So far so good, and if you're annoyed with how slow things seem to be moving, trust me you're not alone. Normally by this point we'd already be halfway through the adventure, but I wanted to take some time to explain why it's moving at the pace it's moving. I have a couple more characters I need to introduce before things really get started and I need to spend some time developing Sarah and Lydia's relationship before I bring in their men. but the plot will pick up from here I promise, and I'm sorry in advance for all the teasing hints about our two favorite trouble makers but at this point it doesn't make sense for them to fully appear.

Disclaimer: I own neither Labyrinth nor Beetlejuice

After Lydia had left in a huff, Sarah tried to distract herself by doing the rest of her homework. When that didn't work she went through her things and found an old picture. It was of a sixteen year old her and a one year old Toby, taken during the fall after she'd run the Labyrinth. Back then she'd still been super protective of her baby brother; after all, she'd just gone through hell and back to save him, she didn't want anyone to take him away. He seemed more than thrilled that someone else was paying attention to him and he latched onto Sarah with abandon.

Sarah smiled, remembering all the time she and Toby would spend together the months following her stupid mistake. She would often take him to the park, the two of them dressed up in costumes, and play act together with their sheepdog Merlin as their only audience. Other times they would just go sit by the pond and Sarah would read to him from her tome of fairy tales, not the dark ones she'd become interested in, but the ones she'd had in her possession since she was Toby's age. And she would watch him smile and babble at the pictures and voices she used while narrating to him. All at once she felt a stirring of melancholy, she hadn't called her family once since she'd arrive, and the now five year old Toby always took her departure the hardest. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, half past seven. Toby would be already asleep by now, and as much as she loved her parents she didn't want to have that awkward idle chitchat she'd had every time she'd called them over the past two years.

But she needed to talk to someone. Who? Then she remembered, if she ever needed anyone to talk to about anything she had three people always willing to listen. Sliding off the bed she sat in front of the vanity and made to say her words, and stopped. She looked at the person staring back at her, she was almost twenty years old now. But did she really look any different from when she was fifteen? Did she really feel or act any different from when she was fifteen? In fact, if she examined herself closely she was still the same old Sarah Williams she'd always been. A little less blindsided and bitter over her mother's abandonment and her father's choice to move on perhaps. But the heart of her was still the same, wasn't it? Maybe she really did need to have a chat.

"Ludo, Sir Didymus, Hoggle I... I need you." The last part came out as a whisper.

The three mirrors before her fogged and rippled and suddenly, there they were. Hoggle in the middle mirror with Ludo and Sir Didymus on the sides. Sarah bit back tears at seeing them again.

"What's wrong little lady?" Hoggle asked.

"Has someone insulted your honor my lady?" Didymus questioned. "If it be so I will hop on my trusty speed and vanquish thine enemies!"

"Sarah sad." Ludo rumbled.

"Come on Sarah, out with it. Won't do ya no goods keepin' it in like that." Hoggle told her.

And just like that, Sarah broke.

"I, I did something bad." She said as tears started pouring down her cheeks.

"What'd ya do?"

"I have this new roommate, and we get along pretty well. And today some old friends of hers that mean a lot to her called and made her so happy. She showed me some pictures of them. But while I was looking through the rest I found some pictures of this… this man, for lack of a better word and it kind of scared me. But when I asked her about it, she got mad and stormed off."

The three in the mirrors were silent for a moment. Finally Hoggle said, "Sounds like ya didn't do nothin' wrong to me."

"Yes I did. It would be like if she overheard me talking to you guys and pressed me about telling her."

Hoggle sighed. "I'm nots sure whats I should tells ya then."

"What should I do?" Sarah lamented, "I feel horrible about asking her about that. It was clearly a touchy subject."

"Aw, come on Sarah, ya didn't means nothin' by it."

"Then why do I feel so bad?"

"Sarah sad?"

"My lady, if thou feelest thou hath made a blunder, then mend the bridge posthaste."

"Right, I will when she gets back. It was so nice to talk to you guys again. I miss you."

"Didn't you says 'at you was gonna trys and makes your roommate leaves so's we coulds visits more often?"

"I thought I would at first, but she's really not so bad. I think you would actually like her Hoggle."

"Doth that meaneth thou wilst forget us my lady?"

"Never Sir Didymus. You guys will always be my closest friends."

"Sarah friend?"

"Yes Ludo, I'll always be your friend. I have to go now, she could be back at any moment. Goodbye guys."

"Bye Sarah."

When they were gone, Sarah went back to her bed to try and mull over what she would say to Lydia. No sooner had she settled in comfortably, Lydia came through the door. She still looked a little morose, but not as angry as she'd been before. That had to be a good sign, right?

But Lydia surprised Sarah when she apologized first. But Sarah knew not to take it too personally. After all, someone's deepest fears was a very sensitive subject. She hadn't even let go of her deepest fear; that the man who took Toby once would swoop in and take him again while Sarah wasn't there to protect the infant. Irrational but her heart just wouldn't listen. So it had become a nightly ritual while she was at college, just before she slipped into dreamland, to whisper the words that had won her brother back. And as she and Lydia settled down for the night, she did just that.

"You have no power over me."

September had come and gone, it was now October and nearing one of the more dangerous holidays of the year.

"So, how are rehearsals going?" Lydia asked one day as they were walking out of their shared class.

"Good, I still can't believe I actually got the part of Beatrice." Sarah replied.

"I saw how hard you practice, it doesn't surprise me." Lydia told her.

"Thanks, hey do you wanna join me at rehearsals tonight? It might give you an idea for a club to join next year."

"Me act? I don't think so."

"Did I mention it's a phenomenal location for portrait taking? And there's a rumor it's haunted?"

"What time is rehearsal again?"

Sarah laughed. "Six-thirty, we have plenty of time."

Lydia had to admit, the auditorium was impressive. The stage was beautifully made, and the orchestra had a pit underneath it so they could play without taking up space. She sat and watched the other players practice their lines and perform scenes together. And suddenly she saw why some people wanted to and did become actors. Those who were really good, like Sarah, stepped onto the stage and left themselves behind. They were no longer who they had been born, instead they were whoever they were supposed to be. When Sarah stepped on stage she wasn't Sarah Williams, she truly was Beatrice. And for people like Lydia, who had the chance to watch this, she realized that such talent and confidence in one's performance made others believe they could do the same. Lydia would still rather stick to photography, but she now understood the appeal of acting.

In fact, the more she watched Sarah perform, the more an idea took root in her head. Silently, Lydia raised her camera and started snapping away, glad she'd left her Polaroid back home.

"Hey," a voice broke through the trance she got in whenever she started taking pictures. Lydia looked up to see a relatively young man in his mid-twenties smiling down at her. "I thought photography wasn't allowed in here."

Lydia raised her brow at the sandy-haired, brown-eyed boy. "That's only when they're in costume which as you can see" she gestured towards the stage. "they're not."

The young man laughed. "Good point. So, are you one of the actors? Or their publicist?"

Lydia gave a little half-smile. "Neither, I'm friends with one of the actors here and they invited me along."

"Which one?"

"Beatrice."

"You mean Sarah Williams is your friend?"

"We're more roommates than friends, but yes."

"Lucky, no one's been able to get close to her since the day she came through those doors. And a lot of people have tried. Myself included."

"She's not that hard to get close to." Lydia replied, feeling the need to defend the brunette.

"Maybe not for you, but last year, it was all business when she came in. in fact, unless she had lines with someone the only person she'd actually talk to was the director. You must be pretty special to get her to talk to you, much less invite you to one of her favorite things."

"I suppose."

"What's your name?"

"Lydia Deetz. And you?"

"I'm Gilbert Cory, call me Gil."

For a few minutes they watched Sarah perform without speaking a line. Staying in the background and watching Hero and Claudio interact, her mannerisms still keeping in character.

"She's really good, isn't she?" Lydia heard Gil say.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Sarah's really talented."

"It runs in the family you know."

"What do you mean?"

"She's the daughter of the famous Broadway actress Linda Williams."

"She is?" Lydia never knew that.

"Yeah, but you'd never know. Sarah doesn't like to throw her mom's name around in order to impress and buy out parts she wants."

"I can't imagine she would. She doesn't seem like the type. So, I've yet to see you onstage. Are you part of the set crew or something?"

Gil laughed again. "Or something. I'm the understudy for Benedick. Which means I have to be here without getting onstage unless Richard can't come in. but he's really serious about this, and it's understandable since it's his last play and all."

"He a senior?"

"Yeah, and he's my older brother."

"Ouch."

"It's alright, there's always the musical in the spring. Rich ain't much of a singer if you know what I mean."

"Tone deaf?"

"Completely," They shared a small laugh. "You're kinda cute, would you maybe wanna grab some dinner sometime?"

"A free dinner on you? Sure, why not."

"Cool, I'll see you around then." Gil said as the rehearsal ended and everyone started grabbing their stuff.

"See you." Lydia smiled to herself. She had a date, it felt kind of nice to be noticed that way. She frowned, she wouldn't be able to do this soon. Once her birthday came, all hell was going to break loose.

"Hey," Sarah said coming to join her. "Why the long face? I saw you hanging out with Gilbert Cory. He's one of the most sought after boys in my year."

"He asked me out."

Sarah cocked a brow. "I don't see what the problem is. Do you not like him or something?"

"I was just thinking about something."

"What's that?"

"How old are you?"

"I'm gonna be twenty in a few weeks. Why?"

"What was it like when you turned eighteen?"

"Honesty?" Lydia nodded. "It was kind of scary. Suddenly I was this great big responsible adult who was capable of all these decisions and I had to know for sure what I was going to do with my life. But I was really lucky. My folks said that while at college I could take it slightly easier than most people and that as long as I had a concrete idea of what profession I wanted to go into they wouldn't put any pressure on me." Sarah said as they exited the building and started the trek across campus.

"And were you capable of handling boys hitting on you?"

"To be honest, only one person has ever hit on me. And I wouldn't exactly call him a boy."

"Did you go out with him?"

"He was a lot older than I was at the time, and I was still a little naïve. I still thought everything would be like a Disney fairy tale, my love life included. He offered me something that I didn't understand at the time. And to be honest I still don't understand it now."

"Did you try talking to him about it?"

"We were both stubborn, selfish people. We said some things we probably shouldn't have. I in essence told him I didn't want him in my life and so he left. And I never saw him again."

"Do you regret it?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't really thought about it until now." Lies, but Lydia didn't need to know that. "What's brought all of this on?"

"I'm turning eighteen in a few weeks and someone I know said I'm going to have to make some very important decisions, and deal with things I really don't want to deal with."

"I know the feeling. But hey, why worry about the future, let's have some fun in the now. I just got invited to a Halloween party by one of the actors, normally I'd stay in and work on my lines, but I'm thinking of doing something a little different this year. You wanna come with?"

"Maybe…"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"Alright, I'll go."

"Great, but we'll need costumes."

The day of the party arrived and the girls spent the afternoon getting ready, promising each other they wouldn't look at the other's outfit until everything was finished. At last it was time.

"How do I look?" Sarah asked. She was wearing a black shirt and corset paired with a multilayered black tulle skirt that came down to her knees. Thigh high leather stiletto boots adorned her feet and black fingerless gloves were her accessories. Her hair was loose and disheveled, her makeup dark and sweeping. And a small clear orb-like bauble hung on a long chain that she wore around her neck. A black cape completed the look.

"Impressive, what are you?"

"I'm a Fae. Particularly a queen of the Unseelie court."

"Ah, how do I look?"

"Amazing,"

"Thanks, I'm the bride of Dracula."

"I especially love the color. Where did you find a dress like this?"

"It was a gift, a really horrendous and unwanted gift. At least until I got my scissors and thread to it." And it was the truth. Not that whole truth mind you, but she wasn't lying.

"Nice, are we ready to go?"

"I think we're as ready as we'll ever be."

"Great! Ready to stir up some trouble blushing bride to be?"

"More than ready your majesty."

They laughed and headed out the door, unknowing of what the night held in store for them.

Yes! we'll finally be able to get to the good stuff. I'm so excited! so tell me what you thought; like it, great! didn't, tell me what I can do to improve please