Extreme Ghostbusters: The Trouble With Guys
Part 2
Winston Zeddemore was getting bored. Very bored. He and Roland had been driving all over Manhattan in the Ecto-1, trying to pick up the trail of this stupid incubus. No one had seen it, heard it, kissed it, screwed it, anything. Absolutely no one. They had been at it for almost two hours before Winston, while Roland was refilling the car, decided to radio HQ.
"It's gone," he said. "It's nowhere. No one's seen it."
"Really?" Egon's voice sounded dubious. "And you started by following the spiral?"
"Yes," Winston said impatiently. "It's not doing the spiral thing anymore. It's hiding from something. From us, probably - it knows we're onto it now."
"True," said Egon. "Eduardo left messages with officials all over the city to call us if any cadavers should go missing, but people don't always take very much notice of requests like that. I might start calling round again."
"Why bother? If it's not doing anything it won't need a human form. I really think it's moved on, Egon."
Roland climbed into the car, having paid for the fuel.
"If that's true," said Egon, "it would be extremely unfortunate. But I still think there's something in this spiral business. Kylie told me her lawn mowing theory, but I'm not convinced."
"We're coming back," said Winston. "This is futile."
Roland drove them back to the firehouse, and they quickly found Egon and Peter in Egon's lab, puzzling over their sizeable map of New York - the one they always stuck their pins in. Charlene was with them (evidently bored of childminding), frowning down at an open atlas and tracing some kind of shape over the open page with her finger.
"I don't know," Egon was saying. "I've never heard of an incubus behaving so predictably like this. Nor a succubus, come to that. It's almost like it's gravitating towards something."
Charlene looked up from her atlas when she heard the new arrivals approaching. "Hi, Dad," she said. "Hi, Roland. Any joy?"
Winston shook his head.
"Bummer." She didn't sound like she cared very much. "Egon thinks the incubus is - well, was - gravitating towards something, and I was just wondering what. It's interesting." She turned her head to look at Egon and Peter. "If you continue this spiral until you can't take it any further it almost leads to - "
She was cut off by Peter's cell phone, of all things, and scowled. In spite of being a modern youth, Charlene thought cell phones were incredibly rude, the way they always interrupted entire conversations. Why was it that goodness knew who calling from goodness knew where invariably received priority over someone already in the middle of a face-to-face conversation? It hardly seemed right. Peter, to give him his dues, did offer her an apologetic smile as he whipped out the phone and looked at the caller display.
"It's Dana," he said. "I'd better get it - it might be important."
Dana occasionally called him during the day, and it was usually important enough to warrant a phone call - she wasn't the kind of person to call somebody at work just for the hell of it. Generally they were just minor important things, like requests that Peter pick Jessica up from soccer practice because Dana couldn't get there for whatever reason.
But not this time. Peter got as far as saying "Hello" when he fell silent, his smile fell away into a look of sheer terror and his face completely drained of colour. Finally, after several seconds of Dana telling him God knew what, he said shakily, "I'm on my way." Then he hung up.
Winston said it first: "What's wrong?"
"Jess… I have to go," said Peter.
"Jess?" Charlene began to panic. "Is she ok?"
"I don't know."
"But what…?"
He was already gone. Wide-eyed, Charlene looked up at Winston. "What's happened?" she asked, even though she knew he had no more idea than she did.
Winston shook his head in a gesture of ignorance. "I'm sure we'll find out," he said.
x x x
When Jessica woke, all she saw was white - a stark contrast to the blackness that had overwhelmed her what seemed like seconds earlier. It probably wasn't seconds, though. She felt like she had been asleep for a long time, but the feeling wasn't a bad one. She felt rested, in fact, and more than ready to get off this… this… what was it?
She swung her legs down and sat up. It was a bed. A hard one. Christ, she was in a hospital! This deduction was pretty much confirmed almost immediately when a nurse suddenly stepped in front of her and grabbed her face.
"Whoa, hey, cut that out!" exclaimed Jessica, batting away the hand that was prising open her left eye (the other hand held a little torch at the ready). "What the hell is going on?"
"We're not sure yet," said the nurse. "We're just waiting for the results of your blood test to come back, and then the police are going to question the boy. And they'll want to question you too, honey. How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine," Jessica said truthfully. "What's with the hospital gown? Where the hell are my clothes?" She couldn't help wondering who'd enjoyed the pleasure of that little task.
"In the locker."
Jessica jumped off the bed, barged past the nurse and pulled a clean set of jeans, t-shirt, sweater and underwear out of the small locker by the bed.
"Do you have any pain?" the nurse asked anxiously. "Do you feel sore… you know…?"
"What do you mean?" asked Jessica, and then saw that the nurse seemed to be looking directly at her crotch. "Look, lady, would you mind not staring at me while I get dressed? Hang on - these aren't the clothes I was wearing. What happened to them? Those cargo pants are special, you know - I waited years for my brother to grow out of those."
"The police have all the clothes you were wearing when you came in."
"What?"
The question shot off her tongue automatically, but it was now clear to Jessica that the nurse was unwilling or unable to help - or else she was just dismally stupid. Jessica, in spite of the nurse's feeble protest ("Oh… I don't think you should…"), charged towards the double doors and burst through them, stepping out into a small corridor. And in this corridor was a scene that made Jessica's jaw drop like a lead balloon.
Cameron was there, looking terrified and cowering away from Peter who, Jessica's eyes insisted (though she had trouble believing them), was being restrained by two large police officers. Someone in a white coat was there - a doctor of some kind, presumably (well, it was a hospital) - and a female police officer was talking to him in a low voice.
Then suddenly Jessica's view was obscured by the face of her own mother taking up the whole of her peripheral vision. She felt tight fists grabbing her elbows, and then she realised she was being violently shaken. Shaken!
"YOU STUPID GIRL!" screamed Dana. "YOU STUPID, STUPID GIRL!"
And then, quite suddenly, she burst into tears. She stopped shaking and crushed her daughter against her chest. A moment later Jessica felt more hands on her. It was Peter. She knew his touch straightaway. Dana loosened her hold just slightly, and then suddenly Jessica was sandwiched between them.
"Hey!" Her voice was muffled against Dana's chest. "What the hell is going on?"
"Excuse me, Dr. and Mrs. Venkman."
Jessica was freed as the two bodies crushing her were pulled forcibly apart, and suddenly she was looking into the kind yet authoritative face of the female police officer.
"Miss Venkman, would you be able to come to the station to answer a few questions?"
"Are you crazy?" shrieked Dana, taking Jessica into her arms again. "She's only just woken up! She needs to talk to some kind of counsellor! She feels terrible!"
"I feel fine," said Jessica.
"I can't allow her to be discharged yet," the white-coated doctor chimed in. "I need to check her over, and the test results haven't even come back yet."
"What," grated Jessica, "is going on? What are these test results?"
"I didn't do anything to her!" It was Cameron's voice, coming from somewhere behind the throng of people fussing around her. "It was me who called the freaking ambulance! Jess, tell them!"
Peter suddenly lost it again. "How dare you talk to her!" he raged, lunging for Cameron, but he was immediately restrained once again by the two large police officers.
"Now then, Jessica," their female colleague said patronisingly. "We don't know how long we'll have to wait for the results of your blood test, but after you've been discharged you'll have to come with us to have an examination. It won't be pleasant, but - "
"What kind of ex-am-in-a-tion?" Jessica asked, mocking her patronising tone.
"For evidence."
"Evidence?"
"Forensic evidence."
"You won't find any!" Cameron wailed desperately. "She passed out and I couldn't wake her up so I called an ambulance!"
"Save it for the judge, sonny," an unfamiliar voice growled menacingly. It must have been one of the male police officers.
"Doctor?" A brand new voice, female this time. "Miss Venkman's blood tests came back. There was no evidence of any alien substances in her body."
Cameron breathed out heavily, but this was the only reaction anyone gave. The news seemed to stump everyone. Relieved, Jessica took the opportunity to speak.
"Listen," she said. "It was a sealed Coke can and I opened it myself. Cameron couldn't have slipped me anything, so Dad, stop overreacting. And you can keep your latex gloves the hell out of me, lady - I can tell you for nothing that I am definitely still a virgin. I just…" - she didn't want to say it - it was such a feeble, Victorian thing to do. But she was going to have to, so she took a deep breath and went on, "I just passed out for some reason. All right? And now I'd like my clothes back, and I'd kind of like to go home."
x x x
The call came at around four thirty. Janine went up to the immense gathering in the rec room - that was Eduardo, Kylie, Roland, Garrett, Winston, Egon, Charlene, Conchita, Rose (though she didn't really understand what all the fuss was about) and the twins, John and Eden Spengler - and said, "Dr. Venkman just called to let us know Jess is fine."
Charlene, Winston and Egon, who had witnessed the panic-inducing phone call, breathed out heavily.
"What happened?" asked Kylie.
"I'm not sure exactly," said Janine. "He was a bit vague, but apparently she collapsed and was taken to hospital, woke up a half-hour later and was fine."
Charlene pulled a face. "That's weird. Jess doesn't collapse."
"No," Janine agreed.
"She's definitely ok now?"
"Seems to be. I talked to her - she sounded fine."
"Right," said Egon. "Good. That's excellent news." He paused. "Can we talk about the incubus now?"
"It's gone," Eduardo surmised.
"Not necessarily."
"So what do you wanna do about it? We've got no leads."
"I'm going to try and trace its movements since last night," said Egon. "It may be that it's found itself a corpse without anyone noticing - by taking one out of the ground for example; it might still be following its spiral - there are several possibilities."
"Yeah, two," muttered Eduardo.
"Do I have any volunteers to come with me?"
"Sorry, Egon, but I'm going to have to pass," said Kylie. She really, really wanted to stay home that night and get over this stupid worry about her encounter with the incubus; and she really, really didn't want another encounter with it. "I kind of need to catch up on my sleep," was the excuse she gave, and it was true enough.
"Me too," said Garrett. "I'm working at the hospital first thing tomorrow morning." As well as the ghostbusting, he worked shifts as a physiotherapist.
"I'll go with you," said Winston. Then, looking at Charlene, he said, "You and your mom will be ok with a PKE meter and a proton gun just in case, won't you?"
"Hmm?" Charlene was busy wondering whether it was necessary for her to call and check up on Jessica. "Yeah, sure, I guess. Chances are it won't come to us anyway. I mean, that would be a pretty big coincidence, wouldn't it?"
"You aren't really on the spiral," Roland added helpfully. "I can go with you tonight, Egon, if you let me go home for a while now and get some sleep."
Egon nodded. "Of course. You'd better do the same, Winston. I'll come and pick you both up in the Ecto-1 around nine."
x x x
What was it, Amy Jackson wondered, about older brothers? In some ways they were worse than fathers. In her experience, older brothers tended to be much more covert about their disapproval, pretending to be on your side when actually they were secretly planning ways to get your boyfriend out of the picture.
"Excuse me," Amy interrupted the rant that was pouring from the phone into her left ear. "Don't you remember my brothers saying these exact same things about you?"
"That's different," Oscar said stiffly.
"No it isn't, it's exactly the same."
"No, it's completely different."
"How?"
"I am a morally upstanding human being with entirely honourable intentions."
"Oh yes?" Amy cocked an eyebrow. It was true - he was - but he had been known to get carried away on occasion. "And how do you know this Cameron isn't?"
"I don't, but it hardly seems likely. The trouble with guys, AJ, is that they're all complete perverts - especially at that age."
"Ah-ha. And you're the exception that proves the rule, are you?"
"You know even I have my moments of weakness, babe," Oscar said dramatically. "But seriously - his name's Cameron. Camerons are always bad news. Ella went out with a Cameron once," Ella being Mood Slime's bassist. "He had sex with her in her parents' bed, went to the bathroom straight after and then she literally never saw him again."
"We had a Cameron sniffing around school at the end of last year," said Amy. "He went through every single girl in our class."
Oscar's voice tightened considerably as he said, "Including you?"
"No. I told him I wasn't interested. I can look after myself, and so can Jess."
"If she wasn't interested," said Oscar, "I wouldn't worry. But when I talked to her I got the distinct impression that she was interested, and Mom and Dad agree."
"Well, so what?" reasoned Amy. "She won't do anything rash. She's smart."
Oscar sighed deeply. "People say that. And she is smart. Most of the time. But she can be extraordinarily stupid when the mood takes her. She was dumb enough to run into the Pacific Ocean before she learned how to swim."
"Really? How come she didn't drown?"
"She didn't get very far - I stopped her. Obviously we didn't let her run around the beach unsupervised."
We didn't let her. He was actually talking like one of her parents now.
"Well," said Amy, "that must have been a long time ago. And it's hardly the same."
"Oh, I don't know. The Pacific Ocean is sort of symbolic, really, isn't it? She's got an adventurous streak. She doesn't mind trying stuff out if it seems exciting."
Amy found herself nodding involuntarily. She knew all about being noticed by an attractive man and finding it exciting. Her two-year high school romance with Oscar was the best thing that had ever happened to her thus far. She was missing him like crazy - a state of affairs that, ironically, might not have been helped by his assertions that it meant more to him than she thought it should. After all, the deeper the feelings, the deeper the subsequent wounds. Actually, this kind of phone call from him made a nice change; they usually consisted of vast proclamations of love and rash promises that he would stay true to her. But she was so sure he wouldn't. He was a lovely guy with a lot of scruples; but the reality of it was that she was in New York, he was in Memphis, she was sixteen, he was eighteen, he was gorgeous and was singing like an angel to crowds of young girls several nights each week. It was only a matter of time, and she knew it.
"Look," she said reasonably. "Don't worry about Jess. She's got a lot of people looking out for her. I'd offer to talk to her about this, but I don't think I'm the best example if we're trying to stop her doing anything rash with a guy two years older than her."
"Yeah, well," said Oscar. "Can you just… you know… keep an eye on her for me?"
"God, you are so like Casey it's unreal."
"Please?"
"Would you be half so worried if he wasn't called Cameron?"
She never heard his answer. At this point the phone was whisked out of her hand and she heard Roland say, "It's a school night, Oscar." And then he hung up.
Amy stared at him open-mouthed, too shocked to be angry. She had four older brothers, and Roland really wasn't the worst of them. He had never done anything like that before.
"I'm sorry." Well, at least he had the decency to apologise. "I just don't like it. He's bound to meet somebody else out there. Or several somebodies. You do know that, don't you?"
"Of course I do. It doesn't mean I can't still talk to him."
"It's late."
"It's barely nine o'clock."
"You would have talked to him all night, and you've got school tomorrow."
"Well," Amy said coolly, "I could get mad about your chronic inability to stay out of my business, but I don't think I'll bother." Then, having decided to keep her temper, she noticed he was in full uniform and asked, "Where are you off to?"
"I'm going to try to find an incubus."
"What's an incubus?"
"It's… um… well…"
"Oh, I see, it must do something I'm too young to understand. Don't worry, I'll look it up."
"Listen," Roland said gravely. "After I've gone, make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Don't let anybody in, not even if it's someone you know. All right?"
"All right."
"Good." He heard the sound of a car engine outside, and recognised it as the Ecto-1. "I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."
Roland left the house and climbed into the Ecto-1 where, as arranged, Egon and Winston were waiting for him. The latter was in the driver's seat while the former fiddled with a PKE meter.
"So where are we going?" asked Roland.
"Originally the plan was to start where you last saw it," said Egon.
"John McEnroe's apartment block." This had become the accepted term for the place.
"Yes, but now I'm not so sure that's wise. I've been getting readings from a very wide area. Faint ones. I had a drive around about an hour ago, because I wanted to get some idea of where it might be before we got started, and any readings have disappeared completely from all the places we thought it might go to next."
"So what do we do?" asked Roland.
"We follow it," Egon said simply, as Winston pulled the car into gear. "We drive into the supposed spiral and see if the readings get stronger."
"And if they don't?"
"Don't be such a pessimist," Winston cut in. "There's no point in crossing that bridge until we come to it. Now listen, Charlene told me she noticed that this spiral of yours could be going straight to the Venkmans' street."
"Or it might not," said Egon, somewhat unhelpfully. "It's hardly a perfect spiral - we only know vaguely where it's going."
"We aren't in the spiral now," said Roland, "as I recall."
"That's correct," said Egon. "It tends to stick to more affluent areas."
"So much for Kylie's lawn mowing theory."
"Maybe it likes money," Winston said blithely, braking as they approached a red light. "Or maybe it finds it easier to move in lots of little spirals than in one big one. You just never can tell with demons."
"What about its form?" asked Roland. "Do we know if it found itself a corpse?"
"No," said Egon. "I hope it has. It would slow it down, and generally make it easier to find. Trapping it will be the hard part whether it has a human form or not. If it does, we'll have to get the demon out."
"Quite a few years ago we had a case involving some weird little critters who walked around in what was basically dirt," Winston told Roland. "Coincidentally they were stealing food from a restaurant where Egon and Janine were having a date, but anyway, we were able to extract the entities by throwing soapy water all over them."
"It's the same principle," said Egon, "but it'll be much harder than that to disintegrate human flesh."
"It'll be dead," said Roland. "That ought to help."
"That's assuming it has any flesh just now. Remember we couldn't find any information about any more cadavers going missing. Since it's been discovered, it might be in its demon form - but quite honestly I see no logic to that, because it can't do anything without a physical body. I do wonder why it hasn't moved on rather than behaving like this. It isn't fussy about its victims, and there are women all over the world."
"The whole thing is completely disgusting," Winston remarked suddenly. "It's rape and necrophilia all in one. And imagine if the corpse it took was somebody you knew!"
"Horrible," Roland said soberly.
"You know," Winston went on, "I read an incubus legend this morning that says there's only one of them. It used to be an angel, but it liked women a little too much to be the kind of guy they wanted in Heaven, so it got kicked out."
"Oh yes?" Egon, who had yet to take his eyes from his PKE meter, cocked an eyebrow. "That was very short-sighted of whoever's in charge of admissions in Heaven. It would have been far better for us mortals if they'd let him stay."
"It's only a story, Egon."
"Well, perhaps it's true. How can we know?"
"Excuse me," said Roland. He knew they had a long drive ahead of them before they got into assumed incubus territory, and he didn't want any arguments starting up. "I'm just wondering about Jess. It seems that the demon might possibly be heading right for her street, and she had that funny turn this afternoon. Might the two things be connected?"
"They might," Egon said disinterestedly. "That's an interesting thought. It doesn't seem to make much sense, though, Jessica having had her turn almost six hours ago and the incubus not having got there yet."
"Last we heard," said Winston.
They were silent after that. No one really knew what to think. Roland even wondered if maybe they weren't dealing with an incubus after all. His visit to the Upper West Side with Garrett and Kylie the previous night seemed to confirm that they were doing just that, but possibly they were assuming too much. After all, even Egon seemed puzzled by the demon's current behaviour.
They had got as far as Central Park East when Egon said, "Oh my."
"What's up?" asked Winston. "Do you want me to stop?"
"No," said Egon. "Actually it might be an idea to speed up a bit. The readings here were far stronger than this an hour ago. It's moving fast, and I should say it's not stopping on the way."
Roland shook his head, trying to understand. "This makes no sense."
"I'm going to Pete's house," announced Winston.
"That may prove to be a complete waste of time," Egon said dubiously.
"Or it might not. Look, Egon, we don't understand what this thing is doing. It might not even be an incubus." Winston had evidently had the same thought as Roland. "Maybe it's just a demon with a really sick sense of humour. Maybe we encountered it before and it's as simple as a revenge mission."
"That's a lot of maybes, Winston. I don't like going on guesswork."
"Well, what else do we have? There's no logic to any of this - not unless it's going somewhere. And remember what happened to Jess. Jess doesn't faint."
"Look," Roland said reasonably. "Why don't we just keep following the trail and see if it actually does take us to Dr. Venkman?"
Coincidentally enough, it did. Well, not straight to him - just his street. Winston brought the Ecto-1 to a screeching halt and the three Ghostbusters jumped out, Egon proclaiming, "Hmm… it really is here."
"Over there." Roland, also examining a PKE meter, pointed to one of the four-bed terraced houses. "It seems to be in that house."
"No." Winston shook his head. "It's right outside the door."
Something - a faint haze - was vaguely visible in the artificial light of the residential street, at the foot of the house's front door. As they watched it, the haze seemed to grow. It was hard to follow, being near invisible - just a faint discolouration on the front of the house, which seemed to be seeping out from underneath the door.
"Maybe it got the wrong house," said Roland.
Egon shook his head and wondered out loud, "What is it doing?"
But he didn't wonder for long. It was there, it was in its demon form and it was vulnerable. Egon, Winston and Roland all locked a proton beam onto the demon. As they did this it began to take on something of a shape: eyes, arms, legs… and wings? It could look faintly like an angel, Winston realised, if you looked for it.
"Roland, throw the trap!" Egon called out, somewhat unnecessarily - Roland was already in the process of reaching for the ghost trap he carried.
Then, quite suddenly, the front door to the house was pulled open. Someone screamed and leapt back; the three Ghostbusters instinctively shut off their proton streams.
"What the hell is going on out there?" shrieked a female voice.
"I'm sorry, ma'am!" called Roland, striding towards the house. "There was a demon outside your house, and - "
"Demon?" The woman reappeared in the open doorway. "Shit! Where is it now?"
"Um." Roland glanced at his PKE meter. "Gone."
"Right." The woman - small, dishevelled looking and probably in her mid-thirties - relaxed visibly. "Good."
"Do you know anything about this, ma'am?"
"No… no, not really. Who are you?"
"Ghostbusters."
"Ghostbusters! Beautiful! Will you be sticking around?"
"Sticking around?" echoed Roland. He then turned to face his two colleagues and said, "What happens now? Do we try to follow it?"
"No!" the woman screeched in alarm. "That is… it might come back."
Roland gave her a measured look. "Might it?"
"Yes. Look, please stay. I'll pay you."
"Oh yes? May I ask your name?"
"Sure, fine. It's Alice Doherty."
"Has this happened before, Alice?"
"Oh, well… not exactly."
"Alice," said Roland. "If we're going to stay instead of going after it, we need a reason."
"Fine," said Alice. "Yes, it's happened before. Please will you stay?"
"I expect so," said Roland. "I'll have to talk to my bosses, but… Look, do you know what this thing is? Or what it wants?"
Alice shook her head.
"Well, maybe you'd better go inside now, ma'am. We'll take things from here."
"Right." Alice was only too pleased to shut the door on him, after which Roland distinctly heard her shouting, "Cameron? CAMERON!"
"That woman," said Roland, as he approached his two seniors, "knows more than she's letting on. And that's Cameron's house, it seems. Coincidence?"
"I just don't know," Egon sighed, absolutely hating the lack of understanding he had where this case was concerned. "What did she say, Roland?"
"She wants us to stay - she seems convinced the demon is going to come back. I asked her if it had happened before; she said 'not exactly', and when I asked her for a reason for us to say she changed her mind and said it had happened before. And that's all she'd tell me."
"We should stay," Egon decided. "Whether it's an incubus or not, it had a human form which it has now abandoned, and it's gravitated straight towards this house. Whatever it's after, that house or something in it is they key."
"Right." Winston looked towards the Ecto-1. "The old stakeout tactic." As he walked towards the car he looked up at Peter's house, exactly opposite Alice's. "They'll be all right in there, won't they?"
"The demon didn't seem interested in them," said Egon. "And if it comes back, we'll spot it. I see no reason to wake any of them, if that's what you're thinking. Interestingly the rest of the street seems to be sleeping peacefully."
"I'll take the first watch," offered Roland, as they climbed into the car. "We'll all need to sleep at some point."
"Right," said Winston. "Wake me in an hour."
Dull as it sounds, nothing happened. The demon apparently had some sense; it didn't reappear all night. As he sat through a shift, Winston and Roland sleeping in the back of the car, Egon worried that the demon had moved on and caused havoc somewhere else. But it was getting on for six o'clock - whatever the demon had done, it was too late.
Egon watched as the Venkmans' front door opened. He expected to see Dana walking out of it, as Peter didn't like getting up before noon; Egon had no idea what state of health Jessica was in, and anyway she wasn't a morning person at the best of times. He was surprised, therefore, when Peter approached the car with an inquiring expression on his face. Egon opened the door and climbed out.
x x x
Jessica had not slept well, due entirely to the residual traces of the previous evening's atmosphere. She was pretty sure that Dana was partly furious with her, partly relieved that she was all right and partly sheepish about her overreaction to the whole (ugh) fainting incident. As to her father, Jessica hadn't been able to read him at all. She'd caught him staring at her a couple of times with some kind of expression on his face - she just couldn't tell what it was. No one had talked since they got back from the hospital. All that tension had eventually driven her upstairs, where she had showered and changed clothes (again) and finally fallen into an uneasy sleep.
Her alarm clock woke her up at six thirty, which wasn't pleasant at the best of times, and just horrible at a time like this. Jessica lay in bed for several minutes and tried not to think about things. Things popped into her head, however, in spite of her best efforts. She couldn't help thinking about Oscar. Now there was an older sibling it was impossible to live up to. Oscar was gorgeous, talented, a really lovely guy and he'd called two days ago to tell his family that his band was warming up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Friday night. And what had his little sister done the very next day? She had keeled over in someone's kitchen and got him accused of rape.
Jessica got up (driven primarily by the pressure on her bladder), went to the bathroom, threw on a few clothes and dumped some books in her school bag. She had hoped to make a clean getaway but, astonishingly, she met Peter on the stairs.
"You're up early," she remarked.
"I wanted to see how you were."
"I'm fine."
"Really?"
"Dad, I'm fine. There was never anything wrong with me."
Peter glanced at the book bag slung over her shoulder and said, "You're not going to school, are you?"
"Well," said Jessica, "it's Monday. I thought I might."
"Come with me."
Peter turned and led the way downstairs, taking her through to the living room where a very faint sound of raised voices was just about audible. He then turned round, grabbed her shoulders and said frantically, "I love you, honey. You know that, don't you? You're the most important, wonderful thing in my world. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."
"Dad, calm down," said Jessica, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sudden outburst. "Nothing happened to me."
"No, I know." Peter looked searchingly at her for several long moments before finally letting go of her shoulders and taking a step back. "You're not going to do that again, though, are you? Go into some stranger's house and accept a drink from him? Or anything else for that matter."
"Cameron's not a stranger, Dad. He's my friend."
"How can he be your friend? You've barely known him a week."
"So how long should I have waited? Or am I just never supposed to trust anyone?"
Peter didn't say anything. He looked rather as though he wanted to say something, but he didn't.
"And," Jessica went on, "in case you'd forgotten, what happened to me was absolutely nothing to do with Cameron. All he did was call the ambulance, which was probably a bit of an overreaction, but he obviously meant well."
"You fainted," said Peter.
Jessica scowled. "I know."
"Why did you do that? I know you, Jess - you don't faint."
"Yeah, well. I do now."
"Are you feeling all right?" He came a step closer and looked searchingly into her eyes. "You don't feel ill or anything? Sick? Dizzy? You can see ok?"
Jessica took a step back. "I feel fine."
"Really?"
"Dad, I love you, but I swear if you ask me that one more time…"
"All right, all right." Peter held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. "But we know something happened to you yesterday, and since you seem ok physically, I'd like you to come with me to see Egon."
"What? Why?"
"Because I want to make sure you're really all right. There's been an incubus doing the rounds. I told you about that, didn't I?"
"Dad!" exclaimed Jessica. "Cameron's not an incubus!"
Peter, instead of arguing, said, "Please, Jess - just let Egon take a look at you. You don't want to go to school and get a detention for not doing your homework, do you?"
"What makes you think I haven't done my homework?"
"Have you?"
"Well… no."
"Well then…"
Jessica looked at him. His eyes were so pleading, like a puppy's - the previous day's events obviously had him badly shaken. He needn't be feeling this way, though. She was fine - she knew she was. But she supposed she could indulge him in this little whim.
"Tell you what," said Jessica. "I will let Egon 'look at me' if you go over to Cameron's house and apologise for accusing him of raping me."
"What?"
"You almost beat him up, Dad. You would have, if those two cops weren't there to restrain you."
"Jess," Peter said shakily. "When I thought he'd…" - he couldn't finish.
"But he didn't. I mean, God, talk about leaping to conclusions."
Peter sighed deeply and said, "If I go and apologise to him, you'll come with me to the firehouse?"
"I will."
He cut a glance out of the window, at the house across the street. "He might not be up yet."
"He should be - he's starting school today. Come on, let's go."
Jessica grabbed Peter's hand and practically dragged him outside. They got as far as the end of Cameron's driveway when they realised that the once faint sound of raised voices they'd been hearing was actually Cameron and his mother having a blazing row.
"Great," muttered Jessica. "There's the excuse you need not to talk to him."
"Well, I can't really interrupt a showdown like that," reasoned her father. They weren't just shouting at each other - it sounded rather like they were throwing things around the room. "I wonder if it's about what happened yesterday."
"Maybe she's mad that I dropped two thirds of a can of Coke all over the kitchen."
"Did you?"
"I must have. I was holding it when I went down."
"I'll talk to him this afternoon, Jess, I promise," said Peter. "Will you come to the firehouse with me now, please?"
"Sure," shrugged Jessica. "Why the hell not?"
Only when they turned to face the Ecto-1, still full of Winston, Roland and Egon, did Jessica actually notice it was there. She stared at it in disbelief. She simply had not seen it. God, was Cameron's proximity doing that to her? How pathetic of her.
"Why are they here?" she asked.
"They've been staking out the street. We had a demon here last night."
"Did we? I never heard a thing."
"It tried to get underneath Cameron's door, you know."
"Oh." Jessica furrowed her brow and gazed up at Cameron's bedroom window (she knew it was his room - she'd seen him walking around in there). "I hope he's all right."
"So you think it was a coincidence, do you?" asked Peter.
"What do you mean coincidence? It was as likely to be him as anyone else. You don't think the demon had a special reason for going there, do you? Because it can't have done. That doesn't make sense."
"Well. Let's just get you checked out at the firehouse first."
"First before…?"
"I don't know, we'll find out."
x x x
Kylie shoved a PKE meter in Eduardo's face when he tried for a quickie in the morning.
"Just checking," she said.
"Should I be worried that you don't think you could tell me apart from a demon?"
"I don't think that at all, but there's no harm in making sure. But look, we don't have time - get off me."
He did. She wasn't the kind of woman to make a token protest and undermine it with giggles of encouragement. She adored his lovemaking, but if she asked him to stop for whatever reason, she meant it. This time the practical reason was that the girls needed to be roused from sleep, fed and dressed, and Conchita needed to be taken to school. But as well as this, Kylie was feeling slightly guilty. She had spent half the night persuading Eduardo to make love over and over again (he was only too happy to oblige) so that she could prove to herself she really loved him and wanted him. And she did. She really did. But she had known that already. It didn't need confirming, and she felt awful for not being able to dismiss the needless worry from her mind without seeking proof.
Kylie climbed out of bed, went to the bathroom and then came back and started to dress. While she was doing this Eduardo came to stand behind her and started kissing her neck. He did that sometimes, especially if they'd had a good night. It was a habit that could be very nice, but equally it could be intensely irritating. It depended very much on the time of day, Kylie's general mood and whether she was trying to do something else.
"We'll have to take Rose with us today," she said. "Not that I enjoy offloading her onto our relatives, but we couldn't even if we wanted to. Dad's working, and Carl's taken the whole week off but he and Beth are going to see their sex therapist this afternoon."
Wow. Amazing. Eduardo suddenly went from being right behind her to being on totally the other side of the room.
"Oh shit, I shouldn't have told you that," Kylie realised.
"No." He sounded like he might be about to throw up. "You shouldn't."
"Oh, come on." She turned to face him. He was sitting on the foot of the bed, looking every bit as nauseous as he sounded. "How do you think Kevin happened?"
Eduardo shook his head. "Just don't."
"Look, Beth told me that in confidence. Don't mention it to anyone. And especially don't turn round and accuse Carl of being crap in bed next time you have a fight."
"Do chicks - sorry - women really tell each other that stuff?"
"She didn't go into detail. And don't worry - I haven't told anybody anything about your bedroom habits."
His libido well and truly sapped, Eduardo raced through his usual early morning routine and then went to wake his daughters while Kylie buried her face in makeup. He made Conchita and Rose breakfast, and the latter very nearly fell asleep as she ate. Rose was always slow to wake up, bless her, but she'd managed it by the time they had walked Conchita to school (Rose had the luxury of being pushed) and arrived at the firehouse.
Jessica was leaning against the Ecto-1, looking thoroughly pissed off and watching a very furtive conversation between Egon and Peter several yards away.
"Hey." Eduardo approached her, Kylie being busy with the complicated fastenings on Rose's pushchair. "How are you feeling?"
Jessica looked at him blankly for a few moments. She was so sick of this. But there was no call for rudeness - he was just concerned - so she said, "Fine."
"Good," said Eduardo. "Only you're not at school, so I thought maybe…"
"What?"
"I thought maybe you weren't fine."
"I am fine. Dad won't let me go to school. See him over there whispering with Egon?"
Eduardo nodded. He could hardly miss it.
"They're talking about all the possible demon STDs I might have caught from Cameron - I know they are."
"Who's Cameron?" asked Eduardo.
"Just some guy."
"He moved in across their street last week," offered Kylie.
"It's the week before last now," Jessica corrected.
"Right, sorry."
"Right," Eduardo said slowly. "So… they think he's the reason you passed out?"
"Jesus, does everyone know about that? What happened to respecting my privacy?"
"Your dad was here when he got the call. We were all worried about you."
"Well that's very sweet and everything," Jessica said acidly, "but there was no need."
"So what were you doing with this Cameron?"
"Nothing."
"So why would they think -?"
"Is this any of your business?"
"I'm sorry," said Eduardo. "I'm just a bit worried because…" - he tailed off.
"Because what?" challenged Jessica. "Because you think I'm stupid and I can't take care of myself? I'm exactly the kind of person who gets herself drugged and raped?"
Kylie ushered Rose away from the somewhat heated conversation and took her upstairs.
"Jess, there's no 'kind of person'," Eduardo said patiently. "It can happen to anyone."
"Oh, I see - you know better than me because your brother's a cop."
"That's not what I'm saying. Well… not exactly… but I do hear a lot of very unpleasant stories. Five years ago a girl about your age went into a friend's house and was never seen again. The cops searched the whole house, took up the floorboards, all that stuff - she'd completely vanished. And when they do get found… well, there was this one girl whose body showed up in a dumpster. She was gang-raped, and then sealed inside the thing and it was set on fire - it was horrible. And some live to tell the tale. One girl got raped a while ago by somebody she thought was her friend, which is extremely common - and when you know the guy it's not always easy to get a conviction, which can be very stressful. But anyway, she got pregnant and had a backstreet abortion because she was underage, broke and didn't want to have to tell her parents or any kind of authorities what had happened to her. The only reason anybody found out about it was because she started bleeding all over a math lesson. She almost died. And last year there was - "
"Oh, stop. I know about that kind of stuff - you don't have to tell me."
"Everyone knows about it. But it still happens. You have to be so careful."
"So," said Jessica, "this girl thought the guy was her friend. She couldn't have known he was going to do that. What could she have possibly done to stop it?"
Eduardo shook his head slightly. "Pass."
"So it's no good lecturing me. Statistically you're most likely to be murdered on Christmas day by a member of your family. Did you know that? Everything's a risk. Crossing the street is a risk. You can't just never go anywhere or talk to anyone."
"Well," said Eduardo, "there's risks and there's unnecessary risks. If you've only known this kid a week…"
Jessica sighed. "Please stop being sensible - it doesn't suit you."
"Look, I'm sorry. I am. I don't like sounding like my dad. But it would just be too terrible if anything happened to you."
"Jessica."
Jessica turned her head and saw that Egon was looking straight at her, with Peter hovering behind him.
"I'm ready for you now."
"You sound like my GP," she said, as she walked towards him.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't sweat it."
He took her to his lab and asked her very politely to sit down. It was just like a regular doctor's appointment. Ok, so he was a doctor, but he was a friend first and foremost and Jessica was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
Egon sat down opposite her. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine. Can I borrow a pen? I'd like to write it on my forehead."
"Everything seems to be functioning all right? You've been eating, sleeping, passing water, all those kinds of things, normally?"
"Yes."
"No problems with your menstrual cycle? It's all right if it's a bit irregular - you are only young, after all - but if there's been any - "
"It's fine, Egon, it's all fine."
"Right." Egon stood up, produced a small torch from a drawer and then crouched down next to her. "I'm just going to look in your eyes, all right?"
"Must you?"
"I just want to make sure you're in good physical health."
She didn't like it, largely because she knew her own body and she knew she was absolutely fine, but Jessica let Egon shine his little torch in her eyes (she hated that, as does everyone) and feel her glands and all that kind of stuff. If she'd known that this was what was going to happen, she would rather have let Peter take her to her regular doctor. She didn't like the guy much, but Egon doing all this kind of stuff just felt weird.
"All right." He was finished in under two minutes, at which point he sat down on his desk and whipped out a PKE meter. "Tell me what time you had your strange turn."
"About three thirty."
"Yesterday afternoon."
"Yes."
"Well," said Egon, "if it was something paranormal, all trace of it has now gone."
"It wasn't," Jessica said, through gritted teeth, "something paranormal."
"Oh? Then why did you faint?"
"Maybe the gas was leaking. How should I know?"
"I want you to tell me everything that happened yesterday when you went to see Cameron," Egon said levelly. "And don't miss anything out. Nothing you say to me in confidence will leave this room."
Jessica raised her eyebrows. "What do you think I did, Egon?"
"I have absolutely no idea."
"Well I'll tell you. Cameron's mother went out. I went over to see Cameron. He was sitting on the front porch. He invited me in. I went in. He gave me a Coke."
"A Coke from…?"
"From the fridge. In the kitchen. Ok?"
"Yes. Please continue."
"He talked to me. I answered him a couple of times, but I was feeling drowsy so I couldn't talk much, and then everything went black and I woke up in hospital."
"That's it?" asked Egon.
"That's it," Jessica said firmly.
"Hmm, well… Peter asked me to check that you're all right, and you are. But this all seems very strange. Did you know the incubus went to your road last night?"
"Yeah, Dad told me."
"It tried to enter Cameron's house."
"He told me that too. It probably wanted to screw his mother."
"I don't like this, Jessica. I think you're in danger from him."
"From Cameron? Jesus, what is it with you people? Oscar thinks the guy's a pervert, Dad thinks he's an incubus, Eduardo thinks he's a serial rapist and you think he's… what, exactly?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out."
"What? Hey, where are you going?" Jessica cried in alarm, bolting after Egon as he strode towards the door.
"I'm going to see Cameron."
"But…" She had to follow him as he kept on walking. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I realise that Cameron might not be the problem. It might be his mother, or someone or something else entirely - but whatever it is, it's with them, in their house. While you were there, did you notice anything… unusual?"
"I didn't notice very much of anything, to be honest with you. But look… this is crazy. You're wasting your time. Cameron is no more a demon than I am."
"And his mother? Peter tells me she's very reclusive."
"Well, maybe a bit. But she went out yesterday. Look, please don't - "
"I saw her briefly last night," Egon said, as they entered the reception area where Peter was waiting for them and Janine was tapping importantly at her computer keyboard some yards away. "Roland talked to her - he's sure she knows more than she's letting on."
"Yeah, well, what does Roland know?" Jessica demanded irritably.
"Oh, good, there you are," said Peter, approaching them and putting his arm around his daughter. "Is she ok?"
"She's fine," said Egon. "But now I'd like to pay another visit to this Cameron person and his mother."
"Oh, right, ok." Peter looked suspicious. "Why? What did he do to her?"
"Possibly nothing," said Egon. "But I'm interested in him. He, or his mother, could be key."
"To what?" demanded Jessica. "The incubus case? You're absolutely insane, Egon."
"Right, well, I'll go with you," said Peter.
"Me too," added Jessica.
Egon looked at her sternly. "I think that would be extraordinarily unwise."
"I don't. Someone has to make sure you don't fry him in a proton stream."
"We won't," said Peter. "Not unless he's, you know, a demon or something."
"A malevolent demon," Egon elaborated. "Does that satisfy you?"
"Not really." Jessica looked at her father. "Do you remember you promised me you'd apologise to him?"
"Um," said Peter. "I suppose that sounds like something I might have said."
"Well now seems like a good opportunity to see it through. If you can find him. He's supposed to be starting school today, remember."
"Really?" said Egon. "Where does he go to school?"
"I don't know."
"Well, his mother will. Janine." Egon approached Janine's desk. "Venkman and I are going to investigate a potentially dangerous paranormal phenomenon."
"Cameron is not a potentially dangerous paranormal phenomenon!" shrieked Jessica.
"We may need backup. Garrett's not working this morning, is he? But can you warn the others? And tell Roland we'll refund his gas," he added. "We're taking the Ecto-1."
"You can take my car if you like," Janine said generously.
"Thank you, but we may need some special equipment that your car doesn't have. I don't know when we'll be back."
"Right," said Janine. "Bye. I love you!" as he headed for the locker containing his jumpsuit. "Hey! What's that face for?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." Jessica looked up. "Was I making a face?"
"Goodbye, honey." Peter came back from his equipment locker and kissed her, looking slightly hurt when she ducked away from him. "Look, I really am sorry about all of this, but it's only because I love you."
"You're not sorry. You never liked him."
Peter sighed. "Look. We'll have this conversation later, after we've seen Cameron."
He waited a few moments, but Jessica said nothing, so he climbed into the driver's seat of the Ecto-1. Egon had already got into the passenger's seat. Peter knew the drive better than most, after all.
"Jessica," said Janine. "Come over here."
"Why?"
"I want to talk to you."
"You're supposed to be working," Jessica said, but she went over anyway. "And what could you possibly want to talk to me about? Cameron, possibly? How he's bad news and I should stay away from him? How I was stupid to go into his house with him and I'm lucky I wasn't raped and then thrown into a dumpster and burnt?"
"No," said Janine.
"You want to talk about him, though, don't you?"
"I thought maybe you - "
"Oh my God!" Jessica exclaimed suddenly. "Why does everybody have to be so damn interfering? Don't you people have your own problems? Why are the whole goddamn lot of you so interested in me and my life?"
Janine frowned. "Because we care, maybe?"
"Well, don't. I'm stupid. I behaved like a slut. End of story."
"I didn't say that."
"Why not? You can if you want to - no skin off my nose. You'd only be saying what everybody else is thinking."
Janine stood up, walked around her desk and sat on it. She wanted to be physically closer to Jessica, and more or less on the same eye level. Those things generally helped with conversations such as this. Then she said, "No one thinks you're stupid."
"They do. Not that it matters. I don't care what anybody else thinks."
"I know you don't," Janine said dryly. "Now listen. It's perfectly natural to be interested in boys. You just have to be a bit careful with them. See, Jess." So I'm having this talk with her after all, she thought. I'm too good. "The trouble with guys and relationships and stuff is that you go in completely blind. You never know when one is going to turn out to be a complete disaster. That's why you have to tread carefully - you don't want to rush into anything and then find out you've made a mistake."
"You're talking about sex, aren't you?" Jessica said challengingly.
Janine shrugged. "Not necessarily."
"Yeah, well, I only had a Coke with Cameron. As in Coca-Cola, obviously. I'm not going to sleep with him, and I'm definitely not going to marry him. That's what you meant, isn't it? You were talking about when you married Louis Tully."
"Well, not that specifically, but it was a mistake."
"Yuh-huh, well, you don't have to worry about me doing a stupid thing like that. I'm never getting married."
"Yes, you've told me that before. So what'll happen if you fall in love?"
Jessica snorted derisively.
"You might," Janine pressed. "You're obviously not immune to these things."
"Look," said Jessica. "I like hanging out with Cameron. It's fun. He's fun. But marriage… that's something else. All that living in each other's pockets and knowing each other inside out and being co-dependent - it all sounds very claustrophobic to me."
Janine shook her head incredulously. "You are so like your father."
"He married," Jessica pointed out.
"He got over his commitment phobia, and so will you - I bet you anything. One day you're going to meet somebody wonderful, and you're going to fall in love with him, and you're going to ache every second he isn't by your side."
Jessica gave her a withering look. "Shut up."
"So what are you going to do? Play the field? Hump 'em and dump 'em?"
"Janine, I'm thirteen - how can I know?"
"Yeah, you're right," said Janine. "You're much to young to know about these things. Some would say you're even too young to have your first boyfriend."
"Would they?" Jessica couldn't help smiling slightly. "Well, we'd better not tell those people that Cameron wouldn't be my first."
"He wouldn't?"
"No."
"You mean you've had a boyfriend before? A proper boyfriend?"
"Well," said Jessica, "it depends what you mean by a 'proper' boyfriend. It only lasted a couple of weeks, but there was quite a lot of chaste touching, and he kissed me a couple of times. First base - that's as far as we got. He wanted a bit more than that, but astonishingly I can control myself around guys. But anyway, it was nice, until he turned out to be lying piece of scum."
"Wow," said Janine, visibly stunned by this news. "I had absolutely no idea. When was this?"
"Just over a year ago, when I started junior high."
"So you were only twelve?"
"'Fraid so. Look, only Charlene knows about him, so…"
"All right, the secret's safe with me. Who was he?"
"Just some guy from school." It was true enough - Will had lived in the school basement. Up until Egon killed him with a stake through the heart, that is. "No one you know."
"What happened to him? Is he still around?"
"No, he's gone."
"Gone?" echoed Janine. "Gone where?"
"Just gone. And I was stupid with him - I admit it, ok? But I learned my lesson, which is why I am never ever going to do anything like that ever again."
Anything like what? She opted not to ask, saying instead, "Yeah? So what's Cameron?"
"Absolutely nothing like Will."
"Are you sure about that?"
"He couldn't possibly be." For one thing he'd been outside in pure daylight a few times and not once burst into flames.
"Right," said Janine, sensing something ominous there, but she didn't push. "Look… Jess… I know it's not easy to talk about - you know - stuff, especially with your parents. So if you ever want to ask me anything or tell me anything… well, you can."
"Really?" Jessica was very relieved to hear this. At last, an outlet for all those burning questions. "I can?"
"Sure. I'll do my best, anyway. I'll need the practice for when Eden's going through it."
"Eden? I don't think so. She'll just read about all that in a textbook."
"You can't read about love and relationships and… and…"
"Sex."
"…in a textbook. Well, you can, some of it - but the mechanics and the reality of it aren't the same thing," Janine said sagely. "And even Spenglers get to realise that - "
"Janine, please!" Jessica hastily interrupted. "I don't want to hear about that."
"Right. Sorry."
x x x
"Not that I'm complaining," said Egon, "but you're remarkably quiet."
Peter stared rigidly at the road (as of course he should). "She hates me."
"She doesn't hate you."
"I just didn't see this coming, Egon. After she was born I didn't know how I'd cope with raising a girl - I don't understand girls - but then she started trying to be just like Oscar and it was kind of like having two sons. So I got complacent. I thought, I can handle her, and I didn't think about what would happen when she started to grow up. It's true, you know - girls do mature faster than boys. That's why my eighteen-year-old son and my thirteen-year-old daughter both like sixteen year olds. Things were so much less complicated when Oscar was about six and Jess was a baby. They were so cute! I wish it could be nineteen ninety-four forever."
Egon gave him a cock-eyed look. "Anything else?"
"Yeah. I miss Oscar."
"Of course."
This rounded off the conversation nicely for Peter to pull up outside his own house. He turned off the car, glanced out of the window and said nonchalantly, "Oh. There he is."
Cameron and his mother were both outside their house, all five doors on their car wide open, both of them lugging suitcases around. After a few seconds of brazenly watching them, Egon and Peter saw that Cameron was in actuality hauling cases out of her car as quickly as Alice was throwing them in.
Egon was momentarily stumped. Then he said incredulously, "That's him? That's the fabled Cameron? That's the boy all this fuss has been about?"
He simply could not believe it. He half expected Peter to turn round and say, "No, that's not Cameron - Cameron's over there," and point him in the direction of a strapping young man with neatly combed hair, a toothpaste commercial smile and something that could vaguely be construed as reasonable dress sense.
"'Fraid so," said Peter. "Apparently that's what girls are into these days."
Right. So that was the boy who had caused a pubescent girl to faint just by talking to her. That one. Egon boggled inwardly at the sight. It simply made no sense. All he saw was a gangly youth with unkempt hair, faded jeans and a vastly oversized t-shirt the exact colour of a metal dustbin that had been left out in the rain a few too many times.
"You have my deepest sympathies."
"Well," said Peter, opening the car door, "we'd probably better get over there. It looks like they're trying to leave."
"She's trying to leave," Egon corrected.
"Yeah, right. Maybe that's what they were fighting about this morning."
Egon treated him to a withering look. "Maybe indeed."
The sound of two car doors slamming caught Cameron's attention, and he looked terrified when Peter started walking towards him (he didn't seem to notice Egon at all). Alice took advantage of the distraction, continuing to load suitcases into the car.
"Dr. Venkman, hi," Cameron said awkwardly, twisting his fingers together out of sheer nervousness. "How's Jess?"
"She's fine," Egon and Peter chorused.
"Thank God for that. Look… I'm really sorry about what happened. I don't know what it was. If I had any idea she was going to - "
"Gas leak," Alice chimed in, loading the last of the suitcases into the car. "Nothing in that house is safe - everything leaks and we're lucky the whole place hasn't fallen down around our ears. That's why we're leaving. Goodbye."
Cameron's dark eyes narrowed. He turned suddenly on his mother and exclaimed, "We are not leaving!"
"Oh yes we are." She grabbed both of his wrists and started dragging him towards the car. "Just get in the goddamn car, Cameron."
"No!" He dug his heels into the ground, as much as one can dig one's heels into a tarmac driveway. "Get your hands off me, you crazy bitch!"
"Cameron! How dare you talk me like that!"
Cameron was able to wrench his hands away from his mother, and began pulling the suitcases out of the car. Egon and Peter watched, stunned, as the whole process started again in reverse: Alice throwing cases into the car as soon as Cameron took them out.
"Mother, please!" he wailed. "Look, we don't have to do this anymore. These guys can help us. They're Ghostbusters."
"Huh! Some good they did us last night!"
"What?" Cameron stopped, just for a moment, but began unloading the car again as soon as Alice put in another case. "They were here last night?"
"You must have been asleep."
"And was the… the… was that here too?"
"Yes," said Alice. "It's found us. That's why we have to move on."
"Excuse me, Ms. Doherty," ventured Egon. "Your son is right - we really can help you. If there's a demon after you. That's correct, isn't it?"
"Listen," said Cameron. "It's been after us for… for… ever. She's been moving us around the country my whole life, but it never found us this quickly before. She moved us to Oklahoma when I was four - it took it more than three years to find us. In Tennessee and then Pennsylvania it took two. We just came from Utah - we were only there two months. We've been here just over a week and it's already found us. Mom!" as she grabbed hold of his wrists again. "Aren't you listening to me? It'll follow us! It'll find us in less than a week! MOTHER!"
She had caught him off guard this time, and was able to wrestle him into the car. As soon as she slammed the door Cameron started to open it again. She stood firmly in front of it, pushing her weight against it, and Cameron began clambering over to the driver's side door.
Alice scowled at Peter and said, "You know why he wants to stay, don't you! It's that daughter of yours!"
"Sure, she's part of it." Cameron was out of the car now. "But that's not all it is. All that stuff I just said, Mom - I'm right! Don't you see? If it came here last night…"
"It didn't come in." Alice was moving round to the other side of the car, ready to start manhandling her son again. "I know how to protect us from it."
"Really?" Egon looked towards the house with interest. "What have you got in there?"
"Just charms and stuff," Alice said dismissively, struggling to bundle Cameron into the car a second time. "Crucifixes, baby animal blood, stuff like that."
"Baby animal blood?" boggled Cameron. "You never told me that!"
"It hates that kind of stuff. Well, it seems to discourage it anyway."
"But not for long," panted Cameron, beginning to tire from all this physical activity. "It always gets into the house in the end. When we left the last place we had to jump from an upstairs window! Don't you remember?"
"Of course I remember."
"Ms. Doherty, stop," pleaded Egon. "We can help you - we really can. Why is the demon following you?"
"Because it's a goddamn demon! How the hell should I know?"
"Cameron, why is it following you?"
Cameron shook his head despairingly. "I don't know. I swear I don't know."
"No?" Peter, who had been ominously quiet through all of this, was now studying his PKE meter. "Well I don't believe this crock about a demon following you. You are the demon!"
"What? Whoa!" exclaimed Cameron, instinctively stopping the struggle against his mother's assault as a proton gun was levelled on his chest. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Peter," said Egon.
"Stand aside, Ms. Doherty. I understand that you want to protect your son, but he's a dangerous demon and I think you know it."
"Peter," Egon said levelly. He placed a hand on the barrel of Peter's gun and lowered it gently. "I don't think we should be shooting Cameron."
"What?" squeaked Peter. "Why the hell not? Jesus Christ, Egon - look at the goddamn meter! The kid's a demon!"
"We don't know that he's a threat."
"Of course he's a - "
There came the sound of a car door slamming, an engine revving, a screech of tyres and then suddenly the car, Alice and Cameron were all gone.
"Oh shit!" exclaimed Peter, heading straight for the Ecto-1 at a sprint. "You should have let me shoot him, Egon!"
"I'll tell you why I didn't later, Peter," Egon said levelly, clambering into the driver's seat. "In the meantime, I think I'm in more of a state to drive than you are. Would you do me a favour? Radio HQ and tell them we're on the move."
Shaking his head - he didn't know why, it did less than nothing to help his state of mind - Peter picked up the car's two-way radio.
"Thank you."
x x x
Jessica, following her fascinating talk with Janine (those sex education videos at school really did strip it down to the bare bones), had spent the rest of the morning doing her homework. It only seemed sensible. She was definitely going back to school the next day, no matter what anybody said.
There were few things that Jessica found less mentally stimulating than subatomic particles (she was seriously thinking of letting the twins do the whole thing for her when they came home from school), besides which the atmosphere made it hard to concentrate. Roland, Kylie and Eduardo were all there (Garrett still working his shift at the hospital), fidgeting impatiently, all ready to speed to Egon and Peter's rescue. Rose was there too, flicking through a book titled I Am Round with Kylie (it was probably beneath her, Jessica thought - Rose knew a circle or a sphere when she saw one). Kylie looked poised to throw the child from her lap as soon as the request for backup came in.
"So how long since they last checked in?" asked Jessica.
"Um." Roland glanced at his watch, and winced. "Almost an hour."
"An hour?"
That was it, then. There were more important things than subatomic particles. Well, ok, possibly there weren't, technically speaking - but there were certainly more important things than drawing endless diagrams of them. Jessica abandoned her number two pencil and marched downstairs to reception.
"Janine!"
Janine looked up, startled. "Must you shout at me like that?"
"Sorry. Look, have you heard anything yet?"
"No. I was just going to try contacting them."
"Oh, good idea," Jessica said sarcastically.
Scowling slightly, Janine made her way over to Egon's desk. "Why aren't you at school anyway? Egon said you're fine - you could have gone in for the afternoon."
"Hey, don't ask me. I've been telling the whole damn lot of you I'm fine all morning."
Janine picked up the two-way radio on the desk and spoke frantically to it. "Egon? What the hell are you doing out there? Talk to me, damn you!"
She jumped out of her skin when an unfamiliar voice answered, "Er, hi."
"What?" exclaimed Janine. "Who the hell are you?"
To be continued...