Break Away
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters mentioned or involved in this story. This is a fictional piece of work. In no way do I make any money or a profit of sorts from using these characters.
Authors Note: This piece struck me while I was in the bath musing on what might have happened if Beetlejuice had met Lydia before he'd met the Maitlands, I've upped Lydia's age to 18 just in case I want to take things a little
Further. Movie verse.
Chapter One: Time Well Spent
Comfort over practicality had always been an issue when it came to the several things that were housed in Beetlejuice's hidden lair. The beaten old armchair that sat in the middle of his living room had it's own purpose. He'd sit there, from time to time and read the newspaper occasionally, usually when he had nothing to do, no mortals to scare, no Neitherworld gal to seduce, nada.
He'd sigh, try to find a comfortable position for thinking, maybe drink several bottles of cheap rum but usually he ended up staring into space or stalking whichever insect that had found the guts to crawl around his lair. He was a bum, a good for nothing poltergeist who liked nothing better than annoying the hell out of Juno, his ex friend and colleague and now his care worker and terrorising the living.
Of course, he'd found his new fools, he was The Ghost With The Most but before they came to terms with their situation he really didn't have anything to do. He could stoke out the house, hide himself away in the walls and watch the going ons of their dull boring lives and wait for the opportunity to strike and befriend them in an instant, weaselling his way into their afterlife and causing terror within the household but he usually held back a couple of days before he did that. Let them settle into their new surroundings, create a calm atmosphere before turning everything upside fucking down.
He liked that part especially.
Clearing his throat, he clicked his fingers and a cigarette appeared in his mouth instantly, another click and the cigarette had ignited itself. Oh the powers of a poltergeist, you had to love them. Taking several drags from the cigarette he decided that it would probably be best to hide out for a while, a change of scenery. Surely those dullards' digs were far cleaner than his?
A swig of the cheap rum that laid on the table next to his beaten armchair a comb of his filthy butter blonde hair and off he went with a small pfft sound.
He ended up down in the kitchen, flicking his cigarette to the left of him be began to check out the house. Everything was so…dull, the 1950's wallpaper, the laminate flooring and ancient carpets, he had to give the couple their due, they kept a tidy house but the place didn't look lived in, no dirt, no litter…the place was covered in dust but what else did he expect? When dying there were much more important things to worry about than polishing the units and hoovering the carpets.
There were several photographs on their mantelpiece along with that huge bugger of a mirror, it was them. They were younger, happy. Most of the photos were of their wedding day he presumed, there were no pictures of any kids though, maybe the husband didn't have strong swimmers in THAT department.
Yawning, Beetlejuice hovered through the house pausing here and there to pick objects up, usually to see if they were worth stealing, He was sure to keep himself formless, he didn't need the couple finding out about him being there, he needed their work. The afterlife was a shitty affair, paperwork and dust mostly. He'd learned from a very early death not to expect too much from the dead, when he left Juno, he was sure to find business elsewhere…he did but not without conning people.
While floating aimlessly up the stairs to reach the first floor of the house a shrill scream echoed throughout the house, it then morphed into a gasp. A gasp, Beetlejuice knew from experience meant some crummy wench had finally found her dream house. Yeah right, the place was a right bore house. It didn't have character, or a likeability factor. Turning round he watched as a red head arty fartsy type burst into the hall and grinned from ear to ear. He'd seen enough to know that he detested her already. She looked like a flake.
What he presumed to be her husband followed her in, his eyes wandering around the hall settling on the stairs and the many other rooms that adorned the house, he looked relatively normal, a bit nervous perhaps. Well, the guy hadn't seen anything yet; he was going to get one hell of a scare when those Maitland geeks needed him. He silently cackled at the thought.
He'd already seen enough to know that this would be an easy job; the couple were too fragile to dare stay in this house after he'd given them a good haunting. Turning, he made his way up the steps until a black figure caught the corner of his eye, they must have had a kid.
Beetlejuice stared at the darkly dressed figure of a young girl morbidly sitting on a sofa that was being brought in by the movers. He couldn't keep his jade eyes off of her as she slowly sat up from the sofa and took several pictures of the house. Her gaze finally resting on a spider that clung furiously to its web that was attached to the stairs. She was a couple of foot from him but he knew if he had fully formed into himself that she would have seen him. So, she was one of those. A believer. Interesting.
She murmured something and looked up directly into his eyes, just her darkened gaze sent shivers down his spine. This was a new development, he was sure he could have fun with this one, if he was lucky she might even be the key to him getting out of the Neitherworld for good. Yeah right, she didn't look like she was easy to manipulate, but being that young maybe her naivety would take over. He could put on a sob story and one hell of a show for her. A crooked smile took itself to rest upon his mouth as he watched her wander around the house.
She stalked the house like a predator, her camera stuck to her chest. Every now and then she'd stop, angle her head and take a few snaps of whatever interested her. He stopped next to her waiting for her to snap her next item but was surprised when she faced him and stared. She couldn't see anything so there was nothing to worry about, but that gaze had him doubting himself. Her hand gingerly hung in the air as she braced herself to pass it through the cold spot that had been following her. Beetlejuice knew that if she were a believer she'd be a bit wary about his aura following her. Like many poltergeists and ghosts, if he came in close contact with a breather they'd feel an almost chilly force against them. Sometimes his aura caused sickness, other times it caused headaches and panic attacks, but this girl just passed her hand through him without blinking an eye.
"Is…is someone there?"
He stayed silent and watched as she shook her head doubting how sane she was at that moment.
"Of course there isn't anyone there, you idiot." She murmured slowly chastising herself and continued her walk through the house. She reached the room her father had taken residence in, Beetlejuice was sure his name was Charles, he knew another Chuck back in the neitherworld. He smiled at her and waved for her to enter the room.
"Lydia, pumpkin. Where have you been?"
Lydia shrugged her black clothed shoulders and lifted her camera.
"I was just checking the place out, taking a few photographs. Is my room upstairs?"
Her dad nodded and at that moment Beetlejuice knew that this wouldn't be any regular haunting… Lydia was her name? He was sure that her name was Greek; he smiled and nodded to himself. This wasn't going to be no regular haunting.