Without attracting too much attention Egon walked through the lobby of the hotel and discreetly carried the PKE meter in front of himself as he casually strolled through the expansive room with only a handful of people either checking into or out of the hotel. The maids and bellhops didn't pay any attention to the tall man as he made his way across the lobby and toward the door leading to the staircase.
"Hey you!" The receptionist at the desk caught sight of Egon and gestured with a single finger for him to join her. "Come over here."
"Yes?" Egon asked quietly while feigning ignorance as he approached the desk. "Can I assist you?"
"You're a Ghostbuster, I've seen the ads." She lowered her glasses down her nose as she flashed him a stern look. "I'm also aware of your track record with buildings, especially hotels."
"I can assure you miss, I'm here simply to take a reading; NOT to bust any ghosts."
She crossed her arms and gave him a less than reassured look.
"I'll leave in less than twenty minutes without breaking anything. I swear."
"You better." She answered as she turned her attention to the phone on the front desk as it began suddenly ringing. "If I find one thing out of place I know who I'm gonna' call." She picked up the phone. "And it won't be for hire! Understood?"
"Yes ma'am." Egon was quick and affirmative. "Twenty minutes."
A little intimidated by the feisty women Egon resumed his scan and found himself being lead back to the stairs. More specifically, up the stairs. Pushing open the door and stepping inside the small stairwell he held the meter up and stared at the winding staircase that seemed to spiral upward forever. A brief and unwelcome flash to the night he and the rest of the guys faced off against Gozer popped in his head, but was gone just as quickly.
Returning his focus to the task at hand Egon assessed the readout on the meter.
"Strange." He remarked as he began to climb the seldom tread staircase up to the second floor. "I've never seen such a high level of electrical activity without a man made device to enhance it." Stepping back through the doors Egon chose to use the elevator to reach the top floor, rather than walk. "This is big. Very big." The car of the elevator suddenly shuddered and the lights flickered. Egon looked about the interior of the car curiously, waiting for a repeat of the power surge. "Ray better find Peter and Winston, fast."
Ray easily found his way to Winston's apartment and parked the car along the unusually quiet street. Whenever Ray had visited Winston in the past he had always seen the entire block alive with people and community pride. Now this street was just as deserted, lifeless and quiet as the rest of the scared and vacated city.
A chilly wind blew through the air and made Ray shudder. "Brr." He ran his hands up and down his arms to stave off the cold. "Sure hope it warms up soon. Never thought I'd be asking for a heatwave in the middle of August."
Entering the small apartment complex Ray was greeted by the always friendly superintendent, Mr. Wilson, who was changing a lightbulb by the elevators. There was a large black tool box on the floor that was covered in grease, rags and full of odd bits and pieces of tools. "Hey Ray Stantz!" He finished screwing in the bulb and offered his hand for Ray to shake. "Good to see you! How've you been?"
"I'm doing fine Mr. Wilson, how're you?" Ray reciprocated the warm gesture happily.
"I'm doing good. My son brought the boys up to visit for a few weeks. I can't believe my own grandsons are already starting junior high. Where does the time go?"
"Wish I knew. It seems like only yesterday I was still teaching in a crummy small office in a university basement." Ray smiled but changed the subject to keep on track with more important matters at hand. "Winston in?"
"Nah, he's out of town until the end of the week." Mr. Wilson shook his head a little sadly. "If you want I can try and get in touch with him for ya'. He said he'd be at his brother's place in Pittsburgh."
"No, thanks but no." Ray dropped his head. "Maybe it's best for him to stay where he is."
"The storm?" Mr. Wilson asked as he wiped his dirty hands on a rag from his toolbox.
"Yeah."
"Figured as much. Never had the building so empty before. Many of my tenants took off as soon as those clouds began gathering."
"Maybe we should all leave the city." His response was heavy with doubt.
"Look, you boys have saved this city from strange things I can't even begin to comprehend! You'll do it again, too. I just know it." He put a strong hand on Ray's shoulder. "Just keep the faith, you hear?"
"Yeah, I hear."
"Good. Now get on out of here! I got work to do!" He joked lightly as he resumed digging through his toolbox. "If I hear from Winston I'll pass along your message."
"Thanks Mr. Wilson. Stay safe."
"You do the same."
The lights in the apartment flickered briefly while the sky outside somehow darkened further. The clouds shifted in density and color changing from a blackish purple to blackish blue. Several people could be heard panicking throughout the apartment and in the other buildings across the street. Whatever was happening to the city was making everyone dangerously edgy.
"Man, the power's been doing that all week." Mr. Wilson commented in a relaxed, almost jaded manner. "We've even had a few light bulbs shatter from power surges."
"I think these surges and the storm are connected." Ray was watching the clouds through the large window near the front entrance. Whatever concern he was feeling he masked very well. "We need to figure out what's going before things get serious."
"And I get the feeling that things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better."
As the elevator reached the top floor of the hotel Egon exited the small car with his PKE meter still in hand. Scanning the floor, the walls and the air for any sign of unusual readings he found that the main source of the previous high level electrical readings on this floor were even higher than outside.
"Something in this building seems to amplifying the psychokinetic energy." He pondered out loud as he finished his sweep with the meter. "I'll need to get an air sample and return to HQ for further study." Talking to himself was an unusual habit he had picked up when he was a kid, but everyone who had come to know him didn't think anything of it.
Pulling a small syringe specifically designed to pull in air and retain it and the smallest of particles inside a glass vial from his pocket Egon looked for a way to get to the outside of the hotel for a pure air sample. None of the windows could be opened even he did have access to a room, his only option was to use the door leading to roof access.
"Perhaps the power surges have interrupted the security alarm on the door." Egon tentatively put his hand on the door handle and tested to see if it was locked. It was not. It opened outward slowly and didn't make a sound.
"Good."
Propping the door open with a small wooden doorstop tucked away just inside the small staircase leading to the roof Egon prepared his syringe and made a quick but silent ascent up the stairs to the roof.
The exterior door was also unlocked.
An icy wind swirled all around the building. Egon felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the electrical energy that was heavy in the air made contact with his skin. Looking up into the swirling blue clouds Egon stood in awe at the spiraling storm overhead. The clouds had begun transitioning from dark storm clouds to an ethereal shade of blue, even right before his eyes.
"This is impossible." Egon said to himself as the wind whipped through his hair and cut into his flesh through the fabric of his coat. Putting the syringe in the air as high as he could reach Egon pushed the plunger out to expel any possibly contaminated air from the vial, the retracted the plunger to pull a sample of the psychokinetically charged air in.
"Got it." Egon capped the end of the syringe and put it back in his pocket.
A low rumble of thunder from above piqued his curiosity. "Strange." He returned his attention to his PKE meter. "There has been no audio disturbances detected from the ground. How is this-"
Thunder rumbled even louder as bolts of pure electricity flashed within the dark clouds and charged the air further. A single bolt stretched down from the clouds and struck the lightning rod at the top of the hotel.
The hotel itself shuddered violently from the lightning strike. All of the lights inside the building flashed on and went dark as the bulbs burst and the breakers flipped. The smell of ozone was emanating from every corner of the building as the remaining guests had decided that they've had enough of the strange weather in New York and began vacating the hotel in a mass exodus.
Egon was stunned by the close proximity of the strike. Standing alone on the roof of the hotel Egon put on hand to his aching ears and tucked the PKE meter into his coat pocket. The meter had been shorted out by the electrical surge and the display had been damaged.
As Egon began stumbling back toward the door and return to the interior of the hotel a second rumble of thunder echoed from within the storm. With the thunder came a low, menacing voice: "Kismet."
Before he could react to the disembodied voice that taunted him from the clouds a second bolt of lightning crashed down to the roof of the hotel. This second bolt struck closer than the first. Egon was sent flying back through the door of the hotel and tumbled down the hard, concrete flight of stairs and collided with the propped open door. Gasping for breath Egon struggled to roll from his pained chest onto his side while desperately attempting to breathe.
Weak and shaken by the experience Egon could only crawl across the floor to the elevator as his ears rang and his vision whited. Coughing harshly his hand reached up from the floor and found the call button to the elevator. The doors opened and Egon crawled inside. With one final rush of strength Egon pressed the button for the ground floor before laying down on the floor of the car and writhing in pain.
"R-Ray... Peter..." His vision began to clear, it was then Egon noticed the red stain blossoming on his chest. "Help... Help me."
...to be continued...