I need a Job and I Have One, Part 2

Posted on Sun Oct 18th, 2020 @ 6:19am by Captain Ash Shultz & Lieutenant Tchaikovsky Ford & Level 1 Rev. DR. Finnegan Quinn
Edited on on Sun Oct 18th, 2020 @ 6:19am

Mission: It's... A Bus Station
Location: NCGB HQ/ Finnegan's sister's home
Timeline: Day 1

"Getting there is easy." Finn said from the back seat. He looked over his shoulder to where the backpack was at and once again he wondered just how safe it was. "When we're moving, right out of the parking lot. Right at the light. Two blocks up and another right." It was at that moment a phone starting to play the old gospel song, as sung by members of one of the churches that he preached at "Shall we gather at the river." Finn reached into his bag and pulled out his phone. He looked at it, but didn't know the number. He pressed the accept button. "Hello, this is Reverend Finnegan Quinn speaking."

The screaming coming from the phone could be heard easily, but not the words. Finn spoke up. "Hello?!? This is Reverend Finnegan Quinn. I need you to calm down and talk to me."

After a few moments of tears on the phone he finally heard a voice he recognized. "Ember!" He didn't yell, as much as had a firmness in his voice. One he used a few times while he preached. "Ember Kaida Smith. Take a breath and calm down. What is going on?" Finn was nervous. After all this was the girl who was watching his sister's children while his sister and her wife were on a date and he had been doing church business.

"Mr. Reverend, there's a ghost thing here." The girl had begun to cry. "It tried to attack us." In the background, he could hear two others crying. Plus what sounded like a warzone.

"Wait, Ember..." Finn hit the speaker button on his phone and said. "Ember, say that again." In the background they could hear howling and the sounds of something hitting a wall.

"There is a thing here! And it won't let us out of the bathroom!" Ember sobbed out. "It's been trying to kill us!"

"Ember, are the kids and you safe?" Finn asked as he held the phone so Ash and Ford could hear.

"Kelly got cut. Bobby was thrown into the wall and it tried to choke me!" Ember said through her tears.

"We gotta get there. Please, they're little kids.." Finn said to Ash, a pleading look in his eyes. "Ember, can you leave the house?"

"It made the bathroom door stick." Ember said. "I can't open it. But it can't come in"

"Sounds like we need to get there fast," Ash said as she secured her seatbelt.

"Buckle up in the back," Ford stated, as he turned the key in the ignition and swung Ecto-1 gently around the lot to face outwards. That seemed enough time for Finn to be secure, so he flipped on the roof, blared the siren, checked left and right and then floored it straight out onto the main street.

Right out of the parking lot. Right at the light. Two blocks up and another right. Record time. Two green lights and straight through the red on right. With a slower slide down into the residential street, mindful of pedestrian traffic now, Ford came to an easier stop outside the right house as Finn directed him.

"Stay in the car," Ford told the man with a stern look over his shoulder as he and Ash stepped out, then Ford locked the doors. He slipped his arms under the shoulder straps of the proton pack, flipped the switch to activate and then gave his boss the thumbs up. "Good to go, when you are."

Ash put her blue buster coveralls on and grabbed her shot-black. Once zipped-up she gave him a firm nod of acknowledgment.

Finn grabbed his cane and reached beyond the seat and hit the door lock. He wasn't about to let his family face danger alone. With the tip of his cane he popped the door open. "Ford, you won't keep me out of my own house. I have family in there. There's three kids all under twelve. You get the ghost thing, I'll get the kids to safety."

Ash pulled out a ghost trap from the back of the SUV and then closed the back hatch before she turned to Finn. "Sure. Just stay behind us."

He neither argued with Finn, not attempted to contradict Ash, Ford simply gave a curt nod. He didn't really want any more civilians in the mix, but he had to admit that the man had a point. And if he'd had kids of his own, he'd have ignored his own advice too. Taking the PKE meter from the leg pocket of his trousers, Ford took a few steps forward and exhaled. The equipment remained quiet.

"Let's do this," Ford stated, and he approached the house, flicked down his goggles and gave Finn the chance to open the front door. "PKE meter's definitely excited about something," he noted, as it lit up. "Looks like we've got a live one." He added, as he shoved it back into his pocket. Wouldn't be the first time that kids had lied about ghosts, but this seemed like a real job.

Finn opened up the door and the normally tidy entry way was trashed. The small table by the door was in pieces, the flower pot that rested on it was shattered. Claw marks went from the dining room to the living room, but also extended down the hall they were looking at. One of the things Finnegan noticed was that every cross or religious symbol or picture was on the floor, shattered. He cast a glance to his right and the dining room was mostly untouched, except for small holes that seemed to lead from the kitchen. The living room on the other hand was trashed. The TV that had been attached to a wall was down, the couch was tossed to the far end of the room. The living room throw rug looked like someone had put it in a shredder. The sounds of kids crying could be heard, along with hissing and growls from two cats. "The bathroom door up this hall and to the right. You pull it away from that door and I'll take the kids through the kitchen and outside."

Ash turned to Ford with an idea. "Could pop open the ghost trap close to the room. Let the gravitational force of the ghost trap do most of the work. And we just pump the ghost full of dark matter and protons from two different directions, until it's weakened enough to get pulled in."

"If one of you goes left into the living room, then towards the right. You'll find a hall with that bathroom along it. To my right is the dining room then the kitchen. Then the room with the washing machine. That leads to the bathroom. You'll be facing the same hall. You two distract it and I'll get the kids to safety. Does that work for you. The bathroom door is just at the end of this hall and to the right." Finn pointed ahead of himself.

Ford nodded to Ash, opened his mouth to respond to her, but then listened rather than interrupt Finn as the man gave them both the lay of the land. "Slight change I reckon. I'll take the trap and go straight down this hall," Ford suggested, looking to the boss for agreement before adding. "Finn, if you go through the living room and grab the kids, Ash can take the kitchen route. I'll have the trap down by the time you get there, Ash, we'll be ready to rock and roll and Finn and the kids should have a safe route out of the way. Sound good?"

"Good by me. " Finn said as he headed into the living room. On instinct he pulled out the cross necklace he wore, while he silently recited the lord's prayer. These two people may have been professionals. But he had to admit to himself. With the sounds being made, he was scared. He held his cane, to save from it tapping down the hard wood floor. He quickly sent a text to Ember. ~Help is here. Please don't worry. May get loud but we'll get you out of here."~

The way Ash methodically trained her shotgun-like dark matter weapon was very militaristic. Her eyes bounced from place to place along her way to the to kitchen. As if making sure the area was clear. She tapped the comm unit on her neck, "In position, Ford."

"Acknowledged, Ash," said Ford, his tone business-like now, expression serious even as he kicked the trap's control and let it open up to light up the hall between him and the bathroom entry point. The ghost, seen through his goggles was a rippling multi-coloured half torso shape that shifted eerily as he watched it. It seemed focused entirely on the bathroom door though. "Finn, ready?" Ford checked.

Finn looked around the corner and saw a large, green-skinned thing trying to pry at the door. It stood on two thin legs and filled most of the space in the back hall. "This isn't what I saw before." Finn muttered. "I'm good, Ford." His phone buzzed in his pocket as the kids in the bathroom began yelling out for help. This enraged the beast at the door. It's claws hit the wood, but it got no further. It yelled out in rage and intensified it's attack on the door.

Ford muttered something under his breath too, but it wasn't audibly coherent to either of the other two. Ash might have made an educated guess though. He put his right foot on the trap and kicked it forward, letting the tech do the work and pull the spectre into its upward hold. Once the trap's cone of influence had it, Ford dragged the trap's leading line back towards him with his foot, and kept both eyes on the bathroom door. He trusted Ash to not hit anything but the ghost, but Finn was an unknown entity. "Finn, wait til we're sure...." Ford told the other man with calm authority.

The creature howled out in anger as the trap opened. His long arms reached out and claws sunk into the walls, trying to keep it from going into the trap. One leg was slipping in side, the other was dragging along the floor, leaving four long grooves in the hardwood, as Ford pulled the trap back. It thrashed about, like a wild animal caught in a snare. One wall had four long scratch marks, digging deep into the wall. Pictures and other wall hangings were knocked off as it was pulled from the door, which it was trying to reach.

As any marksmen would, Ash began to pop dark matter pulses at the paranormal creature, careful not to hit anyone else. Each mattered-round slowing the intended. "How we doing?" The station commander shouted back to Ford.

"Good, sucker's getting caught up!" Came the reply.

"I'll wait." Finn said as he looked to his phone. He read the words ~another ghost in here. Holding the door shut.~

A voice boomed out, like it came from the house itself "LEAVE THE CHILDREN ALONE!"

Finn called to Ford. "They said there is a ghost inside as well."

Ford nodded. "Yeah, that'll be the one yelling then," he noted, with a certain amount of trepidation. He looked to Ash, meeting her gaze with one of his own that said silently 'bigger job than advertised'. Hopefully that meant a bigger fee, but surely this had manifested before? He frowned, and stepped around the trap with its cone full of first ghost and knocked on the bathroom door.

Thin gangly arms lashed out at Ford, But Finn had picked up something, a picture frame and he threw it. It hit the creature and passed through it, but this did the intended job. The creature turned it's attention from Ford, to Finn.

"We've come to rescue the children," he politely informed the second entity. "Their uncle's here with us."

Ford froze for a second that felt a lot longer as the icy hands of the entity wrapped about him, then the frame smacked into his back and dropped to the floor. It was gone, but he couldn't move?

"Help!" A trio of voices called out from the other side. "We're in here!"

"Kids, it's uncle Finn! Just keep calm and they'll get you out of this! Ma'am, Can you release the door? So they can get to safety?!?" Finn called out, but he looked to the thing being held by the box on the floor.

Ford held his breath, involuntarily, willing his body to move as he heard Finn shout. Great, his brain muttered, looking good there, tiger.

There was a few moments of silence. The creature in the trap was still struggling to get free, while the kids had quieted up a bit. Then the doorway opened. Ember stood on one side of the door, with a small figure behind her. Behind them, the ghost seemed to pass through the ceiling into the second floor, but with great difficulty, as though something was slowing her down. Ember began to cry again when she saw the creature. It in turn saw her and began trying to drag itself away from the trap and back to the kids.

"Ember!" Finn called to her. Having her come this way would put it too close to them. So he had to improvise. "EMBER!" He called again, which made her take her eyes off the creature. "Through the kitchen to the dining room and I'll meet you by the door." He pointed to where Ash was at. "Just avoid her gun and keep going! I promise you, the Almighty and these fine people will keep you safe. Just keep moving."

Ember moved along the wall, seeing Ford for the first time. Then his niece came out and followed Ember, followed by his nephew. All three looked shook up. Finn lost track of them as they passed through the kitchen. He darted into the living room as he heard crashing from the hallway.

The creature changed tactics and began reaching for stuff to throw at the trap and the trigger at the end of the line leading to the trap. The howls of rage seemed to intensify from it as Finn moved for the kids as fast as he could.

Ash began to pump dark matter from her shock-blast gun, into the ghost to slow it down. "Adjust the gravitational pull to full blast," she told Ford.

He turned, freed from that frozen state by the absence of the second entity as it headed upwards, and Ford swore under his breath, mindful of the presence of the kidlets. Finn seemed to have their exodus under control thankfully, and Ash was on her A-game, but he'd had an enforced time-out and now he was playing catch-up.

"I'm on it!" Ford stated, fighting back the internal frustration and ditching the wounded ego with a swiftness that denied any shame. He kicked the trap all the way up to eleven, as the trope went, and watched that first ghost get sucked down inside. "One down," he stated, feeling like Ash and Finn took all the real credit for that one. "Second one headed up." His gaze tracked briefly to Ash. "Going after it..." And Ford went for the stairs, long legs leaving them behind him two at a time.

"I'm coming to back you up," Ash announced as she ran to catch up with Ford. "I think one final proton stream and dark matter blast should do it."

The three kids made it to Finn and he gave them a quick glance. Then he pointed to the door. "Ember, go to your house and lock the door. I'll get the kids later."

Ember nodded and the three kids headed out the door. Finn went to the stairwell and began to go upstairs.

"No. Stay put until Ford an' I get him," Ash spoke firmly. "We know what we're doing."

"Then take this." He held out a key. It wasn't his house and he didn't want to pay for broken doors. "If it went to the attic, you'll need that key."

Ash quickly grabbed the key and took the ghost trap in the other hand. She signaled for Ford to come with her not long after. Once they were up the stairs Ash signaled for Ford to be ready. In one final attempt, she opened the attack door, slid the ghost trap in, turned the trap on, and dodged out the way. This was Ford's moment, after all.

For all his show-boating, and overtly optimistic enthusiasm Ford could finesse a situation when he needed to. And this definitely required a finer touch. A residential situation, a family home and a paying client who definitely didn't need a load of construction bills on top of the ghostbusting invoice. He waited, impatience dialed down to two, for Ash to prep. He waited, goggles scanning the supernatural amongst the mundane, tracking that ethereal form as it ducked, dove, and danced.

When Ash removed herself from the line of the fire, he popped his head into the space and smiled a serious smile. "C'mon you," Ford muttered quietly. "Y'know, y'all wanna come with me. I know all the finest places," he half-promised. Drop back down, throw out a lazy proton stream, fine-tuned so as to keep the carnage down to a bare minimum.

A slip, a twist and a hiccup of the wand Ford held in both hands, and he flipped that stream from a line to a circle of colour and into a noose. A noose that snuck around the entity's form neatly with the addition of intense concentration and years of practice. It fought, metaphorically kicked and screamed, but it couldn't break free even as the cone of light and scientific goo dragged it down into the trap for Ash to close.

Ash indeed closed the trap with a small tap of her finger on her phone.

"Technology at his finest," Ash grinned and looked to Ford. "Let's go tell 'em the good news, and get a bite to eat."