A story about life, love, courage, and testing ultimate friendship. What happens to Beetlejuice and his friends when one of their own falls into despair and changes completely? Nothing will ever be the same. This story is an Alternate Universe set five years after Dark Shadows in the year 2008, and does not follow the intended story line. I repeat, this story does NOT follow the intended story line of the two stories (A New Beginning & Dark Shadows) included in my Beetlejuice Afterlife series, which is why it is simply titled "Mania" and not "Beetlejuice Afterlife – Mania". If I have someone ask me why I would put this as a sequel, I'll ignore them, because, right here it says: THIS STORY IS NOT A SEQUEL. This story was just bursting to be written, but I have no intention to make it part of my previous series. It just happens to use that series' events as a prelude. I hope there is no confusion.
Hi, all! *waves* Thanks so much for my first reviews, Wanda, Maya Beebop, SpicyHollyElf, and Li-Leah from deviantArt.com. ^_^ They mean so much!
I'm going away for two weeks AGAIN, so don't expect any postings till I get back. I figured I'd leave you all with a new chapter before I go though. :P Aren't I nice? *sigh*
Well, anyway, please enjoy this new chapter! *shoos you off to read*
Mania
Spencers13 – March 2003–March 2004
R – Drama – Angst
Chapter Two – Into the Mouth of Madness
Three people, a skeleton, a spider, and a monster with his dog appeared from a yellow mist near the center of Weeping Woods. Immediately, their attention was drawn to a bright aura of blue energy glowing not far away, near the pond formed from the Weeping Willow's tears.
Swirling in a two—foot—wide doughnut shape around Endri Juice was a powerful vortex, sucking away his energy bit by bit. That knowledge was lost to all but Beetlejuice, but even so, he still didn't want to believe that his son could be draining his energy away to extinguish himself from existence. It had to be fake. It had to be just some pretty light show meant for his amusement and a good joke. It couldn't be
Beetlejuice gulped.
A wave of energy looked as though it had been torn from Endri's body at that point, flowing off of him from head to toe in a blue streak of light and causing the vortex to ignite in a bright flash before going back to normal and continuing to suck out the ghost's energy little by little.
Kyle burst forward at the sight, panicked. "Endri!"
A pair of cool, red—tipped fingers latched to his shoulders and held him back. "Don't get near him!" Beetlejuice hissed, loud enough for everyone but Endri to hear. "I think he's made an energy vortex around himself. If you get too close, it'll suck your energy away too!"
Kyle shook himself free with a twist of his shoulders. "Okay, okay! I won't. Beetle, can't you do anything?"
The ghoul shook his head sadly. "Only he can undo that vortex."
"Pleasecan't you talk to him?" the human begged, thinking he could do no more to help after failing at the Roadhouse.
"I'll try." Beetlejuice stepped forward until he was only about ten feet away from his son and the powerful vortex spinning around his body. "Hey, Endri. How's it goin'?"
The ghost lifted his blonde head and let the long hair blow out of his face to reveal all the tears of pain and anguish still upon his cheeks. A wind blew around only his body and the immediate grass beneath his feet, but nowhere else, generated by that vortex.
Beetlejuice stifled a gasp of alarm at the distraught state his son was in. He had never seen the boy so utterly depressed or emotional. It just didn't look right on his handsome face. But, no, it was just a joke, right? A clever act. It had to be.
"Go away." Endri moaned, his voice empty and broken–nothing like it used to be. It was not like him at all.
Finally, the gravity of the situation took hold, and it hit Beetlejuice square between the eyes. But still, he had to act like everything was normal. His son was just upsettreat it like that, and maybe things will be fine after all.
"Endriwhat'sa matter? Why are you doing this?"
"I've already told Kyle," his voice moaned again, his eyes swimming with tears that pooled then fell, then pooled again.
"What did you tell Kyle?" the ghoul asked calmly, knowing he had to remain that way. He had to be a solid figure for his son to see, to latch onto.
"I'm sick of repeating myself."
"You wanna erase yourself 'cause you're tired of repeating yourself?"
"No! I want to cease to exist because my afterlife is one, big, fucking joke!" Endri closed his eyes and forced another blast of energy from his body, allowing it to be pulled into the vortex, feeding it.
"What're you talking about?!" Beetlejuice shouted, trying to get through to his son, trying to keep him talking.
"I'm sick of it!" Endri spat. "Sick of existing, sick of trying day after day to carry on when all I want to do is close my eyes forever and forget all the shit I've ever been through!"
"Endri, I know you had it tough before you made it to the Neitherworld, but that's no reason to bump yourself off now!"
"My troubles have only followed me to the Neitherworld! I can't rid myself of them! But this way, I can!"
"What troubles?! I've never heard you complain since you came here!"
"That's because it's expected of me to hold my tongue about my feelings," the ghost growled, fisting his fingers and tensing his muscles. "I have always done it before, so to change would cause an uneasy stir in everyone. No, I am 'Endri, the uncaring bastard son of the unscrupulous Beetlejuice'. That's who I am known as in the Neitherworld! I could never find acceptance on Earth, and now, even among my own kind, I can't find it! There is no place for me! I belong nowhere!"
Kyle stood off to the side and back a few paces, listening to everything his friend uttered. It all seemed to be coming together. Endri's inability to find acceptance beyond a small group of people in either world; his long and lonely afterlife spent on Earth, feeling the hatred, fear, and scorn from Humans the entire timeit all would have driven Kyle over the edge as well.
"Don't be stupid!" Beetlejuice shouted. "You belong here–with all of us!" He pointed to Lydia, Jacques, Ginger, the Monster, and Kyle. "Don't we mean anything to you?!"
Endri snorted in contempt. "Even all of you push me away in your own ways. None of you really talk to meor listen. Even all of you think I am nothing but an 'emotionless robot' that goes about his same routine every day. I'm not deaf. I hear the things you say behind my back." He faded off, more tears slipping down to drip from his chin.
"Endri–"
"Leave me!" he shouted, squeezing his eyes tight and pulling his fists up near his chest, turning his head down and to the side. "There is nothing for me here or anywhere! I have no one and nothing!" He sent another pulse of energy from his body into the vortex, trying to hasten things along.
Kyle rushed forward to stand beside Beetlejuice. "That isn't true!" he shouted. He mustn't let his friend do this! A world without Endri: he couldn't imagine it, not after they had been through so much together for so long.
"Isn't it, Kyle?" the ghost asked, relaxing his stance once more. "Hn Prove me wrong. Prove it. Prove I have someone, something, that's worth staying for."
The human's jaw moved, but no words spilled from his lips.
Endri chuckled emptily, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I rest my case." Another wave of energy left his body. His sparkling but dulling green eyes stared over at his best friend and Beetlejuice, ignoring the people behind them.
"FatherPapa."
The ghoul's eyes bulged, and he gasped at the endearment never before spoken from his son's lips.
"I'm at least glad I got to know you for a time. I'm glad I discovered you were not the one who began the chain reaction of my undoing. I wish our personalities didn't clash so much. I wish we could have gotten along better, butI doubt that was ever meant to happen. We are entirely too different.
"Perhapsif things were differentif I had not become trapped on Earthperhaps then, if you had raised me instead of humansif I had grown up here instead of on Earthyes, perhaps then, I would not be here now. I might have been happy. I might have been this fun—loving guy that everyone either despised or loved, like you. But, no, I'm glad things have turned out the way they have. OtherwiseI would never have met Kyle and saved him." He tilted his head, resting his eyes to Kyle. "At least he needed mefor a while."
Endri paused for a moment, closing his eyes. He extended his arms slightly forward and to the side as if offering something, then another bit of energy pulsed outward to get sucked away into oblivion. Opening his eyes once more, he looked more tired than only a moment ago.
"My one regret is that I'll never see you again, Kyle. You've been so good to me over the years. Take care of yourself for me. I wish I could say I'll miss youbut I won't." His eyes drifted shut, sending out another big wave of energy to get sucked away.
"No, Endri, you stupid bastard!" Kyle shouted, jogging forward a few steps.
"Kyle, watch it!" Beetlejuice yelled, reaching out.
The small group of people behind them shifted forward nervously, settling about fifteen feet away. Things were getting too dangerous, too edgy. Something drastic was bound to happen, and soon.
Kyle ignored the warning and stood closer, stopping only five feet from the swirling vortex around his best friend. "You do have something, 'Dri! You have someone! Please, don't do this!"
Endri blinked wearily, looking sleepy. "W—Who is it? What's worth k—keeping me in this hell of an existence?"
The human paused for a moment, unsure if he could really bring himself to utter the words.
Closing his eyes once more, the ghost only turned his head a bit to the side and sent out another pulse, that one smaller than the rest.
If I don't say it now, I'll regret it for the rest of eternity–I just know it! "Me, Endri! You have me!"
Endri opened his eyes tiredly and turned back. "Y—You? No, Kyle. I—I had you onceno longer."
"No, you're wrong!" the human argued desperately. "You still have me! You said you liked how I depended on you when we were partners. Well, whether you believe it or not, I still depend on you!"
"Noy—you don't. You h—have no room for me any longer."
"Bullshit!" Kyle hissed. "You're just trying to convince yourself that! Now, listen to me! Have I ever lied to you?"
The ghost paused for a moment, actually thinking it over. "No."
"Then why don't you believe me when I tell you I need you here?! Why don't you believe when I tell you I care?! We're partners, aren't we? We're always there for each other! So why are you trying to take yourself away from me?!"
Endri shook his head weakly. "We aren—no longer partnersn—not since we first arrived here."
"Arg! Don't you even give one shit about me anymore?!"
"Of course I do!"
"Then why are you quitting on me?!"
"You don't need me anymore! You have so much else, there is no more room for me!"
"That's a lie!"
The ghost shook his head again. "Nono, I don't want to argue with you, Kyle. Not now. Pleasej—just leave me. I—I don't want you to see me like this."
Frustrated, Kyle threw his arms down to his sides, clenching his fists. "Fine, dammit! I'll leave. I'll leave and hate you for this forever, Endri!"
A saddened look crossed Endri's features, and he lifted a languid arm to extend his fingers. He reached out far enough to brush the digits through the blue vortex of energy. It felt like liquid fire slipping over his skin, sapping more of his strength.
"Nop—please don't hate me."
The human reached up, pointing an accusing finger at his friend. "Then admit to yourself, 'Dri! Admit it to Beetle! Admit it to everyone, but most of all, admit to me exactly why the hell you're giving up! Give me at least that before you're gone forever!"
Endri's eyes dripped with tears, spilling down his cheeks, endlessly bathing them in that liquid of sadness. His hand dropped back to his side, fingers fisting. "I—I can't. It's too terrible to repeat, too late to fixtoo late."
"Endriif there's anything you've taught me, it's that it's never too late to say or do anything," Kyle insisted, staring intensely.
More tears dripped free from the ghost's dulling, green eyes as he closed them.
"Say it! Tell me why you're doing this!"
His supple lips, lightly swollen from his crying, parted. "I"
Shocked, Lydia held a hand to her mouth, her grey eyes widening.
Ginger loosed a silent gasp.
Jacques held a tissue to his eye socket and sniffled at the moving scene, and the Monster crushed Poopsie in a teary hug.
Beetlejuice looked on, frowning. Somehowhe knew.
"K—Kyle" Endri swallowed, pausing in that second to wet his lips and steel his nerves, "I've gone fucking insane!!" he finished, screaming his words out. Maniacal laughter followed, echoing hauntingly in everyone's ears and through the weeping trees, spilling less tears than the ghost at the moment. His crystal tears poured from his eyes, betraying his shredded emotions, but his head tilted back toward the dark sky, almost evil laughter spilling from his throat that sounded very much like his father's infamous cackle.
A silent gasp was on everyone's lips.
"N—Now get the fuck away from me!!" Endri shouted, dropping his head back down and glaring at his friends, his laughter suddenly dead. "All of you! Leave me to finish what I started alone!" He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. His arms extended outward just a bit again, and another burst of energy tore from his body. Once it left, the ghost swayed unsteadily on his feet.
Kyle braced his body, ready to do the improbable. "You son of a bitch!" he screamed, his voice cracking.
His friend either ignored him or didn't even hear.
"I won't let you! I won't let you!" His voice cracked again, and he dashed forward, right through the vortex. He wrapped his arms around the ghost's shoulders and sagged against him, his energy drained significantly.
Endri opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around Kyle, holding him aloft, but barely. "Wh—What are youd—doing?"
The human smiled up at him wanly. "I—If you're gonnat—take mewith you."
"B—Ba—ka—y—yaro." the ghost croaked out, sagging to the ground, unable to support them both anymore. "I—In—not stop."
Kyle smirked, lying limp beneath his friend. "A—And Ileave."
"You willforever."
"I know."
Endri's eyes flooded with even more tears. "D—Do Iso much?"
"Yes," his friend whispered.
Rolling his head from side to side on Kyle's chest, the ghost felt the tears sting, realized what would happen if the human stayed within the vortex much longerand couldn't bear it.
"N—No! Papa! P—Papa, take him!"
Beetlejuice tried to rush forward as Kyle did, but his energy drained too much for his liking, and he backed away. "I can't! You have to stop the vortex yourself, Son!"
Endri sobbed lightly, his head cradled in his friend's shoulder. "I can't!"
"You created it, you stop it! It's the only way!"
The ghost grit his teeth against the sorrow brought on by the thought of his destroying his only true friend in over six centuries. "N—NoK—Kyle will No!" He twisted his upper body and raised his right hand toward the vortex, now brilliant with all the energy it had drained from him. "G—Genki uzus—saru!" he rasped, his voice strained and all but gone.
The vortex flashed and spun wildly before exploding in a shower of twinkles over Endri and Kyle. The ghost collapsed back to the man's chest, joining the human who had already fallen into unconsciousness.
Beetlejuice rushed over and fell to his knees next to them. "Endri! Kyle!" He reached down and pushed his son to roll off the human, then lifted the boy's eyelid to check the iris. It had faded to a dull, listless green, the sparkles that used to twinkle in the usually bright, metallic orb completely gone.
Everyone else shuffled up to surround them, and Lydia knelt to check Kyle's pulse and breathing. "Kyle's alive," she sighed, relieved.
"Good." Beetlejuice nodded. "Both of them have been drained to the max. Endri's all but gone. That last bit of energy he used to stop the vortex wiped him out. Another moment longer, and he wouldn'tve been able to stop it."
He stared down at his only son, brought back from the brink of a second deathand fell down upon him, wrapping his arms around the boy's limp form and hugging him tight. Tears burned in his eyes, but he fought to keep them at bay. He didn't quite know why he felt compelled to hold them back, but he just did. He held and rocked his son gently for a while, everyone keeping a respectful silence.
"My boy" the ghoul whispered so only himself and his unconscious son could hear. "My boymy little boy"
The silence stretched for another few minutes until Beetlejuice regained his composure and laid his son back to the cool grass. But he still kept a constant hold on him, swiping the boy's tears from his face with gentle fingers.
"What should we do?" Ginger asked quietly, balanced delicately on Jacques' shoulder bone.
The ghoul sniffed, keeping his eyes trained to Endri. "We just take 'em home and let 'em get some sleep," he answered, composing himself before looking up to the small group. "They need to rebuild their energy. Kyle will probably take a couple days, but Endri will be out for weeks, maybe even a month. He had a lot of energy; it'll take a while to build it back up."
He looked down at his son and shook his head slowly, a light frown on his fair brow and some of the tears returning. "Stupid kid," he grumbled, feeling his relief fade just slightly to be replaced with disbelieving anger. "I can't believe he tried this! I can't believe he developed the Mania. I thought he washappy."
Lydia laid a soothing hand to her lover's striped arm. "He's had a really traumatic past that I don't think we could ever truly comprehend. He thinks he's alone, BJ. And we haven't done much to make him realize otherwise, apparently."
Beetlejuice nodded. "Wellno more, then. Things are gonna change around here. You guys got it?!"
Everyone nodded, agreeing immediately.
"Let's get 'em home, now."
The Monster Across the Street stepped in then. He reached down and picked Endri and Kyle up in either arm and held them securely as everyone else stood around him and Beetlejuice. The ghoul raised his fingers and with a quick snap, the group was transported back home to the Roadhouse.
I'm not quite sure what to say right now. I'm kind of in a rush because I'm leaving like...TODAY...in a half hour. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and believe me, it's far from over. A few words left for me to see would be much appreciated. ^_^ Thank you for reading!
Hi, all! *waves* Thanks so much for my first reviews, Wanda, Maya Beebop, SpicyHollyElf, and Li-Leah from deviantArt.com. ^_^ They mean so much!
I'm going away for two weeks AGAIN, so don't expect any postings till I get back. I figured I'd leave you all with a new chapter before I go though. :P Aren't I nice? *sigh*
Well, anyway, please enjoy this new chapter! *shoos you off to read*
Spencers13 – March 2003–March 2004
R – Drama – Angst
Chapter Two – Into the Mouth of Madness
Three people, a skeleton, a spider, and a monster with his dog appeared from a yellow mist near the center of Weeping Woods. Immediately, their attention was drawn to a bright aura of blue energy glowing not far away, near the pond formed from the Weeping Willow's tears.
Swirling in a two—foot—wide doughnut shape around Endri Juice was a powerful vortex, sucking away his energy bit by bit. That knowledge was lost to all but Beetlejuice, but even so, he still didn't want to believe that his son could be draining his energy away to extinguish himself from existence. It had to be fake. It had to be just some pretty light show meant for his amusement and a good joke. It couldn't be
Beetlejuice gulped.
A wave of energy looked as though it had been torn from Endri's body at that point, flowing off of him from head to toe in a blue streak of light and causing the vortex to ignite in a bright flash before going back to normal and continuing to suck out the ghost's energy little by little.
Kyle burst forward at the sight, panicked. "Endri!"
A pair of cool, red—tipped fingers latched to his shoulders and held him back. "Don't get near him!" Beetlejuice hissed, loud enough for everyone but Endri to hear. "I think he's made an energy vortex around himself. If you get too close, it'll suck your energy away too!"
Kyle shook himself free with a twist of his shoulders. "Okay, okay! I won't. Beetle, can't you do anything?"
The ghoul shook his head sadly. "Only he can undo that vortex."
"Pleasecan't you talk to him?" the human begged, thinking he could do no more to help after failing at the Roadhouse.
"I'll try." Beetlejuice stepped forward until he was only about ten feet away from his son and the powerful vortex spinning around his body. "Hey, Endri. How's it goin'?"
The ghost lifted his blonde head and let the long hair blow out of his face to reveal all the tears of pain and anguish still upon his cheeks. A wind blew around only his body and the immediate grass beneath his feet, but nowhere else, generated by that vortex.
Beetlejuice stifled a gasp of alarm at the distraught state his son was in. He had never seen the boy so utterly depressed or emotional. It just didn't look right on his handsome face. But, no, it was just a joke, right? A clever act. It had to be.
"Go away." Endri moaned, his voice empty and broken–nothing like it used to be. It was not like him at all.
Finally, the gravity of the situation took hold, and it hit Beetlejuice square between the eyes. But still, he had to act like everything was normal. His son was just upsettreat it like that, and maybe things will be fine after all.
"Endriwhat'sa matter? Why are you doing this?"
"I've already told Kyle," his voice moaned again, his eyes swimming with tears that pooled then fell, then pooled again.
"What did you tell Kyle?" the ghoul asked calmly, knowing he had to remain that way. He had to be a solid figure for his son to see, to latch onto.
"I'm sick of repeating myself."
"You wanna erase yourself 'cause you're tired of repeating yourself?"
"No! I want to cease to exist because my afterlife is one, big, fucking joke!" Endri closed his eyes and forced another blast of energy from his body, allowing it to be pulled into the vortex, feeding it.
"What're you talking about?!" Beetlejuice shouted, trying to get through to his son, trying to keep him talking.
"I'm sick of it!" Endri spat. "Sick of existing, sick of trying day after day to carry on when all I want to do is close my eyes forever and forget all the shit I've ever been through!"
"Endri, I know you had it tough before you made it to the Neitherworld, but that's no reason to bump yourself off now!"
"My troubles have only followed me to the Neitherworld! I can't rid myself of them! But this way, I can!"
"What troubles?! I've never heard you complain since you came here!"
"That's because it's expected of me to hold my tongue about my feelings," the ghost growled, fisting his fingers and tensing his muscles. "I have always done it before, so to change would cause an uneasy stir in everyone. No, I am 'Endri, the uncaring bastard son of the unscrupulous Beetlejuice'. That's who I am known as in the Neitherworld! I could never find acceptance on Earth, and now, even among my own kind, I can't find it! There is no place for me! I belong nowhere!"
Kyle stood off to the side and back a few paces, listening to everything his friend uttered. It all seemed to be coming together. Endri's inability to find acceptance beyond a small group of people in either world; his long and lonely afterlife spent on Earth, feeling the hatred, fear, and scorn from Humans the entire timeit all would have driven Kyle over the edge as well.
"Don't be stupid!" Beetlejuice shouted. "You belong here–with all of us!" He pointed to Lydia, Jacques, Ginger, the Monster, and Kyle. "Don't we mean anything to you?!"
Endri snorted in contempt. "Even all of you push me away in your own ways. None of you really talk to meor listen. Even all of you think I am nothing but an 'emotionless robot' that goes about his same routine every day. I'm not deaf. I hear the things you say behind my back." He faded off, more tears slipping down to drip from his chin.
"Endri–"
"Leave me!" he shouted, squeezing his eyes tight and pulling his fists up near his chest, turning his head down and to the side. "There is nothing for me here or anywhere! I have no one and nothing!" He sent another pulse of energy from his body into the vortex, trying to hasten things along.
Kyle rushed forward to stand beside Beetlejuice. "That isn't true!" he shouted. He mustn't let his friend do this! A world without Endri: he couldn't imagine it, not after they had been through so much together for so long.
"Isn't it, Kyle?" the ghost asked, relaxing his stance once more. "Hn Prove me wrong. Prove it. Prove I have someone, something, that's worth staying for."
The human's jaw moved, but no words spilled from his lips.
Endri chuckled emptily, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I rest my case." Another wave of energy left his body. His sparkling but dulling green eyes stared over at his best friend and Beetlejuice, ignoring the people behind them.
"FatherPapa."
The ghoul's eyes bulged, and he gasped at the endearment never before spoken from his son's lips.
"I'm at least glad I got to know you for a time. I'm glad I discovered you were not the one who began the chain reaction of my undoing. I wish our personalities didn't clash so much. I wish we could have gotten along better, butI doubt that was ever meant to happen. We are entirely too different.
"Perhapsif things were differentif I had not become trapped on Earthperhaps then, if you had raised me instead of humansif I had grown up here instead of on Earthyes, perhaps then, I would not be here now. I might have been happy. I might have been this fun—loving guy that everyone either despised or loved, like you. But, no, I'm glad things have turned out the way they have. OtherwiseI would never have met Kyle and saved him." He tilted his head, resting his eyes to Kyle. "At least he needed mefor a while."
Endri paused for a moment, closing his eyes. He extended his arms slightly forward and to the side as if offering something, then another bit of energy pulsed outward to get sucked away into oblivion. Opening his eyes once more, he looked more tired than only a moment ago.
"My one regret is that I'll never see you again, Kyle. You've been so good to me over the years. Take care of yourself for me. I wish I could say I'll miss youbut I won't." His eyes drifted shut, sending out another big wave of energy to get sucked away.
"No, Endri, you stupid bastard!" Kyle shouted, jogging forward a few steps.
"Kyle, watch it!" Beetlejuice yelled, reaching out.
The small group of people behind them shifted forward nervously, settling about fifteen feet away. Things were getting too dangerous, too edgy. Something drastic was bound to happen, and soon.
Kyle ignored the warning and stood closer, stopping only five feet from the swirling vortex around his best friend. "You do have something, 'Dri! You have someone! Please, don't do this!"
Endri blinked wearily, looking sleepy. "W—Who is it? What's worth k—keeping me in this hell of an existence?"
The human paused for a moment, unsure if he could really bring himself to utter the words.
Closing his eyes once more, the ghost only turned his head a bit to the side and sent out another pulse, that one smaller than the rest.
If I don't say it now, I'll regret it for the rest of eternity–I just know it! "Me, Endri! You have me!"
Endri opened his eyes tiredly and turned back. "Y—You? No, Kyle. I—I had you onceno longer."
"No, you're wrong!" the human argued desperately. "You still have me! You said you liked how I depended on you when we were partners. Well, whether you believe it or not, I still depend on you!"
"Noy—you don't. You h—have no room for me any longer."
"Bullshit!" Kyle hissed. "You're just trying to convince yourself that! Now, listen to me! Have I ever lied to you?"
The ghost paused for a moment, actually thinking it over. "No."
"Then why don't you believe me when I tell you I need you here?! Why don't you believe when I tell you I care?! We're partners, aren't we? We're always there for each other! So why are you trying to take yourself away from me?!"
Endri shook his head weakly. "We aren—no longer partnersn—not since we first arrived here."
"Arg! Don't you even give one shit about me anymore?!"
"Of course I do!"
"Then why are you quitting on me?!"
"You don't need me anymore! You have so much else, there is no more room for me!"
"That's a lie!"
The ghost shook his head again. "Nono, I don't want to argue with you, Kyle. Not now. Pleasej—just leave me. I—I don't want you to see me like this."
Frustrated, Kyle threw his arms down to his sides, clenching his fists. "Fine, dammit! I'll leave. I'll leave and hate you for this forever, Endri!"
A saddened look crossed Endri's features, and he lifted a languid arm to extend his fingers. He reached out far enough to brush the digits through the blue vortex of energy. It felt like liquid fire slipping over his skin, sapping more of his strength.
"Nop—please don't hate me."
The human reached up, pointing an accusing finger at his friend. "Then admit to yourself, 'Dri! Admit it to Beetle! Admit it to everyone, but most of all, admit to me exactly why the hell you're giving up! Give me at least that before you're gone forever!"
Endri's eyes dripped with tears, spilling down his cheeks, endlessly bathing them in that liquid of sadness. His hand dropped back to his side, fingers fisting. "I—I can't. It's too terrible to repeat, too late to fixtoo late."
"Endriif there's anything you've taught me, it's that it's never too late to say or do anything," Kyle insisted, staring intensely.
More tears dripped free from the ghost's dulling, green eyes as he closed them.
"Say it! Tell me why you're doing this!"
His supple lips, lightly swollen from his crying, parted. "I"
Shocked, Lydia held a hand to her mouth, her grey eyes widening.
Ginger loosed a silent gasp.
Jacques held a tissue to his eye socket and sniffled at the moving scene, and the Monster crushed Poopsie in a teary hug.
Beetlejuice looked on, frowning. Somehowhe knew.
"K—Kyle" Endri swallowed, pausing in that second to wet his lips and steel his nerves, "I've gone fucking insane!!" he finished, screaming his words out. Maniacal laughter followed, echoing hauntingly in everyone's ears and through the weeping trees, spilling less tears than the ghost at the moment. His crystal tears poured from his eyes, betraying his shredded emotions, but his head tilted back toward the dark sky, almost evil laughter spilling from his throat that sounded very much like his father's infamous cackle.
A silent gasp was on everyone's lips.
"N—Now get the fuck away from me!!" Endri shouted, dropping his head back down and glaring at his friends, his laughter suddenly dead. "All of you! Leave me to finish what I started alone!" He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. His arms extended outward just a bit again, and another burst of energy tore from his body. Once it left, the ghost swayed unsteadily on his feet.
Kyle braced his body, ready to do the improbable. "You son of a bitch!" he screamed, his voice cracking.
His friend either ignored him or didn't even hear.
"I won't let you! I won't let you!" His voice cracked again, and he dashed forward, right through the vortex. He wrapped his arms around the ghost's shoulders and sagged against him, his energy drained significantly.
Endri opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around Kyle, holding him aloft, but barely. "Wh—What are youd—doing?"
The human smiled up at him wanly. "I—If you're gonnat—take mewith you."
"B—Ba—ka—y—yaro." the ghost croaked out, sagging to the ground, unable to support them both anymore. "I—In—not stop."
Kyle smirked, lying limp beneath his friend. "A—And Ileave."
"You willforever."
"I know."
Endri's eyes flooded with even more tears. "D—Do Iso much?"
"Yes," his friend whispered.
Rolling his head from side to side on Kyle's chest, the ghost felt the tears sting, realized what would happen if the human stayed within the vortex much longerand couldn't bear it.
"N—No! Papa! P—Papa, take him!"
Beetlejuice tried to rush forward as Kyle did, but his energy drained too much for his liking, and he backed away. "I can't! You have to stop the vortex yourself, Son!"
Endri sobbed lightly, his head cradled in his friend's shoulder. "I can't!"
"You created it, you stop it! It's the only way!"
The ghost grit his teeth against the sorrow brought on by the thought of his destroying his only true friend in over six centuries. "N—NoK—Kyle will No!" He twisted his upper body and raised his right hand toward the vortex, now brilliant with all the energy it had drained from him. "G—Genki uzus—saru!" he rasped, his voice strained and all but gone.
The vortex flashed and spun wildly before exploding in a shower of twinkles over Endri and Kyle. The ghost collapsed back to the man's chest, joining the human who had already fallen into unconsciousness.
Beetlejuice rushed over and fell to his knees next to them. "Endri! Kyle!" He reached down and pushed his son to roll off the human, then lifted the boy's eyelid to check the iris. It had faded to a dull, listless green, the sparkles that used to twinkle in the usually bright, metallic orb completely gone.
Everyone else shuffled up to surround them, and Lydia knelt to check Kyle's pulse and breathing. "Kyle's alive," she sighed, relieved.
"Good." Beetlejuice nodded. "Both of them have been drained to the max. Endri's all but gone. That last bit of energy he used to stop the vortex wiped him out. Another moment longer, and he wouldn'tve been able to stop it."
He stared down at his only son, brought back from the brink of a second deathand fell down upon him, wrapping his arms around the boy's limp form and hugging him tight. Tears burned in his eyes, but he fought to keep them at bay. He didn't quite know why he felt compelled to hold them back, but he just did. He held and rocked his son gently for a while, everyone keeping a respectful silence.
"My boy" the ghoul whispered so only himself and his unconscious son could hear. "My boymy little boy"
The silence stretched for another few minutes until Beetlejuice regained his composure and laid his son back to the cool grass. But he still kept a constant hold on him, swiping the boy's tears from his face with gentle fingers.
"What should we do?" Ginger asked quietly, balanced delicately on Jacques' shoulder bone.
The ghoul sniffed, keeping his eyes trained to Endri. "We just take 'em home and let 'em get some sleep," he answered, composing himself before looking up to the small group. "They need to rebuild their energy. Kyle will probably take a couple days, but Endri will be out for weeks, maybe even a month. He had a lot of energy; it'll take a while to build it back up."
He looked down at his son and shook his head slowly, a light frown on his fair brow and some of the tears returning. "Stupid kid," he grumbled, feeling his relief fade just slightly to be replaced with disbelieving anger. "I can't believe he tried this! I can't believe he developed the Mania. I thought he washappy."
Lydia laid a soothing hand to her lover's striped arm. "He's had a really traumatic past that I don't think we could ever truly comprehend. He thinks he's alone, BJ. And we haven't done much to make him realize otherwise, apparently."
Beetlejuice nodded. "Wellno more, then. Things are gonna change around here. You guys got it?!"
Everyone nodded, agreeing immediately.
"Let's get 'em home, now."
The Monster Across the Street stepped in then. He reached down and picked Endri and Kyle up in either arm and held them securely as everyone else stood around him and Beetlejuice. The ghoul raised his fingers and with a quick snap, the group was transported back home to the Roadhouse.
I'm not quite sure what to say right now. I'm kind of in a rush because I'm leaving like...TODAY...in a half hour. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and believe me, it's far from over. A few words left for me to see would be much appreciated. ^_^ Thank you for reading!