New York City, NY.

May 19th, 1999.

There was nothing more to live for. Based on a spur of the moment decision, she decided to jump from the top of the ABC Headquarters. The production assistant's life was her last go at figuring out what to do with herself. Her job had ended today, might as well end it all. The frazzled, wide-eyed woman took a daring step up to the ledge and assessed the drop.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," a monotonous, feminine voice called to her.

Prudence jolted from surprise and nearly sent herself over the ledge. Cautiously, she turned to look for the owner of the voice and found a small, dark-haired woman sitting casually on the floor, looking up at the sky, fiddling with what seemed to be a… spider?

"Who are you?" She asked timidly. The woman had an eerie look to her as if she were some messenger from the great beyond come to warn her.

The ghostly looking beauty fixed her gaze on the suicidal ginger.

"Suicides become civil servants in the afterlife," she responded dryly, ignoring the initial question.

"I'm not sure I believe in an afterlife," Prudence muttered in response.

The woman laughed mirthlessly. "Well, don't say I didn't warn ya." She returned her attention to the sky.

There was a long silence. Though the dark woman seemed indifferent toward her presence, Prudence found that she could not leave her. Her pale skin, the shadows under her eyes, that strange faroff look in her gaze; they all kept her transfixed. Prudence wanted to talk to the mystery woman. What else was there to do anyway… she could prolong her death a little while longer.

"What are you doing out here?" She finally asked the goth.

"Looking at the stars," she replied quietly.

Prudence scoffed. "This is New York City, lady. There are no stars," she pronounced scornfully.

"I don't have to see them to know what I'm looking at." The woman lifted a finger and pointed to the sky. "Right over there, that's where Orion is tonight."

Prudence looked but saw only black. "Are you a crazy person?" She asked in earnest.

"At this point? Probably" she sighed. "Do you work here?" She inquired without looking at the owl-eyed girl.

"Not anymore. You?"

"Almost." A wicked grin cracked her features and Prudence felt a shiver go down her spine. "Very soon." The woman inhaled then snapped her attention back to Prudence. "Wanna a job? I have a lot of work to do. I need extra hands on this plane. I'll pay you well. And you can live in my house. It's haunted. So. Hope you don't mind."

The woman had to be crazy. "I don't even know your name."

"Lydia Deetz."

The memory of her name from earlier that day came to her. Prudence had actually been the one to prep the conference room for her arrival. If she really was Lydia Deetz…

"I'm Prudence… Fisher. They loved your pitch, you know. I think it's kinda weird but they want it."

Lydia snickered evilly. "I know."

"Middle-aged dead guy named Beetlejuice, best friends with a little girl? Sounds like a pedophile to me."

The medium laughed openly at the insult. "I'm sure Betelgeuse would agree with you, but I need a show geared towards kids. Very important."

Prudence finally stepped off the ledge and sat on the ground opposite of the intriguing yet terrifying woman. "Why?"

Lydia waggled her eyebrows and leaned forward as if to tell her a secret. "Because... kids will believe when they summon him," she whispered ominously, then leaned back with a smug grin. The bride of the dead looked to the sky again and began her invocation. "Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse."

His name was sweet relief in an existence of endless torment. He would have forgotten it completely had it not tickled his subconscious several times a day… like a prayer. Sometimes, he could barely make out the face of an angel. How he wished he could remember her name. He knew her. He had to have known her in some previous life, if one even existed. Every time that sweet voice called to him, he could feel his chains weaken. Never enough to free him, but enough to ease his suffering until he was grateful. The angel would protect him. The angel would come for him. Soon. This he knew. It was the only thing he knew… other than his name.

Betelgeuse… Betelgeuse… Betelgeuse…

TO BE CONTINUED…

POST AN: Well, that's the end of part 1! Let me know what you all think in the comments. What are your theories on where I'm taking this story? Seems like I'm averaging about a post a week. Check out my Beetlejuice drabble called The Graveyard Debacle! Leave me some love there too if you can. Once again, thank you for all of the follows, kudos, favorites, messages, and comments! They really help motivate me.

A HUGE thank you to TheArtofSuicide for being my beta through this entire story. Your input and suggestions are marvelous. You challenge me to be a better writer! Again, check out her stuff! She's got a BJ oneshot coming soon!

I will try to rework this story as I post the sequel but I can't make any promises because I have a plot bunny trying to kill me about a Lucius/OC ship fic. lol I know some people are not into OC's but the idea just won't go away and I think it's going to be really fun to do. I've been validated and enabled by a few big HP fans soooo, I'm hoping that if any of you are HP fans, that you'll give it a read and tell me what you think.

I hope you meet me in the sequel: Ta Hell n' Back (part II/II)