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Shadowmoon2430

Since the arrival of Beetlejuice, the following days turned into a blur of unexpected visits. On multiple occasions, the demon had dropped in on her in an attempt to get her to say his name. Of course, with a full house, there always seemed to be someone there to interrupt his plans. That didn't seem to slow him down however. She couldn't think of a single person she had ever met that was that relentless and it was exhausting. And he found it all super damn amusing, getting a laugh from her multiple reactions.

She nearly had a panic attack when he snuck up behind her during a movie one time. So obviously that became his favorite way to greet her. Whether she was focused on a movie, reading a book, or anything else that would hold her attention, he tried to be there in order to get a jump from her.

Of course, nothing compared to when he let himself into her bedroom while she was in the middle of changing. He had learned that she had quite a mouth on her when she was angry. Even when she tried to throw something at him, he'd just appear in another area of the room, laughing hysterically while making lewd comments.

Either way, he was driving her crazy and no one in the house was much help. The last thing she wanted to do was have a permanent attachment in the house. Everyone else seemed to have a different opinion than her though. The only time she had any alone time was when she left the house. She was used to being around people, but even at college she had plenty of alone time.

Here, everyone was just acting crazy. Even when she hid in her room, someone was always checking in. She felt like she was a child suddenly. Hell, even kids wouldn't have been this closely watched. And it was all his fault. If she ever had the chance, she might just have to hit him.

And that is why she found herself most often sitting in the living room. From the moment she was up to the second she went to bed. It was just easier that way. At least if everyone could see her, they had less reason to interrupt her. Otherwise, she was outside. At least if she was out there, no one cared what she did. But she had no intention of burning in the summer sun by spending her entire life outside.

Currently sitting outside, Larissa was lounging in a lawn chair as she scrolled through her phone. That had been her current location for the last hour before she was drawn away from her screen by a shadow cast over her. Looking up, she silently questioned her sister's appearance. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" It wasn't often that Lydia chose to spend her free time outside.

"Just bored. Delia is driving me crazy in the house." Lydia huffed as she sat down in the grass.

"She still trying to plan the wedding through the use of her crystals?" Larissa asked flatly. She had to wonder sometimes about that woman. Sure, Dad liked her, but she was… something else.

"It's gotten worse since you came out here," Lydia warned. "She's got every inch of the place covered in stuff. I thought adults were supposed to have small weddings with none of the fuss."

Larissa laughed at the idea. "Sure, some might, but nothing Delia does is without fuss. I am worried to think about what this wedding is going to turn into."

"And what she's going to expect us to wear," Lydia added with a grimace. Even if it was terrible, both sisters knew they'd begrudgingly agree to whatever she decided because Dad would.

"Either way, we'll be passed all that soon enough and then we get to go back to her normal crazy," she finished with an attempted optimistic tone.

"And the rest of the crazy?" Lydia asked as she looked up at the older girl.

"Huh?" Larissa looked confused. "What do you mean?" She could think of a lot of other crazy things right now, but she didn't understand what Lydia was asking.

Lydia looked away for a moment before she finally jumped to her point. "Are you going back to college?"

"I didn't exactly leave college. I'm still enrolled. I was going to do online classes. I moved for a reason," she explained as she looked over her chair at Lydia.

"I know that, but you also don't seem thrilled to be here."

"No, it's just different," Larissa lamented as Lydia listened intently. "The last time I was really living at home it was still you, me, mom, and dad. There's just more company than I was really expecting. All those things that you told me, I thought they were stories. Ghosts weren't real. I mean, I always said they were, but not actually being able to see them, be haunted by them, real. I have to be honest though, as crazy as it has been, it hasn't been bad. And while this week has been annoying, even that's not going to run me off."

Lydia smiled as she finished. "Good. I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," Larissa smiled wide as she stood up from her chair. "Now let's head back in before you actually get a tan and I am starting to bake."

The day was long past over and the house was silent as Larissa sat on her bed, book open in front of her and music playing through her headphones. Despite the late hour, she was unable to sleep. Her mind was still racing and even her body was ready to move. It seemed she wasn't the only being that was still up in the house.

Oblivious to the rest of her room, Larissa didn't notice her company as he phased through the wall and chuckled to himself as he realized she was still awake but paying no attention. "It's my lucky night," he grinned as he rubbed his hands in anticipation. Taking a different approach, he decided to step into her line of sight. The last thing he wanted was to make her scream and cut their alone time short. With hands in his pockets, he walked over and grinned wider when he saw her do a double take.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed as she threw her headphones off. She glanced at the time on her phone before snapping back at him. "Are you kidding? It's almost 2am."

He shrugged as he sat on her bed, not losing his pep. "What? I stop in all the time at this hour. Of course, you're normally asleep so this is quite a gift for me!" he said giddily.

"No. Stop." she breathed as she scooted away from him. "That is so not okay."

"Never objected before, doll."

"I was asleep!" she cried. "How could I? Just forget it and get out." She stood up then and gestured towards the door, hoping he would take the hint.

"Nah," he said and then proceeded to lounge on her bed, propped up on his side to face her. "Why do that when I have some great company right here."

Giving up, Larissa threw up her hands. "Fine. You stay, I'll leave." Just as she opened the door, it slammed back shut causing her to yelp before slamming a hand over her mouth. She spun then with a glare. "Stop it! You have been driving me crazy for days. Don't you have something better to do?"

Beetlejuice raised a hand to his chin in fake thought before he shrugged dramatically. "Nope, not a thing… yet!" he emphasized before he appeared beside her and pulled Larissa to his side. "You know, all of this will stop if you say my name. Three times and you're free, I'm free. Everyone's free and we can start the party."

Larissa stepped out from beneath his arm, circling slightly to get more space. "That is not a good reason." With each word, her voice got higher as she worked herself up. "You already try to scare me a thousand times a day. I don't need it to be worse. And when you're not here harassing me, everyone else is hovering over me. Everything is your fault!"

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down," he said with his hands up in surrender with a laugh. "Don't be mad at me, be mad at them. Think about it. When have I ever really done anything to you? But your friends and family? Sounds to me like they don't trust you."

"You're delusional," she said with a shake of her head. "It's you they don't trust."

"Actually," he started with a finger raised to make his point, "I'm the one that's right. Hear me out. I'm going to be here either way but I need a person, namely you, to bring me back to full power. But you on the other hand hold all the cards but sounds like they don't think you'll make the right play."

Larissa watched him skeptically. If he was trying to make a point, he was doing a very bad job at it. His argument was working better against him. Though there was that little point in her mind that was curious what he could actually do… "I'm not helping you."

"You're not just helping me though! We can help each other. Whatever they told you about me, forget it! I'm a changed man, swear to God/Satan. Give me a chance and let me prove it. We could make such a pair." He whipped out a card suddenly from his pocket and held it out. "Just say and we're gold!"

She hesitantly plucked the card from his hand, looking at it confused. "Betelguese? That is not how I expected your name to be spelled."

"Don't focus on the spelling. Just read the card," he said wildly pointing towards it. "Think of all the fun and games we can have. Tricks! Revenge! And no killing, pinky promise," he finished like a child, holding out his pinky with his most innocent smile.

Larissa groaned as he kept pushing. It was too late to be dealing with this. "You have one minute to convince me, otherwise I will just wake up the whole house cause I am over this."

At her admission, he grinned and bounced with excitement. "Challenge accepted! Alright, as I said," he started far beyond a pace that allowed for breath, "we can help each other. We can BOTH prove that we can be trusted. Why shouldn't your family allow you to make your own choices? Even if you wanted to, they wouldn't let you get that third name out. Even Lydia. And you're an adult, at least I think you're legal," he rattled off his side thought before jumping back in. "Either way, they already don't trust you. How could it get worse? Prove that you can make the right choice by saying my name and allow ME to prove that I can make the right choice too. I'm a changed guy! That minute back then of being alive really opened my eyes! And as promised, I won't kill a soul." He held up his hand earnestly as he finished his persuading argument with the most pleading look he could muster.

Silence followed as Larissa processed his words. She honestly had to admit he had somewhat of a point. And when he wasn't scaring the shit out of her, he wasn't too bad. Out of all the brief conversations they had, if she could call them that, he was very flirty and looking for laughs, but he wasn't rattling off ways to kill people. Or perhaps it was really too late at night for her to think rationally.

"I'm out of my mind," she muttered under her breath. It seemed Beetlejuice still picked up on her words though as his face brightened, but he didn't say a word. She closed her eyes and breathed out before she stared at him. "Do NOT make me regret this or you will too."

That was all he needed to jump up suddenly in joy. "Yes! You won't be sorry!"

"Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice."

He bounced on his feet as he stared down at her.

She took a breath. And barely above a whisper, "Beetlejuice."

"It's show time!" He shouted before he grabbed her suddenly in a kiss and grinned.

Shocked by the cold and uninvited contact, Larissa just stared dazed and confused at the demon. "What the hell?"

"Don't worry. We'll have time to make out later," he winked before he grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her towards the door. "Let's go, Rissa. The night's still young."

As he dragged her through the house, she dreaded to find out just what she had unleashed.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice when he stopped in the living room until she stumbled straight into him.

"It's show time! And you have no idea just what we can do now. How 'bout a little surprise for the folks when they wake up?"

The glint in his eyes made her weary but she reluctantly agreed. Could she really say no? Would it matter? "Just don't go overboard, Mr. 'Changed Man'," she said with air quotes. "There will be no surprise if we're too loud and wake them up early."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful and I always keep my promises. Now let's make this place more lively! You can have a seat and watch," he finished with a push, letting her fall back into a newly acquired seat.

Before her eyes, the house seemed to transform into quite the horror-themed fun house. Dark patterns and asymmetrical designs replaced all the old furnishings. Even the few lights he had magically turned on seemed to take on an almost purple glow. Larissa stared in awe at the transformation taking place in front of her. "This is amazing, Beej" she whispered, unsure how else to express her thoughts.

Beetlejuice laughed as he looked over at her, surprised at the nickname. even though it was a common occurrence in the house thanks to Lydia. "I'm just getting started and so are you." He pulled her up from the chair then and into his side. "Help a guy out. Everything's far more fun with a partner in crime. What are you dying to see?"

"What?" she asked dumbly.

"Come on, you know you want in on this," he emphasized with a squeeze of her shoulders. "Now's your time to turn the tables. You said they've been driving you crazy, now you can drive them crazy."

Larissa looked at him closely as she stood there, thinking over his offer and what he had done so far. Despite everything that he could have done since she said his name, his actions have only been harmless, set up for simple screams and crazy reactions. Beetlejuice was actually surprising her and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Alright, why not have a laugh? But we're not hurting them," she added just in case.

Unsure what he could really do and lacking any ideas, she turned to her memories, thinking about all the haunted houses she had gone through with friends during Halloween. Surely there was something that would come to mind. "So, we can… change the rest of the house too? Have things that pop out of hiding places, make optical illusions." She paused in thought as she looked back at him in question. "Can you actually change things to work like optical illusions, but real? Like changing the dimensions?"

Beetlejuice chuckled at her. "Oh yeah, just say what you're think and I'll make it happen."

And from there, the pair worked on transforming the house. Larissa loved everything that was happening, having a blast every time Beetlejuice changed something, whether it was scary or strange. Before she knew it though, she fell back on the plush couch in exhaustion as she watched the last touches being made. She was amazed that the sun wasn't creeping in through the windows yet. The longer she sat there, the harder it was to keep her eyes open. But she was determined to see the end of this. It seemed her body had other plans though. By the time Beetlejuice was no longer burst with excitement over his returned powers, Larissa was fast asleep on the couch. And morning would prove to be an eye-opening day for everyone in the house.