CHAPTER 10

"Oh, YEAH!" BJ cheered as he and Lydia sped with Doomie down the Neitherworld highway for the first time in what seemed like forever. "This is GREAT! I catch WAY more bugs with you at the wheel than with anyone else, babes!"

Lydia laughed as the crazy ghoul stood in the car, leaning forward with his hair blowing in the wind and his mouth gaping open. "Let's hope my Real World driving trainer is as impressed with my driving as you are!" she giggled.

"He will be if he knows how hard it is to catch a good meal," he grinned at her, his teeth full of beetles and various other flying insects.

With everyone in smiles and the radio cranking out tunes as they roared along the open road, it was just like old times. Troubles were temporarily forgotten as they joked and laughed together, any prior tension between them having seemingly evaporated. To any unknowing observer, it would have appeared as though their closeness had never wavered.

"So, where do you wanna go, Beej?" Lydia asked. "The beach? The boo-seum?"

"Are you kiddin'?" the ghost replied. "Those old stink-holes are staler than my salamander sandwich." He pulled said sandwich out of his pocket and took a bite as frightened amphibians jumped from the bread to avoid his teeth. "Let's go somewhere we've never been before! Like the snotsprings in Smellowstone National Park!"

"Um... I think I'll pass on that one," Lydia said, imagining what such a place would be like.

"Oh, alright," he agreed, sounding a little disappointed. "Then let's just let the road decide! We'll keep drivin' and see where it takes us!"

"Is that really a good idea?" his friend wondered cautiously. "We ARE in the Neitherworld."

Beetlejuice leaned back in his seat and put his feet up. "Don't worry, babes," he drawled, folding his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. "What could go wrong?"

A huge creature resembling a deer with six legs and four eyes suddenly bounded out in front of them. Lydia swerved to avoid hitting it, sending her carelessly unbelted companion flying. With a scream, he caught the edge of the car door just before he was almost completely thrown from the vehicle. As they rounded a sudden corner with BJ still hanging off the side, his body smacked into someone's mailbox, spewing the person's mail in all directions and launching the box itself into the air before it came down hatch-open over the ghost's head.

"You were saying?" Lydia groaned as she watched him haul himself back into the passenger seat, his head still swallowed by the mailbox.

"Famous last words..." his voice echoed from within the metal box. "Ya know I hate 'em."

"Maybe we'd better stick to places and things we know," Lydia suggested wisely. "Besides, it's been a while since I've visited the Neitherworld for fun."

"Exactly," said BJ, pulling the box from his head and chucking it over his shoulder to land with a clatter in the back seat. "That's why we should visit as many exciting places and do as many exciting things as possible! If you're worried about the road, let's hit the skies!"

She gasped as he reached over and engaged Doomie's flight system. Their special car rose from the surface of the highway and took to the air in a flash. Beetlejuice let out a maniacal laugh as they soared up into the clouds, far higher than Lydia would have liked at that present moment.

"Beetlejuice, I don't think this is a good idea," she warned.

"What's the matter, babes?" he asked, looking completely at ease as he leaned over the hood, placing his hands where the windshield should have been. "Ya never minded flying before."

"Well, it's been a while," she said nervously. "And you have to remember that I'm not dead like you are. This is dangerous for me."

"Aw, take a word of advice from a dead guy and live a little, Lyds," the ghost replied, gazing down at the world beneath them. "You've been spendin' too much time with Mould-boy and forgot how to have a little reckless fun." He cupped his hand to his mouth and shouted to the car, "Right, Doomie?"

Doomie beeped brightly and performed some loops in the air, making both his passengers scream. Lydia gritted her teeth and gripped the steering wheel like a lifeline, incredibly grateful that she was safely buckled in. When the car righted itself, Beetlejuice lay in a dishevelled heap in the passenger side, his hair all sticking up and his eyes as wide as wagon wheels, clutching his chest as if in the midst of a heart attack.

"See? Wasn't that fun?" he gasped.

As they continued at a more moderate level without any more stunts, Lydia quite quickly became accustomed to flying in a car again, and she had to admit that it was quite exhilarating. It was a kind of excitement that she realized she'd been missing, despite the danger... or perhaps because of it. Beetlejuice may have actually been somewhat correct when he said she'd been spending too much time with Sean, as much as she didn't like to acknowledge that possibility. She cared deeply for the boy, but she knew she'd been spoiled by a prior life of truly otherworldly adventures with her supernatural comrade. Gradually settling into a more normal existence hadn't seemed so difficult, but returning to this bizarre world again with this unique and powerful being that she was lucky enough to call her best friend was definitely an eye-opener.

Totally unaware of Lydia's thoughts, that same unique and powerful being was back to standing up in the car again, leaning over the side and babbling something about being able to drop a giant stink bomb on the mayor's house from that height. Lydia smiled to herself. He was the happiest she had seen him in a long time. She hadn't been oblivious to his obvious depression since she'd met Sean, no matter how he'd tried to hide most of it, and it was good to see him actually having fun again. As she watched him excitedly pointing out things below, she began to wonder, not for the first time, just how greatly he depended on their friendship. What would happen to him if her life truly became too busy for her to come here anymore? Would he struggle through and eventually move on? Or would he wither away to nothingness in his grief? Horrible images of Beetlejuice fading into oblivion crept into her mind and she had to tell herself that she was probably being overly dramatic. Her friend had existed for hundreds of years before they met, so he would get along just fine without her once he got used to it again... wouldn't he?

"Hey, you okay, Lyds?" she found him suddenly asking. "You're awfully quiet."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, BJ," she assured him. "I was just thinking."

"Don't be goin' all contemplative on me, babes," he said, winking at her. "You'll miss all the neat stuff we're passin' over." He pointed at something she couldn't see from her sitting position. "Like that over there!"

Lydia craned her neck to see what he was indicating. What she hadn't expected to discover was a vast, swirling, whirl-pool of energy in the middle of the landscape below. "What IS that?" she asked, her brow wrinkling in wonder.

Beetlejuice smiled confidently. "Why, it's a... a... um..." he made motions with his hands and wiggled his fingers as he searched for the word, a frown of confusion replacing the smile on his face. "It's a... one of those... uh... hmmmm..." he sagged in defeat, "I have no idea what it is."

"It looks like some kind of vortex," Lydia observed. "But what's it doing there?"

"Who knows? This is the Neitherworld!" he said. "Let's get a closer look!"

Doomie, ever attentive and eager to please, immediately made a dive towards the huge swirl of warped light and colour.

"Now, hold on a minute, Beetlejuice," Lydia warned him. "We have no idea what that is or how dangerous it might be. This probably isn't a smart idea."

At her words, Doomie heedfully pulled back upwards. The girl smiled at their car's thoughtful obedience and patted his steering wheel in approval.

"Never stopped us before," came Beetlejuice's blunt rebuttal.

He had a point. Doomie hesitated but returned to a downward course.

"Well, I'm a little older and a little wiser now," argued Lydia. "It's too risky."

She was probably right. The car pulled back up again.

"Well, I'm a LOT older than you," the ghost stated stubbornly, "and I say it's fine!"

Doomie tipped his nose back down. This situation was becoming difficult.

"Beetlejuice, I don't feel right about this!" Lydia finally snapped.

"You worry too much! It'll be fine!" he growled.

"It's too dangerous!"

"It's just a big swirly thing! How dangerous could it be?"

"VERY!"

Doomie was getting confused. He tried to pull back up again at Lydia's last word, but suddenly found he couldn't. In the process of arguing, they had drawn nearer to the mysterious vortex. Too near, it seemed, as it apparently had its own gravitational pull. Now they were past the point of choices as it forcefully hauled them closer and closer.

"Doomie, pull up! Pull up!" the girl cried, knuckles white as she gripped the wheel.

The car revved his engine and tried again with all his might, but it was impossible. He whimpered his apologies. They were being sucked in at an alarming rate.

Lydia grabbed a guilty looking Beetlejuice by the collar. "You're lucky you're dead, because I could kill you right now!" she snarled.

Seconds later, they were holding each other and screaming as they were sucked straight into the funnel of energy, whirling and swirling 'round and down, spiralling into the unknown. Time and space seemed to warp and stretch, pulling and twisting them along with it. Beetlejuice made a last-ditch effort to get them out by changing into as many flying machines and winged creatures as he could think of, but it was no use. The extreme force was too powerful, and he cried out in pain as it manipulated his body in ways he'd never felt before. As blackness soon enveloped him, the last thing at the edge of his awareness before he completely lost consciousness was the heartbreaking sound of Lydia screaming his name, and he knew it was all his fault.