A/N: Damn. I was going to set down an update pattern, something like Wednesdays and Sundays, and the very first week I decide on it what do I do? I skip out and update on Monday morning. -.-;; Oh well. I am finally doing a split scene chapter, and now things are starting to heat up. Let the fun begin…

Also, my reviewers, and my watchers – you should go read yellowJsquid's story, and then beg her for more of it. Consider it a favor to me. :D

Warnings: Verbiage.

Deesclaimuh:Still do not own. Back, lawyers, back! Have mercy… D:

---Time---

Time passed.

It was really starting to friggin' piss him off. Betelgeuse had been searching through the Netherworld library, going through every single book that mentioned marriage, and none had mentioned any friggin' downside to marrying a mortal. Well, it wasn't exactly like it was a common occurrence, but there were enough books on the powers that human/ghost matrimony granted that they could fill Juno's office, no problem.

It was infuriating – what did she know that he didn't?! Maybe that fucking bitch was just distracting him by looking smug so he couldn't take advantage of his free reign in the mortal realm. But if she wasn't… what could Juno possibly know that he didn't? He worked as her assistant for years and years and years, how could he not know practically everything she knew?

He knew how much time was passing in the human realm; sometimes he thought the time discrepancy really was the stupidest thing the Netherworld officials could've come up with. He had to get back to the living world, get the hell out of the Netherworld and away from all the stupid shit that happened here.

Betelgeuse finished the last page of a book before slamming it shut, tossing it over his shoulder onto the pile of other useless marriage books. This was driving him insane. Well… insaner, maybe. Whatever. Honestly, wasn't there even a marriage counseling book around here somewhere? This stuff was all boring philosophical musings on the subject of mortal/ghost marriages. Who gave a crap?

Eddie Salem, one of the librarians, wandered by with a stack of books in his arms. Somehow, Eddie managed to get a hand free, giving a half-hearted wave. Betelgeuse just scowled, and Eddie shrugged, wandering away.

Eddie Salem wasn't half as good a guy as everyone thought. Sure, the kid had charisma, but everyone knew he was moonlighting with the zombie mafia. Betelgeuse figured it was a good reason to steer clear of the kid; that, and he owed the mafia money. Lots of it. Betelgeuse shook his head, grumbling under his breath and grabbing for another book. Hanging around the library was starting to screw with his nerves. Just another book and he'd say fuck it and Juno could have her laugh. Makin' him waste so much time… jeez.

He grabbed another book and opened it, cracking its spine mercilessly. After flipping through a few pages, Betelgeuse scowled and considered ripping the book's pages out and scattering them around the library. Speak of the devil. It was a marriage counseling book.

With a few curses he chucked the book over his shoulder, reaching for another volume. He flipped through the title page and the introduction – one more book, the last one didn't count – skipping to the first chapter

Then, something heavy slammed down onto the table in front of him. Betelgeuse didn't jump; his eyes moved up from the book, fixing on Eddie Salem, who was standing in front of his table. He glared, eyes narrowing. What the hell was this stupid kid thinking, interrupting his reading?

Eddie was completely unaffected by the glare, glancing at the heavy tome he'd plopped down on the table and feeling at the bullet hole in his temple. He grabbed a maggot and pulled it out of his head, squishing it in between his fingers. "You're lookin' for stuff on living and dead marriages, right? I ain't even supposed t' let you look at this, but I figure if I get you outta here th' maggots will quit congregating 'round here and getting in my brain. Everything you ever wanted t' know an' more." Eddie reached down, tapping a finger on the book's thick leather binding.

Betelgeuse glanced at the tome, reading the title. The Big Book of Secrets, unit 12 – Marriages. Sounded good to him. He glanced up at Eddie, nodding his thanks. The other man blinked slowly, turning away and walking back to the stack of books he had been rearranging.

Betelgeuse chucked the volume in his hand over his shoulder into the ever-growing pile of books behind his chair, and he pulled the huge tome closer. He opened it and the cover fell open with a thud and dust sprayed into the air. Slowly, a spider started crawling over the book's pages. Without a thought Betelgeuse snapped out a hand, catching the spider by its legs and popping it in his mouth. He crunched it as he read the table of contents, skimming over the chapters that weren't bad for him. It'd suck if Lyds started going intangible at random moments, yeah, but it just meant she was getting more ghostly, just like she'd wanted, and it didn't have any crappy side affects for him.

Then… there it was. Couples Engaged in Eternal Matrimony, Perimeter Restrictions and the Ill Affects of Quietus Upon the Living. That sounded promising. Betelgeuse glanced at the page number – 1013, holy crap, how long were the chapters?! – and started to read.

The first time around, he could barely understand the damn thing and so he skimmed over it. And people thought the handbook was bad. This was like reading 16th century instructions on shipbuilding. The second time, though, he took his time reading through, because this could have the answer.

Oh. Oh.Ohshit. Son of a bitch. That explained a lot.

Upon spousal quietus, the Predeceased will become cloistered and circumscribed to their partner's designated manifestation environs or haunting grounds in perpetuity, or until such time as an annulment can be effectuated, wherein the Predeceased will be reinstated in the Netherworld and become subject once more to its laws, rules and regulations.

---

Time passed.

A lot more time than Lydia had thought would pass, and she was starting to entertain the idea that, somehow, Betelgeuse had been exorcised by the Sandworm. After all, wouldn't he have returned by now if he could have? It had been months.

By October, Lydia had nearly convinced herself that Betelgeuse had been exorcised. That didn't mean she wasn't still terrified of what he could do; there were still moments of panic during the school day, and she had started having dreams, nightmares where he would come back and destroy family, her home, her friends, and then take her somewhereelse to finally consummate the marriage. More and more often, she woke up panting and sweat-soaked in the dead of night, though she'd always managed to hold back the screams.

The nightmares were the worst, hands down. She would have to get up and pace, going around her room again and again and again, because the Maitlands would notice if she wandered downstairs. They slept, sometimes, but they didn't really need to, and more often they'd do general maintenance on the house into the wee hours, as quietly as they could.

After pacing for a while, Lydia would calm down enough to fall asleep once more, and she would sleep like the dead until her alarm went off and it would be time for school. She didn't even wear her makeup anymore – the lack of sleep made dark circles around her eyes, and it went unnoticed, because she'd always worn makeup around her eyes to imitate that look. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep also made Lydia somewhat spacey – Adam and Barbara had noticed, as had Bri, but they hadn't said anything apart from suggesting different home remedies for sleep, none of which worked.

Lydia had also developed the habit of fiddling with the ring whilst she thought. She barely even noticed that she was doing it until Bri pointed it out one day during lunch, and though she made a conscious effort to stop, she still found herself playing with it every so often.

Then, slowly, things started to happen. Unusual things… well, more unusual things. At first, Lydia thought she was simply getting a bit clumsy – she would drop books as she was carrying them, or things would slip out of her hands. Then, every once in a while when she tried to turn on a light in a room it would flicker and fizzle before truly turning on its normal glow, or she would think about how she'd left a door open, and then said door would slam shut. Every once in a while it would creep her out slightly, but more often than not she would disregard it as a coincidence or her own clumsiness.

Then it happened.

She was walking to school with Bri, and Bri's friend Alice, who was quite a bit girlier than either Bri or Lydia but shared enough of their interests to be pleasant company. Lydia was walking her bike as Bri and Alice were talking about Alice's boyfriend, Richard, who had apparently taken Alice to go stargazing a night or two ago.

Bored by their conversation, Lydia distracted herself by glancing around the neighborhood. As black and endless as space was, she couldn't really bring herself to be interested in astronomy. As they passed by the houses lined up on either side of the street, Lydia noticed that one of the buildings had a few new saplings planted in front of it. Idly, she wondered if Adam would want pictures of them. Although it was an absurd level of detail, Adam had started to add things like that, mostly out of boredom. She wondered what kind of trees they were – if they'd be easy to make or not…

"…Betelgeuse."

Lydia's whole body tensed, her spine going ramrod straight as a chill radiated through her. She wondered for half a second if she'd heard Alice right, but she was sure she had, and all she could do was stand and stare at the ring on her right hand, her knuckles going white as she held onto her bike's handles.

Then, her bike fellthrough her.

She wasn't sure how it happened, but she could feel the handlebars sliding through her hands, could feel the frame of the bike swish through her body as if she wasn't there. It landed with a clatter, making the other girls jump and whip around, and a bit late Lydia realized that she was standing inside the spokes of the front wheel, could feel each one as the tire spun lazily through her legs.

"Oh shit," Bri said.