Ghostbusters: Des Moines

Episode 2: Spike in the Readings

"It was a gathering of men," Regina Hulner was drinking from a glass of water that Simon had brought her. She emptied the cup and handed it back to him. "They were robed and standing around a bonfire."

Despite himself, Jordan's eyes lit up. "A cult ceremony," he said quietly. "Where was it?"

Regina's eyes were red as she looked at Jordan with confusion over his excitement. She looked over to Cynthia as she answered. "Near Ames, I can show you."

Cynthia frowned, "We'll get to that. Tell us more about this ritual."

Regina recounted the events that had taken her brother from her. She explained how Blake had dragged her to the ceremony and then her introduction to the Chairman before explaining, through quiet sobs, the ritual that led to the release of Erra and the possession of her brother.

"Hold on," Cynthia interrupted. "The orbs shot out of your brother?"

Regina nodded, "And into everything and everyone."

"How did you avoid them?" Simon asked.

"I think," Regina answered, "that Blake was able to wrestle enough control away from Erra to protect me. He told me to run."

Jordan's excitement had disappeared somewhere in the middle of Regina's story, and his face had a worried expression across it.

"What's wrong?" Cynthia pressed her friend.

"They were spirits and ghosts." Jordan waved a hand at Regina, "Her brother started as a portal to the spirit world. The ritual needed to create a," he struggled as he looked for the word, "doorway to let Erra come here, but whatever plane of existence he came from was so far away that others that were much closer came out first." Jordan shrugged, and it was a much heavy gesture. "All of those spirits went somewhere."

Regina nodded, "I think that each of the cultists was hit by one, but a lot of them went into the sky, the ground, and everywhere."

Jordan shook his head, "Those were just the ghosts that you saw."

"Did you count how many other people were there?" Cynthia ignored Jordan's doom-and-gloom.

Regina bowed her head as she tried to remember. When she lifted it back up, she shook her head. "At least a dozen, but I can't be sure."

"What about this 'Chairman'?" Cynthia continued, "Did he seem pleased? Was this something he actually wanted to happen?"

There was no hesitation this time as Regina nodded quickly. "This was all part of his plan."

Cynthia sighed and turned away from Regina and addressed her fellow Ghostbusters. "It's an invasion."

Jordan nodded but Simon was confused, "Were we listening to different stories? How is this an invasion?"

Cynthia explained, "There are at least a dozen ghosts out there that look like people. They are among us and they are planning something."

"Possession..." Jordan mumbled.

"Not only are there at least a dozen well-disguised ghosts out there, but there's also one that I can assume is very powerful and we know nothing about," Cynthia grabbed her flask and took a deep sip.

"That's not true," Regina cut in. "I've had a few days to do my research and I didn't just look up you guys." While her eyes were still red, the tears were replaced with a new look. She wanted to act. "Erra is the Akkadian god of Mayhem and Pestilence."