"Junes." Beetlejuice looked up from the photograph. "I'm going to put this as clearly and calmly as possible: What the fuck are you trying to pull?"

Juno snorted, "So this is the thanks I get for attempting to reunite you with your little love bunny. I knew you were ungrateful, Beej, but really…."

"I ain't ungrateful, babes." Beetlejuice leaned back and propped his feet on Juno's desk, much to her annoyance. "I'm just wondering if this is a prank or some shit like that. I mean, LOOK at this broad. She looks nothing like Lyds!"

Juno narrowed her eyes. "Do you think," she hissed in an exasperated voice, "that we would actually allow Lydia to be reborn into the same body, or anything similar to what it once looked like? That we would allow her to have the same name, the same circumstances—even the same habits—as Lydia did?"

"Well, why couldn't you?" Beetlejuice cocked his head.

"TOO MUCH FUCKING PAPERWORK!" Juno exploded. "Lydia is barely even warm in her grave! Her parents are still alive! Can you imagine what would happen if they met someone who looked and acted exactly as their daughter did? The idea of reincarnation is speculated enough on, BJ, and we don't need two more half-wits getting themselves on Oprah Winfrey and talking about how great it is to have their dead daughter back!"

"Alright, alright, don't get your nappies in a twist," Beetlejuice rolled his eyes at the speech. "So who is this broad, anyway? What's her name?"

"Her name's Bo Khorami." Juno tiredly took a long drag on her cigarette.

"Bo. Bo Khorami. What the hell kind of a name is that? Who names their kid Bo? Shepherds?"

"It's short for Beatrice." Juno said. "And Khorami is from her father. He's Afghani, or some shit like that.

"And her mother?" Beetlejuice asked warily.

"She's from Indiana." Juno's lips curled into a rather unpleasant smile. "Which is where little Bo lives."

"Aw, shit, Juno, you gotta be kidding."

Juno continued to grin. "I'm perfectly serious. She lives in a small town in Indiana. Aw. How romantic."

"And you expect me to go over there and tell her that I'm her best friend from a past life and she'll just fall into my arms and everything will be alright again?" Beetlejuice rolled his eyes once more.

"No. NO." Juno barked. "Under no circumstances are you to tell her that she has had a past life, or that she knew you in that past life. You are to start fresh with her. Like I said, we CANNOT have the living knowing about reincarnation. Most of the dead don't even consider it as a possibility."

"Alright, Junes, alright." Beetlejuice groaned. "I'll go play house with the little squirt. But I doubt I'll see my Lyds anywhere in there, from what you told me."

"You…you will." Juno said.

"How?"

"Look….look at her eyes. Just look in them. You'll see Lydia. Believe me, you'll see her."

Beetlejuice paused on his way out, about to say something, then decided against it, and headed out the door.

Juno sighed. "You're welcome."

She lit another cigarette.

Bo had been practicing the bassoon when he appeared. At first she thought she hadn't taken enough breaths, that she was dizzy and this was just a hallucination as a result of WAY too many runs in one measure, but even after she took a deep breath and gulped down some water, he was still. Fucking. There.

And he was moving.

Bo had five older brothers, all of which loved to pull pranks, many of them sticking close to the old Hide Under The Bed And Growl routine—so she had learned long ago that screaming in fear, while momentarily satisfactory, had absolutely no effect on the situation itself.

So she stayed quiet and looked at the man in the mirror, wondering if he would ever speak. He was pretty frightening, that was for sure. Even in her present state of mind-numbing fear, she saw that his face was probably once very handsome, but it was covered with green shit, and his eyes were too wild to be attractive. His hair was wild too, sort of a yellowish shade. His teeth were pointed. He seemed to be wearing a black and white striped suit.

And then he spoke. Bo jumped for the first time.

"What's shaking, babes?" the man leered. And right in the mirror, he turned into a salt shaker.

Bo couldn't help it. She had to laugh. It just felt right somehow.

Well. This is going down easier than I thought.

Things could be way worse. She could be throwing shit at him. That lamp looks particularly destructive, Beetlejuice noted.

But she laughed. She's laughing already.

While he shook himself in the mirror, Beetlejuice looked the chick up and down. She was no munchkin, that was for damn sure. The girl was a goddamn giraffe. Her hair was yellow, and the breasts…nice. The broad wasn't gorgeous, but BJ had to admit she wasn't bad looking, all up.

But he saw no resemblance to Lyds.

He couldn't find it in the girl's room, either. It wasn't a horror of pink fluff, but it wasn't dark like Lyds' had been. He had to admit there were some points of interest, though; a giant world map, a huge bookshelf, and an entire wall covered with newspaper clippings.

She finally spoke after she finished giggling. "Who are you?" It wasn't demanded, it was requested. It was like they just met in a café.

"Well…actually, babes, I can't tell you that." Beetlejuice smirked a bit, suddenly enjoying himself.

"Why not?"

"Rules are rules, kid. I don't make 'em, I just try to break 'em."

To his surprise, the girl giggled again. She wasn't scared of him? Hell.

"I'll give you a hint, " BJ went on. "Here's the first word."

Bo looked down, and suddenly, the floor was covered with bugs…with…

"BEETLE!" she shrieked, hopping up and down.

"Good." He smirked. "You're a natural, kid. Now, here we go…"

A glass of orange juice appeared before Bo. She stared at it blankly.

"Beetle….orange?"

Shake of the head.

"Beetle….glass?"

Shake of the head. Narrowing of the eyes.

"Beetle…uhh….Beetle….juice?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" BJ jumped up and down in the mirror. "You got it, kid! Now just say it two more times!"

"Wait a minute." The kid suddenly looked suspicious. "Okay, so in the past five minutes, I've come to two conclusions. One, you're a horrific hallucination that's a direct result from studying too hard for finals.

"'Horrific.'" Beetlejuice mused. "I like that."

"Two," she went on, "You're Satan in a striped suit and you'll kill me and my family if I say your name two more times. I prefer the latter, because I'd really rather not be crazy, but both come with their fair share of downsides. However, given that both are rather unpleasant choices, I've decided to nip this in the bud while I can. In other words, GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY MIRROR."

She said it loud enough to scare the crap out of him, but not enough to make him budge.

"Actually, babes, I'm neither." Beetlejuice idly picked at his nails. "I'm not quite Satan, although some of the shit I do COULD give him a run for his money. Heh heh. Naw, I'm not evil. But I'm a ghost."

"You're a ghost?" Bo looked exceedingly interested. She obviously hadn't thought of that.

"I'm the ghost with the most, babes." Beetlejuice smiled, showing his yellow, pointed teeth.

"What can you do?"

"Say my name two more times and I'll show ya."

Silence in the room.

Bo took a deep breath. "Beetlejuice."

He smoothed his hair back.

"Beetlejuice."

The room became dark, and only lightening illuminated Beetlejuice's dead face.

He smiled mischievously.

"It's showtime."