Wow, I am so sorry this took me such a long time. I was really struggling with writing this chapter as I didn't like any of the things I was writing. Plus, my schedule has been hectic this month as I am still working and getting thrown into different shifts so my original schedule for writing has changed. But I pushed through and finally got this out. Plus I have an actual idea for this plot now, which will eventually be introduced once I get this story flowing a little more. That was the major thing I wanted to work on as I knew this story would die eventually if I didn't find a direction for it.
Larissa was dreading this conversation but there was no point in putting it off. Everyone was hiding in different areas of the house, avoiding the main living areas as they were still easily triggered. That meant her family was in their bedrooms, possibly the attic, or outside which made find them very easy.
Ringing her hands nervously, she stood outside the attic door. Despite taking a few hours to calm down and figure out a plan, there was no plan. From the other side of the door, she could hear Lydia, Barbara and Adam talking. However, the second she knocked, a silence fell on the other side.
Lydia opened the door as the sisters stared at each other awkwardly. "Hey," Larissa said lamely as she glanced at the Maitlands behind Lydia. "I figured we had some stuff to talk about."
"That's for sure," she said stiffly before letting her into the room. And as if on cue, Adam and Barbara took one look between them before leaving the sisters alone. "I'm honestly surprised you brought him back… So why did you?"
Larissa shrugged and looked away. "I don't know. I didn't really see a reason not to."
Lydia looked at her incredulously. "How about everything that I told you already?"
"That was months ago and it might be real to you, but they're just stories to me. I only have the last few days to judge from and he never game me a reason not to. I trust my judgement."
Lydia huffed in annoyance and continued her argument. "I get that, but I don't trust him. He's playing you. Whatever he said isn't true. He's manipulative and after something."
"So what?" she dismissed easily, an edge to her voice. "Who isn't? He wants his freedom and I get that. I just wanted some peace. Obviously, I misjudged how this would all work out for me, but it's not the end of the world. I'm not going to worry about it. And might I remind you that you did the same thing for worse reasons."
Dark eyes reflected the cut Larissa had just given but Lydia refrained from going on the defensive. She couldn't dismiss the point her sister was trying to make. "And might I remind you he was going to kill all of us."
"But he didn't." Larissa wouldn't bother arguing that. Even she couldn't touch that argument with any support. "I know he definitely was the bad guy before but… I don't feel like he is now. From the first second I saw him, I never had that feeling and you know there's plenty of people I hate automatically." After all, she was quite the judgmental person, but he hadn't really failed her as far as she could remember. At least not in any extreme cases.
"I hope you're right then because getting rid of him will be a lot harder this time. I doubt the same plan will work again."
Larissa had to agree with that. "Probably not… Just… give him another chance and trust me. If I'm wrong, you can say 'I told you so,' assuming we're not dead if I'm wrong."
"I should have trusted you from the start," Lydia admitted, "or at least been honest with you. I take it you realized we were keeping an eye on you and him," she finished timidly.
"That I did, which was really annoying."
"Sorry."
"I'm sorry too," Larissa let out a breath, "but moving forward, it wouldn't hurt to just be around as my little sister and not a watch dog. And then hopefully we can keep the peace between everyone. I'm sure Beetlejuice wouldn't mind your company too," she added, remembering her earlier conversation with him.
Lydia nodded slowly. "I know. He actually popped up shortly after everything. Not sure what he was so mad about but he made it pretty clear that he was sticking around and keeping us 'for entertainment' as he put it."
Larissa rolled her eyes at that. "Great, what am I, a replacement for television?"
"Who knows," she said thoughtfully, "but I did miss all his tricks. And maybe we could trick him," she added with a sly smile.
Larissa laughed at the devious look in Lydia's eyes. "We'll see. We can save that for when the house is calm again."
Letting the conversation drop, Larissa parted ways with Lydia, knowing she was most likely going to speak with their resident ghost couple once she was gone. And she had to figure out what to do about her dad. Through all her internal debates, she settled on letting that one come up naturally. She really didn't feel like getting yelled at or whatever else her dad might respond with. Either way, it wouldn't be good.
With a plan, or no plan, in mind, she moved towards the living room to take some time to herself. Aside from Lydia possibly, she doubted anyone would risk coming out until it was time for lunch which gave her at least an hour before someone would traverse the house.
The sun was shining through the window, illuminating the little nook that Larissa had claimed as her reading corner for the time being. With the living room still decked out like a haunted house, the dim purple glow didn't lead to easy reading. But this was the easiest way for her to stand her ground as she waited for the inevitable showdown with her father.
It wasn't as if she regretted what she had done. She had no intention of backing down from her decision and apologizing. She couldn't change anything either. Beetlejuice was nowhere to be found and she was under the impression that asking him to change it back probably wouldn't result in anything productive. So obviously smoothing things out that way wouldn't happen.
In the past hour, very little had been heard in the house aside from a few creaking boards and the occasional raised voice of her father. Otherwise, the house was dead. However, just as she expected, it wasn't going to stay that way for long. It was already lunch time and she didn't expect her entire family to skip lunch in order to avoid the redecorated room.
The sound of footsteps down the hall drew her attention up from her book, her brown eyes falling onto the tense form of her father. While she couldn't hear what he was saying, he was certainly grumbling to himself with Delia nowhere in sight.
Bracing for whatever was to come, Larissa bit her lip and closed her book as she stood up to be more easily seen. "Hi, Dad," she said simply, waiting to judge his mood.
Charles paused his steps suddenly, glancing towards her in surprise as he just noticed her.
A silence fell over the pair as he gazed at her in contemplation, a hand sliding over his mouth before he finally spoke with a shake of his head. "What were you thinking?" he said with disappointment clear in his voice as he gestured around the room.
Larissa glanced around, sure that he wouldn't really want to hear that she hardly thought about it at all. Middle of the night decisions tended to be gut instinct, not logic. "I know it wasn't the best decision, and I know based on what happened before that it seems really stupid, but… I don't. What is the worst thing that he's done since he showed back up?"
Charles looked at his daughter in disbelief as he raised his arms. "This. But this is just the beginning of it. Worse will come."
"It might not!" she snapped in frustration. "The guy that you all told me about, I haven't met him. He's not exactly been going around trying to convince me to kill someone and these tricks have been harmless. I think he honestly changed somehow after everything that happened."
He sighed as he walked closer to her and crossed his arms. "Look, Larissa, I'd love to believe that but you don't know what he's capable of. He's evil and I'm not going to let him tear this family apart again."
Larissa's felt put out as her dad rejected everything she said. "Fine, you're going to believe what you want no matter what I say. Beetlejuice might just prove you wrong though." She gave in as she snatched her book up, not wanting to fight with her dad. "I'm gonna go read in my room," she mumbled as she walked off. "After all, what do I know?" she spoke to herself.
"How about you see if you can get this room back to normal if you have so much faith in him," he finished before she was out of sight, getting no reply in response.
Larissa threw her book onto her bed as she shut her door with a kick. She supposed she could consider one out of two conversations ending on a positive tone as a success, but she couldn't believe how quickly her family was to dismiss everything she had to say. Then again, she might as well have been trying to convince them to let someone out of prison just because they were friendly to her. Maybe she really was out of her mind. Clearly though, she wouldn't be able to change anyone's opinions. Beetlejuice would be on his own in that aspect. Perhaps she could help and actually follow her dad's request. It couldn't make it worse, right? Unless she pissed off their newest poltergeist and caused him to up his antics by tenfold. No big deal.
With that thought in mind, she decided to just jump and see what happened. Now if only she knew what she needed to do to get Beetlejuice back in the room. Could she even summon him back now by saying his name? For all she knew, he was free and she might be wasting her breath trying to get him to appear on her own schedule.
"Beetlejuice?" she called out weakly, feeling somewhat silly like she was talking to herself. As the seconds slowly passed by, that feeling sunk in even deeper, sure that the heat in her cheeks displayed her embarrassment despite no one around to see. Just as she was about to try again, she was startled by a sound behind her.
As she spun around, she spotted Beetlejuice sitting on the top of her dresser, staring at her in amusement. "How long have you been sitting there?"
"Since you called. I was starting to think you were ignoring me."
"You could have said something," she mumbled, crossing her arms defensively.
Ignoring her question, Beetlejuice jumped right into a new conversation. "So, what's up? Ready for more mischief?" his devious grin reflected by the vibrance of his hair. "Make it really feel like home. Have some screams and groans around every corner. I'm already bursting with ideas and ready to go!" he rattled off in excitement, ignoring Larissa's uncomfortable shifting.
"Actually," she trailed off, sure she needed to think of some other way to sell him on the idea of fixing the house. He was clearly going to reject it. "Why don't we just turn the house back to normal? They certainly wouldn't be expecting that," she finished unsure with a questioning tone.
"I'll pass," he said leveling her an unimpressed look. "Doesn't sound like much fun and that would be the exact opposite of what I want. Unless," he paused long enough to jump down and drag Larissa to his side with an arm looped around her, "I get something out of this."
"Well, you don't get me," she admitted as she slinked out from his grip, quickly coming up with a possible selling point. Sure, her dad might have wanted this to go away long term but really, what was the chance of that happening? "You will get the element of surprise though. My whole family is already on edge. But imagine the reaction after a false sense of security. I know waiting isn't ideal, but think about it," she finished with what she hoped was an honest smile, grabbing his hand as she stared up at him.
Beetlejuice didn't give an immediate response as he narrowed his eyes, watching her closely. After a moment, he raised his free hand and pointed at her face, causing the girl to widen her eyes, fearing she may have just failed miserably. "Only if we're going all out next time. No trying to back out again like this morning or you're gonna be the next one I'm scaring."
"Deal!" she exclaimed and give his already held hand a quick shake. "I bet Lydia will even help next time. Just turn the house back. We can just pretend like nothing happened and start planning for the future." With her pause, she caught Beetlejuice's eye roll but just as he went to speak, she cut him off. "Same rules though!" she continued firmly. "No harm. No death."
A groan followed her words as he threw his head back. "Come on, babe. We gotta have a little fun. No killing. Fine. But people can live with a missing limb."
"No!" she shouted wide-eyed in alarm. "This is my family, even Delia. No harm. I mean it."
"Fine," he gave in with another eye roll. "I won't tear your family apart. There's still other ways to have fun," he admitted with a devious look, clearly thinking about his future endeavors.
Larissa had to admit she was a bit worried, but everyone should be fine, right? "We'll come up with some ideas with Lydia. But you still need to give it time. Do you think you can manage sitting and waiting like a normal person?"
"I'm sure I'll find something to do," he grinned before suddenly disappearing without another word.
And true to his word, when Larissa checked the rest of the house, everything seemed back to normal. Standing there in the dully painted living room filled with normal furniture, she couldn't help but feel like things were going to get worse. At least when the place was filled with tricks, she knew what to expect.
Now though, there was sure to be more to come. It was just a matter of whether she should be more concerned about what Beetlejuice had planned or what her dad was going to do after round two. There was potentially a war starting in the house and she was expected to be on both sides.