Beckoning
Betelgeuse closed the book and rubbed his eyes. How long had he been reading? The first few chapters had been a boring history lesson, which he didn't need, thankyouverymuch. He had lived during the time of pagan religions, and he didn't need a rehash. That sort of thing never interested him. He had run across a few in his lifetime, but he never felt the urge to join in. He was a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. Those sort of practices were too structured for him. He sighed, if he had to break into a little chanting to get of this hell hole, then he guessed he could. Miss Argentina had let it slip recently that the curse on his name had been strengthened. They were trying to keep him in line now. No one from the living world could summon him until his case was reviewed and they figured out what to do with him. All the attempts he made to get Lydia to say his name had been for nothing. Watching her run screaming had been fun, though. He got a good chuckle out of it if nothing else. He began flipping through the book again, looking for something that he could use. There had to be a way to get to Lydia, or get Lydia to come to him. He flipped through lazily, until something caught his eye. "To Summon the Spirit of Dreamers" it read. "Ooh yeah," he thought. This could be very useful. He already knew how easy it was to mess with breathers in their dreams. He had done it plenty of times. That always freaked 'em out quick. He had to admit, messing with Lydia while she was awake had taken a lot out of him. He supposed it was because of the new curse restrictions, but he didn't know that then. It was a lot easier when she was asleep. Hell of a lot easier to juice things in the subconscious as well. He had visited her dreams more than a few times, in fact. And he had found out some very interesting things. Turns out that little Lydia did think about him, and in some very compromising positions at that. A couple of her dreams had been downright pornographic. He was pleasantly surprised. He didn't even have to help those dreams along. He just watched. Surprisingly, the idea of a cold shower had even occurred to him. He couldn't just rush into this summoning, though. He would have to work up to it. Maybe visit her dreams again for a few nights. Maybe he would get lucky and she would be having one of those dreams…. He couldn't let anyone know what he was doing. He'd have to find a secluded spot, probably the basement. He would have to be sure to conceal what he was up to. Juno could make his afterlife an unliving hell if she felt like it, and if she found out about this, she would definitely feel like it. He didn't like that idea of that at all. Fortunately, being sneaky was one of his best attributes. He would try his best to be subtle. But, one way or another, Lydia would be getting him out of here, whether she liked it or not. He knew just how to go about it too. Betelgeuse smiled a wicked looking smile. She would be screaming his name by the time he was finished. But until his curse was back to normal, he would just have to have a little fun with the girl.
Lydia walked into her room and closed the door. She wanted to get a good look at that book. She had no idea why, but lately she couldn't stop thinking about Betelgeuse. Part of her felt like he was probably gone for good, but another part knew that Betelgeuse could never be underestimated. She closed the curtains and sat down on the bed to read. She wanted to know if he had escaped, and if this book could help her, she was going to find out. She read for hours, immersing herself in the history. She read about pagan summoning spells and rituals. She wondered briefly if Betelgeuse had been a pagan. Would that explain why he had so much power? Of course she knew nothing about paganism and even less about Betelgeuse himself, so she had no idea if that was how things worked. She thought about how he had saved the Maitlands from exorcism. Everything he had done, was done with a simple flick of the wrist or a snap of the fingers. He had done so many frightening and magnificent things with just his hands. Immediately, she wondered what else those hands were capable of. Lydia slammed the book closed. Why was she thinking about him like that? He was dirty, and disgusting, and probably evil, and definitely insane…and dead. She should not be thinking about him like that. But once again she thought about him and his magic hands. It made her shudder. She thought about the dreams she had been having, and blushed violently. She shook her head to dislodge the thoughts, and turned her attention back to the book. After just a few pages, however, she was asleep.