Beetlejuice:
Back In The Game
(A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviews, it's very much appreciated and the fic would not continue without you.)
As Lydia uttered the final "Betelgeuse", she realised what she was saying. Had he tricked her again? If he had, she was going to exorcise him the next time she saw the git. The dining room windows flung open and a strong wind entered, toppling ornaments, wooden chairs, books and a tall freestanding lamp. The curtains flailed like…ghosts in sheets, she guessed. Dead leaves blew in and circled around Lydia, lightning flashed through the sky and, for a second, it seemed to enter the dining room itself. Lydia shut her eyes tightly and covered her face with her arms, afraid that the lightning might strike her.
It took but a second more for the wind to stop, the leaves ceased to blow around her and the lighting stopped. Cautiously, Lydia lowered her arms and opened her eyes slightly; she was no longer inside her house. She stood in the centre of what seemed to be a road, which turned and twisted in impossible ways, no car could drive down this street, she thought. The designs of the buildings around her were also contorted and vaguely reminded her of German expressionism, they loomed over her as if warning her to stay away from them. She felt her stomach attack her once more, she felt sick to her core. She had no idea where she was, how to get home or why she was here.
'I'm going to annihilate him…' Lydia muttered to herself.
'You're not from here, are you?' A voice spoke out, followed by a rhythmic tapping. Lydia looked around her, but saw no one. 'Down here.' The raven-haired girl blinked and looked at her feet, only to see a pinkish-purple spider with small tap-dancing shoes on six of her feet. Lydia jumped a little and took a step back.
'N-No…I'm not from here…' She stammered in response. The spider scuttled over to her and smiled.
'I'm Ginger, the greatest tap-dancing spider in the whole of the Neitherworld. And you are…?' Lydia, growing more confident, knelt down and placed her hands in her lap.
'Lydia…my name's Lydia…where did you say we are?'
'The Neitherworld, the place where all the dead end up.' Ginger replied enthusiastically, Lydia grew wide-eyed and she became a shade paler than before.
'D-dead…I'm dead!?' She cried. Ginger blinked and placed a hand on Lydia's knee; who then buried her face into her hands and sobbed.
'Why don't you come back to my place? You'll feel better soon, don't worry.'
Meanwhile, Betelgeuse was sitting on the settee in Jacque's living room watching TV. He sighed and looked at the clock, Jacques had gone out for a while and Betelgeuse had yet to hear from Lydia.
'I hope she did read it, it's what she wanted.' He mumbled, flicking through the channels. He'd taken earth for granted before; to him it was a place full of potential suckers he could reel in to help his business. But then he met Lydia, he still remembered the sad lonely girl she was when they first met.
"I wanna get in…"The words would not leave his mind, anyone who would rather be dead than alive must be incredibly poignant. Just then, the door opened and a small pinkish-purple spider scuttled in and blinked at Betelgeuse.
'Why are you here?' Betelgeuse turned off the TV and turned to face Ginger.
'Jacques invited me over, he had ta go out for a lil' while…' He replied before noticing the weeping woman behind the spider. 'Lydia!' The girl quickly looked up and glared at Betelgeuse with exorcism in mind.
'You! Why can I never escape you!?' She yelled.
'Whatcha yellin' at me for, I brought you here like you wanted!' Betelgeuse yelled back. Lydia's face turned an angry red.
'I never wanted to die!!'
'What?? You're not dead, who told ya that?' Lydia glanced down at a sheepish-looking Ginger.
'I didn't know she wasn't dead!' She cried, defending herself. Betelgeuse sighed and leant back in his seat. Lydia folded her arms across her chest and stood by the doorway, not wanting to go near Betelgeuse yet.
'Sacre Bleu! We 'ave another guest?' Jacques exclaimed from behind Lydia, who spun around and gasped when she saw the skeletal figure before her. 'And what is your name?'
'L-Lydia…' She stammered. Jacques walked into the room and smiled at her.
'My name eez Jacques LaLean, I and my friend Ginger own zis 'ouse.' Lydia managed a courteous smile and shook Jacques' hand. He looked at Betelgeuse and cocked his head towards Lydia. 'Eez zis ze girl you were talking about, Betelgeuze?' The ghoul nodded and glanced at Lydia, who just stared at him. 'Zen I think zat Ginger better practice 'er dancing, I'll watch.' Ginger looked at Jacques and grinned, delighted that he would watch her practice; she dashed into the next room, quickly followed by Jacques. Lydia looked at Betelgeuse, who was staring down into his lap.
'So…if I'm not dead, how did I get here?' She asked, folding her arms across her chest.
'I can…well I used ta be able to teleport between this world and the living world, you can do the same thing, but only if you say those words.' He replied, not looking at her.
'Oh…' Lydia replied, sitting on the far end of the settee, leaving a two-person gap between Betelgeuse and herself. 'Why did you bring me here?' Betelgeuse turned his head to look at her, she'd never seen a serious look on his face before; he looked weird with one.
'Remember when we first met?' Lydia let out a small laugh, all those years ago, but she still clearly remembered what happened that day.
'How could I forget?' She replied.
'Do you remember what you said to me the first time we met?' Lydia had to think, she said a lot to him that day. She shrugged in defeat, unable to recall her words to him. 'You said: "I wanna get in".' Betelgeuse answered for her, mimicking her voice exactly how it was back then.
'Get in where?' She asked, confused.
'Here!' Betelgeuse replied, extending his arms outwards. 'You said you wanted to get in here, so now you are.' Lydia was speechless, why had he remembered that specific detail for all these years?
'But…why? I know I said it, but…why?' Betelgeuse could only shrug in response. 'Well…I don't want to be here, get me home.' Lydia said, standing up.
'Well…you see…that's the thing…' Betelgeuse replied shamefacedly. 'I don't know how to send you back…'
'WHAT!!?'
'Calm down babes, I'll work it out!' Betelgeuse yelled in defence. Lydia, whose face had now turned a deep red, fumed and balled her fists at her sides.
'Don't you ever call me "babes"!! If you don't get me home soon I'll…I'll…'
'Can't threaten to kill a dead guy, huh?'
'Shut up!!' Lydia screamed, storming out of the house and slamming the door behind her.
'Zat deed not sound good…' Jacques said quietly, peeking his head into the living room. Ginger crawled up onto his shoulder and sighed.
'I was hoping she'd stay…' Betelgeuse groaned and, leaning his head back, stared at the ceiling.
Lydia, seething with anger, slowed down once she got about fifty feet from the house. She started to breathe deeply, what a useless imbecile, he brought her here and now he couldn't take her back! She would have killed him, if he were not already dead. Suddenly, she heard a dog barking and quick footsteps charging towards her, followed by a voice yelling for the animal to stop. As Lydia turned, she was knocked to the floor by a pink dog with yellow horns and a saddle on its back.
'Darn It Poopsie! Get off her!' The dog was dragged off Lydia, who slowly sat up and held her head. 'Ah'm sorry lil' missy, Poopsie here must've smelled somethin' on you.' Lydia looked up to see a large furry Monster looming over her. He wore a blue cowboy hat, gloves and boots. The Monster helped her to her feet and dusted her down. 'Ah can smell that Betelgeuse on ya, tha's why Poopsie here knocked ya down.'
'Don't talk to me about that creep, he's caused nothing but trouble for me.' Lydia replied, not at all frightened. The Monster's face seemed to brighten as she started running Betelgeuse down.
'So you hate that guy too, huh? Ah tell you whut, he's nothin' but a pest.' Lydia nodded her head in agreement. 'So whut you got against him?'
'Well he tried to marry me when I was sixteen, he tried to kill my father, he brought me here before my time and he doesn't know how to get me back home.' The Monster shook his head in disgust and glanced at the house she just left.
'Well ah hope he aint lookin' to stay there for too long, ah live across the street!' He said, pointing his gloved hand towards the house opposite Jacques'. Lydia folded her arms across her chest and glanced at the house.
'I feel sorry for you.'
'Well if he does move in, ah'll fight tooth n' nail to get him out.' Lydia smiled lightly; the thought of Betelgeuse getting kicked out of his home was kind of funny. 'Ah'd best get back lil' missy, Poopsie here's gettin' hungry.' Lydia nodded and waved as The Monster, followed by his dog, hurried back home. Shaking her head, she started walking away from the house.
'This place is just too weird…' Lydia mumbled, walking on, not really knowing where she was going. She couldn't go too far though, as much as she disliked Betelgeuse at that point she had to stay close by because he had to take her home. Lydia wandered the twisted street, smiling politely to the passing ghouls, ghosts and monsters. As inhuman as they were, she didn't feel out of place. After getting over the overall shock of being in the Neitherworld, the creatures that resided there didn't bother her at all; she actually found some of them quite funny.
'Betelgeuze, what are you going to do about Lydia?' Jacques asked, sitting next to his guest. The ghoul shrugged and sighed heavily.
'I dunno, but I think I oughtta go find her, I'd hate ta think something bad happened to her.' He replied, disappearing in a spark of light.
Meanwhile, Lydia was now sitting on the kerb, her face in her hands, trying to figure things out. Then, a hand placed itself on her shoulder, she looked up and glared at Betelgeuse, he too was sitting on the kerb.
'What do you want?' She asked, then, sighed. 'I-I'm sorry, Betelgeuse.' The ghoul blinked and tilted his head to the side.
'What for?'
'For being a jerk before, for yelling at you.' Betelgeuse smiled and let out a small laugh.
'You're no jerk, Lydia, and I'd yell at me too if I were you.' He replied. Lydia sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees.
'After you left I wanted to apologise to you for yelling and not caring that you were alone. I know what that's like and, in that moment, I became one of those who bullied me in school.' She said, her voice shaky. 'So…huh…sorry…' She half-laughed. Betelgeuse cocked an eyebrow and his smile grew wider.
'Apology accepted, Lyds, now how about I show ya around this dump?' He asked, standing up and helping Lydia to her feet at the same time. She smiled and nodded.
'Sure.'
Side-by-side, ghoul and human walked together, laughing and pointing at the funnier aspects of the Neitherworld. Lydia was in awe about how much her world and this world differed, they were complete opposites. Lydia couldn't help but giggle at the Neitherworldians constant torment caused by Betelgeuse, they were but harmless pranks, but the monsters on the other side of the prank didn't find it so funny. Lydia couldn't believe it, she was actually having a good time with Betelgeuse, there was a point where she didn't want to see his decaying face again, but he had grown on her. He wasn't just the gross perverted conman who tried to marry her; he was a fun-loving nice guy, albeit a bit of a prankster. Going home didn't seem that important anymore, she almost wished she didn't have to go home for that date. The date! She'd completely forgotten! Lydia swallowed hard and glanced at Betelgeuse, who was already looking at her.
'Um…Betelgeuse, have you figured out how to get me home yet?' She hated to ask, but she really did have to go.
'I think so…why Lyds?' Betelgeuse replied.
'I…I need to go home, now.'
'How come?' Betelgeuse asked, disappointed. This was the first time ever that he'd had someone who he could share a laugh or two with. She was the closest thing he'd ever had for a friend.
'I have a date.' Lydia answered, awkwardly. Her ghoulish companion glanced at the floor and, stuffing his hands in his pockets, nodded in understanding.
'Alright, well…remember, all you gotta do is say those words and you'll come straight here…' He said, afraid she'd forget. Lydia smiled slightly and response and placed her hands behind her back.
'I'll come back, don't worry.' Betelgeuse forced a smile and closed his eyes.
'Get ready…' He said, removing his hands from his pockets and aiming them at Lydia. With a bright flash of light, Lydia was back in her home, standing by the model of the town. The leaves were still over the floor and table, the windows were still ajar and the two pieces of paper were still where she'd dropped them. She glanced at the clock that hung on the wall. 6:03pm! Lydia ran upstairs to get dressed; her date would be there soon!
(A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed! The next chapter will be Lydia's Date; will Betelgeuse be jealous? I apologise for bad accents and out-of-character characters, but still,thanks for reading! Oh, and thanks to WitchyWanda for trying to get me the link for the cartoon characters, I recommend that you read her fic too, it's really, really good!)