Three days into the break and already Maria was bored. She was reduced to reading a
wonderful book in her favorite little quiet spot in the woods. She shook her head in
amusement. It was a warm, humid day in the small southern town. People had their doors
and windows open to let the fresh air in. Again, Maria shook her head. Fresh air. Now there
was a commodity not many people had. Luckily, this town had not yet been reached by the
corruption of cars. Several houses had baked goods cooling on the windowsills and the smells wafted gently to her nose. She closed her eyes for a moment to let the sounds of summer fill her consciousness. She re-opened her eyes at the sound of a struggle behind her. She turned to see what was going on. Looming up behind her was a huge gray mass of...something. In its paw, it held a limp, bloody body. Maria's book was forgotten as she sprinted back to warn the people.

* * * * *

"Hey, Eddie, heads up!" shouted the wheelchair-bound college student as he hurled a basketball at his unsuspecting Latino friend.

"Huh?" Eduardo whirled around just in time to catch the ball in his chest, "Ooof! Hey! What was that for, Garrett?" he complained as he rubbed at the developing bruise on his rib cage.

"Sorry, Eddie, I thought our little track star would be a little quicker!" Garrett Miller snickered.

A college student himself and still a teenager, Eduardo Rivera stalked over to the large couch in the firehouse to nurse both his wounded chest and pride. He didn't even look before he sat down.
From under Eduardo's butt came a yelp of surprise. Eduardo stood bolt upright and began apologizing profusely to Kylie Griffen, who had been napping quietly on the couch.

"Oh, jeez Ky, I'm so sorry! I was so upset that I didn't even notice you there! Please forgive me! Don't hurt me!" Eduardo cringed as Kylie prepared to pelt him with a pillow. Instead, she grabbed the afghan, coiled it up, and pretended to strangle him with it.

"That's it Eduardo! I've had enough! NO MORE MS. NICE GIRL!" she threatened. Kylie and Eduardo fought hard to keep from laughing, but neither was successful. Eduardo collapsed back onto the couch, sitting on Kylie's legs again.

"Ha ha ha ha... ouch...ha ha! Hee hee, whooo!" Kylie paused briefly to push Eduardo off of her shins and continued laughing. Garrett just looked on, barely hiding his own laughter until he, too burst out laughing, doubling up in his wheelchair.

Moments later, when Eduardo, Garrett, and Kylie were calming down, a tall black teen walked into the living room.

"Eduardo, Kylie, Garrett, I think you guys might wanna come into the kitchen," Roland Jackson said gravely, "Something's come up."

The other three stopped laughing immediately and looked at each other. Silently, they followed Roland into the kitchen.

Egon Spengler, a tall, blonde-haired man of his thirties, stood with his hand on the shoulder of the Ghostbusters' redheaded secretary, Janine Melnitz. Janine was holding a stack of papers as thick as a book and frowning deeply. Egon adjusted his wire frame glasses and looked up at the four Ghostbusters.

"Well, looks like we're going to be in for quite a trip, kids," Egon said sarcastically as he turned and walked out of the room. Janine handed the stack of papers to Kylie, whose eyes went wide.

"These are all the same!" she exclaimed after skimming through the pile of papers.
Roland and Janine nodded.

"Well, it looks like you'll have to go home and pack for a long trip. All of these calls came from various towns in Louisiana. Luckily, all of the towns are within a short distance of each other," Janine pointed to the printout map on the pile, "I'm going to call the airline and get you all booked on the soonest flight out."

* * * * *

Kylie sighed as she carried her books home to pack. She felt lonely all of a sudden and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Eduardo usually walked with her. He lived near her and they usually walked together. Kylie was in the process of figuring out why he hadn't joined her when, out of nowhere, he appeared.

"Hey Kylie! Wait up!" Eduardo yelled as he sprinted to catch up to the beautiful black-haired girl.

Kylie stopped walking and waited for him to come up beside her. He didn't even seem to have broken a sweat. Of course, Kylie thought, he was thin, which led her to believe that he was an athlete. Then again, he had never mentioned playing any sports and he almost never had time for them anyway. She often thought about whether or not he had a six pack on his stomach.

"Hey, Kylie, those look heavy. Do you want me to carry them for you?" Eduardo asked shyly, pointing to her books.

Kylie flashed a sweet smile and replied, "Sure Eduardo, that's really nice of you."

"So," Eduardo said, "What kind of ghoulie do you think could be causing all of this grief? I mean, that was a pretty big pile of notes! And it has to be dangerous, otherwise, those people wouldn't have called all the way to New York."

Kylie had been wondering the exact same thing, but didn't say so, "I really don't know Eduardo. This is as much of a mystery to me as it is to you!"

By this time, they had reached Kylie's house. Eduardo started to hand Kylie her books but she said, "Why don't you come in? We could talk some more."

Eduardo noticed a hint of pleading in her voice, so he nodded and followed her up to the front door. Yessssssss, the elated teen thought as the front door opened. Eduardo found an empty spot on the coffee table and neatly stacked Kylie's books there. She motioned to the sofa as she walked into the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home. You want a soda or something?" she asked from the kitchen door.

"Sure, whatever you got is fine," he replied casually. His palms were sweaty and his stomach was in knots. When Kylie came back with his Dr.Pepper, he lost the ability to talk. She handed it to him rather shyly and sat down at the other end of the couch.

"So what do we know about this creature?" Kylie asked, trying to break the nervous silence.

"Well, um, we know that it has killed ten people, or I guess eaten ten people, and that every witness has told us the same description," Eduardo said, pulling out of his stupor.

"Yeah, it's about seven feet tall, gray, and goopy. Sounds like the Blob to me!" Kylie snickered jokingly.

"Yeah, I guess it kinda does," Eduardo replied.

Kylie and Eduardo talked for a whole hour before Janine called her on the phone to tell her when the plane was leaving.

"Okay Janine, I'll be ready. Oh, don't bother, I'll tell Eduardo," she said into the phone. She hung up and turned to Eduardo.

"I guess that's my cue to leave, eh?" he said. Kylie looked at him, arms sprawled across the back of the couch, one leg tucked under the other. She sighed and wished that he would hold her in those arms.

"No, you don't have to. You can help me pack," she said, hoping for the excuse to keep him there longer.

"Okay, I guess, but I'm gonna have real trouble packing in under two hours. My apartment's so messy, I'm surprised I can even find clean shirts in the morning," Eduardo replied with a laugh.

"Then I guess I'll just have to help you pack too!" she said, putting her hands on her hips and rolling her eyes, "Come on upstairs and we'll get started."

* * * * *

In less than one hour, Kylie and Eduardo had loaded her bag and were out the door headed for Eduardo's apartment. There, Kylie found the messiest place she'd ever seen.

"Eduardo, is there a particular reason you never clean this place?" Kylie asked, one eyebrow up.

"Well, I guess I don't think I'll ever finish cleaning if I do start," Eduardo said sheepishly.

Kylie smiled at him, "Don't worry, I won't go on a cleaning spree. Let's just find you some clothes and get going. Here's a pair of boxers, are they clean?" She bent down and picked up the plaid boxers and handed them to Eduardo. She liked the feel of flannel. She had a nasty thought and turned away abruptly. She didn't want him to see her blushing. She walked along, picking up every article of clothing she could find that looked semi-clean. Soon, between the two of them, she and Eduardo had packed the suitcase.

"With an hour left to spare," Eduardo said as he surveyed their handiwork. Now, his bed was free of clutter and the pile on his floor had been shoved to the corner. He could walk through again! Kylie was amazing.

She ran her fingers through her hair and smiled, "Well, let's get going, it's a fifteen minute drive to the airport. Do you have a car?" she asked.

"Of course not. I failed that driving test, remember? The car was possessed! I couldn't help it!" he explained.

The two Ghostbusters walked out the door and started to hail for a taxi. At that moment, Roland and Garrett drove up in Roland's Mustang.

"Hey, ready to go?" Garrett asked with a lopsided grin. He silently wondered what Kylie had been doing at Eduardo's house. But just as his imagination started to work, his question was answered.

"Yeah, Garrett, I know you're wondering what she was doing in my apartment. She was helping me pack. It took us under an hour," Eduardo said proudly.

"You let her see your huge mess?" Garrett asked with a smirk, "Gee, you must really have it in for her!

A few minutes later, they pulled into the airport parking lot. They all grabbed their bags out of Roland's trunk and went into the terminal.

"Looks like Egon's not here yet," Roland said, looking at his watch.

"Yes we are!" said Janine as she walked up behind them, "We just had to find some carry on luggage for your 'busting accessories. I hope you're all ready, because we have to hurry!"
The four Ghostbusters boarded the plane with a sense of foreboding. What exactly were they getting into?
 
 

TO BE CONTINUED...
 Paradox Part Two