I'm, not feeling creative with my disclaimer tonight. Beetlejuice, Lydia, Neitherworld… All pretty much not mine. Neither are Raisinets or Ju-ju-bees. Or however it's spelled. I'm with Lydia on this one though, I'd probably prefer neitherworld candy too…
--
Well, this series just gets harder and harder to write. I don't know why! I still love it, mind you. I'm just not sure I'm staying true to the original. If not, since there will probably be three shorts in this, there's always next time. Right?
--
Even after all they'd been through on Halloween night, only a few months before, there they were again, walking along the streets of the neitherworld like nothing had changed. Lydia, her dark eyes lidded heavily with thought, gazing in satisfaction around her, something obviously tickling through her mind. There was no telling what she'd come up with, when she had that look on her face.
"You know what I love about the neitherworld?" She interjected suddenly, as he'd known she would. He chuckled, not quite looking at her, and ready for just about anything. He shook his head, no. "The roads don't actually have to lead anywhere!" There was just a little trace of triumph to the words, as if this were particularly significant, ending in a satisfied sigh. "They can just be there!"
That was true… sort of. But he was probably expected to argue the point, as he usually did, so to humor her, Beetlejuice managed, with an absolutely straight face, "All roads lead somewhere, babes."
Lydia shot him a tolerant expression, her eyes already glinting at this game of debate, one they often played. "What about that one?" She challenged, pointing to a road apparently suspended by nothing, which wound even now to the side of them, in a smooth spiraling way, until it dropped off into nothing at all, far out of sight below. "Where does that road lead?"
"To a sudden drop." He replied matter-of-factly, after a moment of thought. Lydia snickered, grabbing onto his arm, and dropping her head against his shoulder. His arm, on reflex, hooked her waist. He almost grimaced at how natural that was now… "You're never going to win, that way, Lyds." He scolded her, unable to resist cracking a twisted little grin.
"Yes, I am." She denied stubbornly, still smiling. At this point of course, there was no arguing with her. She'd simply counter anything he said, regardless of how much sense it made. It was her way of getting out of losing, though by then, the game had about as much point as a dull stake.
He groaned, thinking up a million little asinine things that might be fun to make her deny, out of sheer ridiculousness. It was usually good for a few cackles… But for once the thought kind of bored him. Time to try something different. "Babes," He drawled simply, "You're starting to piss me off."
Lydia's eyes went wide, and she drew away from him in surprise, completely unsure if he was serious or not. "I am?" She echoed, baffled.
"Nah…" Now he grinned, pleased to have gotten a different response out of her for a change, "But that time, I did win." Her little pout was completely countered by the way her eyes danced with laughter, and the way she dove for his arm again, grasping it this time with both hands.
"B, you're mean…" She murmured, a sigh falling from her as she enjoyed the sight of the red neitherworld sun, settling down nearer to the horizon. There was silence after this for a while, before she suddenly seemed inspired to change the subject. "Hey," She said, straightening up, "This road leads to Sandworm Peak, doesn't it?"
Just the mention of sandworms made him a little uneasy… Only one thing in the world really scared him, and while it wasn't sandworms, he just plain did not like the things. "Yeah," He said slowly, wondering if she was about to try to drag him there to watch the sunset again. "Why?"
To be honest, it wouldn't be the first time she'd managed to get him to go against what passed for common sense for the poltergeist. The fact was that Lydia could talk him into just about anything, and had very few inhibitions of her own. Maybe fewer fears. And there was no doubt that Sandworm Peak had the best view of the sun's fading light in the whole neitherworld, but… Hell. Sandworms. The kid was nuts.
Before she could answer, a pretty ghoul in the distance caught her eye, the only other person they'd seen on the road in a while, making her stand on her tiptoes to consider what she was riding. It looked like a bike. But kind of the way a poodle looked like a hellhound. "Ooh…" She crooned, admiring the glint of steel, and slashing of blackened bone. "That's pretty."
Beetlejuice followed her eyes, not really impressed by the flashy set of wheels. Far less impressed by the pink haired, skinny dame riding it… And a little annoyed, as said woman swung a little to the side, on seeing them, and pulled up close next to them. Her eyes were all for Lydia though, so it seemed as if he'd be spared her inane nattering. At the same time, anyone showing interest in the goth girl kind of made his hackles stand on end…
Blinking wide blue eyes, the ghost woman made a sound like someone cooing over a kitten, reaching out to take Lydia's poncho between her fingers, admiring the soft material. "Oh wow," She murmured, a small smile settling on her lips, "That has to be the most beautiful shawl I've ever seen… Where did you get it? I'd love one in blue…"
Lydia stared at her for a moment in confusion, a bit surprised that the stranger was actually talking to her. That didn't happen too often, in fact she was rarely addressed by other neitherworld citizens… Probably due to Beetlejuice's proximity at all times. It threw her off her game a little. "I- I made it." She said slowly. It was true, she'd outgrown the original years before, but stuck loyally to the design. When he couldn't find another, she'd simply sewn a new one herself. Twice, in fact.
"Really?" Clearly the stranger was even more impressed with this, and got a sort of studying look to her eye. "It's real spider silk, isn't it? The good stuff… I've heard that's really hard to work with… Wow, something like this would cost a fortune in the stores!"
She hadn't yet spared a single glance at the ghost with the most, who was starting to frown. Lydia was still staring at the stranger, now with a small smile. Was she just being polite, or did she actually like her? It ground at his gut a little… He couldn't have other ghosts butting in on his time. Worse, she seemed to have completely forgotten him.
"Do you do commissions?" The woman prompted, a hopeful hint to her smile. "I have this design I've been dying to make… But I have no talent at all with a needle." She bit her lip, pausing before she went on. "Do you think…?"
That was about all he could take. "Not about that." He denied flatly, flicking his fingers. "And needles are all in how you use them…" The grin didn't quite form on his face, but his eyes flickered with malice as, abruptly, a giant sewing machine needle smashed down out of nowhere, not six inches to the left of the chatting cyclist, leaving a gaping hole in the road.
The ghoul screamed, dropped her bike in the confusion, and took off at all speeds down the street, the hammering needle following her faithfully as Lydia stared in shock, each time barely missing its target. He'd wait until she was out of the kid's sight before he pinned her little ass to the damn road for real…
"B!" Lydia protested, sounding horrified. "Why did you do that?"
"Don't like to share, babes." He answered calmly, hooking her around the waist in a companionable way, as he regarded the discarded cycle. Maybe Lyds would want it… She'd been admiring it before. "Besides, didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk to strangers?" He hooked his thumb at the bike. "Did you want that, or what?"
"What?" Lydia looked briefly baffled, turning her gaze to it, then back to him. The girl's eyes were still dubious. "No… And what about you? You were a stranger, once." She reminded him, still visibly upset. "What if I hadn't talked to you?"
"Nah, I was just a friend you hadn't met yet." He denied easily, never missing a beat. "Now that broad… She was strange." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a length of red candy. "Blood Whip?" He offered, holding it out to her, in hopes of distracting the girl.
She took it slowly, glancing once over her shoulder, before giving it up with a shrug. It was true, Beetlejuice didn't like to share… Never had. Which currently presented something of a problem. But she wouldn't address that just yet.
Instead she seemed to turn her thoughts over, and end up right back where he didn't want her. "So, can we go watch the sunset?" She pressed, giving up on the ghoul's well being, for the sake of changing the subject.
Beetlejuice's smile faltered again, he really didn't fucking like the Sandworm Desert… Being eaten by one of those things was the only sure way to get yourself exorcised, after all. Other than pissing him off, that was. "Forget it, kid." He grunted, deciding a vague excuse was the best way out of this. "That place is still over an hour away, and the sun will set long before that." Somewhere behind, he was aware of the needle driving one final time into the concrete, before sticking there, still quivering from the impact.
He really didn't like sharing.
Lydia was a little uneasy about the sudden grin that had just crossed her friend's face, seemingly out of nowhere, but just put the end of the blood whip in her mouth with a sigh, sucking on the sweet, sugary center. Her gaze fell on his ring though, as she did, and a smile crossed her own lips. Suddenly it didn't matter so much that he wanted to chase off some ghoul looking for new fashion. She didn't feel like sewing for someone else anyway, and that was probably all the girl wanted. And Beetlejuice had actually been pretty decent about it… If he got it in his head, there was no telling what he would've done to her.
She was actually far more disappointed, not being able to see the way the sky bled from the highest point in the desert, but she supposed he was probably right, they could never walk there in time. That didn't mean of course, that he wasn't perfectly capable of flying her there with some minutes of the sunset to spare… But then again, she knew that the guy seriously didn't like sandworms, so she let it slide.
By this point, the beginnings of the Neitherwoods were beginning to close in on both sides, and she allowed herself to be distracted as she finally noticed this. Being in those trees in the dark would be almost as freaky as seeing Beetlejuice in his various forms… Almost. "Hey B, check it out! What do you think is in there?" She prompted, so used to simply accepting his behavior by now, that it didn't even seem strange.
"A million ways for a breather like you to get yourself killed." He answered simply, using this as an excuse to pull her closer to his side. It felt pretty good, her being so close… "Wanna see?" It was meant as a taunt, but he immediately regretted saying it of course, since that was exactly the kind of thing she would want to see… "No, hold on," He growled softly, "Forget I said that."
Having been about to say yes, Lydia's lips fell into a frown, and she considered her favorite poltergeist with a little pout. He met that look flatly, and then, slowly, the edges of his lips curled. "Come on Lyds, the shadows are dancing like mad right here…" He pointed out, lidding his eyes as he gazed out into the darkness. "You love that shit. You won't be able to see a damn thing, you go into those trees."
Slowly Lydia cast a glance around them. She'd never been this close to the Neitherwoods at night, and he was right, the air was filled with menacing shapes from every which side, twisting and leaping like they were caught in firelight. She wondered what did that… It was more than a little terrifying… But it was unquestionably hypnotizing too, and he was right, she did love that shit.
Beetlejuice grabbed her without warning, swinging her around before she could give more than a little gasp of surprise, and pulled her hard against his chest, his nastiest smile daring her to object. "Can't let them have all the fun, babes…" He hissed, as the air was suddenly filled with the mesmerizing sound of drumbeats, mimicking the sound of a racing heart.
Lydia laughed, and joined him with a swivel of her hips, lifting her arms into the air, and throwing her head back. Gravity lost all hold on her, and she was twisted into the air, him pulling her to and fro, before releasing her, and letting her sway as she pleased.
He'd been right so long ago… Watching her dance at this age was mesmerizing, and she spun and flowed with the essence of his power twisting around her, lips parted in a silent cry of glee as the thin red spider silk wrapped her form, twisting and fanning with her movements. When the drumbeats speeded up, she stomped her little feet in midair, and gave a little spin, finally flinging herself into the poltergeist's arms with their halt, who by this point, had become satisfied simply with watching.
Her laughter died off into little giggles, as she continued shaking against him with just the occasional little gasp of pleasure, her light body easily supported by his. Her hair falling every which way, she tipped her head back and grinned at him, before pushing herself back out of his arms, trusting him not to let her fall… And of course, he didn't, though he did drop her the last couple of inches, just to keep her on her toes.
"We can go to a real club tomorrow night," He noted, dropping down beside her far more gracefully, even as she caught her balance, and laughed again. "I know this place-" And this was where he stopped, because suddenly Lydia wasn't smiling anymore. In fact she looked decidedly uncomfortable. What the hell had brought that on? "What?" He mocked her, snorting. "You scared I'll make a scene?" He didn't really believe anything was bothering her yet. Nothing he couldn't fix anyway…
But well, yes, that was exactly what scared her… But she wasn't thinking of the club. "B," She murmured, bracing herself for the worst, "You know you're my best friend, right?" To him, the simple question sounded like a warning knell. Why would she feel the need to ask something like that? His grin was slowly replaced by a frown, as he suspected something was going to come of this that he didn't like. "I mean, you know you're my only friend. Right?"
"Something wrong with that?" He asked quietly, narrowing his eyes. Was this about that broad he'd just pinned down like a bug on a board? 'Cause she sure as hell shouldn't be upset over that… Shouldn't even know about it! "You're saying it like it's a bad thing, babes… What, you need more all of a sudden?"
Lydia fidgeted a little, biting her lip, and doing all she could to continue meeting his eyes. "Well… Sometimes I wonder what it would be like, to have other friends. The kids at school are a lot nicer to me than they used to be," She hurried on, seeing him tense just a fraction, "And I'd still be hanging out with you most of the time… It's just…" And here of course, was what she didn't want to say. "It'd be nice, to have someone to do living world stuff with, too."
Damn. Living world stuff? Since when in hell had she been interested in that? And it was, he had to admit, the one thing he couldn't do for her. "So, you got plans tomorrow, is what you're saying." He muttered slowly, visibly stiff with displeasure. He didn't like to share. Especially her. Why the hell should he have to? Lyds was his! She was wearing his damn ring! He had to be better than anything a living world twit could do for her!
Lydia sighed, seeing that this was going to go just as badly as she'd figured it would. "It's just a couple of girls my age," She murmured, unable to shake a deep feeling of guilt, regardless of whether it made sense, "They invited me to see a movie, and…"
"What movie?" He prompted, as if this were all he cared about.
And here of course, she grimaced, trying not to spit the words that were about to come out of her mouth. "Just some romantic comedy…" She explained, only to be met by a bark of laughter, and a look of incredulousness, from the ghost with the most. "It's supposed to be, really good."
"So…" He drawled slowly, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Let me make sure I've got this straight, babes… You want to go off with a bunch of kids you don't really know, and probably got no reason to like, to see a living world movie… A romantic comedy, no less… Rather than visiting some dark seedy club in the neitherworld, with yours truly?"
When he put it that way, it made about as much sense as cockroaches lining up to jump in Beetlejuice's frying pan. Though in her defense, she had seen that happen. After that, her family no longer had a bug problem too, so something good had come of it. Maybe something good would come of this… Even if that was a stretch of logic.
"I just want to try it." She said slowly, pointedly avoiding his eyes now. She felt awful. Why did she feel awful? "Maybe be normal, for once."
Normal? What the fuck, normal? He bared his teeth at the idea of his Lyds, trying to be normal… "Okay kid, whatever freakish living world cult's been brainwashing you," He informed her, in no uncertain terms, "I'm gonna rip their lungs out through their ears, break them off at the kneecaps, and feed their eyeballs to sandworms, got it?"
Lydia wanted to laugh, but wasn't really sure he wasn't serious, and wouldn't maybe do something very much like that to the girls who'd invited her. Which should probably bother her more… "Come on, B." She sighed, taking his hand gently in her own, "I have the rest of eternity to hang around the neitherworld… I mean, when I'm dead, I won't be able to do this kind of stuff anymore. Shouldn't I try to enjoy it while I can?"
Damn it, logic. She would have to hit him with something low like that. "You're not gonna like it, babes." He warned her softly. "Trust me, I've had way too much influence on you over the years…"
And at this, she could only smile. "That's probably true," She teased, already seeing that she was going to get her way, "God knows how warped you've probably made my innocent little mind…" His lips curled in decided amusement at this, though he didn't deny it. "One of these days, I may end up just as demented as my best friend!"
"Nah, not gonna happen, babes." He denied, not the least bit disturbed by being referred to as demented. It was more or less true, after all. "You're always gonna be as innocent as a newborn kitten." To emphasize this, he ruffled her hair, the way he had when she was younger.
Now she grinned, certain she'd won. "So you're not gonna be mad…?" She wheedled him expertly, making him make a face. "I can go to the movies?"
Beetlejuice grimaced. She just wasn't going to let this drop, was she? "Do what you want," He muttered, kicking a stone out of the way irritably, "But you're not gonna like it… 'Spose I can find some way to entertain myself, for one night though." Then, with a wicked grin, he added, "Not promising you're gonna like it."
Lydia supposed that was to be expected… But now she had his blessing, so to speak, and while Beetlejuice had his fun, she was going to do her best to have her own.
So god, why did this still feel like a bad idea…?
--
Lydia was surprised at how bright the movie theater was, utterly baffled by why a place that needed to be dark for its movies, would waste so much money on light. The actual crowd itself was modest beside what she was used to, but that just gave her the impression of sticking out all the more…
She wasn't sure what she'd been supposed to wear, at school there were uniforms, and in the neitherworld, nothing she wore was strange, so she could get as creative as she liked. Now though, with so many glances in her direction, many by her supposed friends, she had the idea that maybe she'd picked badly for hanging around the living. She glanced down at her long striped gloves, fingerless, her skull-patterned black blouse, with the long blood-colored skirt under it, and wanted to squirm in her skin. Maybe the sandals had been the last straw… But it was really warm today.
As she bought her ticket, she tried to pay attention to just what movie it was they were seeing. Something about 'Virgin Sunsets.' God, if that wasn't ridiculous, and didn't make her want to squirm more. Was she actually paying to see a porn? But no, it was rated PG-13...
"Ooh, I want some popcorn!" One of the girls squealed, making her unconsciously wince. She was dragged over to the concession stand, where the smell of grease and sugar seemed overwhelming, and everybody began arguing over what snacks to buy, and whether they'd last through the movie. None of the stuff looked familiar to her… When was the last time she'd been to one of these without Beetlejuice?
"Hey, you want something?" A girl with a piercing asked, as Lydia tried to remember her name. There had just been supposed to be a couple girls… Instead like ten had shown up. She had no chance of keeping them straight.
Lydia leaned obediently over the counter, gazing through the glass. She couldn't quite shake the worry that something on the other side was going to jump up any second, and snap at her fingers, so she kept them curled tightly. Lessons learned in the neitherworld tended to stick.
She was disappointed to find none of her favorites, not even movie theater staples like, well, blood whips. Frowning, she murmured to the guy behind the counter, "Don't you have any squirmy worms? Gooey red drops?" She wracked her brain to try to think of some other candy she ate, maybe from this world, but it might have been a long time. She never spent any time in this world, and there, Beetlejuice had always gotten her all she wanted. Her lips curled briefly at some thought of candy and strangers…
The guy behind the counter looked at her blankly, then, with a deadpan face and dull voice, just as if she couldn't see the selection right in front of her, began naming them off. Snickers? What was that? Raisinets? Ju-ju-bees? She pressed her forehead to the glass, wary of making the wrong choice. No telling what she'd end up with… Why was it hard to remember life before Beetlejuice? "What are you getting?" She asked the girl beside her, currently loading up on greasy popcorn and sugary drinks.
"Oh, no candy for me!" The brunette denied, making a face of disgust, "I'm on a diet!" Ah. Well that didn't help her worth shit, did it?
Her eyes passed over the selection one more time. God, she'd have settled for crispy cricket crunchies… Maybe I have spent too much time in the neitherworld, she mused, then dismissed the idea immediately. No, this stuff was just weird, that was all. The picture on one of the boxes looked like some kind of droppings!
Reluctantly she turned over her two dollars for a large bar of chocolate, about the only thing she trusted among the selection. The gold-colored paper was slippery under her fingers, and she peeled it open slowly, sliding the even more gold colored foil aside, and taking a small bite. She did love chocolate, and so was disappointed at the waxy texture of the stuff she'd been given. It wasn't half as sweet as she was used to either…
She glanced at the other girls, who were also dipping into their sweets ahead of time, and told herself that if she could just get past how strange everything was, maybe she could have fun. They looked like they were having fun… Gossiping in low voices, trading handfuls of candy as they walked toward the theater. And it wasn't that they weren't trying to include her… But mostly she just plastered a tiny smile on her face, and nodded silently from time to time.
Lydia was more than a little out of place, and knew it, but as the rest of the group pulled off, she followed obediently. They all wanted to sit in the back, except for one blonde in a ponytail, who managed to convince them to sit in the front anyway. Lydia was pretty sure that this one had the deciding vote on most topics, from the way the others easily gave into her. She was also pretty sure she was insisting, just to prove she could get her way. But to be honest, she really didn't care..
The theater itself was far darker inside, and amazingly clean. The floors weren't sticky or littered with debris, no one was laying in the aisle for lack of room, and the seats themselves were almost new. Soft too, she discovered, trying to sit where someone in front wouldn't block her view. At least in here, no one was talking, or making her feel like a freak. No sooner had she sat down in fact, than the first of the previews started.
Words scrawled across the screen, in deep gold letters, 'FOR ALL OF YOU WHO STILL REMEMBER YOUR FINAL MOMENTS…'
The phrase stayed there, for upwards of a minute, before flashing to a scene of a semi-dismembered woman, being dragged down a hall by her hair, screaming. Everyone jumped, then begin shifting uncertainly as it flashed to scene after scene of brutal, bloody death, only for the screen to fade to black again, just as abruptly. The words, Return of the Reaper, III, being carved, seemingly, into the fabric of the screen itself.
"Shit!" She distinctly heard someone in the theater curse. "They didn't even have a disclaimer…! Can't they get sued for that?" A couple other people were, loudly, considering whether or not to go see it. They were laughing rather nervously, but sounded impressed.
One was close by Lydia, so she leaned over, and whispered, "The second one sucked, but the first one was awesome…"
Actually, it was still her favorite movie, she must have seen it with Beetlejuice a dozen times. The living world version probably wasn't nearly as scary though, she reflected. Too bad. Maybe after this, she'd get B to go see that again with her. Or the new one. The neitherworld had to have a new one too, right? No way they'd let the living get away with doing them one better…
Strangely, this was the only preview offered, before credits began appearing on the screen, and slowly, those around her began to relax, looking forward to the main attraction. Some of the actor's names, she recognized from conversations at school. The director, his name in huge letters, was supposed to be really good. She actually started to hold out some hope for the flick after all…
And then they had to go and open the first scene in some sunny park, a woman with bright red hair giggling as she sat in her boyfriend's lap, feeding him popcorn. He pretended to bite her fingers, not even getting close. She gave a little squeal of excitement, and kissed him. Lydia supposed grudgingly that this was kind of cute. Probably they'd get to the good part later.
Half an hour later, she sat with the half-melted bar of chocolate making her fingers sticky, reluctant to lick them clean. Wondering if that kind of thing had ever tasted good to her. Also wondering why the hell she'd agreed to come to a movie about 'testing the bonds of friendship and courage, and exploring the boundlessness of love.'
In addition, she wondered what Beetlejuice was up to. This was how she'd managed not to run out of the movie twenty minutes before, when one of them, she really couldn't remember which one, broke down in tears during an argument. Because she was accusing her boyfriend of 'not responding to her needs.' It was never very clear though, exactly what she was talking about… Maybe because by this point, Lydia was hitting her head on the empty seat in front of her.
Okay, so she wasn't, but she had seriously considered it. Instead she lidded her eyes, watching the fictional world filled with obviously dysfunctional people, laughing one minute, and pondering the unfairness of life the next. Beetlejuice would have ripped his eyes out by now. Possibly someone else's. She hoped to god that no one acted like this in real life, but she honestly didn't know. Though it did remind her of her parents from time to time…
Resigned to… How much longer was this thing? Well, probably another hour, Lydia slouched in the new, comfortable chair, and forced herself to enjoy the movie. Though she hadn't yet ruled out hitting her head on the seat in front of her. Shit, one of the girls she'd come with was actually sobbing… What for? No one had even gotten killed!
Miss Utterly Ridiculous was now sitting on the couch in her parents' house, waiting for Mr. Equally Pathetic to come back in from the kitchen. When the door swung open, she plastered on a waxy grin, and asked him what he'd talked about with her father. He made some dismissive comment about the old man saying how he'd kill him if he touched his daughter, which made the girl laugh, and ask what he'd done next.
"Well shit," The guy answered casually, leaning back on the couch, "You know I'm gonna jump that hot ass of yours the minute you stop fucking around with me… So I hit him in the back of the head with a frying pan a few times, until his teeth started falling out!" He grinned, adding, "You just gotta know how to talk to people."
Everyone stared at the screen in abject shock, taken aback by the sudden shift in the storyline, even Lydia. Could they do that? Just change someone's character, even the style of the movie itself, halfway through? But there the girl was, laughing, as if it was some kind of joke, and batting her eyes flirtatiously at him. "Come on… You're going to have to do better than that, to make an impression on my old man! Besides, I wouldn't know a good time if you took me right now, and-"
At the following string of dialogue that issued forth from the two, everyone's eyes got wider and wider, some confused, a few angry, and more than one person starting cursing along with them. A handful got so offended, they got up to complain. It definitely wasn't PG-13 anymore. And Lydia, though maybe naïve in many living world ways, was not an idiot. Just the same, she propped her chin up on her hand, curious where this would go.
Just as they were exchanging a particularly nasty description of one eviscerating the other, she didn't know exactly how they'd gotten on that topic, the door suddenly swung open from the kitchen. The girl's father starting crawling in on his hands, his head half caved in, the unmistakable sheen of brain fluid oozing out of the crack. To almost a one, every person in the theater started screaming.
Mr. Slightly More Interesting Now, got to his feet with a yell, picked up a poker from the fireplace, and resumed where he'd presumably left off. This left him beating the guy's head in with impressive determination, while his girlfriend cursed him out for not listening to her. And this was, in Lydia's opinion, the most interesting scene either one of them had been in.
Suddenly the man, zombie, by this point it really didn't matter, had latched his teeth into his opponent's leg, as getting beaten on really doesn't do much to stop the undead. He proceeded to chew his way through the limb, with much smacking and tearing, veins popping and blood oozing. And no one said a word. Nor did anyone else leave. They just stared. The whole theater was in shock.
Except of course for Lydia. "A screenwriter you're not, B…" She murmured under her breath, though she had to admit, she was enjoying the movie a hell of a lot more, now. Gradually the zombie got the upper hand, having knocked her boyfriend to the ground, and was now ripping out his innards lazily, while his victim screamed and fought and cursed.
And the girlfriend in all this? She was yelling at her father about how unfair he was, and how he never liked any of the boyfriends she brought home. Then, as she stomped up the stairs, leaving the two to sort it out among themselves, she offered a last shot of, "How am I ever supposed to find a guy worth shit, if you eat everyone I bring home? I hate you!"
After this, the scene was pretty much comprised of one person ripping the other person to bloody shreds, devouring his flesh and licking away rivulets of dripping blood. Accompanied by many sound effects. Apparently this gave a few people a chance to draw out of their shock, and wonder aloud if someone was playing some kind of sick joke on them.
And that of course, was the cue for a very familiar voice, to cut in, saying, "We hope you have enjoyed this clip of, 'My Zombie Dad,' a hell of a lot more than that other shit you were watching. Now do me a favor, and…" A huge twisted up face suddenly bulged into the screen from behind, screaming, "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE FUCKING THEATER!"
Lydia sat there with a little, annoyed twist to her lips, as all around her, people panicked. They trampled each other in an attempt to leave, masses of terrified people willing to rip each other apart, if it got them out of there faster. Falling to the ground, getting stepped on, then getting back up, and running again. She just tucked her legs to her chest so that her feet wouldn't get crushed, and closed her eyes until it was over.
Only when the theater was empty again, did Beetlejuice emerge all the way from the screen, a look of sheer evil on his face. "What did you think of that, babes?" He greeted her casually, straightening his sleeves. "Pretty damn good, right? I swear, I oughta direct…"
"Why did you ruin the movie, B?" She murmured, her eyes more fond than angry. "Can't I take one day to spend with…?"
"No." He answered flatly, before she could finish. "You're mine babes, and I told you, I don't like to share. So I ain't gonna. End of subject." He dropped down in the seat beside her, hooking his arm over her shoulder, and considered her sticky hand with a frown. "What the hell you been eating, babes? Looks like shit."
Lydia lifted her hand, looked at it with a frown, and sighed, wiping it off on the seat next to her. She couldn't really be mad at him, she'd been having a lousy time until he showed up. "You know you'll always be my best friend, B." She pointed out, leaning into his shoulder a little. "Why do you care if I hang out with someone else too?"
Beetlejuice lifted his head, narrowed his eyes, and considered her along the bridge of his nose. "Would you wanna share me, babes?" He asked pointedly. Lydia was surprised at the way her stomach curled at the very idea. A sharp bark of laughter left his throat, and he nodded, standing, and pulling her with him. "So no sharing, right?"
"Mm…" Lydia eyed him, wondering if there was any way around this. But she hadn't even liked being around those other girls… The whole thing had been kind of a drag. "So, what do you want to do?"
"Return of the Reaper III, Lyds." He suggested, a sneer curling his lips. "You know what they say… Because the first time was only the beginning!" At her smile, he gave a low cackle, and shoved a small, brown box in her hands. "Come on babes, hit us with the 'B' words!"
Lydia turned the box of candy, her favorite, over in her hands, shook her head in resignation, and turned to her best friend with a sigh. "Beetlejuice…" She whispered, only to be interrupted by his, that's one, "Let's get out of here. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice."
They were gone from the theater before the first person braved up enough to peek back in, already standing amid a roiling soup of mist before Beetlejuice's favorite club. "What about the movie?" She protested, only to be dragged forward with a low cackle, and without much protest.
"Plenty of time for that, babes… Night's young!" He knew she was up for it, knew her too well to think she'd protest at this late point in the game. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink… Something hot and sweet!" And when Lydia hooked her arm through his, giving in with a light little laugh, he felt like he finally had her back. No way he'd ever give her up without a fight, she had to know that…
You're mine, Lyds… No matter what.
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