Chapter 2: So much for our night off

Janine's vision was blurred as she came to. At first she thought that her glasses had been knocked off when the ghost hit her but miraculously they had stayed put. Lifting her head slightly she glanced towards the Ghostbusters who were diving for their proton packs.

"Janine!" Peter yelled seeing that she was conscious. "Move!"

Janine managed to roll out of the way just as a giant paw smashed down to the ground where she had been laying moments before, cracking the cobbles. There was a flash of light and over the crackle of the proton streams she heard the huge black creature roar angrily as it recoiled from the Ghostbusters fire.

Pulling herself to her feet she stumbled forward, ducking under the proton streams to avoid getting burned. But before she could reach safety the ghost pushed forward and pinned her to the floor, its razor sharp claws were inches from her face.

"Let her go!" Egon ordered as the Ghostbusters held their fire.

The ghost chuckled, its pincers clicking loudly as a trail of drool dripped down onto the terrified Janine.

"We do not think that you are in any position to tell us what to do Dr. Spengler." It smiled wickedly. "We all know that you will not risk any harm coming to Miss Melnitz."

"How do the bad guys always know all about us?" Winston moaned. Behind him Slimer peered over the top of Janine's desk cautiously and deciding that it was safe blew a raspberry at the Ghost pinning Janine to the floor.

"So you know our names," Peter growled at the ghost, "Why don't you tell us about yourselves? I always feel rude blasting nasties without a formal introduction."

The ghost didn't seem to be focusing on the Ghostbusters anymore. It had turned its attentions onto Janine who was squirming in its grasp. It leant down so that its pincers were right by her face. Its putrid breath was so foul that it made her gag.

"Tell them what you feel." It ordered her.

Janine was struggling to breathe never mind speak. "Help me!" was all that she could manage.

The Ghostbusters knuckles turned white as their grip tightened on their throwers. Desperately they fought the urge to fire. Any sudden movements could be lethal for Janine.

The Beast continued to snap at her pale face. "It's not nice is it Miss Melnitz, being held captive against your will? How do you imagine our master must feel trapped in your containment unit when he should be roaming free! Free to rule as was his destiny."

"Oh," Peter sighed, "That's what this is about! So which one is he?"

The ghost finally turned his attention back to the Ghostbusters. It focused its thin red eyes firmly on Peters and growled one word:

"Samhain."

Slimer gave a horrified yelp and dived back under the desk as the Ghostbusters jaws dropped in disbelief.

"Samhain?" Ray repeated, sounding a little confused.

Peter let out a startled snort of laughter. "You do know its February, right?" He asked. "Samhains' the spirit of Halloween. You're a little late."
"Or early," Ray shrugged. "It depends on how you look at it."

Egon shook his head. "Actually," He informed them, "As Samhain is the spirit of the holiday itself. It honors his arrival and so is plausible that whenever Samhain rises that date can be taken to be Halloween. October 31st is just the day that the Druids set aside to honor the dead so..."

"Okay, Okay," Peter interrupted. "October 31st or Feburary 15th it doesn't really matter. There's no way we're letting Samhain out of the containment unit."

"Are you sure that we can't persuade you?" The ghost snarled.

It applied more pressure to Janine who screamed in agony as the air was pushed from her lungs.

"Stop it!" Ray yelled firing at the Ghost.

The others followed suit hitting the creature with everything that they had. It reared up and relinquished its grip on Janine. Egon rushed forward and tried to lift her. She was weak and struggling for air but with his help managed to get to her feet.

The beast had been pushed back against the door. The lighting like beams of the proton rays encased it successfully, the ghost struggled against its bonds. But with only three beams aimed at it Ray, Winston and Peter found it impossible to fully subdue the monster.

"Divide and conquer my brothers." It said suddenly in an earsplitting screech.

The Ghostbusters, Janine and Slimer stared in horror as the huge monster split into three parts. These smaller black blobs began to take form. Three pairs of piercing red eyes stared back at them. Three bushy tails swished, three sets of snapping jaws gnashed menacingly.

"Nice doggies!" Peter muttered as the three black hellhounds advanced slowly.

"I seriously doubt it!" Winston cried. He lifted his thrower and took aim at the dog on the right which was coming dangerously close to Egon and Janine.

As its companion was hit the middle dog took over and leapt at the retreating pair. Egon swung himself protectively in front of Janine.

The hound smacked into him and pinned him to the floor. Janine screamed and kicked out at the creature pinning Egon to the floor. She heard Ray call out: "Move!" and backed away as the dog was hit with a blast of Rays pack.

Dazed the hound slid off of Egon and turned to the others.

"Retreat." It ordered.

The hound still trapped in Winston's stream wailed and tried to pull free as a swirling hole appeared just behind Ecto-1. It was like a black hole sucking in air and pulling everything towards it. Everyone held tight to the nearest object except Winston who dug his heels in, determined not to let the hound he was holding free and Egon, who was slightly disorientated due to his encounter with the hound.

The two free dogs dived for the hole and disappeared through. Its pull seemed to grow stronger as the hole began to shrink. Janine noticed Egon sliding forward along the cobbles, being pulled by the portals wind.

Anchoring herself to a pipe on the wall with her left hand she stretched out with her right to try and save him but it was too far. The wind was intensifying now and he was gradually being dragged towards the swirling hole. The wind was so strong that it lifted Janine off of the ground slightly. She tightened her grip on the pole and looked desperately over to the others to see if they could reach Egon.

Peter, like her, was clinging to a pipe but was even further away than she was and Ray had his hands full trying to keep hold of Winston who was still trying to contain the third dog. Not even Slimer could help as he had rooted himself to Rays leg.

There was nothing for it. Janine let go hoping that once she reached Egon their combined weight would be enough to hold them in one place. But it was impossible. No sooner had she let go of the pipe Janine found herself hurtling forwards through the air and into the portal.

"Janine!" Egon screamed over the howling winds. He had just come to in time to see her tumble past. The wind began to die down now as the portal shrank. Egon tried to stand but before he could someone sped past towards the hole.

"Peter, no!" Ray warned. But it was too late. Peter made a horizontal dive through the portal after Janine just as it was closing. His heavy brown boots were the last thing anyone saw of him as the portal closed up.

"NO!" Egon yelled rushing to the place where the hole had been. Behind him Winston cried out urgently.

"Look out!"

Distracted by his friends disappearance the tall Black Ghostbuster had dropped his guard allowing the third hound to struggle free. Egon turned quickly, thrower raised and crackling menacingly but the hound was not interested in him. With a pained howl the ghostdog took off through the hole in the firehouse door and disappeared into the night.

Ray moved over to Egon and helped him to his feet.

"She was trying to save me." He whispered.

"I know man," Winston said sympathetically. "It wasn't your fault."

"I couldn't reach her in time." Egon continued.

Ray shook his head. "She and Peter are together Egon, don't worry they'll look after each other."

"Where are they anyway?" Winston asked helping Ray lug Egon to Janines chair. The red-haired ghostbuster settled Egon down and began to check him over. He didn't seem to have a concussion, he was just shocked. They all were.

"I don't know where they are." Egon replied in answer to Winstons question. "That swirling hole was a portal not only between time and space but between realities and universes. Peter and Janine could be anywhere."

"But we can get them back right?" Winston asked hopefully, sure that if anyone had an answer it would be Egon. His heart sank as Egon shook his head in despair.

"I wouldn't know where to begin." He whispered, his face was pale and set.

From the floor Slimer gave out an agonized wail. Ray knelt down and pulled the disgusting blob into a hug. Green slime trickled down his sweater as he squeezed.

"There, there Slimer," He sniffed. "They're safe. I can feel it!"

A sudden noise behind them made them jump Egon leapt decisively to his feet and almost ran across to the lockers Winston and Ray smiled at each other, he had a plan.

"What do we do?" Winston asked quickly as he followed Egon over to his locker. Egon pulled it open and began to change into his pale blue overalls. "We're going to track down the last dog." He explained. "As it's one third of the same being it's still tied to the other two. When Ray said he could feel that Janine and Peter were okay it got me thinking…"

"We'll I can't literally feel that they're okay Egon." Ray muttered, concerned that his friend might be clutching at straws.

"I know that Ray," Egon sighed. "We may all have a strong connection with each other but the bonds of friendship that humans form isn't strong enough to span time and space. The dogs on the other hand aren't human."

"How hard did you hit your head?" Winston asked him in a concerned voice. Egon ignored him.

"You don't understand, "He said excitedly, "Because the three ghosts are one being their bio-rhythm is set on the same frequency so if I can find that frequency I may be able to trace the other two dogs through the portal Janine and Peter fell through. I may even be able to work out how to reopen the portal. I'll know more once we have the ghost captured."

"Egon, you're a genius!" Ray thrilled. But Winston seemed a little more cautious.

"Hang on a second guys." He protested. "We don't even know what were up against here!"
"It's a Wisht Hound of Samhain." Egon said simply.

"Well I glad we cleared that up." Winston sighed. "Now can you tell me what a waste hound of Samhain is and most importantly, how we catch it? The packs were on full but we could barely contain it!"

"The Wisht Hounds of Samhain are his most faithful servants." Egon explained. "They druids summoned them to guard Samhain and ensure that he was never freed."

Winston was justifiably confused. "But they're trying to free him now." He said incredulously.

"We all know from first hand experience how powerful Samhain is." Egon said as he tied his bootlaces. "He manipulated the hounds. He gave them the power to merge into one being and dive between worlds. He promised them much more if they agreed to serve him and help his rise to power."

"So how come we've never seen them before?" Ray wondered as he to change into his Ghostbusters uniform.

"Well they guarded Samhain from the other side, they were never part of the world of the living." Said Egon pulling his pack back on and heading for Ecto-1 "That might be why they weren't able to break through to the world of the living when Samhain first returned but it doesn't explain why they're here now."

"How do we find out?" Asked Winston who had also changed and was just putting on his pack.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Said Egon darkly. "For now let's just concentrate on finding Peter and Janine."

Ray and Winston nodded and dived into the car, Winston was in the driver's seat. In the back Ray leant back and was startled to find that his seat was sticky and wet.

"Slimer!" He sighed "You're too little."

The ugly green ghost materialised slowly through the fabric of the hearses back seat and pouted at Ray.

"I wanna save 'anine an' peter!" He protested.

"It's okay Ray!" Egon said impatiently. It was clear that he was keen to get a move on.

"Fine." Ray relented. "Just stay out of trouble." He warned the ghost and buckled up tight as Winston sped away into the dark streets following the instructions Egon was giving from his PKE.

Egon," Winston asked cautiously as they turned off into a main road. "You still haven't told us how we catch this hound thing."

Winston was more than a little disconcerted to see a flicker of doubt cross Egons face. When the blond ghostbuster did finally speak he sounded confident. "When I work that out Winston," He muttered. "You'll be the first to know."

In the back seat Ray couldn't help but laugh. "So much for our night off."