Always My Best Friend
Beetlejuice Fanfiction
Friendship/Hurt/Comfort
Chapter 3
The Neitherworld
Though I know I should be wary,
Still I venture someplace scary.
Ghostly Hauntings I turn loose,
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!
A streak of lightning shot through the sky as loud thunder rumbled afterwards. Beetlejuice dived unceremoniously out of the mirror and on to the floor, landing right at Tessie's feet. She giggled down at him, black bangs covering her eyes showing only her smile.
"Hey, Kid," greeted BJ as he sat up and rubbed his head,
"Hi, BJ," Tessie tossed her bag off to the side and ran up to her four poster bed, covered in navy blue sheets. She proceeded to discard her school clothes for more a comfortable pair of jeans and a faded T-shirt. Beetlejuice preoccupied himself by hunting for lunch.
In the short time since Tessa had moved into her grandmother's old house, Beetlejuice had gotten rid of the roach problem. Much to the surprise and delight of Robert, Tess's father, though the man would never find out who had actually done the work. Bj looked and felt like his old self again, though the pain of losing Lydia had not lessened over time. But it was abated every day he spent with Tess, Lydia's ten-year old granddaughter.
"So what's the game plan today, kid?" Called Beej from the ceiling as Tessie came skipping in and discarded her school clothes in the nearby hamper. He still had yet to find a proper nickname for the child, as Tess was already short for Teresa; and the little girl made sure to tell him how much she hated to be called Teresa.
"I don't know, BJ," she said unhappily. The ghost with the most shot his glance down in concern. Making friends was difficult for the little girl; other children were scared of her and isolated her. Other times she was the brunt of cruel jokes, and the kid was so soft-hearted and kind she usually just turned away. Nobody knew she often came home in tears.
Robert was at his wit's end on what to do; he had tried everything. He had talked to teachers, children's parents but nothing seemed to work. All Beej could do was be a shoulder to cry on, and he was happy to comfort the little girl when she needed it.
Then it hit him, why did she need those pointless fleshbags as friends anyway? Not when he could introduce them to his own. Jacques, Ginger, even Monster would love the girl to bits and pieces.
"Hey kid," Beetlejuice floated down from his perch, "I've got an idea, how about—" His head snapped off to the right, "One minute." And BJ dove on to the floor and not two seconds later held up a big fat roach. Tess cringed as he ate it, hearing the carapace crunch between his teeth.
"Ew," giggled Tessie as BJ belched loudly, "You're so gross, BJ."
"I know." The Ghost replied casually, and he returned to his spot and poked Tessie in the nose, "Anyway, wanna come with me on an adventure?"
The little girl smiled, "Sure, but I have to ask my Dad if it's okay." The little girl hopped off the bed and ran out her door. BJ rolled his eyes and waited patiently, not five minutes later she came bouncing back in, "Daddy says it's alright. He's busy with work, so we can't bother him."
"Where we're going, you're dad isn't going to hear a peep out of the both of us!" and Beetlejuice dove straight into the mirror. Tess watched as he appeared on the other side of the glass, his handheld out for her to take. She hesitated for half a moment, before grasping it and she felt herself get pulled through.
They landed in a gothic rendition of her bedroom in varying shades of dark blue. Before Tessie could ask questions Beetlejuice led her to the bedroom door and threw it wide open.
"Kid," he said as Tess gasped and looked over the floating highway, "Welcome to the Neitherworld."
The little girl's jaw was wide open as she peered down the Highway of Lost Souls, the asphalt stretching beyond her vision. With a motion forward Beetlejuice led her down the road, until a large house with gaudy neon lights swam into view.
"BJ's Roadhouse?" Tess looked up at him as the ghost shoved his hands into his pockets, "Is this your house, BJ?"
"Yep, I share it with two of my friends. I figured you might want to meet them, they were really good friends with your Grandma."
"Really?"
Beetlejuice smiled and nodded toward the front door. Before either could take a step a loud voice called out from across the street.
"Beetlejuice, Is that you?" The ghost rolled his eyes and turned around. The Monster across the street came out from his cattle skull house, with his dog Poopsie close on his heels. Tessie instantly ducked behind Bj's legs and peered cautiously from between them. "I haven't seen ya' around in a while, where have ya' been?"
Bj shrugged his shoulders casually, "I finally decided to get out of the house, and I even met someone new." The ghost jumped off the ground and floated above Tess. The little girl shrank back from the Monster and whimpered. With a gentle smile Bj grasped her shoulders comfortingly, "It's ok, this is the Monster across the Street; your Grandma knew him."
"Her Mima, I don't know her, Beetlejuice. Whatch'ya talkin' about?"
"Sure you know her, grandma," teased the poltergeist, he lifted up Tessie's bangs and Monster gasped, "This is Lydia's granddaughter, Teresa."
"Tessie." Corrected the little girl coldly, giving the ghost a stern look. Bj chuckled and patted her on the head,
"Why, you have your Mima's eyes." Complimented the monster as he reached out and ruffled Tess's hair. The girl smiled sheepishly and giggled wildly as Poopsie ran over to her and jumped into her arms.
"I was going to introduce her to Jacques and Ginger." Explained BJ as Tess began to chase Monster's dog around the road. The Monster nodded, and jerked a thumb over to the roadhouse,
"Then, let's all go together, hmm?"
"Good idea. Hey Tess," The girl looked up with Poopsie in her arms and instantly she ran over to his side, "I have some more friends for you to meet." She smiled at him and nodded, the trio set off across the street and with a snap of his fingers, BJ opened the door for the girl. She stepped into the house and was instantly greeted by a tall, skeleton.
"Ah, Beetlejuice," The skeleton shot his gaze down towards Tess, who was shaking at BJ's feet, "who is zis?"
Tessie's eyes widened fractionally as she recognized the skeletons heavy accent,
"Parlez-vous François?" She quipped politely; the skeleton chuckled and got down upon his knees,
"Oui, mademoiselle, je'm'appelle Jacques. Et vous?"
"Je'm'appelle Tessie." The girl smiled shyly at the skeleton as he looked up at the ghost,
"I must ask who zis wonderfully, amazing girl is, Beetlejuice." He ruffled Tessie's long black hair, "Zat is a wonderful accent by ze way."
Tessie scuffed her shoe shyly as Bj smirked, "Her name is Tessie, she's Lydia's granddaughter."
Jacques looked surprised, "Truly, zis no cruel prank, or tasteless joke?" BJ shook his head and the skeleton laughed, "Well Zen, she must be introduced to Ginger as well. I will go find her, please Teresa, make yourself comfortable."
"It's Tessie," corrected the girl with a sour face, she watched as the Skeleton disappeared inside the house in search of Ginger. Bj and the Monster stepped in after and was about to close the door when a loud voice called from outside.
"Monster, where are ya?"
Visibly the hairy cowboy cringed, "Aw, shucks, that's right, I promised my wife I'd take the dogs for a walk."
On cue another large hairy monster pushed her way through the door, dressed in the same western ensemble as her husband. The female Monster looked ready to yell at her spouse when she noticed the little girl peering out from behind BJ's legs.
"Well, who's this little one?" She inquired softly; a large smile covered her face as Tess blushed.
"I'm Tessie," she called from her spot.
"Where's Junior?" inquired Beetlejuice casually, instantly Monster and Monstress brightened, "I think they'd get along nicely, don't you?"
The large female Monster turned on her heel and stuck her head out the door, "Junior!" she screamed and not two seconds later a young Monster boy stepped out from behind his mother. The two children stared at each other for a long time, then—
"Hi," he greeted cheerfully, his tone containing a slight southern twang, "I'm Jr. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Tessie." She replied shyly, Junior grinned and grabbed Poopsie around the waist,
"You wanna go play?"
It thrilled BJ to see Tess's eyes light up, she nodded enthusiastically and the two children ran outside. The sound of loud laughter could be heard; Beetlejuice wandered to the window and looked out to find Junior and Tess playing with the dogs. They ran across the yard, the sick green of the Neitherworld fading in the background.
"Where iz Tessie?" called Jacques as he came back with Ginger. The ghost chuckled and jerked a thumb outside,
"Playing with Junior."
"Ah, she has made a friend, zat iz wonderful."
"Let her play," advised the tap dancing spider at Jacques side, "she can meet me some other time."
For a long while everyone inside reminisced about Lydia, as her granddaughter played with her new friend. Finally, as the sun was about to set Beetlejuice decided it was time to take Tess home.
"Her dad will wonder where she's gotten to," explained BJ as he walked out to the front yard. To his surprise he found both Junior and Tess sleeping peacefully on the bellies of Poopsie and Poopette.
"Why, they must have worn each other out." Sighed the Monstress happily, she and her husband picked up their son as Bj cradled Tess in his arms; she stirred slightly before settling down. He said good-bye to his friends and wandered off back towards her room.
BJ was just setting her on her bed when Roberts voice called from somewhere down the hall. The ghost froze before disappearing with a snap of his fingers. Tess's father poked his head through the door and stopped with surprise. With a tender smile he walked over to her bed, kissed his daughter gently on the forehead before tucking her in and turning out the light.
From above, BJ grinned and leaned back in the air, feet kicked up in relaxation. It was nice to see Tess smile as she made new friends. He didn't want her to be lonely anymore, and it didn't surprise him to find that she got along easier with the inhabitants of the Neitherworld than with the living. Tess turned in her sleep, earning a fond chuckle from the ghost.
"Sleep tight, Tess," he called softly down to her, "I hope tomorrow is as great as today."
A/N: So I hope you enjoyed chapter 3. I'm sorry for the slow update, but I've been pretty busy with one of my other stories, and had some writers block for a while. Not to mention college classes and fall semester starting soon.
Anyway, leave CONSTRUTIVE CRITICISM in the review box, and I'll try to update soon.
Pathless Spore