we're here." Ray said reassuringly. "So you're saying the ghost did this to you?"
"No…I-I did it." Keira said quickly, stammering as she realized how crazy that sounded.
As she'd expected, Ray and Peter both went silent as they glanced worriedly at each other.
"I didn't think it through…I understand that now. She's gotten…too strong I think." Keira sighed in frustration as she could feel the medication messing with her. She blinked slowly as she leaned back groggily against the pillows.
"So now you believe us?" Peter taunted her.
"Venkman…" Ray muttered a warning, but Keira shook her head.
"I never didn't believe you. I was just…led to believe that I was helping her. When actually, it turned out she was just using me." She said, trying to keep her voice even.
"When you say 'her'…" Peter started.
"I mean, the ghost. Her name is Lucille." Keira said. Peter raised an eyebrow.
"This ghost is talking to her, Ray. Is that normal?" Peter asked. Ray looked thoughtful for a moment.
"For a class three that's kind of odd, but we learn new things every day. What kinds of things does she say?"
"Well, not really anything threatening, at least not until recently. I've learned a lot about her past from the…dreams I've been having." Keira tried to explain. She was still having trouble thinking clearly through the medication running its course.
"She gives you dreams?" Ray asked.
"The way she explained it was that…every time she takes over, my conscious is sent back to her last living memory." Keira said. Ray's eyes widened. He quickly stood up and crossed the room to the door.
"I've gotta call Egon. We're bringing you back to the lab…why didn't you tell us this yesterday when you were there?!" He exclaimed.
"Because that wasn't me." Keira said.
"I'm confused. How do you know that you're really…you right now?" Peter asked.
"I think…I think I somehow left Lucille behind in my unconscious. That's where we were before I woke up just now." Her eyes landed on Ray for a long moment as she remembered the strong hand that pulled her out of her nightmare.
"Okay, we can talk more about this back at the firehouse. I'll be right back. Pete…" Ray's gaze stopped on Peter as the other man took his place in the chair beside Keira's bed. "Behave yourself."
Peter scoffed as Ray left the room and he leaned towards Keira comically.
"He gets so obsessed about these things. I guess I should apologize for him." He muttered. His eyes landed on her face for a moment. "I like what you've done with your hair. Makes you look…darker."
Keira found herself laughing quietly as she acknowledged his attempts to make her feel better.
"Well, you can thank the ghost for that. I had no say in the matter." She said. Peter smiled teasingly.
"We'll get you figured out, Keira. Don't worry about it." he said.
Keira smiled halfheartedly at him and then stared hopefully at the door. She didn't know how long the medication would hold back Lucille, but she knew it probably wouldn't be for long. She only hoped that she would be among the ones who could handle it when the ghost took over again.