The Wednesday night sky was dark, although it would never be as dark as it could be due to the pervasive lights of the city. There was a stillness, a silence except for the occasional car that would drive down the road. Gabby didn't live on a noisy main street, after all. The house behind Egon was dark except for one light on the top floor. The backyard that the ghostbusters stood in was laid with crooked bricks that had weeds sticking out of them. Egon had to be careful not to step weirdly on one of them lest he twist his ankle. He and the others placed their proton packs in the corner of the yard. After all, they were trying to convince this ghost that they weren't there to hurt her.
Egon, Ray, Winston and Peter were in their regular jumpsuits. However, Gabby had donned a ceremonial cloak decorated with purple swirls. She wore her pentagram necklace that had been cleaned for the occasion. She was barefoot to ensure that she took in everything that the earth had: the hardness, the dirt, and most important of all, the energy.
Slimer, of course, was wearing nothing.
Gabby had laid several ropes into a large circle so that she could trace it once the ritual began. Objects were placed in particular parts of the circle: a censor with incense in the east, a large candle for the south, a bowl of water along with a bowl of salt in the west and bowl of soil in the north. Egon wasn't aware of the significance of these objects. He felt no need to ask questions since the answers would probably make themselves known during the ritual. Besides each of these objects was a white candle, which Egon assumed was an aesthetic choice.
"It's good that you're all here," said Gabby, "The moon is waning, so conjuring spells aren't going to be as easy to cast as banishing spells. The more of you that contribute energy, the better.
Egon stiffened with fear.
"You didn't tell us that you were going to bleed us of energy," he said.
"Oh, no, no!" said Gabby, "I'm not asking you to contribute that much. You will still be awake and healthy once you give your energy to the ritual, I promise."
Egon trusted Gabby. She clearly knew what she was doing.
"Before we begin, I want you all to step into the circle," said Gabby
The guys did as she said, although Slimer floated in rather than stepped.
Gabby held her athame close. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. Egon could hear her deep breaths.
When she felt ready, she walked over to the east side of the circle and placed the tip of the athame on the ground. She started walking clockwise while tracing the circle, which put forth a glow. The strength of the light reminded Egon of a glowstick. He had to remind himself that the athame was not magical on its own. It was merely a tool of transfer to aid a magical mind. Gabby was the glow, albeit one hidden behind flesh and blood.
"She seems to be drawing something interdimensional with that ceremonial blade," said Egon.
"The proper term for that blade is 'AH-thah-may,'" said Ray.
"I believe it's pronounced 'ah-THAYM,'" said Peter in his smarmiest tone.
"AH-thah-may."
"Ah-THAYM."
"AH-thah-may!"
"Ah-THAYM!"
"Will you guys shut up?!" said Winston, "You're talking over the interesting part… which is all of it!"
Soon, the four guys and Slimer were enclosed in the circle of light. None of this was scary or even vaguely creepy. In fact, it was calming and reassuring, like daylight was coming through from the other side of the world.
Gabby walked clockwise again, this time lighting each candle while calling forth the spirits.
"I call forth to you, Spirits of Air from the East," called Gabby, "Bring me your breath of life, your wisdom and your cooling breeze." She took out her lighter and lit the candle, causing a mass of grey dots to collect on that side of the circle. Egon looked closer at this mass and saw tiny faces looking happy and attentive, if not twitchy.
"I call forth to you, Spirits of Fire from the South," said Gabby, "Bring me your purifying energy that both destroys and creates." When she lit the southern candle, tiny red dots swarmed over to that side.
Egon took out his PKE meter to see if these spirits were legitimate… and they were, based on the device's lights and noise.
"My PKE readings are off the charts," he whispered, "I'm not sure what Gabby is doing to make the spirits listen to her but it's clearly working."
"I call forth to you, Spirits of Water from the West," said Gabby, "Bring me your flow of cleansing and healing." When she lit the candle, little blue spirits appeared.
"Interesting…" said Egon, "She's using the Ancient Greek concept of the four elements." Egon then thought about how people's understanding of elements had changed in the past several thousand years, how the concept of elements in science now referred to chemical composition at the tiniest level. There were how many in the periodic table? One-hundred-and-eight, last he checked. Many were added after that Tom Lehrer element song was written. Imagine having to light that many candles and call forth that many elements during a ceremony. Imagine having to sing all those added verses to Casey. That would be a lot to memorize. Using the ancient understanding of elements made things quick and simple for a ceremony like this.
"I call forth to you, Spirits of Earth from the North. Bring me your endurance, strength and fertility." When she lit the final candle, the little green spirits showed up and looked like they were more than happy to be there.
Egon shivered and then an inexplicable warmth set in. Now that the spirits were here, they were doing something that made the area… different. He knew that he and the other ghostbusters were still in Gabby's backyard but at the same time, it felt like they were encased in some sort of vessel and that the outside world was other, nothing more than a giant, cylindrical television screen.
"If I may ask, what is happening?" asked Egon, "Why does the inside of this circle feel… peculiar?"
"Gentlemen," said Gabby, "You are officially in The Space Between Worlds."
"So, we're halfway between our world and The Spirit World?" asked Ray.
"Exactly."
Gabby took a spoonful of salt and stirred it into the water. She turned to the other ghostbusters to make sure she had their attention.
"Now, after I light this candle in the center, I want you to hold your hands in a circle so that I can lead you in the raising of energy."
"This is starting to sound New-Age-y," said Peter.
"As well as Ozzy Osbourne-y," added Winston.
"Now, before I begin, I just want to let you know that Gertrude can be a bit shy, so please be patient with her," said Gabby.
Once everyone held hands in a circle, Gabby started to chant:
"Light of Day, Dark of Night, bring this spirit to our sight," she said. "Now, everyone say that chant along with me while raising your hands up and down. Close your eyes and really concentrate on the goal while you do it."
The four men gave each other weird looks before they continued but secretly agreed to follow Gabby's every word.
Light of Day, Dark of Night
Bring this spirit to our sight
Light of Day, Dark of Night
Bring this spirit to our sight
Light of Day, Dark of Night
Bring this spirit to our sight!
Egon could feel it. The energy was coursing through him. He was a part of something. He was blossoming outward and grabbing the supernatural forces, something that he wished he could do more often to make his ghostbusting missions easier. He was connected to the earth and sky, his very being was pulsing through his muscles and blood. Much like how this space was a bridge to The Spirit World, Egon felt like he was a bridge between the natural forces and the goal of this ritual. Or maybe it was just the placebo effect. That was always a possibility.
"Gertrude," said Gabby, "We call on you, Gertrude! Please respond!"
Soon, a flash of light appeared as though a star fell out of the sky and floated gracefully towards earth. The light twinkled a bit before settling.
"This is a lovely evening, isn't it?" she said in an echoey voice.
Egon couldn't believe that he had done magic. Surely, it couldn't have been that easy, could it? Then again, he wasn't leading this summoning. Being a head scientist was different from being an assistant that fetched supplies and he assumed that something like this was true for those who were casting a spell. And yet he didn't feel like a lowly assistant. He had felt a rush of power. He felt like the universe has woken him up and he didn't even know that he had been asleep. It was a sobering experience to learn that anybody alive could wield such power… including those who are evil.
And that was precisely why they were there that evening.