A New Kind of Science / Holtzbert

I Hunt Ghosts

*Five Days Later*

Erin reached for her keys to the Ghostbusters' building when she arrived early in the morning. She was always quite punctual and often the first one there. Abby arrived about five minutes after, followed by Holtzmann who did enjoy her sleep. Then they were later joined by Patty who enjoyed her sleep even more. So much, that she often arrived about forty five minutes after everyone else. Kevin, however, was inconsistent and usually complained that his dog, Mike Hat, ate his alarm clock. Though it was discovered by Abby Yates that he, in fact, did not even own an alarm clock in the first place. Again, Kevin's obtuseness got the better of them all. 

When Gilbert had finally managed to get her keys into the door, she noticed it was already unlocked. Confused, she pulled it out and walked in, hoping there was no robber, nor prankster, nor poltergeist ready to attack. She slowly stepped in, looking around for any intruders and shouted, "Whoever you are, you better run!" She waited for any type of response. "I may look frail, but I am actually a bit of a monster!" She took some more steps inside and the door closed behind her, causing her to jump with fear. When she turned to look at it, she noticed it was just the weight of the heavy door, shutting itself. With a hand on her heart, she turned around again and continued to yell. "I hunt ghosts for a living and I even saved the entire city from a sixty story tall class five apparition! You don't wanna mess with me!" Suddenly, she thought of the day her and the gang beat Rowan, the creepy guy who planned on ruling the city as a ghost. She remembered her gift from Holtzmann. Reaching into her skirt pocket, she pulled out the red, swiss army knife given to her by the blonde. "I have a weapon!" She began to scream like a crazy person, much similar to the day she attempted to get the mayor of New York to evacuate the city. "I'm not afraid to use it!" 

Eventually, her hysteria subsided a bit when nothing happened and she relaxed, putting away the knife. Sighing, she thought to herself that perhaps someone forgot to lock the building last night and she was going to have a talk with them all about it when they arrived. She walked over to the desk she had in the corner of the first floor by all her needed equipment and set down her purse and keys. Looking around, she felt a wave of confidence wash over her, loving her job and reveling in the fact that this was real life, not a dream, and the people that called them for paranormal help believed them. She was finally where she wanted to be in life. Oh, except for one little, simple thing seemed to be missing. Something she had never even cared about until about two weeks ago when she had her birthday and realized, she was no longer in her prime. She knew she didn't NEED a husband, but it would be nice to have one. Especially when she finally noticed how empty her apartment was after the surprise birthday party she BEGGED Abby not throw for her. 

She took in another deep breath and just before she was able to finish exhaling, she heard a noise. Jumping, she looked up at the staircase, grabbing the knife from her pocket one more time. "Oh, Erin." She whispered to herself. "A knife isn't gonna do a thing if it's a ghost." She wished she had her pack on with the blaster all ready to go, but they were all stored up by the fireman's pole in their personal lockers and the only way to get it, was to go up the stairs toward the sound. She hesitated...not wanting to go through with it. Her heart skipped a beat when the next noise she heard was all too familiar. 

"Won't you take me to Funky Town?" One of her favorite songs, now ruined, was playing on the upstairs radio and she slowly began to walk up the stairs, one by one. The song began to sound a bit fuzzy and it was as if the channel was being changed. Soon, whomever or whatever it was, finally chose another station and the new song was familiar as well. "Very superstitious! Writings on the wall!" 

She stopped walking up the stairs and closed her eyes, whispering to herself. "Oh God! That's a ghost! It's a ghost! It's a ghost!" She tried her best to remain calm and she held onto the railing beside her. Her eyes suddenly opened, remembering that it is the 21st century and cell phones do exist. She reached down in her pocket for hers to call Pat or Abby, but didn't feel it. "CRAP!" She whispered to herself. "Why do you always leave your phone in the shower, Erin?!" She kicked herself, remembering where she had it last. She sighed, trying not to cry as she heard the music growing louder and, in her opinion, sounding more threatening. She eventually found some courage to continue up the stairs and heading passed the office to the lockers to, quietly, get her blaster ready.

The closer she got to the top of the stairs, the more fidgeting she heard and the more nervous she got. Slowly passing the office, she attempted not to look to her left, not wanting to see the threat until she was armed and prepared. But, her eyes and body deceived her when the music was shut off and she turned to see Jillian directly in front of her. Erin gasped. "Holtzmann!" She scolded the bizarre scientist. "You scared me to death! I thought you were a ghost." Gilbert's hand found its way to her chest once again and she returned the knife back to her pocket. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Is it early?" Jillian looked at her wrist as if there was a watch there...there wasn't. "I never left." 

"You never-" When Jill walked back to her table, Erin stood stiff in the doorway, looking around at the room as if it would respond to her. "You were here all night? Did you sleep?" She got no answer. In the awkward silence she watched a smiling, as always, Holtzmann sit down on her stool and put her hands behind her head, leaning back. She waited for Jillian to say something...anything. Usually Holtzmann would have something exciting to show off. Something new that she built or a new concept she had come up with. Nothing. They just sat there, looking at each other. Feeling extremely weird in this situation, Erin averted eye contact and looked around the room again. Her blue eyes landed on the radio, which she remembered was turned off as soon as she stepped into the room. She smiled and awkwardly pointed to the device. "Were you, uh...were you dancing?" She knew the answer was for sure going to be yes, as Holtzy never listened to her grooves without busting some moves. Again, there was no answer. Jillian just looked at the goggles she fiddled with in her hands. "Why'd you stop?" Erin wondered, secretly loving it when she danced.

Jillian moaned as she stretched and a yawn was formed. When she was done, she let her arms drop to her sides. She looked right into Gilbert's eyes from across the room. "I don't know." She answered, barely moving her lips. 

"Hey, Erin!" They heard Abby's voice coming from downstairs. "Don't ignore me! I know you're here!" Erin turned around to look down the stairs at her best friend walking in with her hands full. "I see your stupid and sad, but uptight looking purse on your desk! Come help me!" 

Erin sighed, but obeyed and left Holtzmann in her room, on her stool. Playing with her goggles and totally uninterested in even finding out what Abby needed help with, which Erin thought weird when she didn't follow, as she'd usually be the one to run and look at new gadgets. But, the brunette ignored her suspicions and she continued to head down the stairs to help Yates. 

Their day went on, and after Patty showed up and helped out with the new equipment, Erin kept looking upstairs, wondering why Jillian hadn't come down yet. She eventually shrugged it off and just suspected she was still busy with her new blueprints and didn't want to be disturbed in her time of brainstorming. Though Holtz usually loved company to chitter chatter with about all her new ideas. 

"Hey?" She finally spoke to the other two. "You know Holtzmann was here all night? And she's still up there, but she hasn't come down at all."

"Bah!" Abby pushed it off. "That's Holtzy. Sometimes she needs alone time to think of the right equations to her inventions."

"She was here all night?" Patty asked, looking up the stairs as well. Erin slowly nodded, causing concern to rise inside of Patricia. "Hm, weird." Patty, in fact all of them, knew how much Jillian treasured her sleep.

"Hi, guys! Sorry I'm late. I took a cab to the subway, but it ended up dropping me off at some sandwich shop." Kevin walked in and Abby stopped what she was doing to glare at him. 

"What exactly did you tell the cab driver?" She wondered.

"I said I needed a ride to subway and then my stomach growled and I told him how hungry I was." He put a hand on his belly. "Then he dropped me off at the sandwich shop. Don't know why. I mean, I WAS hungry, but I kept telling him I had to go to the subway." Abby shook her head and put her own hand on her forehead, deciding not to get into it this morning.

The second Kevin walked in, it was as if Erin had already forgotten about her entire scare this morning and she walked over to him to help him with his one small suitcase, that he clearly didn't need help with. Patty watched and chuckled at, yet another, fail of Erin's and she shook her head. "Hey, y'all I'm gonna go up and check on Holtzy." She waited for a response, but she got nothing. She looked to Abby who was still trying to set up her new computer and Erin and Kevin were having some conversation about his new cologne. "A'ight. I'll let you know what happens." Still, no response and Patty's eyes widened before she shook her head and headed up the stairs.