"A long time ago," I began. "There was a business here in this city. It was sort of unusual. The five of us," I pointed to the picture of us, "ran this business."

"Okay, the girl is you," said Alice. "But who are the other guys?"

"I'm getting to that. Now, like I said, our line of work was sort of odd. Truthfully, a lot of people never even believed our business was serious."

"What did you do, Mom?"

"We…" I paused. "Okay, you're not going to believe me if I tell you this. But we…we caught ghosts."

Alice was quiet for a moment. "Oh…I see."

I gave her a look. "Wait. You believe me?"

Alice shrugged. "Sure. Why would you tell me a lie, Mom?"

"Well, I…I didn't think you'd believe ghosts were a real thing."

"As a matter of fact," said Alice, pushing her glasses up her nose. That's familiar, I couldn't help but think. "I've been studying physics in school and if my notes are correct, the existence of apparitional beings is possible. So, ghosts could be real."

I shook my head. "How did a dummy like me have a whiz kid like you for a daughter?"

Alice patted my arm with a smirk. "Genetics. Now, back to the story."

"Oh, right. Anyway, we were called the Ghostbusters," I continued.

"Ghost…busters?" Alice tried to commit the word to memory.

"Yes, Ghostbusters. As a matter of fact, I came up with that name myself," I couldn't help but brag. "You see, people would call us when they had a ghost problem; we would show up and trap the ghost, take it home, and put into a storage unit."

"So you guys were basically like ghost exterminators?" Alice concluded.

"Yes, that's what we labeled ourselves as: paranormal investigators and eliminators. But we sort of ended up being superheroes," I said.

"Okay, I see. Now, who are these guys? Who is he?" Alice pointed to a man in the picture.

I laughed. "That's Peter Venkman. What a cut-up. He was the smart-alec of the group. He was always throwing jokes my way. But he was a great friend."

"Wait…Venkman?" Alice asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Oh, no reason…so who is this one? The one with his arm around your shoulder?" Alice persisted.

"Ray Stantz. He was just like a brother to me," I said. "I was so close to all of them. Winston Zeddemore, for example, understood me better than your father did."

"Which one is he?" Alice asked, staring at the photo.

I pointed to the darkly skinned man. "That's him. He was so funny, but really, they all were. Even Egon."

Alice's eyebrow knit together and a queer look came across her face, as if she was trying not to laugh. "Egon?"

"I know, strange name." I smiled at the tall, spectacled man in the picture. "But you could never make a better friend. He was probably the most awkward guy I ever met, not that great with people, but I can't count the times he comforted me when I was scared or sad. Egon was the most important member of the team. He was a genius." I looked at my daughter. "Just like you."

Alice smiled. "He was special to you, huh?"

"They all were. They were my family."

"So…why isn't Ghostbusters still operational?" asked Alice.

My spirits dropped as my thoughts were turned from my old friends to the worst day of my life. "We were shut down by the government."

"Why? I don't see how catching ghosts would be breaking the law," reasoned Alice.

"It wasn't," I replied. "Until Walter Peck became head of the CIA."

"Who's Walter Peck?"

"He was a man who wanted us shut down back in the eighties," I explained. "Long story short, we saved the city and he got publicly embarrassed big time. He swore he'd have his revenge-I guess he did..."

1991

The CIA operatives threw us into the cell. "Why are we here?" I exclaimed. "Let us go!"

They laughed, locked the door, and walked away. "Nighty-night, Ghostbusters," was their parting sneer.

I screamed out of frustration and fear. One moment, the five of us had just been hanging out at the firehouse, laughing and joking, and the next, we had Feds throwing us into a government facility. I turned to my brothers. "Why did they put us in here? What have we done?"

"I don't know, Jenny," said Ray, scratching his head. "I don't know."

"Egon," I said, turning to my friend. "What are we going to do?" I buried my face into his chest.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he consoled. He cautiously wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug. "They can't keep us in here for forever."

"I…I just hope my baby's okay," I gasped.

"You're pregnant?" asked Egon, surprisedly.

I looked up at him and nodded. "For a month or two now. Alex doesn't know yet. I just wanted to be sure." I paused. "Oh, God. What if we never get out of here? What I never get to tell Alex about our baby?"

"Look," said Egon, looking straight into my eyes. "We won't be in here forever. I think I speak for all these guys when I say that we're not going to let anything happen to you or that baby. We're going to get you out of here."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," a horribly familiar voice cut in. We all whirled around.

A snooty looking man in a suit was standing there, staring at us if as his birthday had come early. "Peck," I snarled. "Did you have something to do with this?"

"I had everything to do with this, young lady," Peck sneered. "After my public humiliation and firing from the EPA, I vowed to get my revenge on you charlatans. Now, seven long years of plotting and planning have paid off."

"Our pleasure, pecker," replied Peter. "Now let us out of here."

"Oh, I don't think so, Venkman. Not until I have a little more substantial fulfillment," Peck retorted, his smug little face pissing me off more and more.

"You have us behind bars," said Winston. "What more fulfillment could you possibly want?"

"What I've wanted since 1984," said Peck. "I want the Ghostbusters shut down once and for all."

"Never!" I exclaimed. "We'll never do that!"

Peck shrugged. "It's your freedom." And with that, he marched away.

"Grr…dickless!" I yelled frustratedly after him. I turned to the guys. "We've gotta get out of here!"

"I'm afraid that's going to be quite impossible," said Egon. "This is a very high level security facility. There's only one way out of here."

My heart sank, realizing what he meant. "We have to agree to Peck's demands…we have to shut Ghostbusters down."

"And we did," I concluded. "Ghostbusters ended, and make matters worse, Peck denied any of us contact ever again."

"Oh my God, Mom. That's…that's horrible," whispered Alice. "And Ghostbusters can never be reopened? Ever?"

I smiled bitterly. "Ghostbusters is part of the past now. Let's just let it lie."