Chapter 3
Morning soon came as the hours of the night had long gone, leading to the sound of the all familiar songbirds to chirp merrily. The sounds had caused a sleeping wolfdog to flick her ears slightly as she let out groggy, low groan. She lazily lifted her head up as she let out a yawn and stretched out her front legs, paws wriggling in doing so as the canine moved to open her eyes. 'It's another day. In fact, a day that is going to be the start of this endeavor.' She thought as she turned to look at the still sleeping Lydia. A smile came upon her face as she gently began to nusdge at the young girl with her paw. "Hey, time to awaken, child." Katie chimed softly in a motherly like tone, chuckling lowly. The young girl stirred a bit and mumbled under her breath as she started to sit up in bed, rubbing at her eyes as she too let out a yawn of her own. "I'm up, I promise." She said in a sleepy tone as she opened her own eyes, looking to the wolfdog on her bed as a smile came upon her face. After about a moment, Lydia began moving off the bed to proceed in getting ready for school. Katie did the same as she too hopped off the bed, but instead of staying in the bedroom, headed downstairs for what was hopefully going to be a decent breakfast.
The canid was soon greeted with that all too familiar shrill from the woman of the day prior. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, there's my special doggy woggy." Delia moved to squeash and pinch at the wolfdog's pudgy cheeks, which only made the canine want to instantly scram from the situation as she darted her eyes around slightly. It was as if she were looking for help out of this elsewhere. 'Can anyone out there help me here?' Came the voice in her mind as it gave her thought. Delia held her cheesy, yet slightly creepy grin as she continued in that baby tone that anyone would normally use on an animal when talking to it. "Awww, you're such a fluffy wuffy doggy woggy. I bet you're hungry wungry." The woman cooed and chimed in giggles as she finally realesed the hold of Katie's face and cheeks, turning away for a moment to fetch whatever meal she was intending to serve to the canine. The wolfdog's face looked a tad irritated in that moment as she pawed at her cheeks in a rubbing sort of motion and mumbled in a low whisper to herself. "More like this canine's going to be sicky wicky from all the baby talky walky." Her tone was more than annoyed of course and mocking even as she had insultingly mimicked the woman chatter. She shook herself off, fluffing out her fur in doing so as she quickly put on a fake happy puppy face for Lydia's mother as she, herself, turned back to the canid with what appeared to be some questionable looking meal that she set down in front of Katie.
'What in the actual-' Her thought suddenly put to a halt as Lydia's father soon entered the kitchen with a sneeze or several to be more precise. He was trembling in nerves, which one would assume to be his usual manner. If the canine were to lift her ears to focus on him, then she surely would hear his usual line of. "Try to relax. Try to relax. ACHOO, ACHOO, ACHOO!" Charles managed to say with some more following sneezes. The canine gave a look of apology for the man and his sneezing. She legitimately felt bad that she was the cause of this poor, nervous man's nasal issue. 'Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I can't make my fur hypoallergenic for your sake.' She lowered her ears slightly as she turned to look back at the previous meal set before her. 'Now, to tackle my previous thought. What is this and how do I eat? Or more importantly, could I really eat it?' The canid gave a hesitant gulp as she blinked a little, just staring at the dish of what she only hoped to be edible food. She cautiously descended her nose toward it as she took in the scent of the meal by inhaling a rather whiff. Surprising to her senses, it didn't smell too bad. It didn't smell amazing mind you, but its scent was at least tolerable enough. Her head lifted back up a bit as she looked toward Lydia's parents at the table and then briefly over to the cat from when she first entered the home, noticing the name on the feline's dish to have him known to be as Percy. The wolfdog let out a snort as she once again returned her focus uponher own dish. She gave a mental sigh as she thought. 'Well, here goes nothing.'
Within a second or two the canid began to nibble at the food. Luckily, the taste wasn't horrid, but more so at least decent. In the meal, she seemed to find beef and fowl of some kind mixed in with some other ingredients that were hard to justify as to what they were exactly, but nevertheless, it was safe and that was something to be glad about. The sound of footsteps could be heard coming down. Katie perked up her ears and head at this sound, knowing that it would be Lydia coming to join in and have her own breakfast. As the girl, herself, entered the kitchen, the wolfdog gave a delightful bark to put on the role of good pet dog, panting and wagging her tail slowly as it was lifted up straight. Lydia simply giggled as she joined in on the so called performance by rubbing Katie atop her head and between her big ears. "Good morning to you too, girl." She said with a joyful looking smile before moving to take her seat at the table. Delia took this moment to look to her daughter and start up the generic family conversation. "Lydia, I need you to watch over our new doggy woggy today after school. I'll be taking your father out to see if there's something to help with his sneezing." Her mother said with that same smile she typically held. The young girl nodded in response to her as she said. "Sure, mom, I'll be certain to watch her after school. I mean, how much trouble could she be? If there's any trouble to mention, it should be on those who break in." She chuckled a bit at that in remembering what had happened last night.
Delia snickered a little at that herself as she replied with. "That is very true, dear. I guess, she shouldn't be the one to worry about." Lydia simply smiled to her in return and felt a sudden nudge at her side, panting being heard as her eyes met with the wolfdog involved in the conversation. The young girl soon recalled what she was meant to ask in order for the one on one to occur with her and the said canine. "Oh, hey, mom, do you think it'd be okay if I had Katie walk with me to school and maybe come fetch me when I get out?" Her mother simply nodded, thinking nothing too strang of it as she answered. "I don't see why not. I mean, it'll be good for my doggy woggy to get her exercise." The canid, herself, twinged a bit at the baby talk, but dusted it off and simply let out a convincingly delighted bark as she raised her head to look over the table top. Delia just laughed and added. "Well, seems she's excited about the idea too." The wolfdog briefly rolled her eyes as if to acknowledge on the exercise idea. A few minutes passed as Lydia finished her morning meal and made quick to head out. "See you after school. Come on, girl!" She beckoned to her parents while calling for the canine companion to follow after her. "Bye dear!" Both Charles and Delia exclaimed in unison as they bid her a joyful goodbye while their daughter and new family dog vanished out the door.
The two of them walked a bit a way from the house before the planned conversation began. "Well, I must say, I'm quite surprise that the questionable breakfast I was given was not as terrifying as I had first thought." The wolfdog started off with a chuckle or two, focusing on Lydia. The girl return a look to the canine as she responded. "Yeah, mom's cooking is one of those hit and miss sort of things. You either end up with a land mine illness or a live another day relief." A laugh escaped her as she gave her agreement. "Ha, ha, I see, well, good thing I'll be keeping on my paws for that sort of thing." The canid paused for a moment before continuing. "So, to begin with this one on one session. Maybe we should start with the basic and general questions. As in, how long would you say you've known the 'ghost with the most'? Or what would you say it's like being around him personally?" Katie tilted her head slightly as she walked alongside Lydia, soon treading rather steadily through the town of Peaceful Pines. The young girl took a second to think as she look rather well in thought. "Well, I guess I would say I met him when I was about eleven and I'm sixteen now. So, that makes about five years or a little more over it month wise." She replied with a small smile as she turned back to watch where she was walking. "As far as what it's like, I can simply say that it's one fun and crazy rollercoaster ride with him. I mean, we've been into quite a few problems, but not so much that I could really complain about or say that I'd not want to be around Beej. Afterall, he's pretty much my best friend and mostly has been my main best friend to be completely honest about it."
The canine nodded in an understanding manner. "I guess, I can understand what you mean. I mean, with time, people or ghosts, or animals, or what have you can really become an easy attachment, if you catch my drift. However, I, myself, can't really say much about Beetlejuice, but I can say one thing and that is this, he certainly doesn't hold much of a ill nature. At least not toward you from what I have been able to observe briefly." The wolfdog gave a slight shrug before adding. "Although, I guess what I get off him can be thanked by a sixth sense, if you will. I mean, I am this special sort of human or canine as of the moment." She let out a brief snicker and continued. "That in itself is a rather handy thing to have as an ability of sorts. Really helps weed out those who are the good and those who are the bad to make it short and to the point." Lydia looked at her and gave a slightly wider smile, nodding. "Well, I can verify that you would be correct on that about him and agree that an ability or power like that is rather good to have." She said, holding her smile as the both of them drew closer to a school. Katie turned her attention to the aforementioned school and looked at the big sign out front that read 'Miss Shannon's School for Girls'. The canine seemed to be intrigued as she returned her gaze to Lydia and said. "Quite the school up ahead." The tone of her voice was that of pure interest and maybe a tad curiosity too. Young Lydia let out a sigh. "It's not exactly a cup of tea, but it is a decent school, I suppose." She replied.
The canid tilted her more once more at her response, but didn't seem to want to press on it as she just moved to give the kid's hand a lick. Lydia just giggled and smiled at her new companion, giving her a pet on the head. "Thanks for that." She said, graciously. "Hey, Lydia!" A new unfamiliar voice had beckoned as what would appear to be its owner coming up to greet Lydia. Katie went back into pet mode as she let out a surprised bark, panting a little as her tongue lolled out to the side. A tall and slender girl with long brown hair and buck teeth was now standing before them, as was a much shorter and more petite girl with red hair and glasses. "Lydia when did you get a dog?" The girl had asked in her awkward sounding voice. "Bertha, how can you be sure that's just an ordinary dog? It looks kind of wild to me." The small girl chimed in to the taller girl known as Bertha. "Oh, Prudence, don't be silly. I know a plain dog when I see one." She said with a smile to her friend and to Lydia, while asking again. "So, Lydia, when did you get this ball of fluffiness?" Lydia kind of got a bit nervous toward her excited friend, but managed to give an answer. "I got her yesterday. She was kind of just roaming around in the yard and well, mother kind of took her in." She put on the best smile she could muster to hide her nerves. "Awww, she's so cute and adorable." Bertha offered a hand to Katie, which she in return sniffed at and gave a hesitant lick as her tail swayed to and fro slightly. "What's her name?" She added.
Lydia laughed lightly as she answered. "Well, her name's not too unique, more common, but either way, her name is Katie." The canid, herself, gave a couple barks in a delightful tone as she panted all the more. The other girl known as Prudence, jumped a little at the wolfdog's barking as she said something that was quite obvious about said animal. "You know, I'd that you're dog is more of a wolf than a regular dog. She's so big and has a lot of features that a wolf does." She fidgetted with her glasses while saying this as she seemed to tremble ever so slightly. Katie looked to Lydia and seemed to jerk her head to the side as to encourage her to reply to her other friend. The young girl giggled and said. "Well, Prudence, you would be partly right because Katie is actually a wolfdog or what is more known to be a wolf hybrid, I think." Her friend gave a nod after about a moment as she replied with. "I see, but doesn't that make her dangerous?" Lydia laughed at this as she shook her head and answered. "Not at all. In fact, she actually protected my house last night from an intruder and has been proven to be a gentle and sweet giant."
As if to prove her point, the wolfdog lowered her front down to appear nonthreatening toward the other girl, wagging her tail and panting happily. The small girl couldn't resist smiling as she moved to give the canine a pet on the head and getting a lick in return. "Well, I can see what you mean then, Lydia." She added with a giggle of her own. "Hey, we better get to class before Miss Shannon marks us late and gives out detentions." Bertha stated as she looked at her watch. Both Lydia and Prudence nodded, but before Lydia carried on with going in, she looked back to Katie and gave a little wave. "See you later, girl!" She said with some glee as she th and proceed on with her next oneen headed for class, leaving the canine to return back to Deetz's home and proceed on with her next one on one chat with the 'ghost with the most' himself. The wolfdog managed to sneak her way back to Lydia's bedroom as she moved look into the vanity mirror, jumping up to set her front atop its counter and standing up on her hindlegs. 'Well, Beetlejuice, let's just see what you're going to tell me in our own little chat.' She thought as she moved to stare into the mirror and place a paw gently upon it.