At least I don't hurt any longer. Those spasms of pain stopped as soon as I became solid again. I exchanged excruciating agony for a solid body--and a permanent exile in the Netherworld. There is no way for a human to return from these realms. I remember theorizing with Ray on a number of late night lab sessions over the possibility of transferring ghosts into the Netherworld, but we both realized they would be able to return, and might, quite possibly, be seriously annoyed with us for sending us there.
I can't be annoyed with Ray for sending me here; he acted in good faith, in a desperate attempt to keep me from dissolving entirely. Had he acted even a few seconds faster, I believe he would have been too late. Yet, he was in time, and my molecules are solid again.
But I am in the Netherworld. Worse, I am a prisoner in Tolay's keep.
I was aware of the existence of Tolay; the demon Arzun threatened us, warned us that if we busted it, its brother Tolay would seek revenge. How ironic that the first entity I encountered in the Netherworld was none other than the demon himself.
I don't believe Tolay knows yet that Arzun has been busted. That is a bit of information I do not plan to share. Tolay does know I am a Ghostbuster, however. The uniforms are rather distinctive. Perhaps ghosts have the equivalent of 'wanted' posters with our pictures on it. Tolay gloated when he put me into this cell. He twisted the bars down out of the living rock to seal me in. Without a proton pack, I cannot escape this prison.
I am not alone in here in this prison. I hear the moans of other imprisoned entities and beings, but none are within my field of vision. Perhaps that is just as well. I should not enjoy seeing the inevitable results of Tolay's torture and know that it would soon be my fate to experience the same.
Tolay went about his own business, but I know he will return. Ordinarily, I would be quite phlegmatic about that, because I would know that the guys would stand by me, that they would fight the demon at my side, that they would come to my rescue. But how can they come into the Netherworld? Unless Ray can adapt the process... But how can he do that? My transition here was an accidental byproduct of his rescue attempt, an unexpected side effect of the molecular reconversion. Ray will put everything he has into a solution, but I know I cannot count on it.
Bad enough that I am imprisoned by a demon who has no cause to love the Ghostbusters and may well learn he has reason to hate us. At best, I can expect a lengthy imprisonment, at worst, a vicious and painful death. I cannot expect rescue, for humans cannot pass through the dimensional barriers, not unless Ray can contrive a solution. And I cannot allow myself to hope for that.
Ray. When I met Ray, I found someone who would understand my desire to protect the world from the occult menace, someone who could understand all but the most esoteric of my sciences. How many pleasant hours have I spent with Ray, working in the lab, how many battles with ghosts and demons have I fought at his side.
Winston came late to our group, turning the trio into a quartet. While he lacks the academic background the rest of us share, he possesses common sense in abundance, a sense of humor, the ability to stand up to Peter when he is at his most annoying, and a knack for teaching us the things we never learned as professors. Like Ray, he has become a brother.
And then there is Peter. As I sit here, feeling the cold of the living rock seeping into my bones, I remember Peter. Who would have thought Peter Venkman and I would become friends? Who would have thought two men so different would come to understand each other so well?
Who would have thought how much I would miss them all?
I only hope that Ray will not blame himself, that Winston will not exhaust himself helping the other two to cope, that Peter will not retreat into the man he might have been if he had not become a part of our family. I want them to go on without me, but the thought of going on here,without them, is too painful to contemplate.
I'm sorry I can't be with you, guys. Don't let my going break up the team. Don't lose yourself in failed efforts to save me. I know you would be here if you could. If you don't find me, I will never blame you.
I will simply miss you. For as long as Tolay allows me to live.
Wait, what's that? I lift my head at a familiar voice, one that shouldn't be here at all, but one that, miraculously, is. And there they are, my three best friends, lined up expectantly. I can feel the smile that stretches across my face. Even as I warn them to get out of here before Tolay returns, I know that they will not do so.
"...and we're taking you with us," Peter says as if it is an immutable fact, and I know that it is.
I am going home.
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