You Act Like You Just Saw a Ghost

3

Lars stayed behind to take care of the new spector in his care. The cell for the ghost was now complete. It wasn't any different than the other ones. Ray and Lucky had given him the description, saying she appeared to just be a regular human ghost.

Lars laid the proton pack in the center of the cell. The cell was empty other than the ghost trap. Lars climbed out of the cell before opening the proton pack inside. He had previously hooked up the pack to the control panel, so he was able to do it manually.

The ghost's appearance shocked Lars. She appeared to just be a regular teen girl. This was who tricked Phoebe? Lars knew that a ghosts appearance can be deceiving. One minute they could look like a regular human spirt, then the next second they could just be a skeleton. However, this ghosts body language was different. She seemed tense.

The ghost girl examined her new surroundings. She then noticed Lars. "Boo," she said. The girl walked towards one of the glass walls, shocked when she couldn't walk through it. Lars allowed her to try for about a minute.

"Yeah, you're not getting out," Lars said. "We've built these cells to keep ghosts in."

"I have to get out," the ghost girl said. "He's going to open the portal. I have to crossover and find my family."

"You're not getting out any time soon," Lars responded.

"I didn't want to hurt Phoebe," the ghost girl said. "I just wanted to be reunited with my family. Garraka was the only way, but he needed someone to read the inscription. He can only control ghost, but it had to be said by a living person. Phoebe was supposed to be fine. She said she'd return to her body after two minutes. I tricked her, but she was supposed to be fine."

"Why did you trust him if you knew his plan?" Lars asked.

"I was desperate," the ghost said. "Who even are you?"

"I should be asking you that," Lars said.

"Melody," the ghost said. "It's a family name."

"Well, Melody, you're stuck here," Lars responded. "Until I converse with the others. Besides, I don't trust you. You're still labeled as a dangerous poltergeist. You're responsible for one potential fatality. "

"I'm not dangerous," Phoebe said. "And I'm not responsible for any deaths. Phoebe isn't dead. You found a way to create the separator. I'm sure you can find a way to reverse it."

"We found a way to reverse it," Lars said. "It was supposed to reverse after two minutes. There's no other known way to reverse it. Even if we could put the machine in reverse, it would only last for a short amount of time."

The extreme cold was starting to catch up to them. Lars was beginning to tremble due to the cold. "Look, I'm sorry about Phoebe," Melody said. "I didn't want it to be this way, but it's what I had to do. But, I'm just trying to crossover. If you let me do that, I'll be gone forever. Just let me out."

"There's not a chance I'm letting you out," Lars said. He then left the ghost alone in her cell.

---

Phoebe couldn't tell how much time had passed. The winter had spread far across New York. Garraka. That's the reason Melody used her. Was their entire friendship fake? Everything was genuine on Phoebe's part, but now Phoebe was questioning everything.

There was one thing Phoebe knew for sure. She couldn't just wait around here. Phoebe thought back to everything she learned as a Ghostbusters. Ghosts who stayed in in one place, especially often populated places, were often caught and busted.

Maybe you should just surrender yourself. You can give yourself up as an apology for screwing up everything. I know they definitely hate me now, but at least if I'm locked out, I'll be out of there way to not cause anymore problems. It might be nicer than being stick on the streets.

"Freeze," a familiar voice called out. However, it wasn't the familiar voice Phoebe expected. It wasn't her mom, Gary, Lucky, Trevor, or anyone from her grandfather's original team. It was Podcast.

"Phoebe?" Podcast asked.

"Surprise," Phoebe chuckled.

"How are you a ghost?" Podcast asked. So, had no one found her discarded form yet?

"Long story," Phoebe said. Podcast then laughed after a moment.

"You thought that you could trick me?" Podcast asked. "Taking the form of a friend. Show your real form."

"This is my real form," Phoebe said.

"Prove it," Podcast demanded. Phoebe thought for a brief moment.

"You think My Little Pony found it's voice in season three," Phoebe said. "You told me so when we met for the first time. Your flash drive of choice is one of the characters from the show. Rainbow Blitz, I think?"

"Rainbow Dash," Podcast said. "Her name is Rainbow Dash."

"Oops," Phoebe chucked.

"So, it really is you," Podcast said. A look of sorrow dawned appeared on his face, as if the reality of it really being Phoebe hit him, and the impact hurt like a train crash. "So, did you die?"

"Maybe," Phoebe said. "It's weird."

Phoebe noticed a familiar car pull up. She knew immediately when she saw the familiar logo on the car. Phoebe didn't know if she was ready to face them. Facing Podcast was one thing, but her family was a completely different ball park. She thought she was ready to face her family, but now she just wanted to disappear again. I can just disappear again, right?

"There you are," Trevor called out. Phoebe was frozen. Her parents, plus Lucky and Ray, got out of the car. Trevor was the first person to reach her. "I was so worried."

Trevor tried to pull her in for a hug, but his arms went straight through her. The look on his face showed that the reality of the situation was hitting him. "You don't hate me?" Phoebe whispered.

"Hate you?" Trevor asked. "I could never."

Phoebe then turned her attention to her mother and Gary. "I'm sorry for everything," Phoebe said. The words were heavy on her tongue. "Everything is my fault."

"It's okay," Callie whispered. Was it though? "You're going to be okay." Will I be though? "Just, next time you have a fit of teenage rebellion, please keep your soul in your body. Get a tattoo or something."

Phoebe released a bittersweet chuckle. "We're going to fix this," Call promised.

"We need to get back to the fire house," Lucky said. "The temperature is well bellow freezing."

"Lucky is right," Ray said. "However, there isn't enough room in the car for everyone."

"I can fly," Phoebe suggested. "I haven't tried it before, but I now that I can."

"That's too risky," Callie said. "People have already seen you. The last thing we need is word getting back about this to Peck."

Phoebe nodded in agreement. Phoebe probably couldn't get into the car either. She then remembered the car was always filled with proton packs. "Do you have any free proton packs?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah," Lucky said.

Phoebe shrugged. "Strange problems come with strange solutions."