The hour had passed without any sign of Ray, Janine or Peter. Getting worried Winston used the radio to try and make contact with Ecto-1 out in the field but his calls went unanswered. Feeling isolated and somewhat useless Winston decided to act and went into the private lab to do some additional research on Moirai to gain some kind of advantage over the bitterly dangerous deity. With the lives of three Ghostbusters now on the line it was crucial, now more than ever, to find the correct strategy to overpower the malevolent she-demon and send her back to her own realm where she belongs.

Egon had been able to sleep although he wasn't well rested. Sitting up slowly on his bed he swung his legs over the edge and leaned forward. His head was swimming with the brief motion which only emphasized the severity of the blow to his head. Opening the drawer of the nightstand beside his bed he retrieved his spare pair of glasses and placed them over his eyes.

"It's been an hour." Egon stated as he stood up slowly on his trembling legs. Ensuring that he had his balance before taking a step he carefully and very cautiously crossed the bunk room to make his way into the rec room. "Something must have happened to Ray and Janine. Peter is still in danger."

"Egon, lay down!" Winston's voice shouted upward from the first floor. He could hear the slow, heavy footsteps of his injured colleague moving about despite his injuries. "You're not going to do anyone any good if you're too weak to defend yourself."

Unable to deny how terrible he felt Egon resigned to sitting down on the couch in the far corner of the rec room to rest.

"Thank you." Winston waited until he couldn't hear Egon moving around anymore before continuing his research. "Take it easy, I think I found something that can give us the edge over Moirai. Just be patient."

Peter was awoken abruptly by a deep, painful cough from his own body that stole his breath and sent sharp pains throughout his chest that caused him to curl around himself in a desperate bid to stop the relentless pain. As he violently coughed, his lungs aching and congested, the voice that had been Peter's only companion during his imprisonment spoke up again.

"Try to breathe through the pain." Naiad urged softly, her voice soothing and calm. "Don't let Moirai hear you, or let her minions know you are ill."

"I'm not-" Another coughing fit cut off his words.

"Are too!" Naiad teased lightly. "But you may not be in as much danger as I've feared."

Peter took in a few deep breaths and wiped the saliva from his lips with the sleeve of his arm. "Why's that?"

"A new pair has entered Moirai's domain. For now they'll hold her attention."

"Oh? Friend or foe?"

"Depends on who you'd call a friend and who you'd call a foe." Naiad replied keenly.

"Good point." Peter held his breath as another coughing fit tried to creep up on him. Leaning forward he pressed his forehead against the back of his arms and even through the fabric he could tell that his was running a temperature. "Did they come from my world or yours?"

"Rumor has it that the newest prisoners came from your world."

"Know anything about them?" A weak cough escaped Peter but he managed to keep it from wracking his body violently with another fit.

"One male. One female." Naiad replied. "It appears that the male has been injured while the female remains unharmed."

"Names?"

"Unknown." Naiad's voice lowered suddenly. "Shh... Moirai's guards are patrolling the corridor."

Peter kept silent as he watched through the energy barrier that barred his escape from his cell as two massive orc looking beasts stomped loudly through the stone walkway. The duo were brandishing large club like weapons over their shoulders and were covered in leather armor with massive serpent skulls over their heads as helmets. One orc stopped to glare at Peter while letting out a deep, angry snarl before continuing on down the corridor.

As the orcs passed through without incident Peter commented on their wardrobe. "Looks uncomfortable. No wonder they're so grouchy..."

"Hm." Naiad laughed a little at Peter's joke. It wasn't often the spirited prisoner had such an interesting neighbor to speak with and had grown rather fond of Peter during his captivity. "Let's hope they don't return any time soon. I'd hate to have to endure their smell again."

This time it was Peter who laughed, though he couldn't laugh too deeply unless he wanted to suffer another coughing fit. "What else do you know of the new prisoners? Short, tall? Young, old?"

"I cannot give you any names," Naiad repeated. "but I can give you some details later."

"How's that?"

Naiad didn't reply to Peter's question.

"Right. Moment of silence." Struggling to lay down in a comfortable position that wouldn't cause him to cough, Peter did his best to quiet his mind and try to rest for a while longer. "Don't leave me hanging Naiad, I hate waiting..."

Ray was panting shallowly as he tried to withstand the incredible pain that ached at him with every breath he took. The jagged stones had cut deeply into his skin on his abdomen, leaving behind a deep purple bruise and large singular stab wound that bled relentlessly. Ray pressed a hand down against the injury to try and stem the bleeding and to support his chest as he breathed, but it did very little to aid him during his physical distress.

Janine held Ray's hand tightly and watched her injured friend suffer as he leaned desperately against the stone column to support his body upright. While she had been able to help Egon with the use of a first aid kit, she didn't have such a luxury in the prison cell to aid Ray.

"Ray, look at me." Janine urged as she watched his eyes glaze over and his eyelids droop. His face was pale from blood loss and he was covered in a fine sheen of sweat as he began falling into shock. "Stay awake. I know you're hurting but I need you to stay with me! Tell me what to do. How do I help you? How do I find a way to get us out of here?"

Ray looked over at Janine with an unfocused stare. Licking his dried lips he spoke softly, trying to sound confident despite his overwhelming sense of doubt.

"I... I don't know." He flinched as he sucked in a breath through his clenched teeth. His hand tightened around Janine's as he tried to endure the pain and keep his thoughts clear. "I don't know how to escape." Ray motioned toward the energy barrier on their cell with a simple nod of his head. "I can't... I can't power off the energy... field."

"Okay, we'll focus on escape later." Janine put her opposite hand on his leg and could feel his entire body shaking in pain. "What can I do to help you? How can I ease the pain?"

"You... You can't." He gasped and his eyes shut slowly. His head lolled to the side as unconsciousness stole his mind, his hand falling limp in Janine's hand.

"Ray?" Janine tightened her grip on his cold hand and pulled her other hand from his leg and to the side of his face. "Ray, talk to me! Wake up!"

The engineer didn't rouse from his unconsciousness or respond to Janine's voice. The hand that had been bracing itself against his injury fell away, stained with blood, to his side.

"Oh, Ray..." Janine could finally see the full extent of the damage and winced empathetically. The stab wound was deep and could easily have caused internal damage. "Please don't do this, please don't give up."

A whispering voice called out to Janine from a metal grate in the corner of the stone floor. "You're friend is in danger, yes?"

"...Yes." Janine answered as she stared at the thin metal bars over the square shaped dark grate in the corner. "Can you help us?"

"Perhaps." Through the bars a very thin, humanoid hand set a round stone bowl on the floor just outside the grate. Inside the bowl was a pulpy green mass of herbs and clean water. "Use this. It'll ease his pain and stop the bleeding."

Janine scrambled toward the bowl and picked it up with both hands. She peered inside the grate but didn't see anyone or anything inside of it. "Hello? Where'd you go?"

Silence.

"Well, at least we have some help." Janine stated as she carried the bowl back over to Ray. Peeling back the torn fabric of Ray's jumpsuit and gray t-shirt beneath Janine used the mass of offered herbs to clean the wound and cover it under the green pulp. "I hope this works, Ray. I don't know what else to do!"

Winston carried two large tomes of paranormal records and mythical beasts up to the second floor to the rec room so he and Egon could work together. During his research Winston had stumbled across an interesting passage regarding royal bloodlines and a potential means to subdue the power of a royal poltergeist's wrath.

According to the chronicled tale there was a warrior who had owed a life debt to a royal poltergeist but refused to pay until he had finished combat. To avoid paying the debt he had used a mystical charm that emitted a field of energy that protected him by concealing his own life energy from the poltergeist's power. The charm itself had been lost to time but the effects of the charm had survived.

"So what do you think Egon? Can it work?"

"It's entirely possible." Egon read the passage Winston had uncovered and was thoroughly intrigued. "If we can replicate this exact energy field then we can pass through our plane into Moirai's plane undetected and rescue our friends."

"But how long does it last?"

"Without additional information I can't accurately or inaccurately calculate a precise time frame."

"What about an educated guess?"

Egon shook his head slightly. "Perhaps an hour."

"That'll have to do. Walk me through the process and I'll modify the PKE meters to shield us."

"Very well." Egon put a hand to his head and leaned forward as a twinge of nausea suddenly turned his stomach.

"Hey, come on man." Winston put a hand to Egon's shoulder to support his friend and guide him gently back against the couch to rest. "Don't blackout on my. I need you!"

"Yes. I will do my best to retain consciousness."

"That's all I can ask for." Winston lamented as he let his hand go from Egon's shoulder and made a mental checklist of the supplies he'd need in order to properly modify the PKE meters. "Hang in there, man."

Peter was dozing very lightly in his cold cell. Unable to sleep but unable to keep his eyes open he laid on his back with his legs drawn up on the bench and his arms resting forward across his chest. Although uncomfortable it let Peter rest without coughing. A gentle whisper caught his ear and he opened one eye to glance over at the wall where Naiad's voice always came from.

"That you Naiad?"

"Yes." Naiad confirmed as she addressed her new friend quietly. "I have some information on the two new prisoners. Would you like to hear it?"

"Lay it on me!"

"The male is indeed injured. He had been attacked before being imprisoned and is suffering from a wound to his stomach. The female is uninjured and is tending to his injury. She called him a name."

"What's the name? Maybe I know him." Peter's response was as sarcastic as it was dry. "Or at the very least I could recruit him as an ally against Moirai."

"She called him 'Ray'."

"RAY?!" Peter bolted upright quickly and painfully. His shouting voice echoed loudly throughout the cell as a coughing fit tore through his chest and knocked the wind from his body.

...to be continued...