Lydia quickly lurched towards the table to pick up a steak knife that was set with the closest dish to her. Gripping it with both hands, she pointed it at Walter and the room erupted with laughter from the Deadbeats, Walter laughing the loudest.
"Oh, you are really a funny broad, you know that?" Walter asked as he rose from the chair. "What are you gonna do with that? Kill us? We're already dead!" He shouted as he pointed to the bullet wound in his head.
This statement of the obvious caused the men to laugh even more. As D'Angelo's crew roared with their hysterics, Otho began to awaken but his frantic writhing wasn't acknowledged by anyone other than Delia. Her eyes scanned the room frantically, pulling as the restraints that tied her to her seat wondering why it was always the dining room that ghosts haunted her in.
Lydia continued to brandish the knife, knowing that he did have a point. They were all impervious to her mortal threats. She cast a glance up to Beetlejuice, hopeful that he would summon up another psychotic carnival, or some murderous tentacles to deal with the intruders. Anything to improve their outlook against the unwanted guests but the ghost's eyes were fixed on Walter.
"Can you lay off you fat bastard?" The man growled. "I had eyes on Lydia first, and a contract signed off by her- So, if anybody is getting hitched here, it's me," Beetlejuice said before wrapping an arm around Lydia, his other hand gesturing to the burgundy tux he wore. "You're a professional, Wally, so you should know that you dress for the job you want. I'm ready for a wedding, while you look about ready to shoot a commercial for a Big and Tall outlet," he said with a grin as he moved away from Lydia and placed himself between his intended fiance and the wedding crasher. "Besides, I've made plans for our honeymoon in Hawaii. Gonna hit the beach, summon some demons from a volcano, consummate our union, you know the usual newlywed things."
Walter only smirked at the argumentative point that the Neitherworld's most wanted put out.
"Well, Beetle, you of all people should be well aware of the rule of age before beauty. Especially given that you are as old as everyone else here combined," Walter retorted as he stepped closer to the pair. "And the will of one Mr. Charles Deetz, Lydia's guardian, is a law that is older than you, and overrides your claim on the lovely Deetz girl before us." Looking to his right he gave a nod and two of Walter's men drew the chalk door and left. "It's only right to have the father of the bride at this most joyous event, and we still require the Minister."
"There is no way in hell I am marrying you," Lydia said through clenched teeth as she raised the knife again and pointed it at Walter. She moved to take a step forward but Beetlejuice held her back, and the two exchanged looks of warning to one another as the still open portal produced the mobster's grunts again, but they were now dragging Charles in with the Minister following them willingly.
Upon seeing Lydia, Charles' first instinct was to go to her side, but the knife in her hold was a deterrent for him to go rushing to his daughter. That, and the men who brought him in had forced him into the seat Walter had been occupying only moments ago. Charles eyed Delia with shame as his hand reached over to hers and held it, mouthing the words 'I'm sorry'. Delia couldn't respond with words but her eyes stared at him with pain in her eyes but she nodded in acceptance.
"No way in hell is it?" Walter asked as he retraced his steps back to meet Charles, observing the interaction between the married couple. "Well, I suppose I can't hold a grudge against you can I? And I can hardly punish you, unless of course you find a solution to your impending death problem before our friends outside make their way in," Walter said as he nodded to the window that several soul suckers were placed at. "I can however make the rest of your father's stay in the Neitherworld a waking nightmare," Walter threatened before peering at Delia. "Maybe execute a few family friends while I'm at it."
Charles looked up to Walter, furious at the threat against Delia.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on her or I'll-"
"Or you'll what? You gave up the only card you had, Deetz- your negotiation skills are, for a lack of a better word, shit," Walter tisked as he placed a hand onto Delia's shoulder. "I could make her suffer all night, but sadly I don't think Lydia can stay for the whole show." Looking back to the woman in the bright red dress, he grinned and lifted his head. "What do you say, Lydia? Marry me, or would you prefer if every living person in this room experienced a most painful death?"
Lydia was screwed before this point, but now it just felt like an impossible scenario to escape. Lowering her arms Lydia turned around to see a slew of the soul suckers budging at the window. Her acceptance of the soul suckers claiming her would only make things worse for her family, but she could try something else. Turning back to the rest of the members in the room she turned the knife on herself, readying the blade to her throat. Everyone's expression darkened at the sight.
Everyone save for Walter of course. He only shook his head at the ploy.
"Well, you certainly would not be of use to me anymore as a regular deadbeat," Walter said with a grin as he made his way around the table to approach her. "However, I'm sure I could make you the most popular call girl in town, wouldn't you agree, Beetle?" Walter asked, looking to the dead man in the tuxedo whose expression was one of contemplation. "Of course, you won't be able to indulge, given that you're going to Saturn for the rest of your afterlife." Walter grinned as he looked back to Charles who looked mortified.
"You said-! Oh, never mind what you said," Charles muttered as he directed his attention onto Lydia and Beetlejuice "Sweetie, listen, I- I don't know how things ended up this bad but, you are going to be okay." Charles started as he leaned forward in his seat and looked to the ghost, who in his opinion, started this whole mess. "BJ, please get her out of here." The man muttered, still holding to his wife's hand as he was willing to let her go for his daughter.
Lydia's eyes widened and she shook her head hurriedly before she pulled the knife from her neck and pointed it at the solemn-looking groom who had attempted to place a hand on her shoulder.
"No! Dad, I'm not leaving you!" Lydia shouted back and turned her eyes onto Beetlejuice. "I'm not leaving, not without my dad- and Delia and Otho, they need to be safe too," Lydia insisted as the souls outside began to make their presence known more fully. They would descend upon her in a matter of minutes if something didn't happen. "I can't keep running from this. Beetlejuice, please do something!" Lydia pleaded with tears welling in her eyes.
The man knew he could solve this situation in a few ways, but none of them would result in a way that would benefit him.
He could walk away from this all and start from scratch, but who the hell knew when he could come across someone like Lydia again. Plus, he didn't necessarily enjoy the idea of seeing her around the Neitherworld, as Mrs. Walter D'Angelo or as a deadbeat herself, but he would rather one of those outcomes over the closet escapees devouring her soul. His focus then turned to Walter and the deadbeats he had employed for this whack job. He could get rid of them, but that would only increase his problems in the Neitherworld- even if Lydia would go through with a marriage with him, he would never hear the end of it from the board, and he'd always have to look over his shoulder. There was the option that Charles suggested too. He could run away with his intended fiance, sure, but Lydia wouldn't forgive him on that and likely a marriage would never happen- so it wouldn't even make sense to carry her off like some wannabe knight in dented armor.
"If you had only listened to me in the first place, Chuck," Beetlejuice grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck. Looking back to Lydia he reached for the knife but she pulled it away and held it behind her back. She shook her head motioning to take a step back but the man already caught her at the waist, anchoring her to him with one hand as the other hand found its way to her cheek, cupping her face to raise her face to meet his gaze. She was pissed, hurt and terrified all at once and he couldn't blame her.
Life had been unnecessarily vindictive against her, her father was useless in protecting her or even acknowledging her plights. He knew he was a disappointment to her as well. He had missed so many opportunities to do right by her and he pissed them all away, holding out for his own benefit.
"You know we are fucked regardless right?" He asked tilting his head to the side, his eyes still on her.
Lydia's eyes narrowed at the statement. "You could kill Walt, I know you aren't worried about your immortal soul or anything," Lydia murmured, making the man chuckle.
"Yeah, you are right there, but I'm not quick enough to kill 'em before he gets Delia, and even if I did… Well, there would be hell to pay for me, and while I don't mind the heat that wouldn't help you with your soul sucker problem," he said, giving a shrug. "So, it's not the best option for us." He said as his thumb stroked over her cheek. Lydia frowned at the response.
"Do you have a better idea?" She asked. Lydia meant for the question to come off in a bitter tone, but her fear was far more evident to the ghost. He nodded and looked to the folks who were waiting on them, or more so on Lydia to give in to the mobster's demands.
"I do, it's not my favorite plan, but it's the only one that really gets the job done," he muttered as he rolled his neck to look at Lydia again who was delivering him a look that prompted the question, 'what are you waiting for?' He was hoping some other ingenious idea would come to mind first but he was at a loss and they were out of time. "Do you still wanna see Adam and Barb?"
Lydia blinked at the question. She didn't understand what that had to do with their current predicament but she nodded and her hand grasped the hand he held her face with. "Yeah, I do, but Beetle-" Lydia was cut off as the ghost pulled her into a kiss. It was quick, fleeting almost and filled with pressure, but it accomplished two things. Beetlejuice got to take pleasure in what he had missed out on earlier due to his stupidity, but more importantly it caught Lydia off guard.
"It was nice knowing you, kid," Beetlejuice mumbled against her lips, confusing Lydia further. Before she could question what he meant she felt a terrible pain in her chest.
In a fluid motion, the hand that Beetlejuice had placed on her waistline seized the knife she held behind her back and plunged the designer cutlery into Lydia's chest. He shifted his hand to make the kill as quick, as possible, slicing her heart's arteries rather than just shanking the muscle. The hand that once held the woman's face had snaked to her back to keep her close and from giving in to the body's natural instinct to survive, but Lydia hardly had time to put up that fight. She didn't even have time to scream- no time to curse his name or say farewell to her parental figures.
Beetlejuice removed the knife, watching as the deep red blood meshed with the bright scarlet dress. He ignored the burning sensation within his own eyes as he dropped the weapon and held onto her limp body with both hands, half expecting her to slap him for the deed he had done, or to hear her scold him. His eyes went to meet Lydia's again, hoping he could at least apologize to her, but she was already gone. The light behind her eyes snuffed out from this world.