"Gertrude," said Gabby, "You said you were going to finally show your proper form to my coworkers."
Gertrude sighed, but it was more of a happy sigh. "Oh, all right."
The little ball of light began to stretch and reform into a human shape, all the while becoming less luminous and more transparent. Now, she presented as her true self: Although her proper ghost form was white and cloudy, distinct details could be made out. She was a woman in her forties with her curly hair piled on her head in a neatened nest. She wore a modest long-sleeved dress that went all the way down to her ankles. Her body's distinct curves must have come from the corset she was wearing, if Egon's very scant knowledge of fashion history was correct. But he was polite and didn't pay too much attention to that.
"OooooOOOOOooooh," said Slimer. He floated there with a dreamy look while he clutched his hands.
"Uh oh," said Winston, "I think Slimer has a crush."
Gertrude laughed. She wasn't bothered by this ugly green ghost. Or by anything, for that matter.
"Salutations, Ghost Hunters," said Gertrude.
"You must be Gertrude Paulsen," said Egon.
"That's what it says on my headstone."
"Gabby has said much about you."
"Oh, she HAS, has she." Gertrude looked directly at Gabby, causing Gabby to blush.
"She's told us that you've been helping her with research into what exactly has been causing the rash of nightmare demons to attack people in their sleep."
"Indeed, I have."
"I've been trying to do my own research and have found out quite a bit. However, to my understanding, you have become acquainted with The Demon Realm."
"All too acquainted."
"A sweet woman like yourself?" asked Ray, "Acquainted with the demon realm?"
"You'll find that I'm quite the chocolate-covered cranberry – Sweet on the outside with some bitterness on the inside."
"Don't make Slimer think that you're food," said Peter.
"Please tell us what you've found out from your research," said Egon. Before he knew it, he had his notebook and pen at the ready.
"Here is what I've gleamed: The witch is named Yasmin and she has been training the sleep paralysis demons to absorb people's nightmares so that they can transform into them, or rather, whichever element of the dream makes it scary," said Gertrude, "She speaks to those demons like they're her pets, nurturing them while at the same time, giving them physical punishment to correct them and instill fear in the others."
"So, what we know about her is her first name and that she lives somewhere in this neighborhood," said Egon. He managed to talk at the same time as writing his notes, a skill that he had perfected over these years.
"I've looked in The Yellow Pages," said Gabby, "Turns out there is quite a few Yasmins in New York City, as well as other people who have the first initial of 'Y'"
"And what are you supposed to say when you call them up?" asked Peter, "'Hey! We're taking a survey and we would like to know if you had an army of demons hidden in another realm.'"
"Lucky for you, I have coordinates for where in The Demon Realm this witch and her demons like to gather," said Gertrude.
"That's perfect," said Egon, "As it so happens, I have been fixing and updating a recording device that I had built years ago that records spectral audio. I figure that we could send it into The Demon Realm to record one of these meetings and get a better idea of what this 'Ruckus' is supposed to be."
"Judging solely from what they're calling it, it doesn't sound all that peaceful or clean," said Winston.
"Of course, not only can you not go to The Demon Realm anymore, but you also can't wander very far from the house that you're haunting," said Ray, "I don't think you will be able to help us with our sting any more than you already have."
"But Slimer can," said Winston.
Slimer was startled at Winston's suggestion.
"We can disguise him as a demon and have him take the tape recorder with him to The Demon Realm."
Slimer panicked and started begging: "Arrrrrrugggh! Eeesiveniofit, please!"
"Slimer, you have no idea how important it is that we do this," said Gabby, "It could potentially mean saving the city… or at least mitigating some damage. Can you please do this for us?"
Slimer sighed. "Er… all right."
For the next ten minutes, Gertrude described the coordinates where the witch would meet with her demons. She described it with all sorts of convoluted numbers and letters, but that was just how coordinates in The Demon Realm worked. Why would such an unholy place abide by earth rules? Egon wasn't really nervous about this. He had experience with other realms. The Containment Unit contained another realm, after all.
"Good," said Egon, "Using Gabby's magic, we should be able to get Slimer and the recording device safely to where we want them to be."
Gabby smiled when she heard that her magic was going to be part of the plan. Slimer wasn't smiling and, chances were, his frown would remain for the rest of the night.
"Since we have that settled, are there any other matters to attend to?" asked Gertrude.
"If you don't mind me asking, why exactly do you haunt this place?" asked Ray.
"I would be happy to tell you my story," said Gertrude. "During my life, I was married to Elias Paulsen, a man who would try and fail to sell his own miracle cures. When his Uncle John died, he left us with his house, the house that is right behind you. We would acquire it under the condition that we would live there for three years without making any changes to the property other than necessary repairs. Elias and I liked living there but I noticed how barren and sad-looking the back of the property looked. I wanted to put a garden there, something to add life and color.
"When I brought this idea to Elias, he had none of it, insisting that this would violate his Uncle John's agreement. I argued that it didn't. Uncle John said that we could make necessary repairs and the garden would help to repair the property's image. If it had a lovely garden, it might be worth more and we could sell the house for a higher price. He didn't see things my way and told me that I was forbidden from doing anything to the back of the property and that was final. He was always the type to anger easily which, looking back, was probably why he didn't make a good salesman.
"But I showed him – or I at least tried to. I did put plants in the back but I put them into pots. That way, they could easily be moved and therefore, no unnecessary changes would be done to the property. Elias saw this and absolutely snapped. I'm not sure if it was me not giving up in my endeavor or me outsmarting him but he grew so angry at my insistence to beautify the back of the property that he grabbed a steak knife and murdered me in one of the upstairs bedrooms."
"She was murdered in the room where I currently sleep," said Gabby.
There was a feeling of somber that came over Egon. This woman did nothing to deserve her fate. She did nothing to deserve her husband. She just wanted to make a tiny bit of the world a better place.
"To this day, I haunt the household because I never achieved my goal of creating a garden in the backyard," said Gertrude.
"Oh, jeez," said Winston, "I'm sorry all that happened to you."
"Well, what's done is done. And besides, I had the last laugh. Elias was soon tried for his crime and executed. His spirit has no reason to haunt anywhere but if he were tethered to this house just as I am, I would give him such a hard time…"
"It's good that you can have a sense of humor about this," said Egon.
"Maybe you could teach him a thing or two," said Peter as he pointed to Egon.
Egon leered at Peter for that remark but he was quick to not let these things get to him.
Ray had spent that time looking around the backyard through the tiny, floating nature spirits, rubbing his chin all the while.
"You know, it wouldn't be such a bad idea for us to help clean this area up and put in that garden you wanted!" said Ray.
"Oh, I would love that!" said Gertrude. "You men are so busy with your ghost hunts that it would be nice to take a break and put on some clothes you don't particularly care about, smell the flowers, get dirt under your fingernails and maybe get some aches that make the rest that you take afterward worthwhile!" Gertrude sighed. "Sometimes I miss having a body…"
"I've been looking forward to a project like this! We can also think about how to decorate this new backyard. Hmm… I was thinking a wooden swing over there, a table with some chairs near the door…"
"Ray, now is not the time to landscape design," said Egon, "I still have questions for Gertrude."
"Ask away," said Gertrude.
"How are these demons eating other people's dreams? The guide books that I've consulted say that they give people nightmares, they don't take them."
"It's not at all surprising that creatures that can create and give people nightmares also have the ability to take and absorb nightmares from people. It's just that they had no reason to do it until now. It helps that they are also fantastic shapeshifters."
"Do you think that instance of the alp disguising itself as a Chinese dragon was just them testing the waters for something more nefarious?" asked Winston.
"Or maybe it was one that decided to attack The Mortal Realm without notifying The Witch," said Ray, "We can only hope that it's that."
"Egon, I'm sure that book of yours describes how mischievous these nightmare demons are. They may take orders from their witch master but they also have minds of their own… wicked, troublesome minds."
"You know, maybe this could work in our favor…" said Gabby.
"For now, let's just focus on getting audio recording of The Demon Realm so we can find out what this Ruckus is."
"Gabby tells me that you've done your research as well," said Gertrude.
"As a matter of fact, I've done experimentation in this field based on reports from various neighborhoods and research from folklore."
"And how did that go? I'm awfully curious."
Egon spent that time in the zone. He was always happy to talk about his knowledge and findings to anybody who was interested, even if that person would just nod and say "uh-huh." During these trying times when evil was peering around the corner, it was nice to have some moments of pride. Chances were, Egon would have to wait before sharing his findings in front of an audience of scientists. A ghost of a 19th century murder victim would have to do.
A 19th century murder victim and an entire swath of tiny nature spirits.
