Here's the second chapter. I'm having issues figuring out where this should go… I've got ideas of things I want to happen, but I dunno. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear it!
Again, Betelgeuse and company are not mine.
Adam chuckled to himself a little as he added the final touch to the Finton's new porch on his expansive town model. Lydia had taken to bringing home photos of whatever new town addition she could find every day. She enjoyed the exercise getting around town and it provided her plenty of opportunities to practice her photography and use the dark room her father had set up in the basement.
Barbara snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her cheek into his. "What is so funny?"
Adam shook his head a little, "Just remembering our little Lydia's punishment for.. for him." He couldn't help but grin and Barbara shook her head with a smile.
"Well, let's just hope it is enough. He was very clever, I mean, if anyone were to find a way around it, it would be him."
Adam shrugged and kissed his wife on the cheek, "You worry too much."
Betelgeuse turned away from the horrible couple in disgust. He'd taken residence in the miniature town's cemetery once again, but was determined to keep a low profile until he could get to the girl alone and give her a piece of his mind. He flopped down and sprawled against the ragged looking tree near the gravestone he had claimed. Juno had left him with the hateful copy of his new rule. She hadn't told him the loopholes of course, but there were always loopholes, it was just a matter of figuring them out, picking it apart and finding the one way to undo what should have never been done in the first place.
"Stupid woman always had it out for me, from the very beginning." He nearly choked as he tried to keep himself from continuing, "Well, not really. She was pretty helpful at first when I became her assistant."
Clamping his mouth shut he wrinkled his nose and was forced to content himself with quiet seething hatred, because that was the only way he could get away with it anymore.
He squinted at the miserable little piece of paper until his eyes hurt. Finally he noticed it; a miniscule smudge in the lower right hand corner. He popped a magnifying glass into his hand and peered through it. The smudge remained indistinct and tiny. He upgraded to a magnifying glass that was nearly the size of his head and chuckled. There it was. That was the answer. He read it aloud to himself.
"The party chosen to select the stipulation retains the ability to retract said stipulation or change it at any time to his or her own discretion." And he reveled in the silence that followed because it was the truth.
Lydia squinted at the photos as they developed. She had taken this batch in her room, which she had recently redecorated with Barbara and Adam's aid. They had complained that it was too dark and dreary and had managed to convince her to accent the black with red. She didn't mind the added color. A frown wrinkled her brow as she looked a little closer to the photograph, taking it out of the chemicals and hanging it to dry. Sure enough, there was an odd smear of an orb floating in space that had not been there when the picture was taken.
She began to check the other photos and found more of the mysterious orbs. She knew that Barbara and Adam had not been in her room at the time and they were usually the cause of this sort of thing, so she decided to skim through the handbook for the recently deceased to see what it had to say on the matter.
Betelgeuse watched lazily as the girl spoke to Barbara and Adam. She was asking them about the pictures. He knew that had been a good idea. Get her interest perked a little before confronting her outright. Now all he had to do was wait for the damned couple to leave so he could chat with the girl. Shit, what was her name again? He checked the paperwork and grunted; right, Lydia. Good thing she had to sign it.
Conveniently enough, Barbara and Adam decided to go chat with Juno to see if any new ghosts had decided to drop in. Finally. He took his chance and shouted up to Lydia as she watched her friends step through the glowing green door.
"HEY! Yeah! Down here!"
She looked down in surprise at the voice that was all too familiar, even when pitched a few octaves too high. Leaning closer she squinted into the little graveyard and frowned. "What are you doing here? Were you the one in my room when I took those pictures?"
He shrugged, at least he didn't have to lie about this. "Yeah, that was me." He kept talking, figuring it couldn't hurt to just elaborate things a little, make her feel special or some rot. He had to get on her good side now. "Just checkin' up on you, y'know? Wanted to make sure you were okay, sleeping alright, that sort of thing." His rambling drew to a halt and he realized his error. "Actually I don't really care, I just wanted to talk to ya." Damn the truth, damn it to hell, now she was gunna ask…
"Oh really? What did you want to talk about?"
SHIT. Shit shit shit, mother fucking…. "I wanted to convince you to take back that whole lying rule." God damnit. He hadn't wanted to bring that up yet.
"Oh, well, you can just stay out of my room then, and leave well enough alone. I don't have any reason to change my mind about that. I think the punishment is already doing you a world of good." She smiled and walked away, leaving him to fume.
Pooooor Betelgeuse. snirkgiggle Once again, any tips would be -dandy-.
