THE DEAL

Lydia sat staring at herself in the mirror. She was tired. She hadn't been sleeping well. There were the pressures of school; she was graduating this year, and checking out colleges seemed like a full time job lately. Then, there were the nightmares. Well, nightmare really. It was always the same. She was standing next to Beetlejuice in that horrible red dress, when suddenly the ceiling crashed in to reveal a huge sandworm. The creature snapped down to seize the ghost, but suddenly seemed to change it's mind, opting instead for her. She heard Beetlejuice laugh maniacally as she was carried away.

She had had this same dream every night for two weeks. Always the same. She glanced at her reflection again, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. This made her think about his eyes. They were a deep green that faintly glowed. There was always a spark in his eyes. Usually it was lust, or malice. Sometimes it was something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but the look that haunted her was the last one she ever saw in his eyes. There was no mistaking it. Just before he was devoured by that sandworm, she had seen fear flash in them. Lydia sighed, running her fingers through her long hair. If she didn't start sleeping soon, she was going to start looking like him. Suddenly she felt the tears begin to sting her eyes. Every time she thought about him, she had an overwhelming feeling of guilt. She had no idea why she felt guilty, she hadn't been the one to ride in on that sandworm. Still, she couldn't help but feel responsible. He was only helping because she had asked him to, he had upheld his end of the bargain, and she had not. But whether or not she had expected to feel guilty about it, that is exactly what she felt. "Oh Lydia, get a grip," she thought. One last glimpse at her sleep deprived face, left her frozen in fear. When she looked at the pale girl in the mirror, she could have sworn that the brown eyes had flashed a brilliant green.

Beetlejuice was sitting in Juno's office once again, only this time he was behind the desk, in he chair, with his feet propped up on it. It was the only time since he had worked for her that he had come to this office voluntarily. Juno walked in to find the ghost smoking one of her cigarettes and reading his file, which she was certain she had not left open on her desk. "Unruly, surly, devious, manipulative and dangerous…." he said, reading aloud. "Hell Juno, if you wanted to sleep with me, you shoulda just said so." he said grinning. Juno rolled her eyes at his asinine comment. "Get your feet off my desk, asshole," she said pointedly. Beetlejuice frowned. "Come on Junes," he said innocently, "I'm here to make your day…" "I seriously doubt that you could do anything that would make my day." she replied coldly, "what are you doing here, then?" Beetlejuice sat up and propped his elbows on the desk. "I wanna sign your little contract," he said almost sweetly. In all the centuries that she had known Beetlejuice, she had never been able to figure him out. But this, this had to be the biggest shock he had ever given her. "What's the catch?" she asked dubiously. Beetlejuice grinned, "Y'know Junes," he said, "if I had any feelings, they'd be hurt…" The old ghost regarded him with disgust. "Uh huh," she said, "I know you, Geuse. What's your angle?" Beetlejuice flashed her a creepy grin. "Just tryin' to be a model citizen, Junes," he said sarcastically. Juno sighed and went to the filing cabinet and pulled out a copy of the contract. Beetlejuice zapped a pair of reading glasses onto his nose, and took up a pen. "Aren't you going to read it?" Juno asked. Beetlejuice flashed her a blinding grin. "nah," he replied, "I trust you, Junes." "Okay," she replied, "it's your second funeral…." Beetlejuice frowned at the woman, then signed his name to the unread document with a flourish. "Nuttin' to it," he said smiling. Juno smiled more than she had in centuries. Beetlejuice got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. When Juno began to laugh, he thought for a minute that he might actually be sick. Juno ceased her laughter and glared at him coldly. "Your ass is as good as dead," she said with a smirk, "again." Beetlejuice got up from the chair and headed for the door with a frown. "You keep laughin', you old bat," he said, dusting off his sleeves, "It's Showtime!"