AN: Phew! Finally got this chapter done. The holidays slowed me down a bit. Now, I've been booked as a stand-in and BG on a show for two weeks starting tomorrow and then I'm off to Miami to visit la familia for a few weeks. I'm going to TRY my BEST to write while I'm on location. I know I won't feel like doing squat after 12 hours of being on set. But I've basically got two jobs on this show and I don't know how long I'll have while I'm waiting around. Plus, writing on my phone is what caused the tendinitis to begin with! I'm gonna try people... I'm gonna try anyway.
Thank you luvthephantom for proofreading this chapter!
Thank you for the comments and likes!
OH! BTW: I've been uploading art to Neither Here Nor There. My drawing skills have gotten better since I've gone digital and I feel more confident about illustrating some scenes. If you want to keep up with just the art so you don't have to comb through the chapters, you can visit my DeviantArt page: Deviant Art dot com slash mordelle.
I've been posting them on tumblr and my IG as well but I don't post the NSFW stuff on IG... because... well, my acting stuff and family stuff is on there... plus I don't think it's allowed.
Ok, enough blabber. I do not own Beetlejuice yadah yadah.
Seven o' clock, Eastern Standard Time. That's when it was supposed to start. The most anticipated ghost hunting episode of Afterlifers was sponsored by the very creator of Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz. The number of viewers increased into the hundreds, and by the time they went live, thousands were logged in and commenting. Except for some trolls, everyone seemed excited.
"Is this thing on?" Asked a male voice over a black screen.
"Guy, the lens cap," said a female voice in a harsh whisper.
"Oh, crap…. How's that?" Guy Random's face filled the entire screen from a downward angle, a clear view up his nostrils making him look utterly ridiculous.
"Guy!" Trica barked as she slapped her forehead from behind her laptop. "We're live, man. We're live."
"Oh! Hi everyone! Sorry about that. Some technical difficulties. Can everyone see and hear me okay?" Tricia gave him the thumbs up as she watched the viewers comment their assent. "Great! This is our first live show and depending on your, yes your, participation…" he nodded gravely, "it won't be our last. We're going to wait a few more minutes before we hand it over to our sponsor. I know you guys are all excited to meet her. She does not make public appearances often, so you're in for a real treat tonight!" Guy cleared his throat and looked to Tricia concernedly. "Um, we're just waiting for more people to log on…"
Betelgeuse was in the car and drumming his fingers on the dash with one hand while he used his other hand to scratch and tug at his collar.
"I dunno, babe," he worried, "I don't think you should go in there."
"I was supposed to be in there ten minutes ago. It's seven. We have to go in. I understand that you're-"
"I'm not scared," he scoffed loudly and scratched some more while his left leg suddenly became restless.
"Well, I am," she announced truthfully.
"Well, ya should be!" He yelled suddenly and gripped his knees tightly. "A demon comes flyin' outta that hole, and we're fucked. Totally. Fucked," he said hoarsely, beginning to chafe again.
"They can't just come through. You said so yourself," she reasoned.
"Yeah, well what if I'm wrong? Huh?! I've been wrong 'bout shit before!"
Lydia's eyebrows almost disappeared. "Wow. Can I get that in writing?" She smirked playfully.
With a deep scowl, Betelgeuse glared at his joking lover. "This isn't funny."
"Look," she sighed, "we have no idea what's gonna happen, but we have to go in there."
"Nah," he shook his head and adjusted in his seat. "They can handle it. I can shake up the place from here."
Lydia nodded in understanding. "Okay," she consoled, "see you later then."
"What?!" Betelgeuse watched in horror as Lydia exited the vehicle. Rolling his window down, he stuck his head out and yelled after her. "I'm not scared! I'm just being efficient! Why get up and walk all the way over there when I can just sit 'ere? Babe. BABE!" With a snarl, he slammed his fist into the wheel causing the car to honk. She didn't even flinch and was just about to reach the door. A mental image of Lydia being mauled by a hell beast changed his decision to wait in the car. "Aw, fer fuck's sake," he growled with frustration. "WAIT! I'm comin'!"
Guy was buying time by listing off Lydia's career achievements just as she and her frowning partner meandered their way to the set.
"Oh! She's here, folks!" He exclaimed excitedly as he set the camera on a tripod and waved the producer over to her mark.
A vice-like grip encompassed her arm before she could go further and spun her around. She was met with the angry eyes of her lover. "You see any sign o' trouble…" he warned quietly, "you book it outta here. Ya get me?"
"Yes, I promise-" before she could finish, Betelgeuse pulled her in and crushed his lips to hers. It was a desperate kiss, full of dread and love at the same time. She pulled away and held his face in her hands while their foreheads touched. A small whimper broke the tender moment. The mediums turned their attention to where the sound had come from.
Tricia had her lips pursed, eyes squinted, and hands balled into fists, desperately trying to contain her emotions at the gut-wrenching, fluffy sight of her OTP.
"Jesus. Keep it together, will ya?" He grumbled and gave his scorpion one last peck. "Knock 'em dead."
Lydia held his hands and gave them a squeeze. "Hey," she met his gaze and smiled reassuringly, "I love you." She eyed him thoughtfully, willing him to understand that she had learned her lesson from their previous shared tragedy.
With a grimace, he glanced at Tricia who quickly turned away and pretended to type something. "I love you, too," he gruffed. "Don't do anything stupid, babe."
"Or heroic?" She asked playfully.
"Same fuckin' thing," he grumbled and walked out of sight.
Although a talented and proficient producer she was, Lydia was not as keen to appear in front of the camera and had expertly avoided most scenarios that required her appearance. The few junkets and conventions she did attend were only successful because her reserved demeanor was precisely what the public expected of her. They just saw it as mysterious, when in reality it was paralyzing anxiety. This was different though. Lives, well, souls were on the line, and all she had to do was talk to a camera and not a live audience. Should be cake. With a deep breath, shoulders back, and head held high, Lydia walked in front of the camera. As soon as her eyes locked on the damned little red light that signified the camera was rolling and live, she couldn't help the split second of dread that welled up in her. You're Lydia Deetz. Just be Lydia Deetz. Mustering up all the courage she could, Lydia stared deep into the camera's dark lens and addressed her invisible audience.
"Good evening," she smirked slightly and paused before continuing, "boils and ghouls." Lydia caught Tricia practically dancing in her chair at the sound of her reference to the show. "I'm Lydia Deetz, creator of the animated series, Beetlejuice," she paused, her welcoming smile dimming into a grim look. "Most of you already know about my most recent…" her gaze shifted as she tried to find the right words, "fall from grace… when a video of me speaking to voices was released on the web. I want to thank those of you who reached out to me with your support. I'm here to go public with a secret that I've been hiding since I was a teenager." Casting her eyes to the ground for the moment, Lydia gulped and proudly looked at the camera again. "That video does not show me speaking to imaginary voices, spurred by mental illness, as the media would have you believe. I was speaking to a spirit."
Betelgeuse exited the building and found an inconspicuous corner to "change." Removing all of his clothing first, he gripped onto his literal lifeline and closed his eyes. He hated himself for being afraid. Hated that his hands were trembling. Hated his weakness. Lydia was just inside, spilling her guts out to the fucking world, showing tremendous bravery, and here he was… chickening out.
"Betel, you fuckin' chickenshit," he berated himself harshly, "take the fucking thing off. Come on! Do it!" All he could think about was Bart jumping out of nowhere the moment he was released from his physical body and slamming him back to hell. "COME ON!" He blared to the sky. "DO IT!" He was panting, clutching at his cord so tightly that his fingers had lost circulation and were tingling from the lack of blood supply. He growled and snarled, sweat dripping down his clammy, shaking body, fighting with himself.
"Go on then," a voice said, startling the everloving shit out of the fragile man.
"JESUS-FUCK!" He screamed and jumped back only to be greeted by the sight of Juno. "Mommy," he breathed with a squeak of relief, doubling over and placing his hands on his knees for support.
"What did you just say?" Juno muttered, completely disarmed into shock.
Betelgeuse cleared the ball of phlegm clogging his throat and spit it off to the side. "I said," he panted while he straightened up, trying his best to look and sound dignified, "the fuck ya doin' 'ere?! Aren't 'cha supposed to be waiting for the deadbeats to poof into yer office?"
The caseworker decided it was best to follow his lead away from that awkward moment. "I've got Maria and a team on it… I… I thought you could use some backup," she mumbled and looked away from him so that he couldn't read her concern for his safety.
It did not escape him, however, and he breathed easier for it. He nodded in understanding and brought his hand to the noose once more. This time, he removed it without hesitation.
Leaving his clothes and other physical belongings in the dark corner, Betelgeuse and Juno disappeared and entered the library.
The more she spoke, the more Lydia found strength. Her voice carried with power and determination.
"I'm breaking a lot of rules here, and I'll probably get into trouble for it, but these are dire circumstances. Maybe you're here just because you want some good entertainment, maybe you're here because you believe," she smiled wickedly, "either way, you won't be disappointed."
She couldn't see them, but she sensed the presence of her poltergeist and Juno. "The names of the souls will appear on the screen below. They will flash three times. It is imperative that you say the names when they appear and concentrate on summoning them to this place." She checked her watch, nodded somberly and looked into the lens. "Well, in the words of someone very dear to me…" she smirked, knowing full well Betelgeuse could hear her, "It's showtime."
Lydia walked off screen and took her seat next to the ghost hunters. The camera was facing the Hellmouth that was invisible to all but the ghosts and the medium in the room. Still, the energy it emitted did not go unnoticed by Guy or Tricia. It was ominous and all-encompassing. With shaky hands, Guy pulled a rosary out of his pocket and wrapped it around his hands. For once, Tricia didn't bug him about his fears. She was afraid too, and in her mind, she uttered a silent prayer to every goddess she could think of.
"First name on the list…" Tricia murmured as she typed, "going live…" her finger hovered on the return key, "Now."
The name flashed once. Regina Campos.
Betelgeuse waited a moment before making the lights flicker ever so slightly.
Guy began his commentary. "Did you see that everyone? The lights just flickered. Not our doing, I promise you."
The name flashed again and the number of comments spiked. The lights flickered again until a few bulbs popped.
"Easy, moron," Juno chided, "they won't be able to see anything now!"
Guy was quick on his feet and switched the camera to night vision. "We've got some serious activity going everyone," he exclaimed with excitement and fear. Pulling up his thermometer in front of the camera, Guy stared at it intently to see if it would change. Betelgeuse obliged by dropping the temperature. "Holy shit! Look!" He brought it closer to the camera. "It's dropping!"
When the name flashed for the third time, all the other bulbs explode with dramatic flair making Guy shriek and jump out of his skin. "HO-SHIT!"
"I thought we were starting off subtle?" Juno complained again.
"That wasn't me," he murmured back, staring at the ever glowing crack in the wall. The whispering had started. The next name was on the screen and the viewership increased by the hundreds in a matter of minutes. Although Betelgeuse was incorporeal at the moment, he felt his entire being tense. The screaming filled his mind and he couldn't move, couldn't stop seeing the souls that were crushed together, all waiting for an end to their suffering in the violent storm that kept them forever lost.
"Betel, you have to keep going," Juno tried to get his attention, but he was too far gone. Going completely against the rules, Juno concentrated hard on her image and willed the camera to catch a glimpse of her ghostly face.
"Did you see that?!" Tricia yelled and pointed at her laptop. "I saw-I-saw-a face!"
Guy ran before the camera once more and lifted his EMF for all to see. It was blinking green. "This is not a trick everyone! This is happening! Keep saying the names!" He couldn't see it, but he felt it. A warmth began to spread behind him, and although he couldn't hear the eerie whispers, he could sense something calling him. He couldn't help it and turned around to face whatever it was that beckoned for him.
Lydia saw the portal crack and crumble at its corner. The glowing that came from within flickered as if someone had just tossed kindling into a dying fire. Her eyes grew wide when she heard a whisper call out from inside
"Guy…"
Lydia shot out of her chair and yelled at the young man. "GUY! Get out of there!" Either he didn't hear her or ignored her, he continue toward the wall instead.
"Come… come home…" The evil voices called to him as he edged closer to the wall.
"NO! DON'T!" Before she knew what happened, Lydia darted forward to stop him. "DON'T TOUCH IT!" She latched onto Guy's arm and pulled with all her might. It was no use, he was entranced and only fought to move closer.
"What's happening?!" Tricia called out, rooted with fear as she watched Lydia push against her partner. Was this for show? Was this part of the plan? "Lydia?!" She cried out to her mentor with desperate confusion.
"TRISH, HELP!" Lydia screamed while Guy's larger and chubbier physique pushed against her smaller frame.
Tricia sprang into action and ran to help. Without even thinking, she slipped her fingers into the back of his pants and pulled back. It helped a bit as they staggered further from the wall but Guy would not relent.
Juno stopped the parlor tricks and watched the spectacle unfold. The computer was left alone in the corner which meant the names would not show up. Realizing this, the caseworker decided quickly on taking over the machine she loathed so much. "I'll take over the names," she called out to her invisible son, "help them!"
He couldn't hear or see the commotion. Something was nagging at him to wake up from the nightmare that had taken hold of his mind, but it wasn't enough to snap him out of it.
Tricia was now wrapped around Guy's legs, and somehow he was still edging closer and closer to the wall, pushing Lydia back. The medium whirled around, using her feet like brakes, the heat of the Hellmouth caressing her face the closer she got.
"Lydia…" A whisper tickled her ear.
"No," Lydia shook her head in denial. "No-no-no-no!" Don't touch it. Don't touch it. Don't touch it! So caught up in trying to keep herself and the others away from the firey opening, Lydia could not think of anything else. Closer and closer she got until the heat from the blazing crack was causing her to sweat through her clothes. An awful stench of burning hair filled her nostrils. Full blown panic had set in. She screamed bloody murder.
"BETELGEUSE-BETELGEUSE-BETELGEUSE!" Tricia let out in a piercing screech. It happened so suddenly that Tricia almost missed it. A blur of black and white knocked the air out of her, sending her and the others hurtling in the opposite direction of the wall. Her body went stiff as a board, and a rope snaked itself around her arms and legs. She and Guy had been tied together in a far corner near the entrance. The set entirely out of view but another sight held her eyes captive. Towering before her was Betelgeuse. Moldy hair standing on end, striped and corpselike, and cradling a stunned Lydia in his arms.
"Whoa," Guy breathed, "she's floating…" he uttered weakly, not able to see the Ghost with the Most, and fainted.
The look of pure shame could not have been more apparent on the dead man's face when his eyes locked with his supervisor's. Tricia was too shocked to say a word. She stared, eyes wide, and nostrils flared in silent hysteria.
"What the fuck happened in there?" She finally croaked.
Betelgeuse set Lydia down next to his bosses and turned away. "I choked," he gruffed with disgrace and made his way back to Juno. He expected the worst, having left the old woman alone in a room with a gateway to Hell itself, but the scene before him made him shake his head with disbelief.
The Hellmouth pulsed with fury while Juno was hunched over the laptop, typing, and puffing away at a cigarette that was just barely dangling between her lips. She was muttering all kinds of expletives between the names of the damned souls. Fire blazed and sparked out of the gaping hole, making its way toward her. It got to the camera first, however, and the recording device gave out completely, cutting off the visuals to the computer.
"Goddammit!" Juno yelled with frustration. When she looked up, fear cut across her face.
"Time to close it, Juno. It's over," he called out to her from behind, eyes cast to the ground, not able to step any closer and hating himself all the more for it.
Juno quickly made her way to him, clasped his hand, and began the incantation to close the illegal portal. Another voice carried within as Lydia grabbed onto her lover's free hand and joined their efforts. With the power of three to kill the connection to the physical plane,
it was over in no time. The astral fires and heat were snuffed out with a hiss and a pop.
They thought about going back to the office to regroup, but everyone was so shaken that Lydia offered up her home as both headquarters and refuge. Bertha was kind enough to prepare drinks and snacks but kept herself out of sight as not to scare the guests. Everyone was silent, sipping on their respective decaffeinated teas or hot chocolates. Prudence, Betelgeuse, and Juno were the only ones absent. Prudence had gone to pick up Bianca from school while they all waited to hear back to see if their plan had yielded any results.
Finally, Betelgeuse made his way downstairs, having stopped in the bedroom to don his physical body and some clothes. They surrounded him as soon as he hit the landing.
"What happened?" "Did it work?" "How many did we save?" "Where the heck did you come from?" They all cried out in unison.
"Calm yer tits everybody!" He groused. After a moment of silence, he gave a curt nod. "Two-hundred and eleven."
Cheering and sighs of relief escaped them. Lydia embraced her lover who, although still feeling shitty about his lack of control over his fears, gave her a triumphant smirk anyway.
"This is cause for celebration!" Guy exclaimed.
"We're not done yet, dummy!" Tricia smiled at her partner.
It was true that the ordeal was far from over, but they couldn't help the victorious high they were feeling. After the traumatic events from earlier and waiting helplessly for hours, relief coursed through them all. The ghost hunters had no idea who was providing the mysterious drinks and food, and after a few glasses of wine, they could hardly care. Besides, Guy didn't want his many questions answered. He had a feeling he would not take the news well.
"Hey, babe," Betelgeuse called out, "did you get my smokes?" He patted his pockets even though he knew he had left his clothes from earlier behind.
"If they're still in your pants," she replied offhandedly and pointed to the pile of clothes on the couch.
He walked over to his jeans and fished around his pockets. Getting frustrated quickly, he turned out all of his pockets only to find them empty. No cigarettes, no lighter, no wallet.
"Fuck! I've been robbed!" He growled with anger.
Lydia checked for him once more but found nothing. "Sure you didn't leave them here?"
"Nah, everything, even my wallet is gone. Oh-ho-ho that makes me so-" a string of angry gibberish escaped him as his blood boiled. He hated it when he lost shit, but having his shit stolen? That was something that was always infuriating. A thief being thieved was just plain embarrassing. "My favorite lighter. My money!" He cried with outrage.
Lydia rubbed his back consolingly. "Told you to be more discreet with where you leave your stuff."
Just when he was about to retort, Prudence hurried through the front door. "Oh, you're all here! So, what happened? You said you'd text me!" Prudence whined at her best friend.
"Hey," Betelgeuse furrowed his brow. "Where's Bibs?"
Prudence froze to the spot. "What? I… I thought…" she trailed off, growing paler by the second.
"Pru?" Lydia rushed to her friend. "Did you forget? It's okay, I'll go get her-"
"No!" Prudence interjected and gripped onto Lydia's wrists. "They said her father picked her up!" She shot a look of concern toward Betelgeuse.
"What?" He blurted out in confusion. "Whaddya mean? I… I've been…" It all hit him at once. Only people on the list were allowed to pick up the kids from school. He had never picked up Bianca. His wallet was missing. With his ID. Only one person could pull off looking… like…
"Dave," he whispered, as bile rose up in his throat and his stomach soured.
Lydia's breath hitched right before everything started to go black.