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Just the Way You Are	By : megabsupreme Category: +M through R > Real Ghostbusters Views: 3491 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Real Ghostbusters, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Peter was in another one of his funks. He’d been unbearable all week, but today was Christmas, and no one else felt like letting Venkman ruin his holiday. Even being back in business hadn’t kept Peter from still being the Grinch that tried to steal everyone’s Christmas.

Egon had already left for Janine’s place on Christmas Eve. None of them expected to see him for the rest of the day. At least, not if Big J had anything to say about it.

Winston was going to help his mother, who had decided to keep her restaurant open for the first time on Christmas. Winston had to wonder if this had to do with Kelechi’s restaurant being open for the holidays, but he wouldn’t dare ask his mother that.

Ray had also left the night before. Alice Derleth had called him and asked for help with something in Arkham. Ray was very quiet about what the problem was. Egon said he’d offered to help, but for some reason Ray was keeping it secret. He just rented a car and took off on his own. Peter and Winston were a bit worried, but Egon was unconcerned. “Raymond is an adult and a professional paranormal investigator. Just let him work on this on his own for a while. He’ll call us if he needs us.” Peter told Winston that Egon was just in a rush to get to Janine’s. Winston had to agree that it seemed likely he was thinking with his ‘little physicist’.

So once Winston left, Peter was left alone in the firehouse. He went back to his apartment after a while. He was on his third beer when the phone rang. He picked it up reluctantly, and only because he thought it might be Ray. “Yeah?”

“Peter?”

“Uh huh.”

“Hi. Um. It’s Dana.”

He jumped up off the couch. “Oh. Dana, hi!”

“I called the firehouse, but no one was there.”

“Yeah. I mean, we all ended up having plans for Christmas.”

“Oh really? Plans, huh? Well, let’s see. Egon’s an easy guess. He’s with Janine, right?”

“Bingo.”

“Ray’s either with his Aunt Lois or off on some supernatural crusade.”

“Correct again.”

“And since Winston mentioned that his mother’s restaurant would be open today, I’m assuming that he’s there, maybe not with bells on, but definitely with an apron.”

“That’s three out of three, Jimmy! Tell her what she’s won!”

She smiled. On the day they’d met, she’d told him that he seemed more like a game show host than a scientist. She’d meant it as an insult at the time, but he’d taken it as a compliment to spite her, and he’d teased her about it ever since. “Well, I just called to say Merry Christmas. I don’t want to keep you.”

“Wait! You’re not keeping me. Don’t hang up. I mean, unless I’m keeping you.”

“Oh no. It’s just . . . well, you said you had plans.”

“Plans? Oh, uh yeah.” He slapped his forehead in self-disgust. “Well, it’s not really that important. I’d like to talk to you for a little longer if you’re not busy.”

“It’s Christmas and I’m a single mom. What’s to be busy?” she replied sarcastically.

Peter smiled. She had his wit. He missed her so much. “Well, I guess I should let you go then.”

Dana’s smile faltered. That sounded awfully final. She really didn’t want to let him hang up either, but she also knew that getting involved with Peter Venkman again was asking for trouble.

Trouble she didn’t need.

She sighed heavily. “Venkman, wait.” ‘Shit.’

“Yes, Dana?”

“Why don’t you stop by for a bit? I’ve made dinner and there’s more than enough for one more. It’s lonely today anyway. I gave Rosa the holidays off so she could visit family in Puerto Rico.”

Peter grinned broadly from ear to ear. “I’d like that.”

“Okay.”

“See you in about half an hour?”

“Okay.”

“See you in about an hour then.” He was so nervous, he was repeating himself.

“Peter?”

“Yeah Dana?”

“Merry Christmas.”

He chuckled, relaxing already. “It sure is.”

When they hung up, he ran for the shower. He was never so glad that he hadn’t felt like getting really drunk at Christmas for a change. He dressed quickly; putting on a nice shirt and slacks, then added a heavy sweater. He was also glad that he’d had a sudden impulse the week before to buy Dana and Oscar presents. He put on his coat, tossed the gifts into a duffle bag and headed out the door.

Dana’s apartment was decorated much more cheerfully for Christmas than he’d remembered. Of course, it was Oscar’s first Christmas, so that wasn’t surprising. Dana had been delighted at the presents. He’d bought her a beautiful gold watch with a musical note and a G-clef as the hands. He’d had a gift made for Oscar, a miniature Ghostbusters uniform pajama outfit with footies shaped like boots. It even had a name tag that read ‘Barrett’. Oscar wore it, drooled on it, puked on it, and soiled it with baby tinkle. Peter couldn’t have been happier.

He played with Oscar, building a very easy and strong bond with the child. She fed her son then she and Peter ate dinner together and watched a movie while the baby slept.

They had a wonderful day and evening together, and it was time for Peter to go far too soon for either of them. They hugged at the door then Peter turned to leave.

Dana debated whether or not to do something impulsive, just for the holiday. She quickly decided to go for it when Peter began to close the door.

“Peter?”

He paused, his hand still on the doorknob. “Yup.”

“I almost forgot. I have a gift for you, too.”

“You do?” His face brightened. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Well, you didn’t have to get me anything either. Or Oscar for that matter. No, I want to give you this.”

“Well . . . okay, ‘cause it’s you,” he joked.

“Close your eyes.”

“Okay.” He complied. Dana walked closer to him, stopping right in front of him.

“Now, open your eyes.” Peter did, and he found himself standing toe-to-toe with Dana. “Good, now look up.” He did just that, and he found that he’d totally ignored a sprig of mistletoe that was tacked up over the front door. He looked back down at Dana. She was looking at him expectantly. He smiled; taking the hint, while acknowledging the fact that this was not going to bring them back together.

The kiss was slow and lingering at first, but then it quickly changed to a passionate kiss filled with fire. Peter slid one hand into her hair and the other down to the small of Dana’s back. He sucked lightly on her lower lip, until it was swollen. She ran her fingers through his hair to grip handfuls of his dark brown mane. They continued to try to devour each other for several minutes. Finally, Peter pulled away, putting just enough space between them so that she wouldn’t feel his erection.

She let him pull back. They smiled at each other then kissed again tenderly. And then he was gone. Dana closed her apartment door and sighed, leaning against it. ‘Definitely trouble,’ she thought with a smile. “But a little trouble can make life interesting,” she mumbled with a grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile . . .

Janine found that she couldn’t stop giggling. Egon had been telling her about yet another of his, Ray’s and Peter’s antics during their years in graduate school at MIT, and even as professors at Columbia. They’d really been a trio of tricksters. She did notice that they liked to play jokes on each other, but she never imagined that they would do this to anyone else.

She and Egon had made love all day, and now, they were simply relaxing together for the night, talking about anything at all and nothing in particular. He’d been telling her about how Dana came to visit him about the baby, and he’d mentioned to her thae ote other guys had run through the halls of the research facility that he’d worked in, sans clothing. Janine remembered it well. Peter had tried to get her to do it with them.

Well, the guys had run through the halls screaming for help because ‘the mad scientist Dr. Spengler was doing sick, perverse, and unholy experiments on them’. She’d asked him why he and the others pulled so many pranks. It seemed that practical jokes had become second nature to them during their college days.

“So, naturally, we hid. We weren’t able to come out of hiding for hours. It was worth it though. Dean Yeager was bright neon purple for a week. I’m he he was cognizant of the fact that we were responsible. That’s probably why he was so happy to dismiss us a month later.” He chuckled. Janine watched his face carefully. He looked nostalgic and amused, but nothing more. She was glad. Egon usually looked hurt and angry, and perhaps a little embarrassed, when discussing their ousting from academia. It was a real affront to a genius of his stature to be sacked like that. She figured Dean Yeager was just angry, and maybe jealous and threatened by them. According to Peter, the kids had loved them, and they’d hated the dean. It was good to know Egon was finally realizing that.

“So that’s why you guys have such a knack for pulling fast ones, huh?”

“Yes. Although I had noticed that you were rather skilled in that respect as well.”

“Oh yeah. I’m a prankster from way back. The first time was when this senior girl from high school picked on me while I was in junior high.”

“What happened?”

“I dropped my books in the hallway at school, and this guy helped me pick them up. It turned out to be her boyfriend. Her friends accused me of flirting with him, which was a blatant lie. I was way too young for him. I was only thirteen.”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, she and three of her friends jumped me the next day. I was able to get away, but not before they beat me up pretty badly.”

Egon’s brow furrowed and he grimaced. One of them would have been too old at eighteen to be hitting a thirteen-year-o Fou Four adults to one child was just despicable.

“So I bided my time, watched them to see where their weaknesses were, and I struck.”

“What did you do?”

“Well, for the three friends, they liked sweets and they were constant bullies. So I set a trap. I baked Ex-Lax brownies and normal brownies. I had a couple of friends stand near their homeroom eating the normal brownies. When the girls showed up, of course they demanded the brownies, so they gave them the bag of Ex-Lax ones. From what I heard, they spent all of third period running to the girls’ bathroom.” She smirked devilishly. “One of them didn’t make it.”

Egon relaxed, smiling proudly at her well-calculated revenge. “And the girl with the boyfriend?”

“She loved her car even more than her boyfriend, so I frosted her windshield with a ton of Vaseline. It was January too, not that she could’ve gotten it off in the summer either, but knowing that it was frozen to the glass just made it all the sweeter. ”

Egon’s eyes widened. Then he burst into a fit of laughter. “That’s a good one!” He cracked up again. Janine sputtered and started to roll with laughter, tickled to death that he was so amused.

They laughed together until Egon started coughing, wiping tears from his eyes and a very naked Janine jumped up out of bed, yelling, “I gotta pee! I gotta pee!” between giggles. She ran to the bathroom and slammed the door, but he could hear her laughing uncontrollably through the bathroom door. This sent Egon into another uproar of laughter until he couldn’t breathe enough to make another sound.

He finally got it under control. He got up and went to the kitchen for something to drink. He couldn’t believe how much he’d changed since they’d been together. He couldn’t remember laughing so hard, not even when Peter convinced him to engage in some random misbehavior at someone else’s expense.

He also would never have walked around so unabashedly naked as he was at that moment.

The things one loving, fiery redhead could do for a man’s life. He grinned broadly and shook his head, bemusedly. ‘Fascinating.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple hours later . . .

Business at Comfort Food was very good that night. Winston noticed with some satisfaction that Kelechi Bryant’s restaurant, Abyssinia, did not seem to be doing half as well. The fact was Christmas was a time for comfort food, not foreign fare. His mother was glad to be doing good business, but she expressed some disappointment for Kelechi. Winston did not share his mother’s charitable outlook.

Once the last patron left and the cleanup was complete, Ellen’s staff all left at her insistence. Only her son refused to leave her alone to the day’s accounting. Finally, he insisted that she go home and spend time with her grandchildren. He walked her to her car, kissed her on the cheek, and sent her on her way. He then returned to the restaurant office and finished the tally.

Winston finished around 11:30 pm. He left the restaurant in good spirits, whistling contentedly.

As he was unlocking the door to Ecto-1, his military trained ear heard a muffled squeak. It was a strange sound, almost as if someone were crying into a hanky. He followed the sound across the street and into the alley next to Abyssinia. There was a scratching sound, then the muffled whimpering again. Winston looked all around and couldn’t find the source of the sound. After a while he decided that he must have been hearing things. He turned to leave.

“No.” It was just a whisper. A distinctly female, English-accented whisper.

Winston continued to walk away as if he hadn’t heard anything. He doubled back around to the rear of the alley. He was now clearly able to see that Kelechi Bryant was pinned on her stomach next to a dumpster. Her arms were tied behind her back with a filthy rag. She was crying brokenly as her attacker cut her clothing away with a switchblade. Winston’s face contorted with rage.

Sneaking silently behind the guy, Winston took him completely by surprise, knocking him unconscious before he had time to even think. Kelechi screamed as the would-be rapist fell over on top of her. Winston pulled her out from under him and covered her mouth. She apparently thought he was another attacker come to finish the job. When she quieted down, he started to cut her bonds.

When she realized who it was, she just stared at him in shock. “Winston?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” He used the switchblade on a second rag that bound her feet. He absently wondered how the hell the guy was going to rape her with her legs pinned together. “You okay?”

She looked down at herself, surveying the damage. She honestly didn’t know if she was okay. “You’re here?”

“Yes.”

“He’s gone?”

“He’s over there. Knocked out.” She looked at her attacker and shrank back into the corner. Winston noted her reaction and quickly covered the guy with a discarded tablecloth from under the dumpster. “Better?”

She didn’t answer his question. She just started rambling on instead. “He said he wanted some change.”

“Yeah? Then what happened?” Maybe if he got her talking, he could keep her calm.

“I didn’t have any change. He . . . he said he wanted change.”

Winston looked at her critically. Her eyes were huge and haunted. “He didn’t want change, huh?”

“He said he did. That’s what he said. And I didn’t have any. And he said he was going to . . . he wanted me to lie still. Be quiet. No noise or he’d cut me. He said so.”

“I’m sorry.”

“And I saw you. You were over there.” She pointed to where Winston had first entered the alley. “But you left. I saw you and you left. And he was happy. He told me that it was a close call. He said he wanted to . . . to . . .” She started crying. “He was going to do it. He was going to . . . he wanted to sodomize me, Winston. He was going to sodomize me in an alley under a dumpster.” She broke down into fierce, heaving sobs of shame. He winced. That was how he planned to rape her with her feet tied together.

‘Monster.’ Winston placed a tentative hand on her arm, patting her gently. He didn’t want to scare her. Some women who are sexually assaulted shied away from a man’s attempt at a comforting touch arst.rst.

Kelechi did not cringe away from Winston. She turned into his embrace and hugged him tightly. She cried for a long time, her body wracked by her violent sobbing. At one point she was almost screaming with the effort.

Her cries gradually dissolved to silent tears, until she had no more tears to spill.

Winston took her keys to the restaurant from her purse. He helped her to her feet, but found her to be very shaky, so he carried her to the door and opened it. He took her inside and called the police. While waiting for them to arrive, he got her a chef’s white uniform jacket to wear over her sliced up outfit.

Once the cops arrived, Kelechi was in a daze for the whole time they were there, answering their questions in the emotionless drone of an automaton. She stared out the window at the alley, unable to tear her eyes away from the place where she was almost violated. Winston offered his statement as well, gently encouraging her when she drifted away or couldn’t bring herself to answer. She looked so petite. Winston had never noticed it before because she always seemed so self-assured, but Kelechi couldn’t have been more than 5-foot-3, 110 pounds. She looked so tiny and vulnerable that Winston felt his heart would break from the sight of her.

The culprit was taken away in handcuffs, although he was still unconscious. The police offered to take Kelechi to the hospital, but she violently shook her head no. She just wanted to go home. She wasn’t really hurt, and she wanted to be in her own bed, behind her five locks. Winston promised the officers that he would take Kelechi home if she wanted him to. She nodded her head vigorously at his offer, so the officers left her in his care.

The ride to her brownstone in Brooklyn was a quiet one. She occasionally wiped an errant tear from the corner of her eye. He glanced at her every time she did this, just to make sure she wasn’t going to break down again. If she needed a shoulder to cry on again, he’d pull over.

She held it together very well. They made it to her place pretty quickly, despite the late-nighlidaliday traffic. People had learned to get the hell out of Ecto’s way. Winston let the car idle, and turned to face his shaken passenger.

She was staring up at her home. She made no moves to get out. Her expression was clearly one of apprehension. Winston looked at her home and then back at her. He sighed in understanding.

She was afraid to go inside her own home alone.

“Want some company?”

She slowly turned her head to face him, welling up with tears again. “No. You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”

“No. It’s okay. I should be able to go home.” She sounded utterly mortified.

“Kelechi . . .”

“Kel.”

He blinked at her in confusion. “Huh?”

“Kel. It’s my nickname. Please, call me Kel.”

“Okay. Kel. You shouldn’t feel that you have to be expected to do anything ordinary tonight. What happened to you was anything but, and if you’re scared, just say so.”

She looked into his eyes and saw the truth of his statement. She cried freely. “I’m scared, Winston. I’m scared to death. I’m scared to get out of this car let alone go inside by myself. And I’m ashamed of myself because of it.”

“Well, you have nothing to be ashamed of, Kel. Come on. Let’s go inside together.”

“I can’t! As soon as you leave, I’ll be a wreck!”

He looked at her and smiled. “Who says I’m leaving?”

She stared at him for a long time. Then she looked at him as if she’d just remembered something really crucial. Unexpectedly, her plaintive gaze transformed to an icy glare. “You don’t want to do that.”

“Sure I do. My intentions are honorable, I swear.” He raised his hand in a Boy Scout salute.

“No, you don’t. You hate me.”

It was Winston’s turn to look ashamed. “I don’t hate you.”

“Sure you do. Yhinkhink I’m trying to put your Mum out of business. I can’t say I blame you for hating me. It does look that way, doesn’t it?”

“Look, whatever issues we have, tonight erased them. And I don’t hate you.”

“You just dislike me intensely, is that it?”

“No. I just . . . I just love my mother.”

“Yes. Well, I really like your Mum. She’s really sweet. Unlike certain other members of her family.”

“Where the hell is this coming from?” he looked pissed, and even a little hurt by the unprovoked attack.

She immediately felt ashamed of herself for being so cruel. She sighed and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He wouldn’t look at her. He was too angry.

“No really. I apologize. That was uncalled for. I just feel . . . I don’t know, but I shouldn’t have attacked you, of all people. You most likely saved my life tonight. At the very least you saved my arse.” She tried to smile. Her attempt at humor sounded a bit flat, but he really had to give her credit for the effort.

Winston’s features softened. He couldn’t stay mad at her. She’d been through so much. And hadn’t he suspected that she might do something like this? Besides, she was right. Before that night, they’d been nothing short of bitter enemies. He turned to face her. “Look Kel. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me, but I also don’t want you to be scared to go home. If you don’t want me to stay the night and keep you company, then tell me where you want to be dropped off. Your parents?”

“They’re dead.”

“Brothers? Sisters?”

“Only child.”

“Boyfriend.”

She made an unladylike snorting sound. “Sure, right.”

“Okay, a friend.”

“I’ve been in this country a very short while, Winston and I’ve devoted all my energy to my business. I don’t have any friends. Only employees, and I don’t want them to know.”

“Oh.” He felt really bad now for how he’d been treating her. “Well then,uessuess you’re either going to invite me inside, or you’re just going to have to spend the night at Ghostbusters Central with me, Peter and Slimer.”

“Slimer?”

“Our pet ghost.”

“Okay.” She looked terribly afraid. “Well, I guess I’m inviting you inside.”

Winston grinned and turned off the car. He got out and rushed around to her side opening the car door. She stepped out and handed him her house keys. He let them in and turned on the light. She had a really nice place. It was very tastefully decorated. He started to ask her if she wanted to sit down on the couch for a while, when she did something that took him totally off-guard.

She kissed him.

This was not just a little peck either. She stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around him so tightly; you might have thought he was holding her over a precipice threatening to drop her. Without really knowing why he did it, Winston returned the kiss with equal fervor. He delved his tongue into her mouth, savoring the taste of her. She melted against him, her soft curves melding perfectly with his hard contours. He stumbled back against the door, dragging her with him. He slid his fingers into her silky hair holding her head firmly in place while he plumbed her mouth greedily. He’d wanted her so badly for so long. She felt so good . . .

Then he came to his senses. He pulled away abruptly. He panted weakly, and tried to pry her hands from around his back, but he couldn’t. She looked into his eyes and paled. “You . . . you don’t want me?”

“I don’t want . . .? Of course I want you! I’ve wanted you for weeks! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to have the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen try to drive my mother out of business? I think about you all the time! And the more we fight, the more I want you!” He pushed her away from him and went to sink heavily onto the couch. He began rubbing his fingers across his brow.

She walked over and joined him on the couch. “I feel the same way. And for the last time, I’m not trying to put your mother out of business. I didn’t even close the deal on the restaurant. The real estate broker sold it to my ex-business partner. I think he planned it. See, we’d been dating and we broke up. He’d promised to help me with the restaurant while we were still together. He deserted me right after that and never told me that there was already a soul food restaurant so close by. I didn’t know about Comfort Food until the first time I came to look at the place, and by then I was committed. There was no way I could move somewhere else. I’m sure my ex-partner knew that. He probably figured I’d fail trying to compete with such a well-loved restaurant. And he was right.”

“What?”

“Business is bad, Winston. I stayed open for Christmas in desperation, hoping to make a little extra money. Then your Mum decided to stay open, too. There was no way that I could compete with that type of cuisine at Christmas. So I lost money by staying open today. We’re closing. I really didn’t have any change for that . . . that man. He wouldn’t believe me.”

Winston couldn’t have felt like more of a heel. To think that he’d been glad that her restaurant hadn’t done well that day! He’d assumed that just because she was open, she was doing well.

“I’m so sorry, Kel.”

“Right.” She looked skeptical.

“I am. And I’m sorry that I’ve been . . .”

“A prick?” she offered smiling slightly.

He chuckled. “Yes. I’ve been a prick. Can you forgive me?”

“Sure thing, Prick. You did save my life after all.”

“Well, in gratitude, would you mind coming up with a new nickname for me. ‘Prick’ is a little harsh.”

She thought for a moment, and then smiled. “How about Churchill?”

“Churchill?”

“Sure. After another Winston who’s a great hero to England’s people.”

Winston smiled at her fondly. “Churchill it is then.”

“Good.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“Thanks for saving me.”

“Thanks for forgiving me.”

“Thanks for spending the night.”

“Thanks for letting me.”

“Thanks for coming upstairs to my bedroom with me.”

“Thanks for . . . come again?”

She smiled shyly, and stood. “You heard me, Churchill.” That being said, she walked up the stairs. Winston sat there for a moment in utter disbelief. He then stood and followed her.

He found the chef’s coat hanging on the banister at the top of the stairs. He walked a little further and found the torn remains of her blouse. Walking further still, he found the remnants of her skirt. Outside a door that had to be her bedroom, he found her bra and panties. He picked them up and smiled. He knocked and opened the door at her beckoning.

She was wearing a green satin nightgown and was just slipping under the covers of her king-sized canopy bed. Winston entered the room slowly. He went to turn off the light, but she stopped him. “Leave it on.”

“Okay.” Poor thing. She looked petrified at the prospect of being in the dark.

She sighed heavily. “Well, don’t just stand there with my knickers in your hand. Come here.”

He looked down at the soft undergarments in his hand then let the material slide through his fingers and onto the floor. “Kel, I don’t know about this.”

“Mm hm. Come along then.”

“Kel, I’m serious.”

“So am I. Come to bed.”

“You were almost raped tonight, Kel. We shouldn’t do this.”

“We aren’t going to do anything, Churchill. Just come lie beside me.”

“Kel, this isn’t necessary. I mean this just isn’t a good way for me to let you thank me.”

“Silly man.” She smiled fondly at him. “That’s not why I’m doing this. We’ve both admitted to being attracted to each other, right?”

“Yeah.”

So, that doesn’t mean we have to act on it tonight now does it?”

He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “I guess not.”

“Right then. I just want you to hold me, not for you but for me. I need to know that you really want to be with me. I just need that right now. I want to feel like . . . I’m worth that much. I just want to know that you can hold me and feel good about it. That’s all.”

Winston rubbed his eyes tiredly, and nodded. She covered her eyes, allowing him the same privacy she’d had in undressing. He stripped off his clothes down to his T-shirt and briefs then slipped into bed beside her. She smiled at him in gratitude. They settled back against the pillows and hugged each other tightly.

To Winston’s relief, she was asleep in less than a minute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nearly midnight . . .

In the eastern hills of Massachusetts, the un-hallowed halls of Miskatonic University lay nestled in the sleepy little town of Arkham. Like many sleepy towns, Arkham hid its own secrets. An hour or so southeast of Boston, Arkham had been the site of countless strange and inexplicable supernatural phenomena. And today was no exception.

As Raymond Stantz stood in the entranceway to Celaeno Hall, he couldn’t help but marvel at the unique architectural style. Even the buildings in Arkham were unusual.

“Ray!”

He looked up the stairs at the sound of someone calling his name and grinned broadly. It was Alice.

Alice Derleth was a tall beautiful woman who also had a PhD in occult science. She had earned her degree at Miskatonic, not surprising since her great-grandfather was one of the paranormalists who had once camped out in Arkham to view its many esoteric happenings, and then gone on to found the university. “Hi Alice. It’s good to see you again.”

“Thank you, but I have to say it’s even better to see you.” She hugged him. “Things have been even scarier than usual around here.”

Ray looked shocked at her statement. Nothing scared Alice. When they were battling Cthulhu a couple of years before, she had run up to the demon’s feet and cast a spell on him. To hear her say she was scared, it must have been a really big deal.

They adjourned to the Tindalos Room, at Alice’s suggestion, to get some dinner. It was a nice meal, but what really kept Ray’s attention was the room itself. There were absolutely no corners at all in the strange commissary. It was weird. Even the furniture was all rounded.

They ate some of the best hot dogs Ray had ever tasted, rivaling the Coney Island Nathan’s frank. While they ate, Ray drew many curious stares, as he was wearing his Ghostbusters uniform and had a proton pack and a bag of other gear resting at his feet. After dinner, Alice told Ray more about what had been happening in Arkham and the surrounding area.

“People have been going missing. It’s not unusual for the occasional disappearance, but it’s been at least one hundred fifty people in the last month. And they disappear without a trace. Here. Look at these.” With that, she reached into her rucksack to hand Ray some back issues of the local newspaper, the Arkham Advertiser.

“Hmm. Has anything else unusual happened lately?”

Alice thought about it for a few moments. “There’s always something.”

“What about this?” He showed her an article from about a month before. Then her eyes widened in realization. “Yes! There was a break-in at the museum! An artifact was stolen, but I don’t remember which one.”

“Well, it’s a start. Can we go check it out?”

“Oh sure. The mayor says that you can do whatever you need to do to rid the town of whatever menace is threatening it this time.”

“Okay. To the museum, then.”

Ray and Alice went to the university museum together. There, they found an exhibit with broken Plexiglass that had contained the small statuette believed to be brought back from another dimension by Walter Gilman, a former student of non-Euclidian calculus and physics. Egon had modeled many of his own theories after those of the brilliant young man whose life had been snuffed out so violently in the late 1920s. In an attempt to understand the powers that had been wielded by the 17th century witch Keziah Mason, Gilman had taken up residence in the boarding house that had once been the witch’s home. This house was aptly named the Witch-House by local Arkhamites. It was no longer standing, but the lore of what happened to Gilman lived on. Murdered by the rake fke familiar of Keziah Mason, a creature known by the townspeople as Brown Jenkin, the only physical evidence that remained of his ordeal in the Witch-House was the statuette. It was a graphic representation of one of the Old Ones that Gilman’s friends claimed he’d gotten from another dimension in which the Old Ones lived.

And now it was gone.

This could not be coincidence. There must have been some malicious intent behind the disappearance of the townsfolk and the theft of the artifact. Ray pulled out his PKE meter and took readings of the broken display case. The PKE meter registered a 5.7 from the residue alone. Ray followed the trail of latent PKE out of the museum and into the street. Alice followed close on his heels. They got into Ray’s rental car and drove away from the campus on Innsmouth Drive. It took them down into town.

The PKE readings became stronger as they went. Finally, the meter began to smoke and shorted out in front of a rundown building on Church Street. Ray recalibrated a second meter to not be so sensitive and started taking readings again. He and Alice entered the building and followed the trail of PKE again.

They came to a dilapidated staircase leading down into the bowels of the building. Alice was fearless as always, so Ray swallowed his worry and led her downstairs, against his better judgment. When they reached the lower landing, they found a small room that was nearly empty, save for a small table with something on it. Upon closer examination, they saw that it was a silver bowl filled with a dark reddish brown liquid. The smell was rank, and Alice insisted that this must be the life’s blood of a small child, as that was a requirement of the rituals performed by Keziah Mason. Ray cringed a bit, but continued his examination.

There seemed to be a heavy surge of PKE coming from within the walls themselves. He pulled his thrower and asked her to stand back. He blasted the wall with a short, controlled burst. The woodwork fell away in splinters.

Behind the wall, was a horror that neither would ever forget. The mutilated bodies of at least thirty people spilled out onto the floor, most with expressions of pure terror on their faces. There were clearly several other bodies behind those that had fallen free, still hidden in the walls. The smell of the putrescence was overpowering. The bodies were in various stages of decay, having obviously been murdered over a period of time. Alice retched, and Ray’s eyes welled with tears when he noticed the slaughtered body of a toddler, that was pale, as if drained of blood. And at the foot of the child’s corpse was the stolen statue from the Walter Gilman exhibit.

Ray took several photos of the scene with an instamatic camera, wondering all the while what kind of monsters could be responsible for such dreadfulness. While he did this, Alice knelt to pick up the artifact, but Ray stopped her with a halting grip on her shoulder.

“No, don’t. It’s got a PKE valence of 7.2, so it should be able to be trapped. I’d feel better about it if you didn’t touch it yourself.” Ray grabbed a ghost trap, and opened it facing the figure, which was instantly sucked into its dep

At the moment the trap’s doors closed over the statue, the building began to shake. The rumbling quickly escalated to mild earthquake-proportions. Ray grabbed Alice’s hand and ran for the stairs. They left the confines of the building and got back in the rental car and drove away. Alice looked back at the building, just in time to see it collapse in on itself.

They went to the police and reported what they had found. Ray showed them the Polaroids he’d taken, especially the one that showed the statue close up. The officers recognized it as the artifact. Ray told them that he had trapped it and planned to put it into the containment unit when he got home. The police were more than happy to be rid of such a dangerous artifact.

Once they had given their statements, Ray AlicAlice went to the Derleth Student Union at Miskatonic U. It was named after her great-grandfather, which Alice said was sometimes rather weird. They had a late snack in the Hali Lounge, but they barely touched any of their food, opting instead for the strong black coffee. They sat across from each other, neither saying anything for some time. Ray finally broke the silence.

“Alice?”

“Yes, Ray?”

“You know, we haven’t a clue who’s responsible for this.”

“Yes. I know.”

He looked her squarely in the eye. “I fear for your safety here.”

She looked down into her mug, watching the steam rise off the black fluid with mock interest. “So do I.”

Ray nodded and looked away too, taking a long dram from his coffee mug. He stared around the room, again amazed by the odd architecture. He shook off his stupor and looked back at Alice. He found her staring at him expectantly. “I’m sorry. I . . . it’s just . . . never mind. I’m sorry for drifting.”

“It’s okay.” She continued to look at him, her face a mask of patience.

He sighed. “Alice. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I want you to come back to New York City with me for the time being. I think you’ll be safe there with us.”

Alice stared at him for a moment then stared down at her mug again. She noticed her hands gripping the sides of the mug. Her knuckles were white and her fingers were trembling with the effort she was using to hold the ceramic cup. ‘Oh God. I’m even more afraid than I’d realized.’ She bit her lip until it bled.

“Alice?”

“Yes, Ray?” She did not look at him.

“What do you think?”

She sucked on her bruised lip to squelch the pain. Then she got up from her chair on shaky legs. She walked around their table and sat in the chair directly next to Ray’s. “I think . . . that I’m glad you came.” With that she kissed him. It wasn’t a kiss full of repressed longing like the one Peter and Dana shared. It wasn’t a passionate kiss of pure love like the ones Egon bestowed on Janine everyday. It wasn’t a sexually repressed battle of the tongues like the one Winston and Kel had indulged in.

It was just a kiss. Nothing more. Nothing less. But there was more affection, more love in that simple meeting of two sets of lips than any shared by the other Ghostbusters that night.

Alice tried to smile, but only achieved a slight grimace. “I also think you’re right.” Ray held out his hand to Alice. She placed her hand in his. ‘Good. He’s shaking too. I don’t feel so bad.’

Ray sighed. “Okay.”

She looked up at him now, her eyes wide with terror. “Can we leave now please?”

Ray’s heart sank at the look on Alice’s face. Alice was fearless. Seeing her afraid was more than he could bear. There was more to this than she was letting on. Until he knew what she was keeping from him, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

“Of course. Sure. You live on Saltonstall Street, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

Ray stood and helped her up from her chair. They left in silence and did not speak another word during the ride to her house, although they gripped each other’s hands tightly for the duration of the ride.

Alice lived in a large mansion in the affluent part of town. Her father had left the imposing edifice to her. She had grown up there, and it had been the only home she’d ever known. Now, she was terrified to enter it, even for long enough to pack her things to leave.

Alice packed two large suitcases and a small overnight bag. Ray carried them down to the entrance hall as she filled each bag. Once she was finished packing, they walked downstairs.

And there, they found Alice’s front door open. There was a note stuck to her door by a large ornate dagger. It was inked in blood. Alice whimpered miserably and hid behind Ray at the sight. Ray walked tentatively up to the door, checked for any sign of the intruder, and inspected her bags for tampering. When he was sure everything was safe, he snatched the note off the door. Alice read over his shoulder.

“Interlopers!

You will regret the day you decided to interfere in our dealings. You have prevented us from completing our rituals by taking the sacred object. Even now, we hear the footsteps of our mistress’s familiar coming to punish us for our failure.

But just know that the will of Hecate’s servant will not go unchallenged. Even no you you undoubtedly celebrate your victory, we relish in our knowledge that you will soon meet defeat. There are others who wish to return to our world to rule. Others far more terrifying than our mistress. YOU will be next.”

The note was unsigned.
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Just the Way You Are