Wandering Spirit
Part 2
By Kali
Author's Forward: A special thank you to my beta readers Melissa and Siti Marie.
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"You're enjoying this, aren't you, Winston?"
"Why would you say that?" Winston asked.
"Gee, I don't know. That big ole grin plastered on your face, for one thing."
"Sorry, Pete. I was just thinking about something else."
"Hmmm... 'something else', huh? A girl, perhaps?"
"Pete," Winston sighed. "Why are you trying to change the subject?"
"Uh, Winston, you're the one changing the subject here. Not me."
"It's not like we're dealing with a menace like Gozer," Winston continued, in his attempt to direct the conversation back to the matter at hand.
"Don't be so sure. Just because she's a little girl, it doesn't mean that she's harmless. Didn't you see that George C. Scott movie, 'The Changeling'?"
"Yes, of course I have. Peter, the child in that movie wasn't evil, he was just... "
"Vengeful?"
"Alone, and hurting."
"Winston, he killed two people. Now, I don't know about you, but, in my book, that makes him bad."
"He was only six years old. It wasn't his fault."
"Not to mention what he did to the house."
"Peter, that was just a movie. I doubt that is normal behavior for a child ghost."
"Yeah, well... Oh, there's another possible."
"Let me see," Winston said as he trudged up to the headstone Peter was standing in front of."
"She was only nine," Peter murmered softly, shaking his head. "Poor kid."
"Yeah, poor kid," Winston echoed. "Never had a chance to live. I guess, that's what bothers me so much about this job."
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At the local library, Egon and Ray are hunched in front of microfiche scanners. There are cups of coffee easily within their reach.
"Any luck yet?" Egon asked.
"No. Haven't seen any possible matches yet," Ray responded, as he turned away from the microfiche screen to face Egon. "So far I've gone through all of 1930 and 1931. How about you?"
"Nothing yet, for me either. It would help if we could narrow it down to a decade," Egon frowned. "In the very least. Otherwise, we could be here for months. And the family who hired us, could never afford the fee."
"Perhaps, we should try talking to her again?" Ray asked.
"Perhaps. Trouble is, after what happened last night, I'm not so sure that she will appear to us again."
"Still, it's worth a shot," Ray yawned. "I mean, what do we have to lose?"
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"Here Ray, I picked this up for you," Peter said, handing him a video rental. "I thought you might like it."
"'Phantom Quest Corp?" Sounds cool, Peter. Thanks!"
"Yeah, well, you're welcome."
"Here. I rented something for you as well," Ray beamed as he held up a copy of another video tape rental.
"'Quigley Down Under?' Why, Ray, you know me so well," Peter grinned back.
"It's so nice to see him smiling again, isn't it, Egon?"Winston asked.
"Yes, he's been moping about Dana for quite awhile now," Egon agreed.
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As they watched Phantom Quest Corp, a particular scene caught their eye. It was a scene, which the lead heroine, reminded Egon, Winston, and Ray, of a certain friend of theirs, at least, in regard to their sleeping habits, and their singing abilities, or rather, their singing inabilities.
The extremely youthful, account manager of the heroine's business, had tried awakening her with a rather absurd amount of alarm clocks. When that didn't work, he planted a boombox in front of her, and told her it was her turn to perform karaoke.
"Hmmmmmmmm....... You know, Peter," Winston smirked, "that does give me some ideas of how to deal with you."
"What do you mean? I'm not *that* hard to wake up."
"Sure, Peter, whatever you say," Ray teased.
"It's like, attempting to wake up a hibernating bear," Egon casually commented.
"Hmmph! This coming from someone who can't be torn away from an experiment in progress, unless it's with a tow truck."
"An exaggeration, Peter," Egon chided.
"Or Twinkies!"Ray chimed in.
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that," Peter grinned.
"Or Janine," Winston added, smirking.
At that comment, Egon blushed scarlet. "Ahem," Egon coughed out. "Guys, I think it's best we returned our focus to the matter at hand."
"Sure, Egon, continue to live in self denial, why don't you," Peter snickered, dodging a burgundy throw pillow that Egon had pitched at him.
"This movie is really interesting. Very real to life, in the way that it deals with the occult and the spirit world. And it's even animated to boot! Thanks for renting it, Peter!" Ray said enthusiastically.
"No problemo, muchacho," Peter said. "Look, guys, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make a phone call."
"Do you want us to pause the movie?"Ray inquired, turning around to face Peter.
"No, that's okay. I don't know how long this will take," Peter shrugged. "If you need me, I'll be on the porch."
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Alone on the front porch of the farmhouse, Peter stared at the cellular phone in his hand for a good ten minutes. His trademarked cockiness having abandoned him. He was worried. Nervous. Afraid that she would just hang up on him at the sound of his voice. But, if he didn't try, he would never know. And if he didn't try soon, it would be too late in the evening to call.
It was funny. He had finally come to the point, where he could face down the worst dregs of the spirit realm, with relatively little self doubt, and fear. But, when it came to calling his ex on the phone, he was shaking in his booties.
That's because she can get to you, like no one else can, he thought to himself.
More procrastination, more self doubt. Seconds ticked into minutes, minutes into an hour. Pretty soon, the others would come out looking for him.
"Stop it, Venkman!" He scolded himself. "Buck it up, and make the first move, because, if you don't, you could end up regretting it for the rest of your life."
Gritting his teeth, he dialed the number he knew by heart. The number belonging to the woman who had his heart, even though she, herself, might not want it anymore.
"Hello," She answered, sounding a bit out of breath.
"Hi, I wanted.... I was hoping we could talk," Peter said, as he crossed his fingers in an attempt to bring on good luck.
"Look, Peter, I'm rather busy now. Maybe, I could stop by the firehouse tomorrow?"
"Uh, no... We're out of town, out of state actually. Dealing with a haunting in the proverbial boonies, of all places."
"Oh. Well, maybe when you get back."
"I just.... I've just been thinking a lot about us, lately, about you. About how I treated you..." Peter started, struggling with the words.
"Listen, Peter. I knew what I was getting into when I married you. I knew I couldn't change you. I was a fool to even try."
"You are not a fool, Dana. It's my fault. I can't ever seem to be happy... I just keep on screwing up my relationships with women, with you. Dana, I can't tell you how sorry I am...." Peter began.
"Peter, please," Dana interrupted. "Let's not get into this now. We can talk about this after you return to New York."
"Yes, but... We're not sure how long this will take. You see. It's not the normal grab and bag for us. And I just wanted...."
"Look, Peter, I have to go. Give me a call after you get back into town. Okay? I have a box of your things still at my apartment."
"Sure, okay," Peter managed to force the words out of his mouth. This hadn't gone the way he had planned. But then, the best lain plans rarely ever worked out, when it came to matters of the heart. "Talk to you later," he managed to spit out with false bravado, "And give the little rugrat a hug from me."
"I will. Good-bye, Peter. I hope you have good luck with the bust."
"Thanks," Peter said halfheartedly. He heard a click as she disconnected her end of the line. Defeated, he slumped back onto the old rocking chair.
"Hey, Peter, are you all right?" Ray asked, eyeing his good friend with concern. He was standing in doorway, just behind the screen door. "We're here for you, if you need to talk about anything. I'm here for you. No, matter what, you can count on me."
"I know. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, Ray. It's just... It just feels like I'm a failure with every relationship. My mother ... My father ... Dana...."
"Not in all cases, you've been a good friend to us, Venkman."
"Yeah, well...."
"I mean it, Peter. We'd be lost without you."
"Now, that's an exaggeration if I ever heard one. And one, I have every intention of reminding you of, Mr. Stantz," Peter teased.
"Aw, Peter," Ray said, shaking his head slightly. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"Maybe later. Right now... It's just not a good time. Now come on. We've got that down under western to watch, and a haunted house to keep under surveillance."
Disclaimer: The Ghostbusters were created by Dan Aykroyd
and Harold Ramis. This fan fic is meant as pure, harmless fun. As such, no
profit is being made from it.