Peter cowered away from the hole in the floor as he swatted profusely at the large cockroach that crawled quickly all over his hand and up his arm. Fearfully Peter began frantically swing his arm in an attempt to rid himself of the massive insect only to see dozens more crawling all over his feet and legs. The cockroaches were massive compared to normal insects and continued to chirp loudly as they swarmed over Peter.

"Get off!" Peter shouted as he began to panic at the alarming number of cockroaches crawling all over his body. "GET. OFF."

Egon and Ray had returned to the penthouse having heard the loud crashing of the floor breaking away and of Peter's frantic shouting. Egon observed the room with a keen curiosity, focusing first on Peter and then immediately to the hole in the middle of the room. Ray put his hands on Peter's shoulders and tried to hold him still while also pushing back against the wall.

Ray shook Peter's shoulders and shouted in an attempt to get his panicking colleague's attention. "Peter! Snap out of it! Look at me!"

Peter continued to struggle against Ray's grip in an attempt to swat away the cockroaches. The cockroaches that only he could see, that only he could hear, that only he could feel...

Egon knelt down on the edge of the hole and peered down, his brown eyes widening with fear as he spied Winston laying motionless one floor down amongst the debris of the broken floor.

"Winston!" Egon shouted worriedly as he stared intently at his unconscious friend. "Winston can you hear me?"

The bold marine didn't respond to his friend's voice as he laid prone on the floor below.

"Ray!" Egon turned quickly and looked at the engineer as he continued to try and gain Peter's attention. "Winston is hurt! I'm going to go down to check on him!"

Without waiting for a reply Egon dashed from the penthouse and toward the staircase at the end of the corridor. The ever cautious physicist chose the stairs over the elevator as it seemed very likely that the ghost would try to interfere with the rescue and stop the elevator between floors.

Ray tightened his grip on Peter's shoulders out of both fear for Winston and out of frustration as Peter was still caught in a confused daze. "Venkman!" Ray released one hand from Peter's shoulder just long enough to reach back and slap Peter across the face. "PETER."

Peter was stunned by the strike but unharmed. He stared at Ray with glassy eyes, his heart pounding hard and fast in the chest. "R-Ray?" His whole body was trembling as he looked down at his arms and legs for the cockroaches that he had watched swarm over his entire body. "Where are the-"

"Finally!" Ray let go of Peter and took a step back. "What the hell happened in here? What happened to Winston?"

"Winston?" Peter looked up from his body and past Ray. He quickly honed in on the massive hole in the floor and remembered seeing Winston fall. "Winston!"

Peter clumsily pushed past Ray and fell to his knees at the edge of the hole. Ray joined Peter at his side and looked down. "Oh god... Winston."

Egon had found his way into the unoccupied room that Winston had fallen into. The jagged boards of the broken floor littered the ground, sharp edges cutting into Winston's skin through his jumpsuit leaving him covered in his own blood. As Winston fell he crashed through a large wooden table and the resulting impact was enough to break his left leg below the knee; the limb was resting at unnatural angle amongst the wooden debris of large boards and tiny splinters that surrounded him.

"He's unconscious." Egon reported morosely. Pressing his fingers against Winston's neck Egon checked for a pulse and let out an immense sigh of relief upon finding one at all. "He is alive." Egon called up his colleagues who were looking down in absolute worry. "Ray, call an ambulance. Winston has a broken leg and a probable concussion."

"I'm on it." Ray rushed out of the room and found the nearest guest phone sitting on a desk in the middle of the corridor.

Egon gave Winston a visual assessment over his current condition. "Broken leg," Egon repeated as he carefully straightened the damaged limb and resisted the urge to set the broken bones himself. "probable concussion," he reaffirmed as he lifted Winston's eyelids and check his pupils. "there's a large cut and some swelling on the back of his head. Most likely from the fall itself."

Ray returned to Peter's side and called down to Egon. "I called the ambulance, the hotel manager will point them in the right direction."

"Good, I'll stay with Winston. Try to find the ghost before it harms anyone else!"

"Okay, yeah." Ray didn't like the idea of not staying with Winston but knew that the capture of the violent ghost was important. Not to mention the fact that hunting down the ghost would provide him with a much needed distraction. "Keep your radio open, if the ghost comes back your way don't hesitate to yell!"

Ray patted Peter's shoulder to signal the confused man to follow him as he resumed patrolling the corridors.

Following on shaking legs Peter was uncharacteristically quiet. Too confused, too frightened by the images of the cockroaches haunting his memories Peter was at a rare loss for words. His eyes darted suspiciously at every movement certain he'd be swarmed by cockroaches once again.

A loud angry roar from the end of the corridor caught the attention of the two Ghostbusters. Ray lead the search for the ghost Alvis while Peter hesitantly followed.

"I think he's hiding out in the Ruby Ballroom."

"G-Good." Peter stammered with a quaking voice. "That'll m-make it easier to c-catch."

The ghost made another loud 'bang' as it tore apart the interior of the ballroom. Ray slowly opened the door and spotted the humanoid ghost floating in mid air below the chandelier. It appeared to be waiting patiently, as if it knew the Ghostbusters were going to find it.

"I'll slide in the trap," Ray whispered and he crouched down near the floor. "when I do turn on your thrower and chase it over so I can catch it."

Peter's hands were shaking so violently that during his attempt to unsheathe his thrower he fumbled on his grip and dropped the heavy metallic weapon onto the hardwood floor of the ballroom.

Alvis turned toward the two Ghostbusters with a sick grin on his ethereal face. He snapped his fingers again and disappeared through the ceiling without a trace.

"What... What was that about?!" Ray turned and glared angrily at Peter only to find his friend lost in a deep trance. "Peter? Peter!"

Egon's voice suddenly cut in over the radio. 'Ray can you hear me?'

"Yeah, I hear you." Ray replied as he waved his hand in front of Peter's vacant stare in an attempt to regain his attention. "How's Winston?"

'The paramedics just arrived. They're loading him onto a gurney now. Did you catch the ghost?'

"Negative." Ray sounded as disappointed as ever. "We lost sight of it after tracking it to the Ruby Ballroom."

'We'll come back for it later. We need to make sure Winston's okay.'

"Yeah, go ahead without us."

'What? Why?'

"It's difficult to explain, just go! We'll catch up in Ecto-1."

'Very well. Keep in contact.'

"Will do." Ray shook Peter's shoulders again and called his name. "Peter? Can you hear me? What's the matter with you?!"

Peter remained in his trance unable to respond. It was as if his entire consciousness had been taken away leaving only a physical husk of his usually quirky self behind.

"Sorry about this, but it worked before!" Ray reached back his hand and slapped Peter across the face.

This time however Peter didn't awaken from the trance.

"Oh boy..." Ray lifted Peter's droopy eyelids and saw his glazed over, dull irises staring back at him. "This is bad."

...to be continued...