Ghostbusters Movie Novelization

by Stacia Deutsch

  Abby wasn’t shaken. “Yeah, listen, I know you’re real cozy in the form of Kevin, but time to hop out. We like him,” she said.

  “Yeah, he just started figuring out the phones!” Holtzmann added.

  “As you wish,” Rowan told her. He left Kevin’s body limp at the top of the balcony. The body started to fall over.

  The Ghostbusters rushed to Kevin and managed to protect him.

  In a chilling voice, Rowan asked, “What form would you prefer I take?”

  “Nothing fancy. Just keep it simple,” Holtzmann suggested.

  Patty had an idea. “I’ll tell you what I prefer. A nice little friendly ghost. Like in a sheet.”

  “Oh?” Rowan smiled as he morphed into a white-sheet cartoon ghost. It did seem happy.

  “Is this what you want? Adorable clip art?” Rowan asked.

  Patty nodded. “Yes. I have no problem with that. Thank you.”

  Ghostly Rowan’s smile remained, but his face began to look sinister.

  “I don’t know. That looks a little murder-y to me,” Erin said, taking a step back.

  “It is starting to feel different,” Abby noted.

  “This works for me.” Rowan began to grow bigger and even more frightening.

  “All right, I didn’t know this was going to be a development.” Patty backed away.

  The ghost grew bigger and bigger and bigger.

  “This isn’t good,” Abby said.

  And just then, ghost Rowan raised his hands, creating a giant burst of energy that blew them off their feet and through the Mercado doors.

  CHAPTER 16

  The Ghostbusters crashed through the front line of agents and cops. The whole platoon went down at once.

  “Strike!” Rowan’s laughter was eclipsed by an intense—and growing—rumbling sound.

  The Ghostbusters looked up just in time to see all the windows blow out of the Mercado as furniture and debris flew out of each floor. Then the whole building began to shake. Giant Rowan, still looking like a ghost cartoon, burst out of the debris. He stared down at the Ghostbusters and roared.

  “Run!” Erin shouted.

  They jumped up and fled as the beast chased them. Erin was firing her proton pack and running backward.

  She hit him in the side. He screamed in pain.

  The Ghostbusters used the distraction to turn a corner into an alley. They ducked next to a Dumpster.

  “My man was taking some real creative liberties with what we agreed upon.” Patty backed up against the wall, trying to hide. He was supposed to look like a cute ghost in a sheet like a kid on Halloween.

  Ghost Rowan limped past them, clearly injured. His foot crushed a car as he searched for them.

  “See, that’s just off-brand,” Patty said as Rowan moved farther away.

  “What do we do now?” Erin asked with panic in her voice.

  “We need to get back there and fire into the portal with more power,” Abby said. “If we can do that, then it could cause a reverse reaction.” She glanced out from behind the Dumpster. Rowan was gone. For now. . . .

  “More power?” Erin asked. “Do we not have our packs set to max now? Because it does feel like this would be the time for that!”

  “We’re at max,” Holtzmann confirmed. “Rowan’s got everything too energized, which is why I suggest the following. Now, it’s a little risky. It’s called ‘crossing the streams.’ ”

  Erin’s eyes widened. “The thing that was so powerful our atoms could implode? That’s ‘a little risky’?”

  Patty peeked around the corner. Ghost Rowan was down the street, looking for them with his head spinning, like a freaky owl.

  “I mean, he’s really just doing his own thing now,” Patty said, biting her lower lip.

  Abby took a good look at Rowan, then said, “Holtz is right. If successful, it could cause a reverse reaction that would pull any ionized ecto-matter back into its dimension of origin.”

  “And if it’s not successful, then this is most likely not only a suicide mission, but one that involves the most painful death conceivable of all time.” Erin rubbed her temples. This wasn’t good.

  “That’s definitely a down side,” Abby agreed.

  Erin sighed. “Well, we don’t have much of a choice, do we?”

  The Ghostbusters hurried back to the front of the building. Because of the destruction, the lobby floor had disappeared, exposing the supernatural portal in the basement. Erin was moving so fast, she almost fell into it. Holtzmann grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back.

  “Okay, fire them up!” Abby said when they were ready.

  Erin nodded to Holtzmann. They joined Patty and Abby firing at the portal.

  Over her shoulder, Erin saw ghost Rowan.

  “He’s coming! Cross them up!” Erin shouted as he got closer.

  The Ghostbusters entangled their beams, which grew into one massive beam as the portal lit up.

  “The portal’s too strong. We still don’t have enough power to reverse it,” Abby told them.

  “How do we get more?” Erin was feeling desperate.

  Holtzmann had the solution. “We need to one-eighty the polarity with a high concentration electron blast. We just need my negative-charge containment canisters.”

  “Where are they?” Patty asked, and at the same time Slimer rolled around the corner, still driving Ecto-1. There were happy ghosts hanging off the sides of the car.

  Holtzmann looked at the Ecto-1, then answered Patty, “On top of our car.”

  The Ecto-1 sped toward them and swerved to avoid the portal.

  Abby thought fast.

  “Let’s narrow the target,” Abby said with a smile. She pointed at two street lamps nearby. They took aim at the base of the lamps, which exploded, falling across the road with a slam.

  Slimer wasn’t paying attention when the lamps fell. He noticed that the road was blocked but it was too late. He turned the wheel and hit the brakes, but the Ecto-1 went up the edge of the sidewalk and flew straight into the portal!

  “Aim for the silver canisters!” Holtzmann called out.

  The Ghostbusters blasted their beams into the canisters on the roof as the Ecto-1 plummeted. A huge blast exploded out of the portal, sending the Ghostbusters backward. The portal stopped spinning for an instant, changed color, and then it started up again, only this time spinning in reverse.

  The ground rumbled. A massive wind blew strong and hard as the portal began sucking everything supernatural into it.

  “It’s working!” Erin cheered.

  Ghost Rowan hung onto the side of a building, while all around them ghosts were being sucked down and away.

  A creepy clown ghost zoomed by.

  Patty wrinkled her nose. “Glad we didn’t have to deal with that one—”

  The clown tried to grab Patty as it flew past. “Aaahhh!” She dodged in time, and it was sucked down with the others.

  Ghost Rowan was still holding on, fighting the force.

  “He’s too strong,” Erin said, voice echoing in the wind. “We can’t let the portal close with him still here!”

  “I’ll get him in!” Abby declared.

  “What are you talking about?” Erin asked.

  “I’ll get him to chase me into it. Keep firing and hold it open,” Abby said.

  “That’s crazy,” Erin told her. “How would you make it back?”

  Abby ran over and grabbed a cable on the front of a tipped-over fire truck. “This thing runs pretty long.”

  “That’s insane.” Erin tried to stop her. “You can’t expect that to work!”

  “I gotta try,” Abby said firmly.

  “Abby, no—”

  “Erin, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t done much else besides this. I’ve been wondering what’s on the other side my whole life. And now I can take a peek!” She tied an end of the cable around her waist. “I’m gonna come back. You just gotta pull the rope. Okay?”

  Erin studied
Abby’s face. “Listen, I—”

  Abby stopped her. “Hey. No need to even say it. I am so glad you came back.” Abby gave Erin a reassuring smile, then walked out to the center of the street as Erin, Holtzmann, and Patty started firing into the portal to hold it open. “All right, let’s go. Once I’m in there, you just pull me out.”

  Abby caught ghost Rowan’s eye and waved at him. “Yeah, you. You dumb ghost.” He turned to her, and she continued to insult him. “Look at yourself! You look ridiculous running around here. You don’t seem very powerful!” She zapped him a little with her proton pack.

  He growled and limped toward her.

  “Yeah, you don’t like that, do you?” Abby zapped him a little again. He growled more. Then she fired everything she had at him.

  “Okay, I have his attention—” Abby began running away. He came after her, picking up speed. They were almost at the portal when the cable pulled taut. Abby was stuck.

  “Oh no.” Erin realized the cable was caught under the fallen light pole. “Hold on!” She ran to the car. “I’ll get it loose.”

  “There’s no time,” said Abby. Rowan was only a few feet away from her.

  Abby untied the cable from her body.

  “No, wait!” Erin shouted, but Abby leaped into the portal just as Erin freed the cable.

  Rowan dove in after her.

  They were both gone.

  CHAPTER 17

  Patty, Holtzmann, and Erin stood sadly, watching the portal close. Erin took a step forward, at a loss for words.

  Suddenly, Erin grabbed the cable. She tied it around her waist and jumped into the portal an instant before it closed.

  “Erin!” Patty shrieked.

  There was a final flash of light that knocked Holtzmann and Patty off their feet. The dark clouds disappeared. The sun rose warm and bright in the sky.

  Patty and Holtzmann couldn’t believe what had happened. It couldn’t be over. The sealed portal still smoked before them. They stared at it, unwilling to accept that this was how it was going to end.

  Erin and Abby . . . They couldn’t be gone forever. But there was no sign of the portal opening again.

  Just as Patty and Holtzmann were about to give up hope, they heard a mighty SHOOMP! come from where the portal had been. Abby and Erin shot up out of it! They crashed to the ground, covered in ectoplasm. When Holtzmann and Patty reached them, they were bewildered. . . .

  “Oh!” Patty said, noting that both of them now had ghostly white hair.

  “What did I just see?” Abby turned to Erin, who just asked, “What year is it?”

  Holtzmann couldn’t help herself. “2040. Welcome back.”

  “We did it?” Abby looked around and saw that Holtzmann was grinning.

  “You did it,” Holtzmann said.

  “We all did it,” Erin said, bringing everyone in for a big hug.

  Just then, Kevin joined them. “That’s right. We all did it.”

  They looked over at Kevin.

  “All right,” Erin said, not quite getting what he meant. “We didn’t all do it. What did you do?”

  “A lot, actually. I’ll have you know I went over to that power box, pushed a few buttons, then everything got sucked up into the portal and it closed.”

  “That had nothing to do with anything,” Erin protested.

  Abby was more encouraging. “No, that may have helped. Good for you, Kevin.”

  “It did not help,” Erin argued. She noticed a stain on his shirt. “And at what point did you get a sandwich?”

  Kevin brought a half eaten sub from behind his back. “I was looking for you, and I looked in that deli over there. Listen, let’s not turn on each other now. That’s not what Ghostbusters are about.”

  “He has a good point . . .,” Abby said.

  Television news began reporting from the scene.

  “In the aftermath, still trying to understand what happened—” a reporter was saying.

  “—the government trying to claim the event wasn’t supernatural—” another said.

  In Times Square, a reporter was interviewing a man on the street. “I’m telling you. I did not evacuate. I got into a cab being driven by a skeleton. Don’t tell me that was no science experiment gone wrong.”

  Mayor Bradley was also being interviewed. The reporter asked, “You’re honestly going to sit here and tell me that we didn’t see ghosts?”

  “Yes. Wait. What?” the mayor was confused.

  For another channel, a reporter said, “Homeland Security is claiming it was an experiment gone wrong.”

  “The Ghostbusters have been quiet about taking credit . . .,” a reporter was saying when a woman interrupted, “Oh, it was the Ghostbusters. I saw them. It was amazing.”

  Later that night, the Ghostbusters went out to celebrate. Erin sat with Patty, Holtzmann, and Abby. Erin and Abby had tried dying their hair back, but it just looked odd.

  Abby looked for a waitress. “Saved New York and we still can’t get someone to serve us.”

  “I’d like to make a toast.” Holtzmann raised her drink.

  Erin rolled her eyes. “Oh, here we go.”

  “When I met Abby, I was so happy finally to have my first real friend. And now with all of you, I have my first real family. I truly love you guys.” Holtzmann sat down.

  “Wow, that was like a real thing,” Patty said.

  They glanced up to find Jennifer Lynch approaching.

  “What did I tell you?” Jennifer Lynch said. “People always move on. We want to thank you for your discretion. It’s not working at all, but thank you.”

  “It’s better to keep a low profile. Who cares about credit? Let’s just focus on the important stuff,” Erin told her.

  Abby smiled at Erin.

  “I’m sorry we can’t give you any kind of formal recognition,” Jennifer went on. “But please know that what you did was phenomenal.”

  “We appreciate that,” Patty said.

  Jennifer had one more thing to say. “Mayor Bradley also sends his thanks. He couldn’t voice that out loud, but he said it with his eyes.”

  “Tell him I said . . .,” Holtzmann began.

  Jennifer cut her off. She whispered, “We’d like you to continue studying this subject. We need to be better prepared. Just in case. Whatever you need to keep you going.” Her voice got even softer. “Anything at all.”

  “Anything at all?” Holtzmann echoed. There was a twinkle in her eyes.

  CHAPTER 18

  Erin, Abby, Holtzmann, and Patty stood across the street from a fancy firehouse. It was the perfect place for a new Ghostbusters headquarters. They exchanged pleased looks.

  “Oh yes,” Patty said, eyes roaming from the sidewalk to the top of the roof.

  “I claim the upstairs,” Holtzmann declared.

  “You can’t claim an entire floor!” Patty argued.

  “Just did!” Holtzmann was ready to fight for it.

  Erin and Abby looked at each other with massive grins.

  “Not bad, ghost girl,” Abby said.

  “Thank you. I will proudly take that title.” Erin was beaming.

  Erin and Abby tried the Abby-and-Holtzmann elaborate handshake. It was a disaster.

  “We’ll get our own,” Abby assured her.

  Then a black hearse with a red roof slowly rolled up to the firehouse.

  “Oh no. Is that . . . ?” Erin said.

  “Patty’s uncle,” Abby finished.

  Patty’s uncle got out of the hearse. “Where is it?” he asked, wanting to know what had happened to the hearse he had let his niece borrow.

  Patty faced him. “I already told you!”

  “I don’t want to hear that my hearse is in another dimension!” He put his hands on his hips.

  “Look, if I could cross over and get it for you, I would!” Patty met his gaze.

  “Let’s let them work this out,” Abby suggested as she and Erin followed Holtzmann into the firehouse, leaving Patty and her uncle on the
street.

  Two weeks later they were all settled into their new headquarters. Abby stood at the door, paying the Chinese food delivery guy. She opened the carton to find it stuffed with wontons. There were too many to even count.

  “I know what you did,” he told her.

  “All right, don’t get weird on me,” Abby said.

  “You’re very brave,” the deliveryman said.

  “All I want is a healthy ratio of wontons to broth, not this madness. This is just a science laboratory. Keep it cool.” Abby closed the door and walked over to Erin, who was busy opening up a box. “The new book?!” she asked.

  “It’s here.” Erin pulled out a copy of their brand new book. On the back cover was a new embarrassing photo of Erin and Abby in black turtlenecks.

  Abby read the cover. “A Glimpse into the Unknown.”

  “Oh, did we go with the shorter title?” Erin asked. “I thought . . .”

  Abby held up the book where the full title was printed. “A Journey into a Portal; Catching Sight of the Other Dimension: Discovering the Undiscoverable: A Curiosity Piqued and Peaked.” She ran a loving finger over the cover. “I still think we should’ve gone with There and Back Again, A Scientist’s Tale.”

  “Next time,” Erin assured her.

  The phone rang. Kevin answered it. “Ghostbusters. Please give a detailed description of your apparition.”

  Abby gave Kevin the thumbs-up.

  “Well, we’ve got a lot to do,” Erin said as she and Abby reached Holtzmann, who was working with some new gadgets.

  “Speaking of which, how we doing over here?” Erin asked her.

  “I am working on some next level stuff,” Holtzmann said. “Real outside the box, like put me back in the box because I am scared of what I’m doing sort of stuff.”

  Abby checked out the large containment unit. “This thing running?”

  “Quite smoothly.” Holtzmann tapped the side. “I would say don’t be in a room with it for longer than an hour at any one time.”

  “Well, I think we can probably aim higher—” Erin noticed a woman studying some wires behind the unit. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see anyone there.”