Chapter Four: Your Eyes
Pin like pains in her back and the smell of brimstone woke her from her sleep. Sitting up ever so slowly Lydia opened her eyes not sure of where she was. All she remembered was leaving the hospital and then…nothing. The room was dark; the only light was a thin line on the floor that came in from under a single closed door. From what she could see, she was in a bedroom. A high placed window, maybe five feet higher then she was tall, showed off the dark night sky, a large lopsided decomposing wardrobe took up the far corner and the decrepit rusting metal bed she laid in lined up against the wall across from it. Apart from the torn, tarnished and rotting furniture Lydia couldn't make anything out. She didn't know what had happened, how she got here or even where here was. For all she knew she could still be asleep, or in a witch's house waiting to be eaten like in one of her beloved fairy tales. Lydia shook her head. Witch? Now she was just being ridiculous. She knew there where no suck things as witches and vampires and…ghost? The realisation struck her hard and she fell back against the pillow with a soft plop.
He kidnapped her hadn't he? Taken her away from her home. That man. No, he was hardly a man. She had to get out, go somewhere. But where can you go when a man who can find you at the ends of the earth is fallowing you? He'd find her. He wouldn't kill her, she knew that much, if he were, he would have already done it. But what could he gain by kidnapping her? Was it even kidnapping? Hundreds of questions ran through Lydia's head and she had answers to none of them.
Pulling back the heavy sheets Lydia slid her legs over the side of the bed tugging her nightdress, the only article of clothing with her, down and smoothed out the folds. She sat for a moment listening for any noise but heard none besides the rhythmic beating of her heart in her head. Biting down on her lip Lydia willed herself to stand up, her legs wobbled and threatened to give making her grab the bedpost for support. 'Breathe, just breathe.' She told herself silently. Lydia's feet shuffled over the cold cracked wood flooring. Letting go of the bed Lydia jumped to the wall to hold her up. Pushing off the wall she walked slowly to the door in the far off corner. The effort was more then Lydia thought it would be. Her breathing came in strained gasps as she struggled to regain control over her motor skills.
Coming up to the closed door Lydia gulped. One hand placed firmly on the wall, the other reached out for the doorknob. Her trembling fingers grasped the smooth metal and turned. It wasn't locked. Lydia looked down as her trembling hand. Carefully pulling back on the knob the door made a low screech. Lydia stopped. No movement could be heard on the other side. She exhaled the breath she had been holding and pulled the door open just enough for her to slide between it and the doorframe. Lydia looked around; the poor lighting caused menacing shadows to loom around her, the empty hallway led to other closed doors of various shapes and sizes, and the air smelt of a mix between varnish and old boot leather. Light spilt into the hall through a high/skinny doorway far off down the hall.
Curiosity can be a silly thing. The impulsion took rule. Lydia silently made her way down the hall, her right foot becoming imbedded with a painful splinter from the floor. She knew she shouldn't go near the door but the wondering was too much. The curiosity took over her shutting off her logical thinking.
'I guess this is the part where the boogeyman jumps out at me, right?' She laughed inside her head trying pitifully to lighten the moment.
Lydia stopped at the line of light at her feet. She looked up at the doorway. Her foot moved forward a bit. Thud! Lydia jumped, hugging the wall. She listened intently to the sudden ruckus inside the room.
Thump! Crash!
Holding her breath Lydia leaned forward looking around the side of the frame into the room. She came face to…back with her worst enemy. The room, a kitchen, was brightly tiled in black and grey/brown that looked to be once white. Two chairs lay on their sides and some pots where scattered around the floor near a small round table. At the back of the room, Beetlejuice skulked on all fours like a cat towards a cornered cockroach the size of a large orange. Growling low he jolted at the bug and snatched it up in his hand. Lydia watched as the ghost stood up and walked proudly back to the table, sitting down in the only upright chair and throwing his muddy black boots up onto the tabletop. Beetlejuice picked up the paper by his feet and flipped it open before him as he proceeded to bite the head off the cockroach. The crunch of the shell made Lydia's stomach turn but she couldn't take her eyes off the headless bug that still wriggled in the ghoul's hand.
The shift of emerald green, Beetlejuice's gaze moved from the paper to the door, falling on the half hidden, barely clad girl. Their eyes met briefly before Lydia started to back away. Beetlejuice smiled, showing off his filthy green teeth. The newspaper fell onto the floor as Beetlejuice vanished from the table and came up before the girl pushing her back against the wall. The air was knocked out of her lungs as Lydia's back met wall. Beetlejuice's hands were planted firmly on her shoulders, his nails biting into her skin. Lydia looked up into the glowing eyes of Beetlejuice. He lowered his head to come eye level with her. He smiled cruelly and laughed low in his throat, drool and hanging like a spider web along the front of his teeth.
Lydia turned her head away, her face constricting in repulsion. When she felt his breathe on her neck she panicked. She shook herself violently escaping from his hold and started running. Doors flew by her as she ran. The hall looked as if it were growing longer with every lunge. Despite her better judgment Lydia threw a quick glance over her shoulder. Beetlejuice gained on her, bounding off the walls like a possessed animal hunting it's prey. Lydia turned sharply at the only open door at the end of the hall, the door she had come out of not long ago. Her arm caught on the door and she flipped around falling on her side.
An insane laugh filled the empty room around her. Looking up threw her hair, Beetlejuice stood in the open door way, arms crossed and an amused grin plastered on his thin lips.
"You can't hide from me babes. I'm the ghost with the most, remember?" He said coming closer.
"What do you want?" Lydia cried using the only ounce of courage in her to yell at him. Beetlejuice came to stand over her. Lydia looked up at him. His dusty blond hair fell over his face causing shadows, his tall frame appearing even taller at her angle.
Beetlejuice got down onto his knees next to Lydia placing his hands on either side of her stomach. Lydia tried to pull back as his face inched towards hers.
"What I want?" He breathed against her cheek. "There's a lot I want." Lydia felt his chest press down on hers, pushing her to the floor. Lydia stared into his narrowed eyes, the violent green gaze which lingered on her lips. His mouth quickly dropped to hers catching it in a forceful kiss. Lydia squirmed as Beetlejuice's hands wandered up her ribs, his lips still hungrily attacking hers. Fisting the fabric of his suit coat Lydia tries to push Beetlejuice off of her but was grabbed by her arms and shoved into the floor, hard.
Lydia's head fell painfully back hitting the floor with a thud. She became dizzy and her vision began to blur. Arms pinned down, her head rocked to the side as Beetlejuice grinned down at the helpless girl under him. Lydia's eye grew wide and she screamed out as Beetlejuice's sharp teeth dug into the bare skin at the bas of her neck. He straddled her hips as his hands worked there way up to he shoulders. His fingers looped around the thin straps of the nightdress; slowly he pulled them along her arms reviling her smooth shoulders and neckline. The feeling of his lips on her skin made Lydia shiver. The quickening rhythm of Lydia's heart drove Beetlejuice mad. His searing kisses becoming hot branders on her collarbone. His hands paused their roaming as the heart under him quickened more and the chest breathed unevenly.
Slowly, his eyes rose to look at her face in interest. Beetlejuice's smiles fell faintly at the sight. Lydia had stopped struggling and laid perfectly still, her face upturned to the ceiling, tears sprang from her eyes. Brown eyes, this was the first time he had really looked into them. They sparkled with her tears, yet appeared mystifying in the low lighting. He loosened his grip on her pulling back.
Lydia didn't dare move. The tears she was trying to hide rolled down her cheeks mixing with her hair causing it to stick to her face. Beetlejuice had thought he'd like this power. Intimidation, control, but he didn't. Not over her anyway. It seemed wrong somehow. The horror and pain he was causing towards her wasn't satisfying.
Confused and annoyed Beetlejuice pushed himself to his feet. Looking back down at the girl sprawled out before him. Just looking at her made him hate himself, and her even more for making him feel the way he did, what this unknown emotion was. Growling he stomped out of the room slammed the door behind him and locked her in.
Lydia heard the click as the door locked, only then did she slowly lift her head. Grabbing at her clothing she clasped it to her, covering up as much skin as she could. Her brain reeled. What made him stop? What just happened? Eyes locked on the door Lydia thought about it. Did her feel guilty for what he was doing? Sympathy? She didn't know, but she wished she did. She wished she wasn't scared of him. She wished she were home with her parents, and Barbara, and Adam. Unfortunately in Lydia's past experience, wishes, no matter how small, never come true. Her crying continued. Crawling along the floor Lydia back herself up into the farthest corner of the dark room. Slowly the crying subsided as she became tired and fell asleep against the wall.
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Angry, he kicked the overturned kitchen chair, smiling satisfied as it hitting the wall loudly. Smoke rolled passed his lips as he removed the lit cigarette.
"Fucking girl." Beetlejuice snarled running a hand threw his messy hair anxiously. Looking around he sighed. Turned slightly back Beetlejuice could see outside threw the window on his right. The previously dark sky was now a grey blue and the two orange suns where rising higher. Morning had come and he was no closer to his forever freedom then before. "Woman…" He grumbled to himself, "worthless-fuckin'-bitch." Grinding his teeth Beetlejuice went to take a long drag of his cigarette.
"Now you've done it!" Beetlejuice turned around at the sound of the irate voice and grinned at the dead woman standing in the middle of his kitchen doorway.
'Speaking of worthless bitches.' His mind teased. "Hey Juny baby, you've come all this way just to see me? Why, I'm flattered."
"Stuff it Beetlejuice." Juno spat at him. He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "What.did.you.think.you.were.doing? Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? Not to mention all the work you've caused me?"
Beetlejuice opened his mouth to talk but she continued to pester him with boring chatter he didn't give a shit about.
"Kidnapping? Really Beetlejuice, even I thought you were better then that."
Beetlejuice raised his hands in argument. "Hey, in my defence I had good reasons-"
"Good reasons my foot." She said bitterly cutting him off. "Not only have you violated over a dozen rules, you've brought a human girl here of all places, but also you managed to piss off the whole council and all Neitherworld authority. I thought the last stunt you pulled was low but this? This is just childish."
"BUT! But, nonetheless, she is here. Under my lock and key. Still bound by contract-And, currently unharmed. Now unless you want that to change I suggest you make your point."
Juno glared at him for a moment. The bags under her eyes where more noticeable in the shady lighting of the kitchen making her look older and more stern, or just uglier then normal, as Beetlejuice thought.
"My point is this, while she's here you can't leave the Neitherworld," Beetlejuice snapped to attention at this newfound info. "And the only way she can leave is if she says your name three times by her own free will, and not out of possession, threat or fear."
Beetlejuice's arms hung loosely at his sides, the low burning cigarette had long made contact with his hand and the skin around it was a brown purple colour from the burning flesh he still hadn't noticed. His expression of confounded shock was almost priceless, his eyes where wide, eyebrows raised high, and his jaw would be on the floor if it were opened any further. Juno smiled and turned to leave but stopped after a couple steps and pivoted a little to look back over her shoulder and the stunned ghost.
"One more thing. If she dies or gets hurt in any way, you're powers will be revoked for the next five thousand years along with high 24 hour supervision if not worse…oh and your hand's burning." She said disappearing into a cloud of grey-black smoke.
Revoked? Supervision? …Burning? He looked down at his hand, which suddenly started to spas in pain. "OWW!" he yelped dropping the cigarette to the floor and shaking his hand around trying to cool it off. With a groan Beetlejuice continued to shake his hand as the information began to sink in.
"Damn." He muttered feeling more defeated then ever. 'Can't die while she's here? Great!' He rolled his eyes putting his burnt fingers in his mouth. "Just great."
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Oh man if you can picture that last part where his fingers are in his mouth. That would be beyond cute to see. Any way so I guess you guys could probably tell that I was… well… a couple fries short of a Happy Meal, while writing this. No? Yes? Oh well… so what? Did you, love it? Hate it? Find it boring? What? The only way I'll know is if you review and tell me. : Smile:
And for those of you who bug me on regular basis to update, (you know who you are) maybe now you could let up a bit? Yes? Ok so I hope you all liked it and I hope to hear from you all soon expressly my recurring reviewers.
Ok and now for the thanks for the review corner moments. I love these!!!
jillybear: yes I know and thanks for the review hope to hear from you again. Btw Jill, YOU TOUCH MY COOKIES AND I'LL MURDER YOU…see you at school tomorrow.
1woof1: haha I'm Honey-senpi. No? Ok, well I do apologize for cutting the last chapter short but there was a point. Can't remember what it was but it was just to tie into this one. Hope you liked it. Write back soon.
Siamese2005: WooHoo me neither…oh yea I'm the writer I have to get around to writing it first. Hides face in hands ok so was this more good work? Wish it were. Review back.
Jade-FM: thanks and no it wasn't too enthusiastic…by much. A bit over board but not enough to call it that. Any ways thanks and review again please. Oh and for the forcing you to watch all the episodes, just watch more TV around Halloween or buy the box set online and then watch it, then give it to me as a present.
BeckyButter: OK Becky here ya go. Thanks for reminding me to write…every day…sometimes up to five times in an hour. But thanks here ya go and hope ya liked it.
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