Chapter 21: Hitting the Fan
Lydia stood at the other side of her mirror, quietly scanning her bedroom for any sign of Beetlejuice. Against Juno's orders, she'd swiftly materialized right outside the borders of Winter River's existence, bypassing any conversations she was supposed to have with her case worker. After hearing her father's pitiful voice over the phone, she simply couldn't bring herself to wait any longer.
She wasn't even sure what she could do if she were pitted against the likes of her deranged husband, but due to the urgency in Charles' voice, she had to at least try to do something, whatever that may be.
Her room was dark and eerily quiet, with no traces of static or electricity around. She closed her eyes and pressed her cold, pale hand against the glass, searching for Beetlejuice's vibrations. Nothing.
It was so still in the Deetz household, that she wondered if he'd ever been there at all. Perhaps it was all an elaborate scheme to get her to Winter Rivers and trap her there. Regardless, Lydia felt compelled to carry on anyway. Her family's safety was her number one concern, even if it put her at risk.
Lydia inhaled deeply before pressing firmly on the glass. First the ends of her fingers pushed through, followed by her palms, and finally the rest of her. She silently moved across the hardwood floor, her eyes wide and alert. She held her breath and pressed her ear up to the door, listening for any signs of Beetlejuice or his special brand of chaos. At first, she was met with silence, but then a small bit of radio static bled through the door. The noise became louder and louder, and she backed away from the entrance of her room, fearing it was Beetle drawing near.
"Oof!" she stopped, crashing into an unknown object.
"Back so soon, ?" a dark, cunning voiced drawled in the dark.
Lydia whipped around, her fearful eyes meeting the green, menacing eyes of Beetlejuice. He looked wild and feral in the dark, and he was grinning like a madman. Shadows of the night danced across his features, causing him to appear even more inhuman and malevolent. He sucked on a cuban cigar, before blowing a puff of snaking smoke in her direction, causing her to choke on it.
"Where are they?! What did you do to them?" Lydia backed away from him, watching him with wary eyes.
"Now there ya go, gettin' all up in mah business and shit. Can't the husband throw a little dinner party fer yer folks without you gettin' yer knickers in a wad?" he asked, obviously playing dumb just to get to her.
Lydia could feel her blood begin to boil. "Why do you have to do this?!" she lashed out, screaming at him.
"I already told ya. Your little ass gave me no choice! YOU were the one who called the cops on ME! It's YER fault those chumps are in this mess! Hell, it's ALL yer fault Lydia-fuckin'-Juice! If you'da just left all this shit alone and not came crawlin' back to my ass with yer weepy do-gooder shit, I'd be out, scott free! YOU came back! YOU put on that fuckin' ring, and YOU ran yer yap! And now YER pissed that I'm gonna defend myself!" he yelled back, stepping up to her in an attempt to apparently intimidate her. He then poked his dirty finger in her face. "I told ya, Juice, if it's you or me, I'M not gettin' caught! It's all yer mess, ya fuckin' SCREW UP! FIX IT!"
"Screw up..." Lydia muttered, tasting his bitter words again in her own mouth. "That's what you really think of me?"
"Yer damned right I do! If I'd a' knew then what I know now, I'd a' left yer' ass in that nasty bar FOREVER! You ain't done nothin' but ruin my fuckin' afterlife! I wish I'd a' never MET yer ass!" he retaliated, his words sharp as razors.
Lydia could feel something inside of her break into a thousand pieces, the pain of those words mixing with the feelings of self loathing she'd been fighting for two lifetimes. Even someone as fucked up as Beetlejuice was agreeing that she was a failure. She could feel her eye twitch at the sound of his words. Then something happened - her feelings of self-hatred began to spark and ignite around her. She glared at him, staring him down.
"Fuck you..." she muttered, before screaming at him again. "FUCK YOU!" Suddenly, lightning burst from her body, knocking the poltergeist, along with her furniture back against the wall. The door flung open, and Lydia burst out, running down the stairs to lock eyes with her beloved family. She may have been a screw up, but she wasn't going to just sit back and let Beetlejuice harm the ones she loved most.
"Oh, no..." she gasped, running to them and seeing that each of their mouths had been bolted shut. They were each strapped down to a chair, and Charles and Delia, in particular, looked very sickly and pale. In her rage, she juiced all the straps from the seats, causing her family to fall to the floor. She tried just as hard to free their mouths, but each attempt to work her power proved to be a fruitless endeavor.
"Oh, no ya don't!" Beetle sprinted down the stairs, as Lydia's family tried to scramble to their feet. Barbara was the first to get up. She waved her arm at Beetle, trying her best to use her powers against him, only for him to point at her and send her flying backwards, knocking her against the wall. "Nice try, Babs. But you and yer dweeby husband ain't no match fer me. So don't even try it!" he fumed, pointing his finger and pinning Adam onto the floor.
Suddenly, Lydia lifted her hands, sending another burst of lightening his way, knocking him on his rear-end. "STOP IT, BJ! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" she demanded, before turning to her father and step-mother. "Run!" she screamed, as the two quickly nodded, darting out of the dining room and out of sight.
"HA! Ya think yer real slick, don't ya? Well, they ain't leavin' cuz I done chained all the doors and windows shut! You may have a few little tricks inside of ya, Mrs. Juice, but you ain't no match fer the B-man! I been doin' this illegal shit fer centuries, Babe! You're a fuckin' novice next to me! HAHAHA!" he cackled wildly, slapping his leg in amusement and causing her to seeth inside.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Lydia screamed, throwing every ounce of energy she had at him. With each jolt of power, he was knocked back, time, and again, trying to gain his footing so he could ultimately strike back. She began to fling furniture at him, hitting him with chairs and barstools. She finally flipped the table up and smashed it into him as hard as she could. As soon as he fell on his back, covered in furnishings and appliances, she snapped her fingers, and Adam and Barbara gained their footing, running to the corner of the room and bracing themselves. Still, no matter how hard Lydia tried, her power couldn't remove the bolted metal from any of their mouths.
Things grew quiet, as she ran to the Maitlands, throwing her arms around them, and feeling overcome with guilt. "I'm so sorry...This is all my fault!" They attempted to console her, despite their current inability to talk, but the moment was short lived when Beetle staggered up from the wreckage he'd been buried under.
"Okay, Lydia. That's enough of yer shit." he said, coldly, dusting himself off and slowly edging in on her and her beloved Maitlands.
Lydia stepped up to him in an attempt to keep the carnage away from Adam and Barbara, despite their whimpering attempts to pull her back. Before Lydia knew it, he'd grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, picking her up with one powerful jolt and carrying her up the stairs.
"I took it easy on yer ass, but not anymore. You wanna play tough? We'll play tough!" he snarled, as she tried fighting against him unsuccessfully. Each hit fell through him as if she were trying to punch smoke. He packed her to her room and held her up. His eyes burned into hers. "I'm not gonna let you turn me in! I ain't lettin' those assholes kill me!"
"Your lying! You just want me serving your prison sentence!" she growled, struggling to wriggle free from his grip.
He looked into her eyes with a vengeance, and for a moment, she thought he was going to burst her into flames. "You fix this, Lydia! NOW! If you come back here, you sure as hell better off my ass, because I ain't lettin' ya go next time! You'll be strapped to a seat with the rest of your fuckin' family! Understand?!" he threatened her.
"You're a fucking monster..." she said, glaring at him as hard as she could muster.
Then, with one fell swoop, he'd shoved her back into the mirror with an incredibly hard push. Lydia flew backwards, hitting the wall of the Roadhouse with an unceremonious thud. She stumbled to her feet, dusting herself off and seeing her mirror in the faint distance of her mind. Hundreds of locks and chains wrapped themselves tightly around it in a serpent-like manner, sealing it off from her.
"Shit..." she shook her head, as a tear rolled down her cheek in desperation. This was getting unbelievably worse by the second. "What do I do...?' she panicked, whimpering to herself, before the obvious hit her.
Lydia appeared in Juno's office, as the old woman spoke to a young man with an apple on his head and an arrow through his skull.
"What is it ? " Juno huffed, blowing smoke about her office, and causing the young ghost to cough.
"It's BJ." Lydia stated, feeling faint and out of breath. "This is bad."