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 2 - We meet again
Charles Deetz slowly opened Lydia's door and peeked into her room. He noticed her standing in the same exact place he had seen her almost every day for the past week, right in front of her balcony doors, staring out into a void. Charles entered her room and quietly closed the door behind him.
"Lydia?" he asked, trying to get her attention, "Lydia, please answer me," he pleaded with her. Charles waved his hand in front of her face, nothing. It was like she was in a trance, and all she could do was stare with that severe look of depression clouding her face and eyes. "Lydia, Delia doesn't know I'm in here. I want to tell you something."
She blinked once he thought.
"I'm going to let you see your ghost friend." Lydia slowly turned her head to look at him. She looks so sick, Charles thought. But he was wrong, she was worse than sick. She had barely eaten in the past week. Her pale cheeks were even paler and were beginning to sink into her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her whole body seemed to be shrinking inward.
"What?" her voice was weak and shaky, devoid of all desire to exist.
"I'm going to let you see Beetleman," he repeated. "And I won't tell Delia. I'm going to let you see him all you want, but we can't let Delia know, okay? I can't stand seeing you like this, Pumpkin. I realized at that moment when you argued to let Beetleman stay with you, that you two really were good friends. He really means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
"Yes," was all she managed to say as her eyes fell to the floor. Lydia again took herself back to that moment in time when she was forced to send her friend back for good. Yes, he does mean a lot to me, she thought. But what was that in his eyes just before he vanished? Tears? Or something more? She could not quite make it out. An emotion that she had never seen there before. She wanted so desperately to find out what Beetlejuice was about to tell her before Delia had barged back into her room. She speculated over and over again what it might have been. Several times she had to brush her thoughts away quickly. No, no that couldn't have been it could it? But the way he looked at her just before the thin air swallowed him up, she was almost certain. She was not, however going to act upon it. What if I am wrong? I'd make a idiot of myself
Charles' voice broke into her tortured thoughts, "But you have to eat first, Pumpkin."
Lydia slowly turned around and walked toward the door. Every step she took, it looked as if she would fall over and crack into a myriad of pieces. Charles' heart ached for his poor daughter. He silently cursed Delia for her constant nosing into others' affairs. Beetlejuice and Lydia were friends. Delia had no right to butt into their friendship and end it for them. It was not right in his book, so he had decided to secretly make it right.
Down in the kitchen, Lydia sat at the table while her father prepared something for her to eat on the stove.
"Here you go! Chicken soup! The natural healer!" he happily exclaimed setting a large bowl of the concoction before her. Lydia took one look at it and thought she was going to throw up. Since she had barely eaten in almost a week, she was not used to the sight of food. However, she ate it anyway. Spoonful by spoonful, she slowly sipped the broth and nibbled a noodle or small piece of chicken when she came upon one.
When she was at last done, she asked in a weak voice, "Can I see BJ now?"
"Of course," her father said and helped her out of the chair and up the steps to her room. It was slow going because she was still very weak.
When they entered her room, Lydia walked over to the window and slowly closed the curtain. Then she stood in front of the candle in the middle of her room and waved a heavy hand over it. The candle sparked and caught fire. She began once more to call his name, "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice"
Lightning cracked and boomed outside. The balcony doors blew open and the curtain whipped wildly in the wind. The doors slammed shut again and ripped a path up her wall, tearing the wall paper off the whole side of her room and leaving nothing but bare, crumbly bricks. When the doors came in contact with the ceiling, they pushed it straight up.
Down below, Lydia's candle began to flicker and the flame grew. The candleholder exploded in a shower of sparks and below it, the spider web tablecloth slowly lifted off the small stand. It hovered there for a moment and then it flew onto Lydia as it had the week before. The poncho that the tablecloth created sparkled and glowed a bright red.
Lydia and Charles looked up, and they saw a whole new world before them. What was once Lydia's bed was now transformed into a huge canopy bed with the canopy stretching halfway up the wall, which was over a hundred feet high. The window was also halfway up the wall, but on the opposite side of the room. It was throwing strange eerie light onto them. The walls were made of very old bricks that were chipped and cracked. Way up, almost out of visual range, were boards, big thick timbers holding the top together. It was a wonder the structure stayed standing at all. At the bottom starting almost right beside her door, which had changed into a shape that looked almost like a Hershey's Kiss, crooked and uneven stairs spun around the huge room up to right above the bed canopy. Where the steps ended there was another door, and it was slowly opening!
Down below, in the center of the spiraled floor, in the center of the light shining from the window way up above, in the very center of the room, stood Lydia, anxious and waiting.
When the door opened, strange otherworldly light poured into the room, and a shadowy figure stood there. Then, by itself, the door shut, cutting off the light. The figure slowly floated down from the top of the stairs, and landed beside her bed.
That doesn't look like Beetleman! Charles thought. He ran over and stood in front of Lydia. "Who are you! Step into the light!" he yelled. His voice echoed off the walls of the room. The figure began to walk toward them. It seemed to take forever. Lydia walked out from behind her father and gave him an angry look. "I'm only trying to protect you, Pumpkin."
They turned to look at the dark figure, just now stepping into the light. Lydia saw a black pointy boot and black and white striped pants, then another boot and more stripes. Now that the whole figure was in view, she saw that it was Beetlejuice! She slowly walked forward a few feet then stopped.
"Lydia?" Beetlejuice whispered, disbelieving that she was standing before his weary eyes once more.
She could barely manage a smile.
"Lydia!" he ran forward, scooped her up in his arms, and twirled her around laughing. "I thought I'd never see you again!" he said holding her close and stroking a finger down her cheek. If he had a heartbeat, it would be racing. He set her back down onto the floor, studying her closely as if trying to memorize her features. After a moment, a worried frown began to form on his brow. "Babes, what happened to you? You look sick. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Beetlejuice," she said weakly, averting her eyes from his concerned stare.
"You don't look 'fine' to me, Lyds. You're starting to look like Jacques, and that's not good for someone like you."
"Who's Jacques?" inquired Charles from behind them.
"He's well, a skeleton," Beetlejuice replied, scratching his head. Why be roundabout when he already knows?
"A skeleton!"
"Yup."
"Okay, Beetleman," Charles said shaking his head as if to clear things out. "I'll make you a deal I'll let Lydia come and see you as much as you both want"
"All right!" shrieked Beetlejuice happily as he pulled her close and hugged her once more.
"IF you take and show me the place you always go when you leave here. I want to make sure she will be safe," Charles finished, glancing about the room.
Beetlejuice looked at him suspiciously, "That's ALL we have to do?"
"That's all."
"Okay, Chuckie, ya got a deal! Come on!" He roughly clapped Charles on the back and pushed him toward the steps. When he got him on his way, Beetlejuice turned to Lydia. "Coming, Babes?" he asked while gesturing with his hands toward the stairs.
"I hate to admit it, BJ," she said slowly, dropping her eyes to the concrete floor, "but I can't make it on my own. I'm too weak."
"Oh, Babe, why didn't you just tell me?" He walked over and scooped her up into his arms. He held her close while she placed her arms around his neck for more support. Yes, if he had a heartbeat, it would definitely be racing. She was closer to him now than she normally got on most occasions. So close in fact, that Beetlejuice could feel her slight breath upon his neck as she wearily rested her head against his shoulder.
Lydia exhaled slowly, allowing her warm breath to flow over Beetlejuice's neck. She nuzzled her face into his hair, not caring about much of anything. She was simply so happy to be with her best friend again, she did not even notice how he also slightly nuzzled his cheek against her forehead.
If only we could get some time alone, Beetlejuice thought. Maybe maybe I'd be able to talk to her about
"Beetleman?" Charles' call from above shattered his thoughts.
Beetlejuice grasped Lydia tight and flew up to the top of the stairs where Charles was waiting. "Are you ready, Chuckster?" he asked.
"Yes no! Wait!"
"What?"
"I just wanted to know I've been where we're going to before, haven't I?"
Beetlejuice looked at Lydia with a sly smile. "Well ha-ha I guess you have."
"Okay," Charles took a deep breath, steeling himself, "let's go."
The door swung open and a bright light shocked their eyes.
Charles couldn't believe it. He rubbed his eyes and took another look. Before them was a whole new world that looked nothing like their old one. The roads were slabs of rock held up by skinny earthen pillars. And the houses, if that's what they were, were held up by small earthen pillars as well.
"That's my place over there," said Beetlejuice, nodding in the direction ahead of him.
Charles looked in the direction that Beetlejuice had indicated, "You mean you live in that skull head?"
"Skull head?" he said confused, "No, no. That's the Monster Across the Street's house. That house is mine." Beetlejuice inclined his head in the direction across the road at a building that was made of brick, roofing tile, and solid stone. On top of the structure was a glowing sign that said 'BJ'S', below it was an arrow pointing to a sign that said 'ROADHOUSE', which was perched just above the door.
They walked down the road past the Monster's house. Poopsie, the Monster's pet dog was tied up in the front yard. As soon as Poopsie saw Beetlejuice, he began to bark and growl at him.
"YAAA! What in the world is that?" Charles yelped.
"That's Poopsie, the Monster's dog," grumbled Beetlejuice. "Hey, Chuckster, watch this," he said as he elbowed Charles in the stomach. Beetlejuice gently placed Lydia on a patch of grass just inside the Monster's log fence, then he morphed into a black and white striped cat about the size of Poopsie and began to paw at the small dog. Poopsie only became more enraged and tried to charge at the cat, but his rope was too short, and with a painful yip the dog was yanked backwards. "Ahhahaha!" the cat laughed.
Lydia laboriously stood up from where Beetlejuice had set her, "Beetlejuice! Leave Poopsie alone! He didn't do anything to you," she scolded him much as she had done in the past for being mean to the poor dog.
"But, Babes," he said as he morphed back to his normal shape, "That dog was being a pest!" Beetlejuice turned into a small bug and started to buzz around Lydia's ear.
She grabbed Beetlejuice by his wings and yelled right into his tiny ears, "If you don't knock it off, I'll rip out your wings!" The bug let out a small gasp, then with a spiral of light disappeared and reappeared in his normal shape and size in front of Lydia.
Hanging his head, Beetlejuice said, "Sorry, Babes."
Gaah! How could I be so stupid! he thought. Why do I feel this way about something I've always done? I never cared before no, that's not true. I did care before, but not so strongly. I really need to talk to her alone
"That's okay, BJ," Lydia said, taking pity on him and smiling once more. Taking relief in her words for the time being, Beetlejuice picked up Lydia, and he and Charles walked toward the roadhouse. When they finally arrived, Beetlejuice kicked open his oddly-shaped front door, and they all walked inside.
"Wow! This place is really something!" said Charles, amazed.
Beetlejuice stalked over to his couch and gently placed Lydia on the seat. "You like it? I trashed it myself," he turned and said, holding his head up high. Literally. Beetlejuice pulled his head off and was holding it as high as his arms would stretch.
"YAAA!" screamed Charles. He tried to run, but he tripped over a spare tire lying in the middle of the floor.
Lydia saw her father fall. Gasping she called for him, "Daddy! Are you all right?"
Charles peeked out from behind the tire. "I'm fine, P-Pumpkin." His eyes darted around the room looking for Beetlejuice, but he couldn't see him. "Does Beetleman have his head back on?" he muttered.
"Yes, he does." Lydia turned to where Beetlejuice was standing. "Beetlejuice, I wish you'd stop scaring my father. He's not used to seeing your literal translations."
"Y-Yeah, I don't know how much more I can take," Charles said from behind the tire.
Beetlejuice stood there for a moment thinking, and after thinking for only that moment, he said, "I'll try not to do that around you, Chuckie, but I can't promise anything. I just do it without thinking, know what I mean?" Beetlejuice extended his hand and offered Charles a help up.
Charles took hold of Beetlejuice's hand and he pulled him to a standing position. He dusted himself off before saying, "I understand. If you do anything and it's scary, I'll try not to scream and run."
Beetlejuice roughly clapped Charles on the back, "That's the spirit, Chuckster!"
Charles cleared his throat, "So, what do you do when you're here?"
Beetlejuice thought a moment, then he said, "Well, sometimes we go to the Freaky Eye-Scream Shop."
Charles's eyes lit up at the mention of food. "Ice cream? Mmmm, sounds good."
Beetlejuice looked confused. "No, no. It's eye - OW!" Lydia kicked Beetlejuice in the shin before he could say 'scream'.
"BJ," she whispered, "It would be better if you didn't say that! It might upset father."
"Sorry, Babes, you're right. I just wasn't thinking."
Lydia quietly giggled. "Yeah, you do that a lot."
"Thanks!" said Beetlejuice, taking it as a compliment. He turned toward Charles. "Come on, Chuckie, let's go get some, uh ice cream," he said loudly, winking at Lydia.
"Lydia!" called Delia. "Lydia are you in the bathroom?"
She opened the door to the bathroom and poked her head inside. Empty.
"Lydia I'm getting sick and tired of this!" She was walking toward her bedroom. "Stop playing these ridiculous games! I won't have you" Delia stopped in mid sentence. She had just opened the door to Lydia's room, and found something extraordinary inside.
Charles leaned against the counter inside the Eye-Scream Parlour and looked a little closer at the peg-board menu.
"What'll it be, Chuck?" Beetlejuice asked Charles. "We have your classic Up-Chuckolate, your ever popular Sludge Ripple or how about a Cootie Fruity?"
The cashier leaned forward eyeing Charles with her eight eyes. "What are you gonna have?" she drooled.
Lydia walked up to the counter and asked the spidery cashier, "What kind of sundaes do you have?" With one of her eight arms the cashier pointed to the menu on the wall.
"We got Buggerscotch, Banana Splat, and of course Hot Sludge Sundaes," she slobbered all over the counter.
Beetlejuice looked over the menu. "Hmm, I'll have a Raspberry."
The cashier stretched out two long, thin arms. One of the arms grabbed a cone and the other poured a reddish glob of ice cream into it. The spider handed it to Beetlejuice.
"Mmm!" he happily hummed. Suddenly a long red tongue poked out of the ice cream and spit in Beetlejuice's face. Laughing maniacally Beetlejuice leaned his head down and bit half of the tongue off. Charles covered his mouth and stared wide-eyed at Beetlejuice happily chewing the tongue and at the wriggling piece of tongue left over.
Lydia giggled and turned to the spider. "I guess I'll have a Hot Sludge." The cashier turned around and poured a steamy, lumpy, thick green liquid over top some white ice cream in a small dish.
"You want Lady Bug Sprinkles on this?" slobbered the spider.
Looking a little green herself, Lydia replied, "Uh, no thanks." The cashier shrugged her eight arms and handed Lydia her bubbling green sundae. "Um, what do you want father?" she asked Charles.
He swallowed hard.
"Well, Sweetie, everything looks so, so disgusting. How can you eat that stuff?" He looked at the spider's name tag, "Look, Charlotte - and you shouldn't have too much of a problem with that since you have eight eyes - don't you have any regular flavors?"
Charlotte leaned forward and snarled angrily, "Well, what do you want!"
Charles leaned forward and shouted back, "Vanilla! Do you have Vanilla!"
"Yes!" Charlotte growled leaning closer.
"Then give me some!" he yelled.
"Yes, SIR!" She roughly grabbed a cone and poured the plain vanilla ice cream into it. Handing it to Charles, she yelled, "Here you are, SIR! Have a nice day, SIR! Hope you choke on it, SIR!" Beetlejuice and Lydia grabbed Charles by the arms and pulled him away from the cashier.
"If I do, I'll come back and haunt you!" he yelled over his shoulder.
Back in the real world, Delia walked into Lydia's room and discovered it changed into a strange fortress. She wandered to the bottom of the steps that led up to the Neitherworld. She looked upward at the door at the top of the stairway, seething in anger.
"Why you little brat!" As quickly as she could, she ran up the stairs and through the door, slamming it behind her.
That has to be Beetleman's house, thought Delia as she sized up the run-down old roadhouse. She figured it was his because the sign on top said "BJ'S". Delia sauntered up to the house and knocked on the misshapen door.
"Just a moment!" a hearty male voice called from within. The door creaked open and standing there in the opening was a skeleton. He wore red shorts and a blue shirt, and on top of his skull sat a little red beret. "Can I 'elp you, Madame?" the skeleton asked with a thick French accent.
Delia was shaken beyond belief, and began muttering a string of non-coherent words while pointing all over in different directions.
"Madame?" Jacques tried to calm her by raising his bony hand as if to halt her ramblings. "Madame!"
Delia stopped babbling at the skeleton's raised voice and took to staring in disbelief.
"Can I 'elp you?" Jacques repeated.
"Y-yes," she stuttered after finding her voice, "D-do you know B-Beetlejuice?"
The French skeleton laughed, "Of course I know 'im. 'E lives 'ere!"
"Here? Is he here right now?"
"No, 'e's not 'ere right now. But maybe if you come back later"
Delia cut him off before he could finish his sentence, "Do you know where he went?"
"Um, well, 'e and Lydia"
"Lydia! Lydia was here!"
"Yes, and another man I 'ave seen 'im before, but I cannot seem to remember 'is name 'e 'e 'ad blond 'air," Jacques stuttered.
Delia gasped in shock. "Charles! Where did they go!" she demanded harshly.
"Zey said something about ze Freaky Eye-Scream shop."
"Great, where is that?"
"Well, you go down Sleepy 'ollow Avenue, zen turn up onto Dead End Drive"
Soon Delia was running down the skinny highway as fast as she could go.
In the Eye Scream Shop, Beetlejuice, Lydia, and Charles sat in a booth enjoying their eye scream. A pretty ghoul walked past their table and winked at Beetlejuice, as he watched her go by with wide eyes.
That ghoul is hittin' on me, but what about Lyds? he thought. I don't want to make her jealous. And I don't want to lose what chance I may possibly have with her Wait a minute! I'm thinking I have a chance with her! Am I nuts! Why would she ever want a guy like me? I'm just a friend to her anyway. That's all I've ever been, and that's all I ever will be.
Beetlejuice's eyes became glassy, and he stared hard at the floor. Suddenly, he turned back to his friends and grinned as happily as he could, hoping they would not see that it was fake. Using his long, purplish striped tongue, he licked his hand and smoothed his hair back. A bouquet of dead roses appeared in his other hand, and he stood up.
"Excuse me a minute, won't you?" Beetlejuice said as mischievously as possible, "I'll be right back." Straightening his tie, he turned around and followed the ghoul to her table.
Lydia's brow furrowed at the spectacle, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. How could I compete with a grown ghoul after all? Compete! Since when have I ever wanted to compete over Beetlejuice? Lydia's thoughts slowed for a moment. Since he looked at me with those eyes, she remembered vividly, and then sadly returned to her Hot Sludge.
Charles simply shrugged and licked his vanilla cone. Suddenly they both looked at each other. From under their feet, they felt an ever so slight rumbling. Then it was gone. Figuring it was their imagination, they again returned to their eye screams.
"CHARLES! LYDIA! THERE YOU ARE!"
Both Lydia and Charles jumped about three feet. They turned to see Delia, a bit ragged and breathing heavily, standing in the double doorway of the parlour.
"I have been looking all over for you two! What is this place! And Charles!" Charles winced as Delia shrieked his name. "I expected to see Lydia in a place like this, but you!"
"Delia, you don't understand" Charles began to explain. Suddenly he felt the same rumbling under his feet that he felt not two minutes earlier, only now it was much more noticeable. The tables began to vibrate, and their contents rattled across their surfaces and crashed to the floor. It was no longer mere rumbling, it was now a full blown earthquake!
"Oh, no!" yelled Beetlejuice as he stood up from the ghoul's table staring and pointing out the large glass window beside him. "SANDWORM!" he screamed, then fainted dead away.
"Run!" shouted Charlotte. Everyone in the parlour began to scream and scatter. One customer tried to run out the front door, but he did not make it and plowed right into Delia. Both fell outside the parlour doors with a thump. The man stood up, jumped over Delia and kept running down the street. She got up and cursed him for not watching where he was going. The man stopped and turned around to look at Delia, then started to yell back at her.
Delia's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew as large as saucers. From behind the screaming man came the biggest snake-like worm she had ever seen! The worm was striped black and white with glowing red eyes. It reared up in front of her and cast its shadow down upon her. The beast seemed to grin as it sized up its first meal.
"Delia!" Charles screamed from inside the parlour. "Look out!"
People were scattering about the establishment, trampling each other trying to get away from the doors. Several ghouls stepped right on Beetlejuice, waking him from his blackout.
"Oof! Ow! Hey, watch it!" he grumbled at the shrieking patrons as he stood up.
"Delia!" he heard a familiar voice call from behind him, then saw a blur rush past him and out the parlour's double doors.
Lydia had summoned up her strength and rushed outside in an attempt to save Delia. She reached her just as the sandworm parted its lips and out of the outer skin's mouth came the pale head of the worm's inner body. It shrieked in delight and sprung its head downward, attempting to bite down into Delia's fleshy form.
Delia stood frozen to her spot in fear as Lydia rushed up to her and pushed her out of harm's way with all her might. Delia went sprawling to the ground screaming and pointing at the malicious worm. Lydia had only enough time to raise her arms in a feeble attempt to protect herself and scream for Beetlejuice's help as the giant striped worm reached her. It bit down on her arm and lifted her, screaming in agony, from the ground.
"Lydiaaaaa!" Beetlejuice screamed and rushed out of the parlour. He was too late, however, for the sandworm had already slithered back into its hole heading for its homeland.
Beetlejuice fell to his knees at the edge of the giant hole and screamed her name into the darkness. From far away, he heard a faint sound of heart-wrenching cries of pain.
Thank you for reading!
Next to come...aches and pains.