Beetlejuice:
Back In The Game
Hands vermilion
Start of five
Bright cotillion
Raven's dive
Nightshade's promise
Spirits strive
To the living, let now the dead come alive.
As sudden thunder pierces night
As magic wonder mad affright
Rives asunder man's delight
Our ghost, our corpse and we rise to be.
As flies the lizard
Serpent fell
As goblin Vizard at the spell
The buried dead and slain rise again.
As Otho spoke these words, trying to bring Adam and Barbara Maitland into view, he didn't fully understand what he was unleashing to the world of the living. He'd opened a portal between the world of the living and the world of the dead, unleashing a spirit so evil, no one can comprehend what it is capable of. Juno sent thousands of ghosts to earth to search for the spirit, but he had disappeared without a trace, no one knows what happened but word had gotten out that he'd been trapped in something and was unable to return to the afterlife.
Several years have passed since Lydia Deetz nearly married Betelgeuse and only a few weeks since she moved a few miles from her parents home, she was sad to leave Barbara and Adam behind, they would have left the house and gone with her, but if they had done so, they'd be tanning on the sands of Saturn. Adam insisted that Lydia take a section of the model of the town with her, to remember them by.
Three weeks since then, Lydia had started to become a writer, she thought that their encounter with Betelgeuse would make a good story, so she wrote about that, changing the characters names though, she didn't want Otho trying to cash in on his experience by being in the book and she certainly didn't want someone to say Betelgeuse's name three times. Her day job though, was being a photographer for the local newspaper, sometimes she'd have to go away for a few days to New York City, but that was about as far as she'd have to go.
The book she was writing was only intended to be a short story, and since she put all of her time into it, it only took a little over three months to finish it.
'Lydia my dear, this book is fantastic! It's so…different, a perfect mix of drama and comedy! Keep writing books like this and you will be famous.' Nadine, the head of Red Paper Publishing, said excitedly. Lydia, now twenty-one, sat before Nadine in her office, a smile on her face.
'Thanks, I was hoping you'd like it.' She replied. Nadine took a long drag from her cigarette and nodded, puffing smoke from her mouth.
'If you don't get an award or at least some recognition for this, I'll quit smoking.' She said. Nadine couldn't survive a few hours without a smoke, so her saying that meant that Lydia would get recognition, she wouldn't risk her beloved cigarettes like that. Lydia stood and picked up her long black duster jacket.
'Thanks again Nadine, I have to get back home, my parents are visiting.' Nadine smiled and nodded.
'Ok Lydia, I'll see you next week, we can talk cover designs.' Lydia shrugged her shoulders into her coat and buttoned it up.
'Actually, I was thinking of keeping it plain black.'
'Excellent! A great look for the cover and cost effective, your father's rubbed off on you.' So long as she didn't end up having shot nerves and buying a haunted house, Lydia didn't mind people saying that. 'In that case then, you wont have to come in next week, we'll send you the book.' Lydia nodded and hugged her friend.
'See you next week then, bye.' She waved goodbye and left the office building. Lydia climbed into her silver car and drove off. It would be a good few hours before she'd get back home.
Pulling up in front of her house, Lydia kind of wished she had a man in her life, she hadn't had a boyfriend since she got out of college; and she regretted going out with him. It didn't bother her too much though; she had more important things to think about, like her book and her job. She got out of the car and shut the door; Delia and her father were going to be there in an hour, she had to get dinner ready. 'I need some excitement in my life…' She muttered, walking up to her house.
Meanwhile, in the reception room, Betelgeuse was waiting for someone to call him. He managed to get the witchdoctor to turn his head back to normal; he had to give his ticket back. Miss Argentina slid the panel to one side and stuck her blue face out.
'Number nine-nine-nine-eight-three-eight-three-seven-five-zero-zero-zero-zero, get into Juno's office.' She knew who it was and she knew damn well not to say his name. Betelgeuse, still in his tattered red tux, stood and walked into Juno's office, he was met with a cold metallic glare from the aged caseworker.
'Sit!' Juno barked, Betelgeuse knew better than to mess around with her so he did as he was told. 'What the hell is wrong with you?? Marrying the Deetz girl!'
'I'll tell ya somethin' Juney, she wanted me, I could tell. Saving the Maitlands was just a cover.' He replied arrogantly, leaning back in his chair.
'Don't call me "Juney"! You've broken every rule there is, you can't go back to earth anymore.' Betelgeuse sat up straight, his face full of surprise.
'What? Oh c'mon Juno! I'll be bored to death here! What about my business??' He protested. Juno took a drag of her cigarette; the smoke billowed out of her neck.
'You're already dead, idiot! The world will be that little bit better without your so-called business to screw things up for the living and dead. If you're caught on earth again you'll be sent to Saturn permanently!' Betelgeuse sighed in defeat, what Juno said went; it was futile to fight it. He got up and left the office, mumbling under his breath.
The week after, Lydia got a large brown envelope in the post. She took it into the living room and sat down. Before opening it, Lydia took a deep breath and tore the edge away. She reached her hand inside and took out an A3 size paperback book, the cover was completely black save for the title written in white, which read: "Moving House - by Lydia Deetz". Lydia laughed to herself and flipped through the book, she was incredibly happy with it.
'Who would have thought that I'd write a book?' She asked herself. The answer, of course, was no one. Not even she thought she could achieve such a feat. She had to tell Adam and Barbara, not to mention her parents. Quickly, she ran out of the house, jumped into her car and set off towards her parents' and friends' home. An hour later, she arrived at the house. 'Guys! Come quick!' She yelled, bursting through the door.
'What is it Lydia??' Barbara asked, running in from the living room, followed by Adam. Delia came from the kitchen and Charles almost fell over himself running down the stairs.
'What's wrong? Why are you yelling?' Delia asked. Lydia grinned incessantly, hiding the book behind her back.
'Whatcha got there, honey?' Her father asked, standing next to Delia.
'My book, it came in the post today!' Lydia replied as excitedly as she was when she first opened the envelope.
'That's great! Can I see?' Adam asked. Lydia handed the book over to her friend, who quickly started to examine the book before reading the summary; he passed it to Barbara who, in turn, passed it to Delia and Charles.
'Lydia Deetz, you never cease to amaze me.' Barbara said, hugging her.
'You guys can keep that copy, I don't know when it'll be released properly yet.' Lydia replied, hugging back.
'But it's yours, the first copy ever made.' Adam responded.
'Yeah, but without you or my parents, I wouldn't have been able to write it. I changed the characters names too, so no one knows its us and so that creep wont be brought back again.'
'Good thinking Lydia, are you sure we can keep it?' Charles asked, flipping through the book. His daughter nodded and smiled.
'Yeah, you can keep it.'
Another month went by, Lydia was hearing from Nadine that her book was doing exceedingly well. She'd made quite a bit of money from it and had already gotten e-mails from fans of the book, as well as esteemed writers, congratulating her on her success. It got good reviews from most critics, though the more venerated critics were indifferent to the book, Lydia didn't mind, she didn't write it to get good reviews. Nadine called her, saying that she'd been nominated in two categories to win an award for writing, one for Best Newcomer and one for Most Imaginative Writer. Lydia was given a time and date to be at the awards in New York City, and orders to be there, if she wanted to win an award or not, she had to be there and she could bring two guests with her, so she chose her parents.
'Delia, do I look ok?' Lydia asked her stepmother. She was wearing a long black dress that gripped her curved body tightly, she had a woollen shoal around her bare shoulders, her hair was tied up as she usually had and she wore black high-heels. Delia smiled and placed her hands on Lydia's shoulders.
'You look beautiful,' she answered. 'I'm really happy for you Lydia, you're about to win an award for your book.' Lydia smiled and shook her head lightly.
'I don't know about that,' she replied. 'I might not.'
'You will if your mother and I have anything to do with it.' Charles said, walking into what used to be Lydia's room straightening his tie. 'Besides, you're nominated in two categories, I'm sure you'll win at least one of them.'
'Yeah, so good luck.' Adam said, standing in the doorway with his arm around Barbara, who beamed.
The drive to NYC seemed to take forever, Lydia was both excited and nervous, she couldn't wait to be there, it didn't even matter to her if she won anything or not, just the chance to meet other writers was enough for her. After a few hours drive they finally reached the auditorium where the awards were being held. Circular tables dotted the floor; there were three to four chairs around each one as well as a bottle of champagne and glasses. They'd had their tables reserved for them in the middle of the hall, Nadine waited for them, she'd already started the champagne and was through her fourth cigarette; the other three had been drained and were dumped in the ashtray.
'Delia, Dad, this is Nadine, she owns Red Paper Publishing.' Lydia introduced them, they all shook hands and sat at the table, facing the stage.
'So Lydia, how do you fancy your chances?' Nadine asked, stubbing out her cigarette and lighting another. The girl in black shrugged her shoulders and looked around.
'I don't know, there's a lot of really good writers here…' Lydia answered, partly in a daze.
'Are you kidding? They're the best!' Lydia sighed, what a great morale booster that was, she thought. 'But, Lydia, they don't have what you've got.' Nadine finished, stabbing a finger in Lydia's direction.
'And what's that?' Lydia asked, confused. Nadine took one long drag of her cigarette and puffed the smoke away from the Deetz's.
'All these writers are the best at what they do, world-famous, millionaires even. But they've innovated their fields so many times its not even innovative anymore, it's old news and occasionally boring. But you, my dear Deetz, have something that makes you their equal, you've brought fresh material to the world, no one on earth has ever written or conceived something like what you have. You're original Lydia, one-hundred percent original, and that's why you should be confident you'll get at least one award tonight.' Lydia stared at her in disbelief, she hadn't thought of it that way, she looked at Delia and her father, who beamed back at her, they knew what Nadine was saying was true to the letter.
'Wow…I uh…hadn't quite thought of it…that way before.' She managed to stammer, this was a huge thing for her. Red Paper Publishing was a big publisher; everyone who worked there knew everything there was to know about writing, so for the owner of said publisher to say she was an original is the biggest compliment she's ever had off anyone.
The awards started before anyone could say another word, categories were introduced and awards were given out, three bottles of champagne had been drained before the first of Lydia's two categories came up. A tall blonde woman in a cream dress stood by the podium to announce the winner.
'And now the award for Best Newcomer, the four nominees are: Lydia Deetz, Edward Fischer, John Lambert and Sarah Juliana. It was a close call between Lydia Deetz and John Lambert but John won by thirty-five votes to thirty-one!' A man, obviously the winner, hurried up the stage and accepted his award with a small speech. As everyone else applauded John's award, Nadine snorted with scorn and drained her glass of its contents.
'Utter crap, that book is so cliché, a pathetic attempt.' She muttered, filling her glass again. Lydia sighed, it was so close, but there was the next one: Most Imaginative Writer. Again, awards were announced and collected, it seemed to take forever for Lydia's second category to come, but it did eventually and Lydia was on the edge of her seat, as was everyone at the table. A tall dark-haired man wearing a black tuxedo walked onto the stage and behind the podium.
'Now, for the Most Imaginative Writer award, the nominees are: Brian O'Hara, Lydia Deetz, Frank Johnson and Harvey Davies.' The man opened the golden envelope and took out the card with the winners name on it. 'And the winner, with fifty-five percent of the vote, is Lydia Deetz!' Everyone at Lydia's table cheered and applauded her with gusto. Lydia, shaken, hurried to the stage to accept her award. She shook the man's hand and turned to the podium for her speech.
'Uh…well…this is a surprise.' She laughed, trying not to lose herself in a mixture of panic and excitement. She clutched her award and tried to remember the speech she prepared, just in case she did win anything. 'I'd like to thank the voters, my family – Delia and Charles Deetz – for their support, Nadine Raymond – my publisher – for actually believing in my book, she said from the start I'd get recognition for it. But most of all, I'd like to thank my friends: Adam and Barbara Maitland, who couldn't be here tonight; they were my biggest inspiration for the book. Thank you.' The crowd applauded as Lydia stepped down from the stage and sat back by her table. Delia was in tears of joy, Nadine was cracking open another bottle of champagne to celebrate and Charles just hugged his daughter before she got the chance to sit down.
'What did I tell you, my dear? I knew you'd get an award!' Nadine cried triumphantly, proud that her girl beat the others with over half of the vote, which was a huge amount for one person to win by. Lydia couldn't stop grinning and if she could it was probable that she wouldn't anyway. The rest of the night passed in what seemed like an instant, Lydia didn't care about the other awards, she'd gotten hers and that's what mattered to her. The after show party was announced to be in a different hall, Lydia wasn't sure about if she wanted to go or not, but Nadine convinced her that it'd be a great way to meet people and get tips from experienced writers. Lydia agreed and went with Nadine to the party, her parents on the other hand decided to go home.
The hall was full, Lydia swore there were more people there than in the actual awards. There were so many people in tuxes it really did look like a group of penguins huddling around each other. Nadine, never to be seen without either a glass of alcohol or a cigarette, took a swig of the beer she found on a table near the entrance and swanned around the room with Lydia trying to keep up. The two friends managed to get separated; Lydia was lost in a sea of alcohol, cigarette and cigar smoke and penguin-suits, a hand placed itself on her shoulder and she quickly spun around. A tall man with jet-black hair and a seductive smile on his face met her, his dark brown eyes scanned over her thin body as he took a sip of his champagne.
'Lydia Deetz, I read your book; I thought it was very interesting. You deserved that award.' He said, Lydia smiled and linked her hands together in front of her.
'Thanks; I didn't think I was going to get it. Uh…I don't recognise you…' She answered sheepishly. The man laughed and shook his head.
'Don't worry about it, my name's Max Ferdinand, I look for fresh talent and advertise their work if it's good enough. And I'm very interested in doing so with your work, Ms Deetz.' Lydia blushed lightly, she wasn't used to people making this much of a fuss over her.
'Well uh…thanks, I'm not really that good at these things, my publisher usually deals with business. I'm just the faceless writer.' Max laughed heartedly, his smile revealed a set of perfect teeth. He took another sip of his champagne and looked around before looking back at Lydia.
'Well I was hoping you'd join me for dinner tomorrow afternoon, I could explain everything then. You don't have to say yes, but it would be very nice to work with you, Ms Deetz.'
'Please, call me Lydia, I don't like formalities, and I'm not sure about dinner…'
'Lydia!' Nadine's voice called out behind her. Lydia spun around to face her half-drunk friend. 'This is Max Ferdinand, you can't turn him down on anything he asks you, anything.' She tried to whisper, but a circle five people wide could hear her.
'Oh…' Lydia replied, turning around to face Max once more, who smiled handsomely and sipped his champagne. 'I'll take you up on your offer, Mr. Ferdinand.'
'Excellent, I'll pick you up from your house tomorrow at say…seven?' Lydia smiled and nodded.
'Seven will be fine.' She answered. Max gave a slight bow before turning to leave. 'Hey, wait a minute! I didn't tell you where I live.' Nadine tugged at her arm and hushed her.
'He knows where you live, he does research on anyone he offers his services to.' Lydia nodded in understanding and watched Max weave his way through the sea of people.
(A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.)