Ghostbusters: The Return of Gozer (EDITING IN PROCESS)

Chapter One

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! My alarm clock screamed, waking me from a deep sleep, as it always did at six in the morning. I groaned into my pillow and blindly smacked at my bedside table to turn off the alarm, finally slamming my hand on the snooze button. "Just five more minutes." I whined. Within the blink of an eye, the alarm was going off again, causing me to groan once more. "I swear, you're worse than my mother."

Reluctantly, I turned the alarm off and sat up. The sun was up, but not blinding yet. The sky was a beautiful mixture of a cotton candy pink and blue as the sun hid behind the stratocumulus clouds. The air outside was still and the thermometer outside my window said it was just hovering over sixty-two degrees; a perfect morning.

I looked over at my roommate's bead and smiled with amusement. I should've known Amanda was already gone. Amanda is my dorm roommate, but people call her Saint Amanda behind her back. Amanda grew up in a strict Christian family and decided to carry on the family tradition of getting a master's degree in religious studies and Christian Ministry so she can become a missionary. I was never the religious type, but Amanda is a good person and is just passionate about her future career as I am, so I learned to tolerate her religious rambles.

I am currently working on my bachelor's degree in education. Ever since I was a child I knew I wanted to be a teacher...I mean, after I got past the dreams of becoming a veterinarian, the president of the whole world, and an astronaut whose sole purpose was to fly to the moon, mine it for cheese, and bring it back to earth. I had one hell of an imagination and was often told to pursue a career in creative writing, but I couldn't, my passion was education, science in particular.

Today was the first day of my last semester and I was excited and sad at the same time. I loved being here at Rockwell University and every time I had to go home, I was already counting down the days until my return. This is my last year and then I'm off into the world as a fresh out of school teacher. New York was is a rough state, a dog-eat-dog world, but I spent a semester as a student teacher this year and the school absolutely loved me so much they told me they'd hire me in an instant. It's very reassuring to know that I won't be without a job once I graduate.

I finally climbed out of bed and put all my supplies into my backpack; my journal, pens, pencils, and textbooks. Once I had everything packed, I grabbed my clothes and headed into the bathroom for a shower. I let the hot water cascade down my body as I rested my forehead on the cool shower wall. I couldn't wait to start my new classes, but I'd give anything for my classes to be in the afternoon.

All my classes were back to back, with the exception of a break for lunch. My first class, however, was an elective...and strange. No one has ever heard of this professor before and they didn't have us buy any textbooks, either. I was excited, and curious at the same time.

By the time I got out of the shower and was ready to head out the door, it was a little after seven. I could hear other students running around their dorm rooms in a race to get ready as other dorm rooms echoed the sounds of showers running or the snores of students who overslept or had later classes. I envied them...I'm not a morning person.

As I entered the cafeteria, the rich aroma of coffee took over my senses, I saw nothing, I heard nothing, the only thing that mattered to me was that cup of coffee. The aroma enticed me, beckoned me over to the small coffee shop, begging me to drink the nectar of life.

"Lori!" I jumped as someone called out to me. I looked around for a moment and smiled when my eyes landed on a skinny blonde woman at a distant table waving to me. I walked over to her and forced my cravings aside.

"Hey, Amanda." I smiled. "Sleep alright?"

"Sure did." Amanda smiled back. "I got up early for our morning RUMS meeting."