Sacrifice
by
Owlcroft
"What's wrong, babes?" were the first words Lydia heard when she entered her room. Beetlejuice was, as always, waiting for her in the mirror, and she immediately said his name three times so he could join her.
As soon as he came through and floated in front of her, he repeated it. "What's wrong? Did something happen at school? Are you feeling okay? Tell me what it is and I'll fix it for you, you know that."
Lydia dropped her books on her desk and took a deep breath. "Just before we all left today, Miss Shannon made an announcement. One of the farmers outside of town saw a fox this morning. It was kind of wobbly and staggering and the fact that it was even out in the daytime – Beej, she said it's probably rabid and we should all be careful going home and if we saw it, we should call the Sheriff's office." She gave Beetlejuice a sad look and continued, "They would come out and shoot it, you know. I feel so sorry for the poor thing. It's probably in a lot of pain and really confused. And there's nothing anyone can do for it."
He stayed silent, hands in pockets and eyes on her, waiting.
"If it was some kind of disease that a vet could treat, maybe we could trap it and have it taken care of. But, rabies . . ." She frowned in sorrow. "It's such a terrible disease for any creature."
Beetlejuice closed his eyes and lowered his head, quirking his mouth in unhappiness. "You want me to do something about it, don't you?"
"Yes," she said softly. "Beej, it's suffering and it can't get better. If we took a sick dog to the vet and he said it was in pain and couldn't recover, we'd put it out of its misery. That's what I'm asking you to do for the poor fox. Put it out of its misery."
Even though it was what he'd expected her to say, he still winced. After a few seconds, he muttered, "Anything for you, Lyds." Then he sighed deeply.
Lydia bit her lip and surveyed him anxiously. "I'll go with you if it would make it easier." When he shrugged and shook his head, she put a hand on his arm and moved closer. "You find it and we'll both go, okay?"
"No. I don't want . . ." Beetlejuice shook his head again. "You don't have to. You shouldn't have to see . . . to see me . . . kill something." He winced again. "If I could fix it, could cure it, you know I would, right?" Finally, he opened his eyes to look at her. "But I can't. So, the only thing I can do is to . . ."
When she saw the distress in his eyes, Lydia moved to stand in front of him and took hold of his jacket lapels. "No, forget it. Really, Beej. I didn't stop to think how hard it would be for you. What I was really asking you to do. I don't have the right to ask anyone to do something like that."
"No, I have to. You were right. It's the only thing anybody can do for the fox. And it looks like I'm the only one who can find it."
"No, please." Lydia put her arms around him and held him tight. "It was wrong of me to ask you. Honestly, I don't want you to go through something like that. I was just thinking of the fox and not of you and that was wrong." She pressed her head up against his chin. "I am so sorry, my darling. I was just really upset when I heard about it and I guess all I could think of was that you can help with anything."
He hugged her back and shook his head again. "You were right to ask me. And it's the right thing to do. So, I have to do it."
ooooo
Lydia identified the area where the fox had been spotted and Beetlejuice transported them there. It was a small, fenced-in pasture with a few trees in one corner and, in the opposite corner, a pile of the rocks that had been cleared from the field.
"I think he's there," whispered Beetlejuice. "Probably has a den in the rocks. You stay here, okay?"
Reluctantly, Lydia nodded and watched him float over to the rocks and peer in among them. She saw him freeze suddenly, then sink so his feet were on the ground, shoulders slumping. He motioned toward her and she cautiously approached.
He was staring down between two of the largest rocks at the body of the fox, already stiffening, the fur bedraggled and worn. "We were . . . I was too late."
Lydia let out a sad breath. "Poor thing." She took Beetlejuice's hand in hers and held it tightly. "Maybe it's for the best. At least it's not suffering any more."
"You want me to . . . to bury it?" He was still staring at the lifeless body. "Anything you say, Lyds."
"In the woods near our house? Can you take us there, Beej?"
He did and quickly had a shallow grave ready and the fox's corpse interred.
"Poor thing," said Lydia again.
"Yeah," said Beetlejuice quietly. Then he turned away, still unhappy. "If I had just looked for it right away, maybe I could have saved it a few minutes of pain."
"No, Beej. I should never have asked you to do something like that."
"Of course you should! You know I'll do whatever –" He broke off at that point and frowned.
"Whatever I want? That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"
"But not just whatever you want, Lyds. It's whatever you ask me, 'cause I know you'd never ask me to do anything wrong. You would never do that. And you were asking me to do what was right, the best thing to do for the fox. And I should've realized that, that you wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't something I should do." He paused, took a breath, then said, "It was just hard, that's all. I didn't want to do something like that, ever. But it would have been the right thing to do."
Lydia took his arm and wrapped it around her, then put her own arm around his waist, silently but comfortingly, and ushered him toward the house.
"You probably don't remember," he said slowly, "but I told you once I'd destroy a whole generation for you. But I was thinking they'd be a danger to you, a threat of some kind. You wouldn't ask me to do something like that if you weren't . . . I mean, you'd never ask me to do anything wrong, or bad. I trust you, babes."
"You were willing to sacrifice your feelings for me. And your principles, your own sense of what's right." Lydia held him tight. "Don't you ever do that. Don't you ever let me do that to you."
Beetlejuice shook his head. "No. Your sense of what's right is way better than mine. I'd much rather trust you than myself." He gave her a tiny, rueful smile. "You remember when I killed that bird? How much it hurt and you said sometimes feelings will hurt, no matter what?"
She nodded, not easing up on her embrace, still taking him away from the grave.
"So I trust you now instead of me 'cause you know stuff like that. You know what I should do and why I should do it. I don't." He tightened his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "I depend on you for things like that. And you always know best."
Lydia stopped walking and pulled him around to face her. She looked at him with love and anxiety and said, "That's a lot of responsibility, Beej. I'm not sure I can be responsible for both of us."
His smile grew a bit. "No problem. You be responsible for me. I'll be responsible for you. I'll keep you safe, protect you, cherish you, treasure you. You just tell me what to do. Deal?"
"That's not a deal, that's . . . I don't exactly know what it is. But for now – oh, Beej, I just want you to know one thing. One really, really important thing." She pulled his head down and kissed him fiercely. "I will do anything for you."
