Fifth Avenue

Doctor! Doctor!

You glance around the room cautiously. You have a feeling this will not be ending well.

You're currently standing near the stairs to the basement hoping to catch a glimpse of what was happening, but not standing too close, you didn't want to be the one getting hit with that proton beam.

The patient silence is suddenly interrupted by the sound of the two men yelling, although you couldn't make out what they were actually saying. Next was a loud humming sound, which must've been the particle throwers, followed by a crash.

You make eye contact with Delacorte who is so pale you think he's going to faint without even seeing the specter.

The humming sound continued in bursts but then... all became quiet. You strain your ears for some sort of sound.

Without warning the ghost flies to the top of the stairs making a horrible screeching sound. It is the ugliest thing you've ever seen. Obviously startled, you jump and stumble backwards landing on the floor. Spengler and Stantz were close behind, running up the stairs, readying their guns. Spengler slid the trap across the floor in one clean sweep then the two fired their streams, which sizzled loudly, white sparks flying in all directions preventing you from fully seeing what was happening. They grabbed hold of said ghost and strenuously lowered it into the trap. Spengler quickly shut the trap.

All was quiet once again aside from a hissing sound from the trap.

You sat there in shock, breathing heavily not knowing what to think. You had just seen two men shoot lasers at a ghost. In your workplace.

You looked to your left to see that Delacorte had, in fact, fainted.

"Are the two of you alright?!" cried Stantz as the two rushed over to you.

"Yeah I.. think so." you sputtered, collecting your thoughts. "Although I'm not sure if I can say the same for him," you said, gesturing to the library admin on the floor.

"Oh shit, our client is out cold. Who's going to pay us?" said Stantz.

You look around to see the library is in complete disarray. Books have fallen off the shelves and one of the tables has even collapsed, although it's not half as bad as you were expecting. You start to stand up when a hand reaches down to you.

You look up and see Spengler looking down at you, his glasses slightly crooked and hair a bit more wild than usual. Awkwardly you eye his outreached hand then weakly grab it.

"You're shaking, perhaps you're in shock. Ray pull up a chair," he says as he helps you to your feet.

"Um- I.. I think I'll be ok in a few minutes," you mutter moving to the chair. "Just a little surprised."

Spengler glances down at you and starts to say something but is interrupted by a groaning coming from the corner.

"What happened? Is that thing gone?!" says Delacorte in a confused tone as he rubs his head. Spengler and Stantz rush over to him and help him into a chair.

A few minutes later and both of you were as good as.. Well as good as you can be having just seen a literal ghost.

"Well gentleman, thank you again for your services, despite the... obvious damages. You should be receiving a check in the mail. I still have some paperwork to do, Miss L/N when you leave will you lock the doors?" "Yes sir."

You gather your belongings and notice Spengler and Stantz are still standing in the lobby, inspecting the still smoking trap.

"Are you guys ready to go?" You interrupt. "Yes." "Yep!" the two say simultaneously. The three of you walk out the doors and you lock them.

"By the way, Miss L/n, we were wondering if you would be interested in doing some research for us. Another.. uh.. client of ours has had an experience that has raised a lot of questions." asks Spengler.

"We thought it would be right up your alley," adds Stantz.

"Oh sure, it sounds interesting. What should I be looking for?" you reply.

"Well, a creature in her refrigerator was repeatedly saying the word 'Zuul'. We don't know anything about the meaning."

"Zuul... I'll definitely look into it. If I do find anything, should I find you at the University?"

The two look at each other awkwardly.

"Oh, uh we were actually fired from the university last week." admits Stantz.

"Fired?! Why?"

"Oh you know... they didn't see what we were doing as valid research worth funding," said Stantz sheepishly. To be honest you hadn't quite either until an hour ago.

"You can call us at the new headquarters of our ghost catching business. Here's the.. The number." said Stantz scribbling on a piece of paper.

"Sounds like a lot has changed since the last time we spoke." You say eyeing Spengler, trying to invite him back to the conversation.

"Yes, that is true. Well, thank you very much for your help with the research and call us if you find anything. We will also be looking for mentions of Zuul in the usual occult literature. And sorry about the mess." Spengler says.

"Ok I will, oh and- what is this ghost catching business of yours called?"

"Ghostbusters." The two say in unison. "We're going to start shooting a commercial next week!" Stantz pipes in.

You laugh. "Ok well I'm this way. Have a good night and thank you for catching our library ghost."

As you walk to your car you ponder. "Zuul huh... I wonder what language that is. Is it a name or...?" you smile to yourself. Now you have an excuse to see Dr. Spengler again.