I don't own any of these characters, he belongs to Tim Burton. I own the plot

Charles looked at Mr. Beetleman suspiciously, why had he known that the heater had suddenly stopped working?

"I was in the area and thought I'd drum up some business, I'm the friendly neighborhood Handy Dandy Man, sir", Mr. Beetleman said

Then he, Charles, hadn't know, but, Mr. Beetlejuice had been the exact cause of the heaters' breakdown. He had possessed the ducts and with his magic touch and some effort caused it's function to cease. It hadn't been difficult to get the 20+ year old heater to stop functioning, now if only he knew how to fix it.

Beetlejuice was so very good at the fine art of breaking things. "Fixing plumbing" was one example. The Deetz' had experienced a leak in their pipes, and once again there was Mr. Beetleman right there to fix it. Every time he showed up to fix something it was a complete disaster and he had to wipe the minds of the family that he was ever there to perform the repair. This was why Lydia didn't recognize Mr. Beetleman upon seeing him in the doorway.

" The furnace is this way" Charles said and led him to the basement.

" This is quite a house you got here, Mr. D"

" why, thank-you, Mr. Beetleman, as foe the furnace, I don't know what's wrong with it, it just made a loud noise and it just…quit"

" Well, that's what the professionals are for, ya know what I mean?"

"I'll leave you to your work"

Beetlejuice stood there and stared at the ducts that ran the length of the basement ceiling scratching his head ok, I messed it up, now how do I fix it…oh, I can't think about the damn furnace, all I want is Lydia, my beautiful Lydia…I can't do my job if she doesn't believe I'm real. I don't know what to do, I'm supposed to be protecting her! But what from?

Delia stood in the kitchen scraping dishes into the trash. She shook her head, Lydia didn't touch her dinner, it's a shame to waste all that arsenic, it was expensive. I don't know how I'm gonna get rid of that girl if she don't eat. I finally rid of her protector and I still can't rid my life of her. Her… She had o be rid of Lydia the older she got the more she was becoming her mother. She couldn't stand the fact she hadn't been first, that she hadn't borne any children she had been first.

Delia couldn't stand the fact that she had not been the first one to have been with Charles, she couldn't stand that she was unable to bare children. So many things she wasn't and she had been. And most of all she still had Charles' heart.

Lydia sat by her bed, she had her legs curled up against her chest and she was drawn to stare at her mirror. She thought of Beetljuice and how her father said nothing to seeing her and Beetlejuice wrapped up together and obviously naked. Was it really true? was Beetlejuice simply a figment of her imagination? It had seemed so real, his cold fingers running up and down her body, his cold lips on hers. She could still feel the shivers in her spine, she was wanting him again. She could almost feel him as if he was near-by but that was silly, he must not be real. But, I felt his hands on me, his delicious cold hands. His cold breath, and his body, his naked body she shivered once more at her thoughts of her lover.

She looked over at her mirror and she rubbed her eyes. It was impossible! It had a faint green glow about it. But, he's not real, she walked over to it and peered inside, it seemed almost transparent even though she saw her reflection. She reached for the mirror to touch in and she gasped in almost horror as her fingertips reached past the glass. if this is my imagination, I am going completely insane! suddenly a red finger tipped hand reached through and grabbed her hand, she was too shocked to even scream, it pulled her through the mirror.

"I was just waiting for you to touch the mirror, Babes"

"Beetlejuice?, I am going crazy!"

"What do you mean, Lyds?"

"Your not real"

" How can I not be, I'm right in front of you", Beetlejuice stood in front of her. He could smell how beautiful she smelled. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her once more, but he knew it was never going to happen if he couldn't prove he was real. He poofed into Mr. Beetleman., "I know how to prove I'm real"

" you do?", she said in a small voice, hoping with all her might that he really could prove that he was indeed real.

" Why are you dressed as a repairman?", Lydia thought he looked familiar, but couldn't think of why.

" All part of the plan, I need you to go down to the basement"

"ok", Lydia was skeptical, but she'd do almost anything to prove to herself that she was indeed sane. " One more thing, Babes, gimme those three words", he said cocking his head in her direction. She smiled for the first time since that afternoon.

"Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice"

Lydia found herself back in her room, she ran to the basement and ran down the stairs she wanted to jump for joy when she saw Beetlejuice pretending to work on the heating ducts.

"Hey, Babes ", he whispered so no one would happen to hear him.

"Mr. Beetleman, how is it going?", Charles called

" I think I'm gonna have to come back in the morning and finish up, it's getting late", said Mr. Beetleman walking up the stairs. Lydia was following them up the stairs.

" Oh, Lydia honey, you weren't bothering, Mr. Beetleman, where you?", Delia's annoying voice grated against Lydia she wanted to make a face.

"She wasn't bothering me in the least, Mrs. D", Beetlejuice said as he headed for the door, " I'll be back in the morning to finish this little job"

" Well then you have a good night", Charles said opening the door.

" Have a good night, folks", he said and walked down the front steps and after he was sure no one could see him he poofed away in the darkness.

Lydia opened the door to her bed-room and had to stifle a screech. "Beej!" , Beetlejuice was sitting on her large canopy bed. She ran to him and almost knocked him over the side as she threw her arms around him with such force.

"Whoa, Babes, happy to see me?"

"Oh, Beetlejuice", she murmured and kissed him deeply. Beetlejuice felt the familiar twinge within himself and wrapped his arms around her, and they fell over on the bed. He looked up at her, and stared into her large eyes, how beautiful she is. " I cannot lose you", he breathed. Lydia was almost taken aback at his insistence, almost desperate.

"what would happen?", Lydia asked

"I don't know, I am supposed to protect you"

"What do you mean protect me?"

"Don't you remember? That was my original purpose,well, now that I think about it, you wouldn't remember"

"Beetlejuice, remember what?"

"Your mother…"

"My mother!", Lydia's eyes welled over a bit

"Yes, she was quite good at casting spells, only when she tried to incite me she didn't fully complete the spells, just when she first called me it was not long after you had been born, she had asked for protection of her child and follow her for the rest of her life, only when she finally did finish the spell the energy had become pent up from the unfinished spell caused a terrible electrical storm and well…"

Lydia suddenly remembered the winds that burst through the windows and her mother, she recalled the sound of the thud of her mother hitting the wall, after that her memory was blank….

"I remember the spell, but I don't remember what happened to her"

"She was struck by lightning, I shielded you from seeing it, you were such a little girl then…"

" I don't even remember what she looked like", she said. Beetlejuice knew it was time to show her.

"I think you need to see something", he said and they poofed to a door inside the attic.

"I've never been in here, Beej, It was always locked" she said

" Hold on" Beetlejuice said and they poofed into the room, In the center of the room was almost a shrine. There was a table with a purple cloth covering the top, with several framed pictures of Charles and Delia's wedding. On closer inspection, Lydia noticed that these pictures had been altered. On the Bride's body was carefully cut just around the head and Delia's head was placed over it. Lydia pulled the frame apart and pulled Delia's head off the picture. Staring back at her was a beautiful dark-haired women that looked very much like herself.

" That's your mother Elizabeth", Beetlejuice said putting his arms around her waist from behind her. She leaned into him so not to fall, as she stared at this picture. This is my mother, she's so pretty… why would Delia put her head on my mother's body? Lydia shook her head in disbelief as she saw boxed scattered about with red X's all other them.

She sat down at one of the boxes and struggled to open it. Inside she gasped at it's contents, pictures of her mother.

"Why would all these pictures be here? And in boxes like this?"

"I've got one word for you, Lyds", Beetlejuice said as he floated beside her and looked into her violet eyes and said one word.

"Delia"

I'm sorry if I didn't get the lingo correct when I spoke of spells and incantations.

Does anyone out there have any Ideas on what could happen to Delia? I love to use them if they fit with in the feeling of the story. It may be a while before I can post again, School and all, tests are nasty things!I