Gabby closed her eyes as the demon took form in front of her, covering her eyes with her hands for good measure. Pops and crackles could be heard. Right now, she was ready for anything.
The commotion eventually stopped, which meant that it was safe to look.
Standing right above the cauldron was a loudly-pink quadrupedal creature, about the size and shape of a llama. It had a bird's head with a large beak and the most dumbstruck eyes. Its legs ended in ice-skate-like blades. Its tail was an umbrella with a puff of feathers at its base. Gabby may have been ready for anything but she was not ready for this.
"Oh, crap," she said. This was not a sleep paralysis demon. It couldn't even fit in Brutus' old cage. In a panic, she flipped through the pages of the spell book to see if there was a spell that could banish a demon. In her hurry, she couldn't find anything.
The thing inspected Gabby and made cooing noises. As goofy as it looked, its large beak made it menacing. Gabby climbed onto her bed and stared down at the demon. She froze and threw up her hands.
"Okay…" she said, "Nice bird… llama… thing. You're in the wrong place right now but I will get this fixed." Of course, saying those words didn't mean that she could deliver on this promise. "I need an adult. Oh, wait. I AM an adult. Fuck…"
KRAAAAAAAAWK!
The creature bellowed before galloping toward the window. It managed to break the glass with its beak before squeezing its way outside. Somehow, the red candles managed to stay lit, although the flames blew wildly from the rush.
Gabby tried to comprehend what happened. It was so fast. It was so otherworldly. She had no control over this situation. But she couldn't afford to stay there feeling shocked. She had to blow out all those candles, throw the liquid in the cauldron out the window and throw everything having to do with the ritual into the rucksack beside the bed so that nobody would find out about this.
Which was precisely what she did before her parents opened the door.
"Gabby!" said Isabella, "What in the world is going on?! It sounded like the end of the world in here!"
Gabby had to put her lying hat on, an ugly piece of hypothetical clothing if there was one.
"Yeah…" she said, "You know how this house is haunted?"
"Yes, we've known that for years," said Raul.
"Well, I guess one of the ghosts went crazy and broke through my window."
Isabella turned on the light and navigated her way around the broken glass to inspect the area outside the window. The demon bellowed once more, this time filling the neighborhood with noise.
"It sounds like a ferocious bird," she said, "What kind of ghost do you think it was?"
"Remember that budgie that Lupe accidentally killed?" said Gabby, "He came back for revenge."
"What person do you call for an emergency like this?"
"My thoughts exactly, Izzy," said Raul, "Who you gonna call?"
At the firehouse, Egon was roused from his slumber by the sound of the phone ringing downstairs. Winston slid down the pole and ran to the phone. For the time being, Egon could just stay in bed. He hoped that it wasn't an emergency call, although what else could it possibly be?
"Ghostbusters, what's your emergency?" asked Winston. He paused for a bit. "Gabby?! Uh-huh… uh-huh… uh-huh… We'll get right on it, okay? Don't you worry."
He then hung up the phone and shouted to the rest of the guys from the bottom of the pole.
"Emergency protocol! Ghost rampage in Spanish Harlem! Move out!" He then pressed the emergency button, setting off the alarm bells.
Egon slipped on his ghostbusting jumpsuit in no time flat and headed down the pole to the Ecto-1. Once the garage door opened all the way, they high-tailed it to the scene.
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUR…. REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUR…
Once the ghostbusters approached the right neighborhood, they slowed down the Ecto-1 in order to inspect the scenery. Most people were asleep based on the lack of lighting in the windows but some people were on the sidewalk and doing their own things before they noticed the famous car coming down the street. Egon cranked down one of the car windows and waved around his PKE meter. It was showing a modest amount of activity.
"The ghost should be around here somewhere," he said.
Suddenly, the monstrous, avian bellowing could be heard.
KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!
"I'm following that noise!" said Winston. He drove the car to the source of the noise while being mindful of traffic rules.
When they came upon the strange, bright pink creature, it was galloping down the street, sometimes climbing on top of people's parked cars, leaving gashes in the vehicles with its blade feet. More than a few of the cars had alarms that went off when this happened.
"What IS that?" asked Winston.
The ghost faded in and out of existence as it went on its panicked rampage, although it never knew to float like other ghosts did.
Winston sped up the vehicle in order to not lose the ghost.
"Yeah!" said Ray, "This is the part of the job that I live for! The thrill of the chase!"
"Ecto-1 Proton Cannon activated," said Winston after he pushed some buttons. He aimed the cannon at the ghost and fired. It ended up missing, letting the ghost get away with another squawk.
By now, more lights were turned on in the neighborhood. Everyone looked at the commotion from their windows and doors, some rightfully terrified, others cheering on the ghostbusters' efforts.
"Thanks for the support, everybody!" said Ray as he waved out the window.
"Ray, wait until after we bust the ghost to bathe in your glory," said Egon.
The creature abruptly stopped and turned its neck, causing Winston to stop the Ecto-1. The creature gave an icy stare as it slowly turned around. It did not want to run anymore. It did not want to mess around. Now, things were getting serious.
"Everybody out of the car!" said Egon.
The guys had their proton packs at the ready. But before they could aim their guns, the ghost had its own ideas. A lump arose from the ghost's throat and it coughed a ball of green slime toward the guys.
"Whoa!" they said as they jumped out of the way.
The ball of slime hit the Ecto-1 and immediately dissolved part of the side door.
"God damn!" said Peter, "It can huck acid loogies?!"
"Nobody does that to Ecto-1!" said Ray, "Nobody!" He aimed his gun and fired at the llama-bird, causing it to screech in agony. The one proton stream alone was not strong enough to hold the ghost, so it started galloping down the street again.
Nobody had time to scold Ray for his impulsive action. They had to run after this ghost.
By now, Egon was used to running with a heavy proton pack on his back. It was like it wasn't even there. One of the perks of this job was that it kept you mentally sharp and physically fit. Granted, it did this by putting you in danger.
As the creature ran, it hurled more acid balls. One hit and partially disintegrated a stop sign. Another was hurled at a front porch, making some of the stairs disappear. Wherever the acid hit, there were hissing noises as it ate through whatever material was in its way.
"KRAAAAAAAWK!" bellowed the ghost.
The guys eventually reached close enough to the ghost that now was the right time to trap it.
"Now!" said Egon.
All four of them aimed and fired their proton guns, making sure not to cross the streams, of course. When the streams hit, the ghost froze in the air and screeched loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood (if the neighborhood wasn't already awake). Ray got out the trap and slid it under the ghost. When the trap's doors opened, it vacuumed the ghost in, ending its reign of terror as well as its crass vocalizations.
There was silence as the trap smoked for a bit.
The people of Spanish Harlem came out from behind the woodwork and cheered for the boys in jumpsuits. Ray smiled and waved. Now was the time to bathe in glory.
"¡Viva los Cazafantasmas!" cheered one man.
One woman even threw confetti out her window, making Egon wonder if she was saving it for such an occasion.
Several children ran out in their pajamas with notebooks and pens in their hands. One little girl came up to Egon. Her smile revealed gaps in her teeth from where adult teeth were coming in.
"Can we get your autograph?" she asked.
"Why, certainly," said Egon. As he signed the girl's ledger, he felt both relieved and disappointed that this was just a run-of-the-mill ghost and that it didn't get him any closer to figuring out why those demons were eating dreams. He was relieved that he didn't have to fail to catch one but disappointed at the lack of answers. But he could still act gracious towards his adoring fans. He could also listen to Winston tell the other people his dramatic stories of previous ghost encounters while exaggerating the size and threat of the ghost in question.
Gabby should have known. The book that she got was all about spells that conjured things. It wasn't about spells that banished things. It wasn't going to tell her anything about how to get rid of that quadrupedal bird-Muppet that she brought to The Mortal Realm. All that night, she was afraid that The Ghostbusters were going to knock on her family's door and inspect the house for sources of the ghost. Thank goodness that didn't happen.
However, it didn't make work the next morning any less awkward.
After putting her lunch inside the ghost-proof safe and then inside the fridge, she sat down at her desk and turned on the computer.
"How have you been?" asked Ray as he was making repairs on the Ecto-1, "Are you okay from last night?"
Oh, yes. She was the one who frantically called The Headquarters in order to correct the mistake that she made.
"It was pretty scary but I guess I'm okay now," she said.
"It's a good thing you were safe and away from that ghost," said Egon, "We had a Class-VI Acid-Spewer on our hands."
"Wow," she thought, "A Class-VI Acid-Spewer? In MY house? That's amazing now that I finally understand Egon's ghost classifications."
"If not for the acid-spewing part, I would have loved to rent out that goofy-looking ghost for my niece's birthday party," said Peter.
As long as Gabby stayed quiet about how the ghost got here, she would be fine. As far as everybody else was concerned, she was just an innocent bystander.
"Poor Ecto," he said as he rubbed the damaged side door of the car, "You've been through far too much. You deserve to rest, girl. I mean… at least until we need to use you next."
