Chapter Five
If Egon had guessed correctly, they had been gone for two or three weeks, at some point time had become nothing but a light and dark reading, but Egon guessed they had been there for a good two going on three weeks. He could also guess that he was probably starving, he was thirsty, and his breathing seemed somewhat raspy.
Ray was in the same shape, only about ten times worse. He guessed from certain obvious hints, that Ray had a broken ankle, broken wrist, probably four broken ribs others cracked, a severe concussion, if not a skull fracture, blood loss, possibly pneumonia. Egon knew it was probably true and was very worried about his youngest friend. If Ray didn't get help soon, he would die, and Egon didn't think he could handle losing Ray on top of everything else that was happening.
"No, don't.please NO!" Screamed Ray, trying to fend off, whatever it was attempting to kill him. Egon held tightly to Ray, as he fought wildly against the binding arms.
It was torture for Egon, to watch his friend shiver, vomit in dry heaves until he collapsed into the blackness of exhaustion. It was hard to watch his friend suffer, and know there was nothing he could do for him, nothing that would comfort Ray, or make him feel better. Watch him loose the mind games against Austin, as Ray's sanity probably made a break for a nearby window. A wonderful mind trapped in such a horrible predicament. He kept hoping that by some miracle of God, Ray wouldn't remember any of what he had been through these past two weeks. That Ray wouldn't remember being unable to control his genius mind as it slowly died away, that Ray would forget the lack of control he had over his body and his bodily functions.
It had been a long time since they two had spoken, since Ray had even been capable of speaking. Ray was only vaguely aware of the continuous needles plunged into his arms day in and day out. Vaguely aware of the laughter surrounding him as the drug took him out of whatever reality he had left. Attacking his functioning brain cells and attacking any motor skills he had left. Egon wasn't even sure that Ray wasn't balanced already somewhere between life and death, and teetering over the edge towards death.
Egon was quickly discovering that no matter how much Ray's gung ho, forget safety attitude bothered them sometimes, that he missed Ray's spirit, he missed everything about Ray. Peter had always been right. Ray was the heart of the Ghostbusters, and if the heart died, so did the rest of the body.
"Please hurry Peter, please, please hurry," Egon whimpered as he bowed his head towards Ray's unconscious figure, and slowly felt himself breaking down into horrible soul shaking body wracking sobs. Everything taking it's toll on him. He was only vaguely aware of a pair of weaker arms sliding around his middle and holding on tightly.
"They're comin'.'gon," came Ray's very shaky and weak voice. Egon wrapped his arms tighter around Ray as well, and together the two cried out whatever it was they had left. ****
Peter stared over the shoulder at the computer screen as several fingers flew across the keyboard. He had been here all day, and was tiring quickly.
"There are ten clusters of apartments, and five house that have been vacant for ten years. That's in the decent neighborhood's, do you want the bad ones too?" inquired the woman cop as she looked up at him.
"No, this Austin guy wants us to think of places no on would look. If I know him, he'll be hiding out in a good decent neighborhood, where people's children ride bikes everyday without the fear of a man like him. It'll be the best damn house in the neighborhood too. This man is no idiot, believe me, he's a psychopathic genius," stated Peter.
"Peter, we've been looking through the file, he had two older brothers and a father, tell me if you recognize this, the brother's name was Freddy Austin, also known as Freddy Valen, died in prision in 1992, after he was convicted or two accounts of murder and one account of attempted murder. Want to hear who he killed?" Peter looked at Winston and Frump, who stood near him.
"No, but tell me anyway," Peter murmured.
"Katherine and Jackson Stanz, attempted murder of Raymond Stanz; Mr. Valen, aka Freddy Austin was fifteen years older than his younger brother, but was close to him."
"That would explain why Austin is after Ray. He wants to finish the job his brother did on Ray's folks. Did it say why he killed Ray's parents?" Peter remembered only a few months back when Mr. and Mrs. Stanz's ghosts showed up warning them about something, Ray had dug deeper and discovered his parents were murdered, but hadn't known the murder by any other name than Freddy Valen.
"Do you think Austin will hurt both Egon and Ray?" Frump asked. Peter sighed and shook his head.
"I don't really know, I doubt it, if his issues are with Ray, my guess is Egon is for my benefit. He's trying to get revenge against me from college, so he takes Egon, but Ray is personal. No, Egon won't be seriously hurt, maybe sick, and scared possibly psychologically damaged slightly, but other than that, he'll be fine. I've got a friend, she's really good psychiatrist, I'd like to give her a call, she if she would be willing to talk to all of us, we're going to need her, and she won't have a personal connection to them," Peter spoke.
"What were those addresses," Winston asked. ****
Peter looked at the house, he had been correct, it was in a beautiful neighborhood with wonderful people. It fit perfectly with Peter's MO of Austin. They had been watching the house for three days now, and were ready to go in.
"Stay here Venkman," Frump stated.
"No, I'm going in there Frump, those are our friends," Peter said.
"Look, you aren't a cop, you have no right to go in."
"No RGIHT! Frump, let me ask you a question, what would you do if one of your friends, or wife were stuck in that house, possibly going through what Egon and Ray are going through. Would you stand back, like some idiot, and watch them, or would you bust in there behind the posse and catch the son of a bitches' ass?" Peter said staring at Frump's round face. The man looked at him as well, it was as though battle of the wills was on, but Peter didn't plan to be the loser.
"You wear a bullet proof vest, and you stay behind us at all times, you got that Venkman," Frump said slamming the vest into Peter's chest.
"Anything you say Frump," with that Peter began putting the vest on.
"Peter, we'll be right behind you, I'm going to wait until they've got Austin, then I'll be in, hold onto them okay." ****
"Ray, I've got another dose of this great stuff," called Austin as he held the syringe up. He smiled when Ray almost reached out for it, his heart telling him no, but his body begging to get away from the pain filled hell.
"Would you like to administer it Raymond?" Inquired Austin smiling, Ray simply nodded and watched in fascination as he pushed the plunger home. His mind screaming as it coursed through his veins, mixing with his blood.
"Congrats Stanz, you're an addict," Ray's eyes grew wide as he finally comprehended what he had just done. ****
The laughing was all round him, as he pushed the plunger in, the giant heads swarming around in a circle, all of them laughing at him, yelling at him, the heads of the only people he had ever loved.
"Look at the druggie!" Howled Winston's head, laughing.
"Nothing but a useless piece of crap," laughed Peter loudly.
"We called him a genius," cackled Egon. Ray squeezed his eyes closed wildly, trying to close his mind off to the images, he didn't want to remember them anymore, no god please no. All he heard next was a loud crack, a pain shoot through the side of his head, then nothingness. ****
Austin pulled the trigger right as Frump pulled his, sending Austin to the floor with a bullet in his right shoulder, as Austin's bullet hit Ray's temple, at an angle. Peter paled at the sight, and ignored the crumpled body of Austin, screaming out Winston's name and Egon's he dropped to the floor near the crumpled form of his best friend. Ray lay on the carpet, bleeding from what looked to be a slight flesh wound above Ray's left temple. ****
"What the hell happened!?" Demanded Winston as he raced in and dropped beside Peter.
"Ray's, been shot," Peter whimpered.
"Does he have a pulse," Peter reached his hand towards Ray's neck, the dread Winston spotted in his friend's eyes, said it all. Ray had no pulse, his chest wasn't moving.
To Be Continued.
If Egon had guessed correctly, they had been gone for two or three weeks, at some point time had become nothing but a light and dark reading, but Egon guessed they had been there for a good two going on three weeks. He could also guess that he was probably starving, he was thirsty, and his breathing seemed somewhat raspy.
Ray was in the same shape, only about ten times worse. He guessed from certain obvious hints, that Ray had a broken ankle, broken wrist, probably four broken ribs others cracked, a severe concussion, if not a skull fracture, blood loss, possibly pneumonia. Egon knew it was probably true and was very worried about his youngest friend. If Ray didn't get help soon, he would die, and Egon didn't think he could handle losing Ray on top of everything else that was happening.
"No, don't.please NO!" Screamed Ray, trying to fend off, whatever it was attempting to kill him. Egon held tightly to Ray, as he fought wildly against the binding arms.
It was torture for Egon, to watch his friend shiver, vomit in dry heaves until he collapsed into the blackness of exhaustion. It was hard to watch his friend suffer, and know there was nothing he could do for him, nothing that would comfort Ray, or make him feel better. Watch him loose the mind games against Austin, as Ray's sanity probably made a break for a nearby window. A wonderful mind trapped in such a horrible predicament. He kept hoping that by some miracle of God, Ray wouldn't remember any of what he had been through these past two weeks. That Ray wouldn't remember being unable to control his genius mind as it slowly died away, that Ray would forget the lack of control he had over his body and his bodily functions.
It had been a long time since they two had spoken, since Ray had even been capable of speaking. Ray was only vaguely aware of the continuous needles plunged into his arms day in and day out. Vaguely aware of the laughter surrounding him as the drug took him out of whatever reality he had left. Attacking his functioning brain cells and attacking any motor skills he had left. Egon wasn't even sure that Ray wasn't balanced already somewhere between life and death, and teetering over the edge towards death.
Egon was quickly discovering that no matter how much Ray's gung ho, forget safety attitude bothered them sometimes, that he missed Ray's spirit, he missed everything about Ray. Peter had always been right. Ray was the heart of the Ghostbusters, and if the heart died, so did the rest of the body.
"Please hurry Peter, please, please hurry," Egon whimpered as he bowed his head towards Ray's unconscious figure, and slowly felt himself breaking down into horrible soul shaking body wracking sobs. Everything taking it's toll on him. He was only vaguely aware of a pair of weaker arms sliding around his middle and holding on tightly.
"They're comin'.'gon," came Ray's very shaky and weak voice. Egon wrapped his arms tighter around Ray as well, and together the two cried out whatever it was they had left. ****
Peter stared over the shoulder at the computer screen as several fingers flew across the keyboard. He had been here all day, and was tiring quickly.
"There are ten clusters of apartments, and five house that have been vacant for ten years. That's in the decent neighborhood's, do you want the bad ones too?" inquired the woman cop as she looked up at him.
"No, this Austin guy wants us to think of places no on would look. If I know him, he'll be hiding out in a good decent neighborhood, where people's children ride bikes everyday without the fear of a man like him. It'll be the best damn house in the neighborhood too. This man is no idiot, believe me, he's a psychopathic genius," stated Peter.
"Peter, we've been looking through the file, he had two older brothers and a father, tell me if you recognize this, the brother's name was Freddy Austin, also known as Freddy Valen, died in prision in 1992, after he was convicted or two accounts of murder and one account of attempted murder. Want to hear who he killed?" Peter looked at Winston and Frump, who stood near him.
"No, but tell me anyway," Peter murmured.
"Katherine and Jackson Stanz, attempted murder of Raymond Stanz; Mr. Valen, aka Freddy Austin was fifteen years older than his younger brother, but was close to him."
"That would explain why Austin is after Ray. He wants to finish the job his brother did on Ray's folks. Did it say why he killed Ray's parents?" Peter remembered only a few months back when Mr. and Mrs. Stanz's ghosts showed up warning them about something, Ray had dug deeper and discovered his parents were murdered, but hadn't known the murder by any other name than Freddy Valen.
"Do you think Austin will hurt both Egon and Ray?" Frump asked. Peter sighed and shook his head.
"I don't really know, I doubt it, if his issues are with Ray, my guess is Egon is for my benefit. He's trying to get revenge against me from college, so he takes Egon, but Ray is personal. No, Egon won't be seriously hurt, maybe sick, and scared possibly psychologically damaged slightly, but other than that, he'll be fine. I've got a friend, she's really good psychiatrist, I'd like to give her a call, she if she would be willing to talk to all of us, we're going to need her, and she won't have a personal connection to them," Peter spoke.
"What were those addresses," Winston asked. ****
Peter looked at the house, he had been correct, it was in a beautiful neighborhood with wonderful people. It fit perfectly with Peter's MO of Austin. They had been watching the house for three days now, and were ready to go in.
"Stay here Venkman," Frump stated.
"No, I'm going in there Frump, those are our friends," Peter said.
"Look, you aren't a cop, you have no right to go in."
"No RGIHT! Frump, let me ask you a question, what would you do if one of your friends, or wife were stuck in that house, possibly going through what Egon and Ray are going through. Would you stand back, like some idiot, and watch them, or would you bust in there behind the posse and catch the son of a bitches' ass?" Peter said staring at Frump's round face. The man looked at him as well, it was as though battle of the wills was on, but Peter didn't plan to be the loser.
"You wear a bullet proof vest, and you stay behind us at all times, you got that Venkman," Frump said slamming the vest into Peter's chest.
"Anything you say Frump," with that Peter began putting the vest on.
"Peter, we'll be right behind you, I'm going to wait until they've got Austin, then I'll be in, hold onto them okay." ****
"Ray, I've got another dose of this great stuff," called Austin as he held the syringe up. He smiled when Ray almost reached out for it, his heart telling him no, but his body begging to get away from the pain filled hell.
"Would you like to administer it Raymond?" Inquired Austin smiling, Ray simply nodded and watched in fascination as he pushed the plunger home. His mind screaming as it coursed through his veins, mixing with his blood.
"Congrats Stanz, you're an addict," Ray's eyes grew wide as he finally comprehended what he had just done. ****
The laughing was all round him, as he pushed the plunger in, the giant heads swarming around in a circle, all of them laughing at him, yelling at him, the heads of the only people he had ever loved.
"Look at the druggie!" Howled Winston's head, laughing.
"Nothing but a useless piece of crap," laughed Peter loudly.
"We called him a genius," cackled Egon. Ray squeezed his eyes closed wildly, trying to close his mind off to the images, he didn't want to remember them anymore, no god please no. All he heard next was a loud crack, a pain shoot through the side of his head, then nothingness. ****
Austin pulled the trigger right as Frump pulled his, sending Austin to the floor with a bullet in his right shoulder, as Austin's bullet hit Ray's temple, at an angle. Peter paled at the sight, and ignored the crumpled body of Austin, screaming out Winston's name and Egon's he dropped to the floor near the crumpled form of his best friend. Ray lay on the carpet, bleeding from what looked to be a slight flesh wound above Ray's left temple. ****
"What the hell happened!?" Demanded Winston as he raced in and dropped beside Peter.
"Ray's, been shot," Peter whimpered.
"Does he have a pulse," Peter reached his hand towards Ray's neck, the dread Winston spotted in his friend's eyes, said it all. Ray had no pulse, his chest wasn't moving.
To Be Continued.