I first wrote The Secret back in 1996, and thought it was the most awesome thing I've ever written. But, as time always proves, when I read over it again recently, I found my story to be at about a 7th to 8th grade writing level. So, I took it upon myself to revise it and make it more "up-to-date".
: 2005 :
After did away with NC-17 rated stories, this fic was deleted, much to my disappointment. After a long time and some debating, I've decided to repost this story. Some of you may recognize it from reading it a long time ago. This story was the first BJ-related fic I uploaded here to It's rather lacking in writing skill compared to what I have written since, but it's still the original--the first BJ fic I have ever written to completion. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: This is the only time I'm going to put this up here because it's unnecessary to put one up on every single chapter. I don't own Beetlejuice or any other related character (they belong to Geffen) except for the ones I created for this story. The story itself is, however, mine. I'm just borrowing characters, so to speak. This is just a story done for the love of the show Beetlejuice and its characters. Don't try to sue, you won't get much out of me.
Spencers13 1996 — Revised 2001
Beta Reader — Beetle Babe
Beetlejuice & all related charcters © Geffen Film Co.
Story concept & any original characters © Spencers13 (Lacey G)
R — Romance — Drama
Chapter 1 - The Discovery
Lydia Deetz sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her bedroom balcony doors watching the weather's quick change of pace outside. Dark, pillow-like clouds billowed in the distance, and from their plumes came small bursts of spastic light. A storm was coming. Usually Lydia would be smiling and welcoming such a sight, but this evening was different. She could not put her finger on it, but something told her that this storm would bring only bad things amidst it's rolling puffs and crackling lightning.
She frowned at the approaching clouds and stood. As she walked to her dresser, she heard voices floating up from downstairs. She easily picked out Delia's voice first. Her step-mother was, of course, rambling about some silly topic that only she found interesting. The second voice was her father, Charles, doing the best he could to avoid Delia's incessant blabbing.
Lydia leaned against her dresser and propped her chin in her hands staring at the reflection of herself in the tall oval mirror that was connected to the chest of drawers. She sighed in boredom, wondering where her best friend had gotten to and how much trouble he was probably in right now. As if in reply to her unasked question, the mirror's reflection of her bored face rippled and faded away, only to recompose into the pale face, deep sunken eyes, and wild blonde hair of her friend.
"Beetlejuice!" she exclaimed, shocked, as she lifted her chin from her hands. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be busy all day."
Beetlejuice cackled softly and gazed at Lydia through the mirror which was now a way to communicate with her from his realm of the dead.
I have to keep reminding myself that he is, in fact, dead! Lydia mused. He's so lively and full of energy most of the time hee-hee, maybe it's the beetles he eats her wandering thoughts were broken by Beetlejuice's annoyed grunt.
"I was going to go the Annual Neitherworld Beetle Convention. You know, where beetles gather every year to celebrate for some reason?"
"Probably to celebrate not being eaten by you!" Lydia could not help but put in.
"Yeah, well, it seems that someone told them I was coming, and they moved to a new location at the last minute. I was so looking forward to eating—er—meeting them," he recovered, but not before Lydia picked up on it.
"Right," she sighed and rolled her eyes in amusement.
"So, I thought I would come over here and hang out with you for a while, since my evening's been ruined," Beetlejuice pouted.
"You know you're always welcome here, BJ. Actually, I was rather bored and hoping you'd come over anyway," she admitted unusually shy.
"Well, I'm here now, so how 'bout them three B's?" he grinned. Funny, he always got an odd thrill whenever she called his name, but he pushed those thoughts aside as Lydia's expression changed.
Lydia smiled warmly, "You got it! Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"
Beetlejuice cackled wildly as the barrier between their worlds was broken, and he sailed into her room out of the mirror.
"Hey, Lyds!" he said after he landed in the center of her large room. "I feel like dancin'! Why don't you and me cut a rug?" He reached down and grabbed Lydia's spiraled throw rug from the floor. A pair of silver scissors appeared in his hand, and he proceeded to cut her rug to pieces.
"Sounds like fun, Beej," she said happily. Beetlejuice promptly returned the rug to normal and pulled her box of CD's out from under the end of her bed. He perused the box's contents with interest.
"What should we play this time, Babes?"
"Well, I don't know about you," Lydia said as she laid on her bed and stared over the edge at him, "but I'm a little tired of the Calypso."
Beetlejuice gave and irritated grunt, but continued to scan the CD titles. After a moment, he pulled a jewel case from the box and said, "When did you get this one, Babes? 'The Gorillaz'?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I forgot about that one! It's a new band that recently came out. Why don't we listen to that one? It's really good."
Beetlejuice smiled and stood, "Sure, babes. You know I always like to monkey around!" In a flash, he changed into a hulking, hairy gorilla and began to hoot and howl while scratching himself. Lydia laughed and placed the CD in her player. She was about to press the play button when voices raised in heated argument issued up the stairs and through her closed door.
Beetlejuice returned to his normal state of black and white stripes and placed his hands in his pockets. "Sounds like Chuck and the Deil-meister are fighting," he observed.
Lydia walked to the door and turned the knob. "Wait here, BJ. I want to see what's wrong before we start."
"Sure thing, Lyds."
She vanished though the open doorway.
Downstairs, Lydia heard her parents in the kitchen. They seemed to be arguing about the geographical location of someone or something.
"Well I think they came from Germany!" yelled Charles.
"They came from Italy!" Delia shouted back.
"Germany!"
"Italy!"
"Germany!"
"Italy!"
They shouted back and forth until Lydia peeked through the kitchen door at them.
"What are you two arguing about?" she asked timidly.
Her stepmother replied first, "Where our grandparents came from. Since we have the same kind of lineage, Charles says they came from Germany"
"And Delia says they came from Italy," Charles chimed in.
"Well if you don't know, then why don't you go to the library. They have a section on the history of the town. It's possible something about us will be in there. If anything, you two will stop fighting for a while."
"Good idea, Pumpkin. Come on, Delia, let's go."
They grabbed their coats and keys and left. Lydia waved good-bye from the front porch, then turned around with a sly smirk playing on her face. She walked up the steps back to her room and closed the door behind her.
"They're gone," she said.
"Great!" exclaimed Beetlejuice. "Let's PARTY!" He hit the play button on her CD player and music immediately poured from the speakers. Beetlejuice snapped his fingers and the lights dimmed and sparkles of colour swirled around the room. He pulled Lydia to the center of the open floor, grabbed her about her small waist and swayed her to the beat and swirls of color.
At the library, Charles and Delia were flipping through old newspaper articles and documents. Frustrated, Delia finished her pile of documents and looked around for something else. A book caught her eye. It was old and hardbound with the words 'Peaceful Pine's Homes' printed on it.
This looks interesting, thought Delia as she began flipping through the book, which was composed entirely of clipped newspaper articles. Then something else caught her eye, an old yellowed picture of their house, with an extensive article following it.
"Charles, come look! I found something about our house!" she cooed.
Charles looked up from his newspaper, "What?" He put the paper down and walked over to her, and they began to read the article:
The old house on the hill in our small town of Peaceful Pines has had a history of hauntings. The most recent is fifteen years ago, when a spectre began yet again to scare away hopeful tenants. No one has ever been able to see him, however, following this article is an actual photograph taken of him. Fortunately, it clearly shows his face, and it obviously shows his surprise because he was caught off guard when the picture was taken. Unfortunately, no one knows what happened to the unlikely photographer. The picture was taken in 1950.
"Charles!" gasped Delia, examining the picture. "Doesn't that look like Mr. Beetleman?"
"Now that you mention it, it does look like Beetleman!" Charles agreed. "Maybe it's his father or something?"
Researchers who found a small gravestone just inside the tree line of the forest near the house are lead to believe that was the ghost's final resting place. Carbon dating of a piece of the gravestone puts it at least 500 years old! Unfortunately, it was much too weathered by time to read any inscription that may have adorned it.
"It's 500 years old!" Delia repeated, astonished. "But that would mean but Mr. Beetleman looks like he's only 30 or 40!"
"Well, it's probably his great, great, great, great grandfather, Delia. It couldn't possibly be Beetleman."
The ghost is said to act like a hyper teenager. The researchers who found the gravestone have determined that whoever was under the ground, died when they were young, so it would explain his behavior. Recently there have been several sightings and unusual activity outside of the house. So let this be a possible warning. If you see him keep a safe distance and remember, you're dealing with a dead man!
When Charles and Delia finished reading, they sat and stared at the words blankly for several moments. Slowly, they turned to look at each other.
"Charles, do you think that that ghost and Mr. Beetleman could be the same person?" Delia posed carefully.
Charles replied distractedly, "It seems like it's very possible, I mean lots of things in this world can't be explained. But, Delia, we're talking about ghosts here. You are the last person, I'd think, to admit that we have ghosts in the house, let alone that we hired one as our handyman."
"Maybe you're right, Charles," Delia began to submit. "But I still can't shake this feeling I have about Mr. Beetleman. I mean, he's always around when something strange happens, you have to admit." Charles nodded his head in agreement. "But in that sense, maybe his grandfather's ghost is hanging around him since he's family?"
Charles' eyes went crossed for a moment, then went back to normal, "Now you've just got me confused, Delia."
"Tell you what, let's take this home and ask Lydia about it. She hangs around Mr. Beetleman more than we do. Maybe he told her about his bloodline, and maybe he's even told her that he might be haunted by his grandfather's ghost?"
Charles' eyes went crossed again, "Uh good idea, Delia, I guess?"
Back at their home, Charles and Delia heard loud music pouring down the steps. When they reached Lydia's door, they had to pound on it so she could hear.
"Oh, no! My parents are back!" gasped Lydia as Beetlejuice twirled her into several fast-paced steps and ending in a dip that brought them startlingly close.
Beetlejuice was shocked at their close quarters for a moment, then recomposed himself, "You'd better send me back to the Neitherworld, fast!"
"Right, Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" she exclaimed. In a rush of light, the music and color swirls disappeared, leaving her room in its normal state. Lydia calmly walked over to the door and opened it. Outside stood her father and step-mother wearing unsettled expressions. "Yes, Delia?"
"Lydia, we would like to have a talk with you," said Delia.
"Sure, come in," she gestured for them to walk inside. "What would you like to talk about?" asked Lydia warily as she sat on the edge of her bed.
"This," Delia said as she held out the book.
"What's this?" Lydia asked, taking it.
"Read page 36 to 39," said Charles. Lydia took a moment to read the article. Delia watched Lydia's eyes widen when she came across the picture of the "ghost" and smiled knowingly to herself. When Lydia finished, she looked at them with wide eyes.
"So what does this have to do with me?" she asked as obliquely as possible.
"Lydia, you're closer to Mr. Beetleman than we are. You hang out with him all the time when he's here. If anyone would know the truth about him, you would." Delia searched Lydia's expression.
"The t-truth? What sort of truth are you talking about?" she stuttered, not at all prepared for such a confrontation.
"Well, Lydia," Delia became more smug, "every time Beetleman comes around something strange happens, and we think you know why," she pressed. "It's obvious you know something about this. Tell us the truth, Lydia. We're not as dumb as you think. If you lie to us, we'll find out the truth on our own."
"But, Delia, I"
"Now!" she yelled, stomping her foot.
Lydia hung her head and found the hardwood floor very interesting. Thoughts spun around in her head. She could not give away her best friend's identity! Not after keeping him a secret for so long. She glanced back up at her parents. Her father, Charles, looked only a bit concerned. It was obvious he was not there of his own free will. Delia, however, wore an irritated look of anger. Her eyes were almost bulging from their sockets in frustration and disbelief that her step-daughter could have been harbouring a secret like this. Yes, if Lydia did not tell them the truth now, it would be almost certain that Delia would find out the truth on her own, as nosy as she is. After a long pause Lydia whispered, "Yes, he is." The confession hurt twice as much as thinking about it.
"He is what?" Delia asked, confused at Lydia's vague answer.
Lydia hung her head again. "A-a ghost. Isn't that what you wanted to know?"
Charles finally broke into the conversation, "Lydia, we thought that Beetleman's great, great, great, great grandfather was haunting us, not Beetleman himself! Why did you not tell us that before?"
Lydia was in disbelief, "What! You thought that oh, no!" Not only had she just given away her best friend, she had done so when that was not even what her parents were asking about. She suddenly felt sick and sat down heavily on her bed.
"Lydia, honey, are you alright?" Charles asked, worriedly rushing to her side.
"I I just need to sit down a moment," Lydia said distractedly. Now I've done it! she thought. Delia is going to have a field day with me and Beetlejuice. What am I going to do?
"All right, Lydia, enough is enough," Delia said angrily. "I think it's time to have a talk with Mr. Beetleman. Now get him in here. I assume that you'd know how to do that."
"Yes, Delia," Lydia sighed, defeated at long last. She was stupefied that they had found her out after so many years of hiding Beetlejuice behind their backs, and after him pulling pranks on them, even. Had Charles and Delia not confronted her with such profound evidence, she could have easily skirted around their questions. However, the newspaper article from the library was too solid a fact to wave off as easily as she had done so many times in the past. And had she known that they were asking about something else entirely, she would not be silently cursing herself right now.
With leaden feet, she stood from the bed and walked over to her window and closed the curtain. Then she turned and waved her hand over a candle perched upon a small round table reluctantly chanting as she had so often done; it came as second nature. "Though I know I should be wary, still I summon something scary. Ghostly haunting, I turn loose, Beetlejuice."
Delia and Charles looked at each other.
"Beetlejuice."
They looked back at their daughter.
"Beetlejuice!" Lydia yelled.
Suddenly, thunder and lightning rolled across the sky. Lydia's candle burst apart in a shower of sparks, and the spider web tablecloth underneath floated off the small table and flew onto her to create a gray poncho. Lydia half-heartedly raised her arms and the poncho burst into color and gleamed a bright red. Her parents stepped back in shock at the magic show before them. Then, to top it off, a bright portal of flashing, sparkling light appeared between them and their daughter. Beetlejuice stepped out of the portal, and it closed with a flash.
At first, he didn't notice Charles and Delia behind him. "Hey, Babes! Are your parents gone yet?" Beetlejuice studied Lydia's sad expression. "What's with the long face?" He grabbed his chin and pulled it down to the floor, making his face stretch in the process, then let it snap back like a rubber band. Lydia looked at him with sad, tear-filled eyes. "Babes, what's wrong?" he asked more concerned and took a step toward her. She moved her eyes to look behind him. Beetlejuice followed her glance and saw Charles and Delia looking thoroughly dumbfounded. "Uh, oh," he muttered.
"Well, well, well, Mr. Bee uh, Beetlejuice is it? So this is what you really look like?" Delia asked after finding her voice.
Shocked, Beetlejuice turned back to Lydia, "What's going on here?"
"They I I told I'm so sorry, BJ!" she gushed as she hugged her ghostly friend.
"That's okay," he said, putting an arm around her to bring her comfort as he always did to cheer her when she was down. "So," he turned to them, "you finally found out our little secret, huh? You recognize me as 'Mr. Beetleman', but what about 'Cousin BJ'?" He morphed into a small boy with a black and white striped shirt, gray shorts, and sneakers.
Charles let out a yelp.
"Or how about-" He morphed from the boy to a black and orange striped dog.
"Odious!" gasped Delia. "You were my my wittle-doggy-woggy?"
"Yup," the dog barked.
"Well, do you have any other faces we know?" asked Charles, annoyed with the fact that the ghost had been the cause of his allergies flaring up. He sneezed involuntarily at the thought.
"Now that you've mentioned it," the dog mused, "I think there is one more you might know."
Beetlejuice's dog body began to change shape. His black and orange fur vanished and was replaced in favor of a long-haired blonde wig in a ponytail. His paws were replaced with slender, red-tipped hands and feet. A T-shirt and skirt appeared on his body, as did sneakers on his feet. And finally a black and white striped headband with a black bat perched on top appeared on his head to keep most of his now much longer bangs back. Lydia's parents had a sheer look of shock on their faces. Before them stood a young female ghost!
"B-Betty?" Charles gasped, clearly frightened.
"That's right!" the ghost said in his fake, high-pitched voice.
"B-But how can you do all that? Changing I mean," asked Delia, shaken.
Beetlejuice morphed back into his original form and buffed his red nails on his striped jacket. "I'm a ghost Mrs. D., I can do whatever I want! In fact, I'm the ghost with the most! Power that is," he gloated.
"Power?" asked Charles.
"That's right, Chuck-a-luk."
"But I don't understand," said Charles, still confused.
"Hmmm maybe Lydia can explain."
Everyone turned and looked at her, waiting for an explanation. She felt like she was under a microscope. Lydia took a deep breath and exhaled. Then she said, "You see, father, Beetlejuice is a ghost, and that means he can do just about anything he wants. I don't really recall if anyone else in the Neitherworld that has his same level of power. However, there are just some questions that can't be answered. Who Beetlejuice is and where he comes from is a paradox in itself. You just can't logically explain things like you can here in the real world."
"So, no other ghosts have these 'powers'?" asked Charles, interested.
"No, not really," she replied.
"Charles, can I have a talk with you?" asked a stone-faced Delia from the doorway.
"Of course, dear."
Charles and Delia left the room and closed the door behind them. Lydia turned and rushed into Beetlejuice. "Oh, Beetlejuice! I just know something bad is going to happen!" she gushed into his jacket as she held him in a fierce grip. Beetlejuice wrapped her in an equally fierce yet gentle embrace, terrified of letting go in that instant.
"What do you mean 'bad'?" his voice quivered.
"I'm not sure, but it's going to be terrible! You saw the way Delia looked when they left. Somehow I feel that somehow they'll take you away from me!"
"No!" Beetlejuice gasped at the thought. It had never crossed his mind before, and that thought drove him to clench Lydia even tighter. Give up my best friend, he thought. My Lyds? No! They can't make me give her up, and I won't let 'em! But... that would be selfish of me and Lyds has never been selfish about anything as long as I've known her... but the thought of not seeing her pretty face every day PRETTY! Beetlejuice gasped as his turbulent thoughts came to a standstill. He thought she was pretty? That thought had never really crossed his mind before, and now that it was there, he had to admit it, she was pretty. Beautiful even. Why had he not noticed it before?
Beetlejuice looked down at her again. She buried her face into his jacket fiercely; afraid to pull away for fear he would disappear. He watched, stupefied, as a single tear slipped down her cheek. Unaware of his own actions, he reached up and gently wiped the tear away with one finger, causing her to look up into his eyes.
"Lyds" Beetlejuice faltered.
Outside Lydia's door, Charles and Delia were having a frantic discussion.
"Charles, you heard them, he's a powerful ghost! He may hurt our poor Lydia!"
"Hurt her! Wait a minute, Delia! Beetleman's apparently never hurt her OR us before, really. What makes you think he will now?"
"Ghosts are unpredictable! You never know what they'll do or where they are! You read that article!" Delia argued. "Do you realize that that thing in there with our daughter is dead and is the cause of most of your nervous breakdowns! Plus, who knows what kind of germs it has spread through our home! It's been haunting us! Taking advantage of us! We have to get it out of our house!"
"But how, Delia? He's obviously Lydia's friend. She would be crushed if you made him leave. I simply see no need to"
"We'll tell it to get out!" she cut her husband off. Delia stormed into Lydia's room lugging a hesitant Charles behind her. Lydia and Beetlejuice looked up at them, quickly releasing each other from their embrace.
"Beetleman," said Delia in a strict voice, "we've come to a decision. GET OUT!"
"What!" yelled Lydia, putting an arm up as if to protect him.
"Get out!" Delia repeated.
"No, Delia, NO! Please don't make him leave! Please! He's my best friend! I don't know what I'd do without him!" Lydia begged, tears welling up in her eyes threatening to fall.
"Well, you'll soon find out."
"No, NO!" she screamed and ran back into Beetlejuice's arms. He put his arms around her and held her for a moment. With one shaking finger, he lifted her chin to meet his gaze.
"Babes, please. Don't argue with your parents," he said as calmly as he could, trying to mask his hurt. After a long pause, he lowered his eyes and whispered, "I'll go."
"What!" she exclaimed in shock. "I can't believe you just said that!" The tears that were boiling inside her eyes finally erupted hotly down her pale cheeks. "I can't believe you're giving up and just leaving! How could you! Why won't you stay?"
"I can't argue with your parents, Lyds. This is their house. They actually have the power to make me leave if they find me out, and I can't be selfish not anymore," he said, his voice cracking. "I've always been selfish in just about everything, Babes, but I've never known you to be that way ever since I met you. I guess it's time I stop being a jerk to you." He said it just as the realization hit him. He had always been a jerk to her. Why would she want me around if that's all I ever was? A jerk? Beetlejuice had realized how much she really meant to him only moments before, and he just now realized that he did not deserve her, nor believed that she would ever want him the way he finally did her.
"But why, Beetlejuice?" she said, sobbing.
"Don't cry, Lyds," he said, wiping her tears away and trying with all his might to believe in his own words. "We'll see each other again someday. Now send me home."
She began to sob uncontrollably and held onto him even tighter. "Oh, BJ, please don't make me! Don't leave me!"
"Do it!" yelled Delia from behind her.
Lydia looked up at him, tears staining her paling cheeks.
"Do it," he whispered, his eyes filling with emotions she could not read.
"Send him back!" yelled Delia.
Lydia stepped away from him as if in a trance and began to repeat his name. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice miss you," he whispered, at last letting a tear fall.
"B-BEETLEJUICE!" she cried and ran forward, but it was too late. He faded into nothingness just has her grasping hands reached for him.
Hope you liked this beginning. Future chapters will be uploaded once per week so as not to swamp readers. Thanks and hugs to all.
Next to come...reunions.