Author's note: Thank you to all those who liked my story so far. I appreciate your support.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Warning: The rating changes to M once Beetlejuice himself appears due to language and minor sexual content.
"How does it feel to be married?" he asked with a smirk on his face as he carried her to his bedroom, located inside one of the miniature houses Adam made of the town.
"It feels…strange, but not unpleasant. Especially since I'm married to you."
Lydia smiled up at her husband as he looked down at her with an uncharacteristically fond expression in his eyes.
"And to think you refused me the first time," he added, pretending to be hurt by the previous marriage incident that had occurred.
Lydia laughed and loosened her grip around his neck as he gently placed her on the bed. She let go and watched from her position on the bed as he crossed the room and closed the door to the bedroom. He approached the bed and on all fours, he made his on top of her and looked into her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down for a tender kiss. When they broke apart, she leaned in towards his ear and whispered.
"I love you, Beetlejuice."
Lydia woke instantly in a cold sweat. She had the dream about him again. She had been having the same dream since the moment she had graduated high school earlier this year and moved away to go to the University of Connecticut located in Stamford, Connecticut.
Her English high school teacher had encouraged her to major in English due to her writing skills, which had improved immensely since the suicide letter she wrote when she first moved to Winter River.
She wanted to leave the state but her love for the Maitlands and their love for her didn't allow her to leave them. If there was a way for them to leave the house and visit her without the fear of sandworms, she would have left, knowing that they could come with her, but they couldn't leave their house. She was also too emotionally connected to sever her ties with Winter River permanently.
She could have been living in a cheap apartment in a state far away from Connecticut and from her parents with the money she earned at the bookstore, which was a nice amount despite the small size of the store and the minute amount of customers.
Instead, she spent most of the money on a previously owned car that was in great working condition. Unlike her fellow college classmates that could afford extravagant things, she wasn't interested in driving the latest car that came out of the market and look 'cool' like they did.
All she had wanted was a car in good working condition that allowed her to travel from her small, one-bedroom apartment to her classes and then occasionally back to Winter River during her breaks or whenever she missed Barbara and Adam too much.
Her father had generously provided her with money to have an apartment to live in. He paid for half the rent since she didn't earn nearly enough to pay the whole rent AND to pay her insurance for the car. He also gave her extra money that she placed in her back account for emergencies.
She had refused at first to take his money but for once he wouldn't take no for an answer.
It seemed that since he realized that his daughter wasn't a child to ignore and that she was actually growing up and moving away, he had decided to act the part of the involved father and be a part of her life, even if it was short-lived since she moved to her new apartment soon after they found it and settled the negotiations with the landlord.
The place was close enough to the campus to not spend too much on gas to get there but far enough away from the idiots that attended. She refused to live close enough to hear them host stupid frat parties that would surely disturb her peace.
But the peace she had had been disturbed once the dreams started arriving.
On the night of her graduation, she first had the dream. When she awoke, she brushed it off like it was nothing because dreams are basically nothing but the conscious and subconscious pulling images together into what some believed to be a message. She thought it was all nonsense.
It could have been the aftermath of the thoughts she had been having after she began thinking about him on the anniversary of the night that he tried the marriage incident all those years ago.
But progressively over time, that same dream haunted her again and again, disturbing her and leaving her shaking to the core.
The dream was always so realistic. Of course, there were tweaks and differences between each dream. In one dream, she had been naked under the covers of the bed he had placed her on but in the next dream, she was wearing the same wedding dress she wore on the night of her almost-first marriage.
Little differences weren't important as the big picture was, which made all the dreams basically the same.
She was always married to him and she always said those four words before she would wake.
If her reoccurring dream was because of her thoughts, it didn't make sense.
She certainly didn't love him. He may have intrigued her but he was a repulsive man. It didn't help that he was also dead, which would have made her a necrophiliac if she had even thought of him in the way her dream suggested.
But for all his flaws, he was attractive in a strange, ghoulish way.
He had helped her, even if it was for a price.
Lydia shook her head, disgusted at the thought that there might have even been something akin to a positive emotion for him.
She pushed the covers off her and stood in the darkness of her room. She moved towards the doorway and walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
She took a glass from the drainer next to the sink and turned the tap on. She turned the tab that set the water to the Brita filter mode and filled her glass half-way.
As she turned the tap off and drank from her glass, a fleeting shadow caught her attention from the corner of her eye.
She froze and her heart sped up. She placed the glass on the counter and slowly turned to the place where she had seen the shadow.
There was nothing there.
Relieved, Lydia walked to the living room that was adjacent to the kitchen and lied on the couch. She stared at the water-stained ceiling and thought back to her vivid dream, not noticing a supernatural breeze that fluttered through the room, despite the closed windows, raising goose bumps on her arms.
She unconsciously hugged her arms to herself and curled on her sofa in the fetal position, where she eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.
From the Netherworlds, Beetlejuice sat on his broken, dirty recliner, watching amusedly at the sleeping Lydia.
He had returned from the Waiting Room a few days before Lydia had graduated from high school. The immense boredom he felt for being in there for god knows how long would have killed him hadn't he already been dead.
But now he was back! And my, what changes had occurred while he was gone.
The little lonesome, insecure Lydia had grown into a big, still lonesome, less insecure and exceptionally more beautiful Lydia.
She had grown her hair to mid-back so her black tresses spilled everywhere, casting a sort of dark aura around the 18-year-old. It made her pale skin look even paler, adding to the haunted look she had to her with the dark circles around her eyes.
Much to Beetlejuice's delight, she had developed curves underneath all the black, baggy clothing that hid it. He had pleasantly discovered that when she had gone to take a shower. Unfortunately, he had only seen her backside. Damn T.V. He couldn't control the piece of shit. If he could, he sure as hell would have preferred to see her front side.
It didn't matter now. She sure had a great ass though he wondered how big her tits were. His personal preference was huge knockers that could slap him in the face and leave him dazed. But he highly doubted Lydia could have grown those.
He had been watching the girl on and off for a while. When he wasn't terrorizing someone or offering his services to unsuspecting mortals, he liked to watch his Lydia.
From the moment they had almost gotten married, he had referred to her as his, since she nearly was his and he would be damned if he let her go.
After all, they did have a bargain they had yet to complete and he would make sure that it would be completed.
He smiled darkly at his plans and snatched at a fly that had been buzzing around his head for a while. The buzzing was irritating and he was hungry. He tossed the thing inside his mouth and chewed, lost in thought, picturing the sleeping girl writhing beneath him as he pleasured her.
He grew hard and cursed. His lack of companionship had left him very needy and there was no one around. He had grown tired of cheap hookers, regardless of how often he went to one since he had returned.
As he watched her more and more, though, he found himself ignoring the beck and calls of the lady friends he often hired to call him for his money for their services.
Tonight would be another night he would have to take matters into his own hands. Literally.
He chuckled at his pun as he unzipped his pants. He thought of Lydia undressing and started his ministrations.
Lydia awoke at the shrilling sound of her alarm clock as it broke her out of her dreamless sleep. She sat up and noticed that she was back in her bedroom, which was odd considering she had fallen asleep on the couch.
I must have sleep-walked she thought as she got out of bed and started on her Thursday routine of getting ready.
She rubbed at her eyes and almost tripped on her shoes while she was on her way to the bathroom.
She paused for a second to glare at her shoes in the mirror before she grabbed her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth. She zoned out and thought about her plans for her last day of the academic week, which was today.
Her first class of the day was Psychology at 10am which gave her enough time to take a quick shower, grab some breakfast, brush her teeth again, and drive to the campus, where she would sit in her class and read until the professor arrived and began the lesson. After class, she would go to the library and get started on her homework until her next class at 12. After that, she had two back to back classes and then she would come back home, change, and go to work in a quaint little place called Ray's Delights.
Lydia's previous employer had a friend who owned a bookstore here in Stamford. Because of her connections, Lydia's previous employer gave Ray a glowing review about Lydia and asked him to hire her during the hours she wasn't in class.
Ray had been more than glad to hire Lydia as a favor to his friend. He didn't need her assistance running the bookstore but he seemed to enjoy her company and the little conversation they made from time to time.
Lydia also knew that he hired her so he would have more time to read his beloved books without being interrupted by a customer.
After work, she would most likely come back to her apartment, finish her assignments, eat some Chinese takeout, maybe watch television, and then go to sleep.
It was all pretty boring but it didn't matter. All her activities filled her day and didn't give her much time to think about him, which is probably why she dreamt about him instead.
Lydia finished with her dental hygiene and turned on the shower, ready for the day that lay ahead of her, blissfully unaware of the events that would take place that night.