Short Stories

Coming and Going

Summary: Phoebe can't help but remember.

Fandom: Ghostbusters: Afterlife
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Phoebe woke up with a short gasp, then lay still.

Her breathing came in short, audible gasps for a brief second, before she shut her eyes and calmed herself, with her breathing settling down.

Her eyes opened again and darted around her room. Nothing but blurry, distorting blackness as far as she could see. Everything was peaceful, calm. A stark contrast to her dreams.

Phoebe reached for her glasses that laid on the nightstand and sat up after putting them on. The blurriness was cured, but not the darkness. It still stretched on and on.

Softly, Phoebe swung her legs out from underneath the covers and onto the floor, resting them there for a moment before standing up fully and walking towards the door, intending to open it.

Her hand rested on the doorknob before she froze, looking around for the source of a rustling sound that had reached her ears. Her eyes had adjusted more to the night now, so she was able to see that the sound was simply the wind, rustling the hay outside her open window.

She shook her head. It wasn't like her to get wrapped up in such meaningless sounds. But lately, it seemed she couldn't help it.

Phoebe opened the door fully and tiptoed down the long, creaky hallway, careful not to risk anyone hearing her. Dr. Peter and Dr. Winston had already left, since they had jobs and families to get back to, but Dr. Ray had stayed, claiming to want to help the family clean up Gozer's mess. Plus, there was still Trevor and her mother to worry about.

Phoebe could handle sneaking past her mom and Trevor. It was Dr. Ray she was concerned about the most; she didn't know how lightly or how deeply he slept.

She finally reached the front door after what seemed like an eternity and went outside, looking around for somewhere to rest.

In their old apartment, there was a tree right outside that both her and Trevor had quickly found was excellent for climbing. Often times, whenever she needed to be alone and think, she would climb up that tree and rest on the sturdiest branch. Luckily, their apartment was near the bottom floor, so it was easy to sneak out.

She gave her mom quite a few heart attacks that way.

Phoebe smiled slightly at the thought before settling on the front steps, sitting on it and looking up at the night sky.

There were no clouds tonight; all stars were clearly visible. That was good, cloudy nights weren't good anymore. Especially when they were almost black, and had lightning, and circled around in a funnel shape to prepare for the rise of a god-

Phoebe slapped herself in the face lightly, trying to get the thoughts out of her head. Gozer was gone. They were trapped, along with their two demon dogs. They were all trapped in their yard.

A shiver came across Phoebe as she looked towards the dirt farm, as she imagined Gozer, split into two parts, trapped inside the small ghost traps, trying to get out and finally start the apocalypse.

And to do that, they would need to find two more bodies to possess. Someone like her mother-

"Shut up." Phoebe told herself, fidgeting with a small piece of wood she wasn't sure when she had pulled up from the stairs. Her mom was alright, and so was Mr. Grooberson and Lucky. All the possessed people were okay.

"Who're you talking to?"

Phoebe whirled her head around. Trevor was standing in the doorway, one hand in the doorframe, looking down at her.