Beckoning

Betelgeuse was bored. The kind of all encompassing boredom that could only be assuaged by doing something illegal or immoral or both. He looked around. Surely he could find something to entertain himself. He had already propositioned every woman in the waiting room, and been slapped in the face more times than he cared to count. So getting lucky wasn't an option. He had read every magazine cover to cover at least three times. Messing with that witchdoctor again was definitely out of the question. It had taken over a year for his head to return to normal. He sighed heavily. It was going to be years before they got to his number. He had time to snoop around a bit. He got up from his place on the sofa and sauntered over to the desk. He tapped loudly on the window, getting the attention of Miss Argentina. She slid the window open with an exasperated huff. "What do you want now, Betelgeuse?" she asked. He flashed her his best suave smile. "just gonna slip out for a smoke, baby cakes," he said, "try not to miss me too much." She rolled her eyes and slammed the window in his face. "Well that was rude," he said loudly. He turned and headed for the door. When he was outside, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Since he had worked in this hole for a while, he knew the ins and outs of the place. There was a broken window on the lower level that led to the basement. Good a place to snoop as any. He casually finished his cigarette, and headed for the back of the building. As he neared the window, a smile spread across his face. He reached inside the broken pane, and flipped the latch. He crawled over a stack of boxes and jumped to the floor. This particular building had a "no juice" rule, instituted specifically for him. He couldn't even float through walls in this joint. Yet another reason he had to get the hell out of this place. He smiled a bit at a familiar memory. He had been close to getting out, very close. That little breather, what's-her-name…Linda, Olivia…Lydia, that was it. She had agreed to marry him. That was a shock. Unfortunately, he didn't get to take advantage of that situation. Or of Lydia either, for that matter. "Oh well," he thought, "you win some, you lose some…." He leaned casually on a stack of boxes and took out another cigarette. He needed to find something interesting. Something to entertain himself for the thousand or so years he was gonna be stuck in this little slice of hell. He stepped away from the box, and took a step. Just as he was about to take another, he heard the rumbling of the fifteen or so boxes stacked behind him. "Shit," he mumbled, as they came careening for his head. Since he couldn't just "juice" himself out of the way, every last box crashed down on him, knocking him to the floor. Betelgeuse sat up, throwing boxes in every direction and cursing fluently. He stood up and dusted himself off. He kicked the last offending box off his foot and cursed a bit more for good measure. He stepped over the rubble and sat on the nearest hard surface he could find. "I am NOT cleaning that up," he said aloud. He sat sulking for a minute, glad that no one had been around to see him knocked unceremoniously on his ass. This day was just getting worse. Something tumbled off the nearest pile and landed against his leg. Despite himself, Betelgeuse jumped a little. "Dammit," he practically screamed, "what the hell….." He reached down and snatched up the offending object, ready to hurl it against the nearest wall. He glanced at the thing just as it was being maneuvered into throwing position. Suddenly, his arm stopped. It was a book. Normally books didn't interest him, but this book certainly did. He dusted off the cover and read the title aloud. Spectral and Corporeal Union, it read. "Hmmmm," he thought, "what have we here?" Oh this could come in handy. Very handy. He flipped it open randomly, and began reading aloud. "Unions between spectral entities and corporeal beings were once very common. Although not as common today, summoning by one or both entities is entirely possible….." A grin spread across his face, feral and self satisfied. "Oh hell yeah," he said, with a chuckle. This was going to be very useful indeed. He closed the book and turned it over in his hands. Definitely couldn't take it into the waiting room as is. A disguise was in order. He shuffled through the pile of things at his feet, until he found what he was looking for. Spatial Parameters and You, the cover read. He removed the dust jacket and slipped it onto his new found prize. Hell, the higher-ups might be impressed if they thought he was reading this garbage. He would make it look like he was studying to become a good Neitherworld citizen. "Yeah right," he scoffed. He tucked his book into his jacket and slipped out of the basement.

Back in the waiting room, he tucked himself into a comfortable chair in the corner and immersed himself in the book. This little baby made his fingers itch. There was going to be no limit to what he could do. The living world was in for a big surprise…