Devour

[Farah]

Title: Devour
Author: Shafarah White
Beta: Susie Owens
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: a demon possesses Ray. Can the guys save him in time?
Disclaimer: I don't own the Real Ghostbusters. They belong to Dic.

Part 1

The guys arrived back at the firehouse. It had been a very busy morning so far, and they felt a little tired. Peter was annoyed because on their last call, as always he was the one who had gotten slimed by a ghost and it took place in an old haunted house; something Peter hated a lot.

"Why does it have to be me who gets slimed all the time?" he complained. "It's really not fun at all and look what it did to my hair! It's ruined. I'll never get it the way I had it."

Ray looked over at his distraught friend, "Awe, that wasn't so bad, Peter." he replied smiling. "Besides, it was exciting! I better get these goopers down to the containment unit." he hurried down to the basement, not waiting for Peter to say anything.

Peter frowned at his back and looked at Egon. "I really think Ray needs a hobby."

Egon nodded his head, "Peter. Ray has a hobby, one that he really enjoys very much."

"Yeah, maybe to him. I'm going to take a shower and have a nap." he retorted as he went upstairs to clean up.

Egon decided to work on one of his experiments upstairs in the lab. Winston put the checks down on Janine's desk. "This should make Janine happy. We actually got paid this time."

Suddenly they heard a loud sound coming from the upstairs bedroom. Egon raced past Winston to the bedroom. As usual, they saw Peter chasing Slimer.

"I'm going to get you for this, Spud!" he screamed at the green ghost. By the looks of Peter; Slimer obviously slimed him again. While Peter was cleaning up, Winston approached Peter with caution.

"Easy, Pete. I'm sure Slimer didn't mean any harm and I'm sure he's sorry. Now calm down."

Slimer was now hiding behind Egon. He peeked out his head. "Yeah, Peter. Me sorry, please forgive me." Slimer pleaded.

Peter replied grudgingly, "Okay, Slimer. I forgive you this time."

Slimer was so happy that he gave him another hug that caused Peter to mutter, "I swear, one of these days I'm going to blast him."

Winston laughed and replied, "He's sorry, Pete. Just clean yourself up and come downstairs."

Both Egon and Winston giggled as they went downstairs. Slimer decided to disappear somewhere else.

Once downstairs, Winston turned to Egon, "Hey Egon, do you really think that Peter meant what he said?" he asked.

Egon shook his head before answering Winston, "You know how Peter is. He pretends that he really wants to blast Slimer; but deep inside he really does care for him."

Winston nodded in agreement, before they went back to their normal routine. Egon went back upstairs to the lab, while Winston decided to use some of the free time to catch up on his reading.

Ray finished emptying the traps in the containment unit when he heard a soft whisper. Someone was calling out his name:

"Raymond! Raymond! Raymond Stantz, you are the one I've been seeking. I want you!"

Ray looked around to see who was talking to him. "Who are you?" he demanded as he started up the stairs. Suddenly a rough hand grabbed him and pulled him down to him. Ray found himself staring into the dark yellow eyes of a demon. Its voice was raspy as it spoke.

"You are the perfect one I need to possess; since you are child-like. I feed on grown ups who have that personality."

"Let me go!" Ray demanded again, "Who are you?"

"I am the ghost demon, Devour,” he hissed as he showed more of himself. "By controlling you, I will finally get what I want. No one, not even your friends can stop me."

Then he grabbed Ray's chin and made look him into his eyes. Ray tried to escape, but Devour was too strong and soon Ray felt his eyes growing heavy and his legs getting weak.

Ray felt himself getting weaker; Devour raised him up, taking his feet right off the ground. He then proceeded to force himself inside of Ray.

Once inside, Ray's eyes started changing color. Soon his sparkling brown eyes were replaced with red swirls.

"Now that we are one, let's start attacking your friends!" Devour hissed inside of Ray's mind, as he started back upstairs.

Ray was scared; he didn't know how long he would be possessed. He didn't want to hurt his friends or do Devour's bidding.

'Guys, I hope you know I need help. Please find a way to get this demon, Devour out of me.' He thought.

Once Devour came into the kitchen, he made Ray's eyes normal. The guys were still doing their own activities soon Peter finally came downstairs after cleaning himself up. He was now sitting at the kitchen table eating some lunch. When Ray/Devour came up to him.

Peter smiled, "Hey Tex, what took you so long? Do you want some lunch?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine." Ray replied tiredly, "I'm not that hungry. I'm kind of tired. I think I'll take a nap."

"Okay Ray, that's fine." Peter answered.

Suddenly Ray's eyes changed again. He sneered as his hands clenched into fists.

"This is the first person that I want you to attack." Devour hissed inside of Ray.

Ray was trying his best to resist, "No, I can't. Peter's my best friend and I don't want to hurt him,” he said to the ghost demon.

But Devour forced him and Ray/Devour proceeded to punch Peter in the face.

"What the....Ray, did you just do that?"

Ray's eyes suddenly turned back to normal, "I'm sorry, Peter. I didn't mean for that to happen."

Peter now glared at him, "Yeah? What did you mean to happen? See if you like it."

Before Ray could move Peter punched him back in the face and Ray landed on his backside and Peter walked out of the kitchen.

After Peter walked out, Egon was coming downstairs when he noticed that a black eye was starting to form on Peter's left eye.

"Peter, what happened to your eye?" Egon asked.

"Why don't you ask Ray?" Peter snapped.

Egon took a better look at his eye. "Why should I ask Ray?"

"He punched me for no reason, that's why!"

Egon looked a little shocked, "Raymond punched you for no reason? That doesn't sound like Ray."

"Well, he did. I sure didn't do this myself. I need a steak for my eye. Can you get me one?"

"Sure. Just as soon as I talk to Ray and find out what is going on." Egon replied as he went into the kitchen.

Ray got up slowly off the floor in the kitchen, he hadn't meant to punch Peter. He just couldn't stop Devour. Suddenly his eyes changed back to red swirls.

"Good." Devour whispered, "You have attacked one of your friends. Now you must attack another one. "

Ray was still struggling. He was trying his best to get the demon out of his body and mind. "No, I won't do it. You can't make me." Ray replied in defiance.

"You cannot stop me. You will attack your friends!"

Egon walked into the kitchen. "Ray, we need to talk."

Ray turned around and faced Egon. "Stay back, Egon! I don't want to hurt you."

As Egon entered the room, he stared at Ray. Then he spoke calmly to his friend, "Ray, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to find out what happened. Why in the world did you punch Peter?"

Ray didn't give him an answer. He thought, 'I hope that you can help because I am possessed by Devour and it's driving me crazy. You guys need to help me before I end up hurting others or even worse, die.'

Egon asked again, "Raymond, what is going on?"

Ray suddenly barked, "Nothing! There's nothing wrong with me! Just go away!"

"Raymond, I'm only trying to help. This isn't like you." Egon argued.

"I said go away! Now!" Ray barked angrily.

Egon finally lost his patience, "If you want to act childish, Raymond. Fine. I was only trying to help you." He snapped as he headed out of the kitchen.

Ray only stood there as he watched Egon leave the kitchen. His eyes changed back to red swirls.

"Excellent. Now you have another friend angry at you." Devour whispered, "Now, I want you to attack your secretary."

Ray just shook his head now wishing he told Egon about Devour.

Janine had just came back from lunch; she had enjoyed her long break to get something to eat and do a little shopping. As she was putting her things away, Ray was just coming out of the kitchen as his eyes had changed back to normal. He decided to talk to her.

"Hi Janine. Did you have a nice break?"

Janine smiled, "Yes I did. A very nice one. How was the bust?"

Ray was about to reply when Devour took control of him again. "Here's your chance, my puppet. Go and attack her."

Ray's eyes began to change; soon they were dark with swirls in them. He came charging at Janine.

Janine screamed, "Ray! What are you doing?"

Ray/Devour hissed, "You are so beautiful, my dear. I just want to give you a kiss." He then grabbed Janine roughly, pulling her close to him and forced his tongue into her mouth.

Janine screamed again as Ray reached over to touch her breast. Janine struggled trying to make Ray let go. "Let me go, Ray! Guys, help!"

Hearing Janine cries for help, Egon and Winston came running over.

"Ray! What are you doing? Let go of Janine right now!" Egon demanded and he and Winston managed to pull Ray away from her.

Janine was crying as she ran into Egon's arms, "Egon, Ray tried to hurt me. I was talking to him and the next thing I know, he attacked me,” she sobbed.

Egon held her in his arms, "It's going to be okay, Janine." he assured her, "We'll deal with Ray. Why don't you go lay down upstairs for a little while?"

Janine nodded as she headed upstairs to the bedroom.

Winston then glared at Ray, "What is going on with you, Ray? Why did you attack Janine?"

Ray only looked at him; not answering at all. 'Winston, I hope that you realized that I am possessed by Devour and he is forcing me to do those attacks. So help, please.'

Winston asked, "Ray, do you need some help?"

After receiving no reply, Winston asked him again, "Ray c’mon, what's wrong?"

Ray was about to answer him suddenly Devour took control of his mind again and he yelled, "There is nothing wrong with me! I'm okay!"

Winston pointed out, "You don't sound okay to me. Are you having a bad day or some problems? I'm only trying to help you." he replied.

Ray yelled at him again, "No! I don't need any damn help and I'm not having a bad day, all right? So get the hell away from me!"

Winston pretended to give up, "Okay, Ray. I won't force you. But if you want to talk, you know how to find me." he said as he headed upstairs to the lab.

He found Egon doing another experiment. Peter was with him trying to help out. Peter asked, "Winston, what's going on?"

Winston explained, "Guys, I think Ray's possessed."

Egon also looked from his experiment. "Winston, could you explain that? How did Ray treat you? Were you trying to help him?"

Winston nodded as he told the others about the possibility of Ray being possessed because the way he behaved.

After he finished telling them, Peter said, "We need to find a way to get whatever is possessing Ray out of him before he does anymore damage or even worse, get hurt. You have any ideas, Spengs?"

Egon replied, "I'm going to check something out, Peter. In the meantime, you and Winston search for Ray."

Peter nodded his head and turned to Winston, "You heard the man, Winston. Let's go. By the way do you have any idea on Ray would go?"

Winston shook his head, "The way he was acting before he left. My guess is as good as mine."

"Then we better find and find him quick."

Ray was walking down the street looking a little sad because of how he has been treating the others. Deep inside, he knew it wasn't him really doing it, but Devour by controlling his mind and attacking his friends. He felt helpless. He just wanted him out of his body.

Suddenly, just to make sure Ray knew who was in charge, Devour took control of his body again.

"Now, you must steal something from a store so that you will get in trouble!"

Ray tried to shrug this out of his mind, "No! Let go of me, I don't want to do your bidding and I don't want to cause any trouble." Ray was slowly losing to Devour but his last will power thought was, 'Guys, where are you? Help me.'

Meanwhile, Peter and Winston were searching all over the city for Ray in Ecto-1. Winston was driving while Peter was keeping a good eye, in case they saw Ray.

"I really hope we can find Ray soon, before he gets hurt." Peter said worrying about their friend.

"Don't worry, Pete, we will. I hope that we can get to him in time." Winston replied with reassurance in his voice.

"I hope so, Winston. I hope." Peter said softly as they continued their search for Ray.

Meanwhile, Ray was loosing control as Devour forced him to go down to the local comic book store. As soon as he entered, Devour whispered in his mind.

"Now, I want you to go steal some comic books. Not just any comic books, but the rare ones."

Ray's eyes changed back to normal for a moment as he entered. He walked over to the rare comic book rack. He picked one up and looked through it as Mr. Bell walked over to him.

"Hi, Ray! I see you are interested in Mighty Mo issue #1. Would you like for me to put it on your bill?"

"No, thank you, Mr. Bell. I'm just looking." Ray replied, as he placed the book back on the rack.

"Well, OK. If you need me, I'll be upfront."

Ray nodded. Mr. Bell then headed up front. Devour took control of Ray again, and all Ray could do was watch as he felt himself stealing the rare comic books. Mr. Bell came back at that moment and saw what Ray was doing.

"Hey! Put them back! Ray, why are you doing this?"

Ray didn't answer him, he just ran outside the store knocking Mr. Bell down.

Mr. Bell got up and ran out the door yelling, "Help! I've been robbed! Someone call the cops! Ray Stantz has stolen all of my rare comic books!"

A young man was jogging by when he heard Mr. Bell calling for help. He stopped as Ray ran by him down the street with the stolen comics in his hands. The jogger quickly called the police with his cell phone. Five minutes later, the police came and Lieutenant Frump got out and took the situation in.

"Tell me what happened here?"

Mr. Bell shook his head, "I don't understand it. Ray is one of my best customers. Why would he steal my rare comic books.”

"Comic books? You called the police for comic books?"

"Listen, lieutenant, those comic books are worth twenty-five thousand dollars!"

Frump stared at Mr. Bell. "OK. Do you know which way he went?"

Mr. Bell pointed the direction that Ray had gone. "He went down that way, lieutenant. I want my comics back!" he demanded.

Frump nodded, "Don't worry, sir. We'll find Stantz and take him to jail." he growled.

"I just want my books back."

Ray was running with the comics in his hands. He had no idea where he was going or how far he ran. He just wanted to escape.

Devour now pleased with this and whispered in Ray's mind.

"Good! You have stolen the comic books, but now you must pay for your crime. The cops are closing in. You must not resist."

Ray looked and felt very guilty about all of this and now he was about to get arrested, as he heard the police sirens coming near him, Frump on the bullhorn shouting:

"Dr. Stantz, you are under arrest for theft! Put your hands up now!"

Ray had no choice but to put his hands up. One of the police officers handcuffed him while Frump read him his rights.

After searching every place they could think of, Peter and Winston returned to the firehouse.

"Winston, did you and Peter find Raymond?"

Winston shook his head, "No, Egon. We searched all of his favorite hangouts, but we didn't see him."

"Now what are we going to do?" Peter asked, feeling a bit frustrated. "Ray has to be here in the city somewhere."

The phone suddenly rang making everyone jump. Winston recovered quickly and answered it.

"Hello, Ghostbusters Central. How may I help you?"

Mr. Bell was on the other end and he quickly explained to Winston what had happened. That Ray had been in earlier and he has been arrested for stealing his vintage comic books from his store. But since Ray was his friend and good customer, he wasn't going to press charges. He also told Winston that Ray was acting strange.

Winston told Mr. Bell they would take care of it and hung up the phone. He then turned to the others.

"That was Mr. Bell from the comic book store. He says that Ray has been arrested and taken to jail for stealing his rare comic books. He's not pressing charges. I think we better go down and pick him up."

Egon nodded his head as in deep thought, "Winston. You and Peter go down and get him. I want to do a test on Ray. Be careful if Ray is possessed, he could be dangerous."

Ray was sitting in one of the holding cells. He felt very guilty about what had happened; he hadn't wanted to steal Mr. Bell's rare comics or attack his friends. He hoped that the guys would come and get him and realize that he had a demon in his mind, and remove it without endangering himself.

"Guys, please help. I don't want to do bad things any longer. I want Devour out of my mind." Ray said out loud to himself.

Ray suddenly felt strange as he tried to fight it, but it was useless. The pain was so intense, that he crumbled on the floor passing out for a moment. While he opened his eyes again, they were no longer brown; but brown with red swirls flashing through them. Devour was back in his mind.

"Now you're paying for your crime, you deserved to be in jail. Just like I planned. You are a weakling."

Ray could feel sweat coming down from his forehead. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Shut up, already!" he snapped.

The door opened and Officer Smith was standing there with Peter and Winston.

"Stantz! You're free to go. It seems like Mr. Bell didn't press charges."

Ray nodded as he followed Peter and Winston out of the building; his eyes now back to normal.

Meanwhile back at the firehouse, Egon was looking though Tobin's Spirit Guide hoping to find some information.

Janine was also in the lab. She asked, "Egon, have you found anything?"

Egon looked up. "Yes. I think so by the way Ray been acting I believe a ghost demon by the name of Devour may be in Ray's mind."

"Who's he?"

"Janine, Devour is around a class nine. He attacks grown-ups that have child-like personalities and he often tries to control them to get them to do his bidding till they either hurt someone or themselves. He often does this every thousand years. If I'm right, and I usually am, then we have to find a way to get him out of Ray before he gets Ray to hurt himself or anyone else."

Janine nodded her head sadly, "I hope so, Egon. I really hope that we do. But if anyone can stop this ghost demon, it will be you guys."

Winston parked Ecto and they got out. Egon and Janine looked and stared. Peter held Ray tightly by the arms. "Egon, you better have something! Ray bit me."

"What? Let me see, Peter." Egon requested.

Peter nodded and then showed Egon his arm. Egon studied the arm to make sure that Ray hadn't broken the skin. "Why did Ray bite you?"

Peter felt embarrassed as he explained, "I was trying to get him to tell me why did he stole Mr. Bell's rare comic books. I think he wanted to tell me, but his eyes got all crazy like and he ended up biting me instead. Then he just went nuts. It took us a while to get Ray calmed down."

Egon nodded, "I do have something as well. I started thinking of the way Raymond was acting and I got a hunch."

"You got a hunch?" Winston asked.

"Yes, I got a hunch. Anyway, as I was saying, I got a hunch on a certain ghost demon."

"Whoa, Egon! What is a ghost demon?" Peter asked.

"It's a demon that died and became a ghost."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Yes. May I finish?"

"Sure, be my guest."

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

"As I was saying, I looked up a ghost demon by the name of Devour in Tobin's Spirit Guide. He's a class nine and he feeds on adults that have a child-like personality."

Peter snapped his fingers. "So he picked Ray."

"So that explains Ray's strange behavior." Winston said. "What else does he want with him?"

Peter looked over at Ray, who was resting on the couch with his head on Janine's lap. "Egon, can that ghost demon hurt Ray?"

Egon looked over, too. "Yes, if we don't find a way to get it out of him, it could drive Ray mad."

"What do we have to do to get the demon out of Ray?" Winston asked as he looked at Ray.

Egon replied, "We have to take Ray up to my lab so I can run some tests and figure out a way to get rid of the demon. Let's go. Peter and Winston, you two make sure that Ray doesn't get away, while I set up the test."

They both nodded as they helped Ray up from Janine's lap. Meanwhile, Slimer had floated downstairs to see what was going on. Suddenly Ray's eyes changed again and he snapped at the spud. "Get lost, you big blob of slime!"

Slimer floated back up through the ceiling after Devour caused Ray to frighten him. Peter looked up after Slimer, then back to Ray noticing his eyes changing back to normal. Ray looked at Peter.

"Peter, I'm really scared. I want this ghost demon out of me." he said sadly. "It's getting really bad and Devour told me he's planning to hurt me or even one of you."

"I know, Tex. Egon is setting up a test in his lab. We're going to figure out how to get that gooper out of your mind."

They heard rather than saw Egon as he came down the stairs. "Peter, Winston, I'm ready. You may bring Ray up now." he said.

Peter and Winston nodded as they helped Ray up the stairs to the lab where Egon had the test ready for him. Once inside the lab, Egon took them to a strange looking machine and began to explain.

"This is the machine that I invented that will help me detect any ghosts, demons or ghost demons in this case, who have possessed a person's mind, as in Ray's case."

Peter walked over to it. "How does it work? And is it safe?"

"It will work on the same principle as our proton guns. The ion power will cause Devour to leave Ray and will give Ray a minor headache."

Winston asked, "How long does it take?"

Egon replied, "This will only take a minute. Raymond, please sit in this chair." Egon pointed to a chair next to the machine.

Ray looked at Egon and then the chair and swallowed as he started to sit down. Devour could hear everything Ray could and he was not about to let Ray sit in that chair; so he took over.

"If you sit on that chair, I will make sure that you destroy them before they get me out of you." Devour whispered harshly.

Ray started to fight, "No! I can't. I won't let you hurt my friends!" Ray suddenly knocked Winston aside as he ran out of the lab.

Egon looked at Winston and Peter, "Gentlemen, we have to get Ray back in the lab. Then we got to get him into the chair. I think Devour know what's going on."

They found Ray sitting on his bunk. He looked at them, "Please guys, no. Devour said he will hurt you if I sit in that chair." Peter came over to him slowly, "Since when do we let a ghost tell us what to do?" Ray looked at him, "I'm scared, Peter." Peter reached out his hand for Ray to take. "Come on, Tex, let us help you." Ray slowly reached for his hand and Devour at the same time ran a bolt of electricity through Peter; but Peter held on. "We're going to get you out of Ray. You hear me?!"

Ray gave them a shaky smile, "Thanks, guys. I just want Devour out of my mind."

Winston nodded, “Don’t worry, Ray. Like Peter said, we're going to get Devour out of you. Are you ready to go back to the lab?"

Ray nodded his head and the guys returned to the lab.

In the lab, Ray was strapped down on the chair next to the machine to prevent him from leaving again. As Egon started the machine, Devour was starting to get nervous. But he covered it up, instead by getting angry. He took control of Ray's mind again, speaking in his voice.

"Damn! You bastards won't stop me. I will find a way to destroy you all!" he screamed as his eyes changed again back to red swirls.

They all noticed that Ray was not himself. Peter quickly grabbed Egon's arm.

"Egon, hurry! Ray's being possessed again!"

"I know, Peter, I can see. The test is coming along, but it will take some time. But I know it will get Devour out of Ray's mind."

Ray's heart pounded faster as sweat appeared on his forehead. "Come on guys, hurry. I want Devour out of my mind as soon as possible." he said.

"Hang in there, Ray." Peter encouraged.

"It won't be long now, I think he's weakening!" Egon replied.

Devour was still planning more attacks on the guys when he heard a strange noise coming from the machine. Devour felt it's pull as it started to suck him out of Ray's mind.

"What is this?" he yelled through Ray. He realized what was happening to him. "No, you can't do this to me! Arggh!"

Devour tried to fight against the pull, but finally it was over. Devour was pulled out of Ray's mind and sucked into the trap.

Peter picked it up. "It looks like he's out of here. I'm going to take him down to the containment unit where's he's going to stay for a long time." he said.

Winston nodded his head. "I hope he stays in there forever."

Ray got up slowly from the chair. He felt a little dizzy and he had a major headache from being possessed.

"Thanks for saving me, guys. I don't know what else Devour would've done if you hadn't used that machine. I'm so sorry about what happened recently." Ray stopped for a moment to grab something to keep from falling. Peter and Winston were by his side in a flash.

"You better sit down, Tex." Peter advised as they helped him to the sofa.

Ray shook his head. "I need to call Mr. Bell and apologize for my behavior. Man, do I have a major headache."

Peter patted him on the back, "It's okay, and Tex. I'm also sorry I punched you in the face. I didn't realize you were being possessed earlier. I forgive you. I hope that you forgive me."

Ray gave Peter a smile.

Winston and Egon both nodded in agreement. "That's right, homeboy. We forgive you, too." Winston replied in a low voice.

Ray nodded. "My head's hurting me badly and I'm going to lay down for a little while."

"Wait, Ray! I'll get you something for that headache." Egon left the room and soon came back with two Advils. "Here, take these. They will help."

Ray nodded and took them. He then went to lie down.

The next day, everything had returned to normal. Ray was still a little unsure from his experience of being possessed. But they all knew that he would bounce back. He also apologized to Janine and Slimer. And he knew that everything was going to be okay.