Chapter 2
Around the late evening of this rather insane day, the duo of Lydia and Beetlejuice had returned to the bedroom. Lydia was laughing a bit as she made an exclamation in regards of their plans. "I just can't get over that one scene. It was just in bad taste." Beetlejuice seemed to smirk a little himself as he remarked with. "Babes, we both know I'm the only one who should be giving the bad taste." He added a chuckle of his own after. Lydia giggled as she took in a good breath before turning to look around the room, soon wondering just where Katie had gone. Beetlejuice himself really didn't seem to care either way, but he did lift up a brow in what would be slight curiosity. "I wonder where she could have gotten too." Lydia paused for a moment and her eyes seemed to widen as her answer came to her mind. "Oh no, mom is probably the answer to this." She added. Beetlejuice himself seemed to hold a look of disgust at the memory of what Delia had done to him during his own dog fiasco. "Now, I almost feel bad for the mutt." Beetlejuice said in his own admittance, almost looking as if he were shivering at the previous memory in his mind.
Soon there was the sound of pawing and possibly clawing at the door. Lydia turned her head toward the door of her room as she moved to open it, finding the canine in question all poofed and fluffed up in a way that a Poodle would look. Turns out, Katie couldn't stay hidden for very long under the bed because Delia eventually came up to search there. In any case, the wolfdog did not look too pleased as she proceeded in, letting out a low and clearly annoyed growl. At the sight of her, the ghost himself began to cackle madly as he seemed to fall backwards, hovering slightly instead of hitting the floor as he held his rather round midsetion. The canine seemed to react by glaring daggers at him as she exhaled and began shaking her body from head to tail in attempt to rid the poofy makeover Delia had given her in their absence. "Hardy, har, har, veeerrrry funny, Beetlejuice." She stated rather sarcastically and irrated at the ghost's laughter as she finally got herself back to her normal wolfdog appearance. "I swear, that woman is really barking mad in the head." The canine added with a low sigh.
"Yeah, I know that she is. Mom can get rather carried away." Lydia agreed, nodding. Beetlejuice was still laughing and managed to speak inbetween his ridiculing laughter. "Ahahaha, carried away in comedy, ohohoho. She's not just insane, she's a basket case." In saying this, he turned into a big floating basket for a brief moment, much like with any other thing before. Katie just shook her head again, but couldn't really disagree with the ghost. So, she nodded and said. "You can say that again, Beetlejuice." And as that was said, BJ soon repeated. "That again, Beetlejuice." The wolfdog seemed to do the equivalent of a facepalm by lifting a paw and setting it over her face, trying to hold in a slight snicker. Lydia, however, was giggling at the ghost with the most and holding a hand to her mouth lightly. Katie took a moment to clear her throat and readied herself to speak again, but unfortunately, she was cut off as Delia's voice had chimed and was proceeding upstairs. "Oh, doggy woggy, where did you goooo?" Both Beetlejuice and Katie seemed to jump in startlement in hearing Lydia's mother calling and approaching. BJ, himself, soon chose to disappear from visibility, only to appear shrunken and hidden upon the wolfdog, herself. This in itself, caused the wolfdog's skin to crawl a bit in itching as she twitched, resisting to scratch as she moved to hide behind Lydia and lowered her ears to the sides.
Within moments, Delia came into the room with a big excited smile as she spotted the canine behind her daughter. "Oh, there you are and I see you've met my little Lydia." She said with a cheery tone, which was honestly annoying to the wolfdog's ears. Delia moved as if she were about to drag said animal by the collar, causing the hidden ghost on her shoulders to make a high pitched 'eep' noise in turn. "Now, why don't you come with me and-" She was soon cut off as Lydia spoke up. "Mom, I think that Katie should stay in my room. I mean, I've kind of gotten attached to her rather quickly and I kind of feel alone in here at night since Percy is always in yours and Dad's bedroom at night." She added a slight laugh, hoping that Delia would believe her. The woman, herself, lifted a brow as she straightened back up and gave a gentle smile in return to her daughter. "Well, alright, dear, I guess you can keep her in here with you then. I'll just have to spend time with the doggy woggy when I'm free to." She replied, almost adding a small frown at the last bit as she gave Katie a pet on the head. "Well, goodnight, dear." She added lastly before taking her leave from the room, shutting the door behind her.
Beetlejuice and Katie both sighed in relief as the woman left. The ghost, himself, soon reappeared beside Lydia, hovering with his legs bent at the knees. "She really is nuts." He stated quite blatantly as he briefly morphed into acorns to emphasize the point on his comment. "I'll say." Lydia agreed as she let out her own sigh. The wolfdog looked to them both as she moved back to the front of the two, sitting on her hindquarters. "Now, before that interruption, I had to say something I forgot to mention to you two earlier. I need to make it a point that I mainly stay in the living world as a guard dog for Lydia because I have come to realize from what I've heard that you, Beetlejuice, aren't always so quick to the rescue. This being another reason I urge to be staying for awhile because with what's to come, that can't be happening. I hope you can at least agree to that. Also, I should mention that if need be, I can be an asset in the Neitherworld just as well." She then turned her look to Lydia directly as she continued. "I also hope that, that won't be too much of a problem." Lydia shook her head and replied with. "No, of course not." She looked to Beetlejuice. "You, Beej?" Beetlejuice seemed to hold a pout on his face as he gave a little 'hmmph' in response.
"Beetlejuice?" Lydia said in a near scolding tone in using his full name. Beetlejuice flinched as he then said in usual whiny tone. "Whaaaaaaaaat?" Lydia held her gaze on him, which equaled her voice tone as she tapped her foot lightly. "Is that going to be a problem for you?" She asked again, raising her brow at him. BJ only scoffed and seemed to cross his arms as he mumbled lowly. "Well?" Lydia pressed on. He soon sighed and finally gave an answer in a pouty tone of sorts. "Okay, okay, no, it's not a problem." Lydia couldn't help, but stifle a giggle at his response and tone. She gave him a smile and then said. "Good because I was being honest when I said I grew attached to her. I mean, how can anyone resist a nice looking wolfdog like this." She referred to Katie with her hands in saying this. Beetlejuice twitched at the word 'nice' as he moaned and tugged on his hair. "Eeeeyuck, you said the 'n' word, Lyds. You know I hate that word." This only caused the wolfdog to laugh as Lydia did the same. "Oh, Beej, I know." The young girl said with an amused smile as she snickered.
After a brief moment to let her own laugh die down, the canine let out a yawn as she lightly shook her head. "Well, I believe today's been a rather long and more than intriguing day. Wouldn't you think?" She asked with a small grin. Lydia nodded, seeming to yawn herself as she gave her agreement. "I would say that's an understatement, but still, I agree." Beetlejuice even seemed to give his own acknowledgement of agreement with his usual 'pfft' response. The wolfdog rolled her eyes slightly at the ghost's response, moving to speak once more. "Then it's settled that we all are in agreement. However, like with what was spoken on earlier, tomorrow and any day of the future could prove more stranger than the previous day." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Now, tomorrow, I think we should all try to get to know one another more. What I mean in that is that each needs one on one with myself and then we all can tie in together afterward. Sound fair?" She looked to the two with a raised brow. "Well, I do have to walk to school tomorrow. Guess, that's about a good a time as any for one on one with me." Lydia answered. Katie gave a nod to her as she replied. "Then that shall be good." She turned her attention to the hovering ghost, who seemed to be in a laid back pose. "And for you, ghost with the most? I take that I'll have to venture into your world while Lydia is in school?" She asked.
BJ just rolled his eyes and gave his quick, forced response. "Yeah, sure, I guess." Katie only gave a slight smirk to him as she said. "Good, then it's all set. I have the time with you, Lydia in the morning to school and you, ghost man afterward." She let out another yawn and added. "Now, I think it's time for all of us to get some shut eye, yes?" Beetlejuice stretched out his arms as he soon let out a yawn of his own and nodded to the suggestion. "I couldn't agree more. I need to catch the Z's." In that instant, the ghost seemed to turn into some sort of insect enthusiast as he was now holding a net and swinging it about to catch some floating letters, namely the one he mentioned. Only seconds later to revert back to his usual striped suit. Lydia rubbed at her eyes and could only mumble her agreement as she moved to lie on her bed, moving under the blankets and resting her head on her pillow. Katie looked to Beetlejuice and stated. "Guess I'll see you out." She couldn't help, but chuckle to herself lowly as she lifted a paw up in the direction of the vanity mirror. The ghost with the most just gave another eye roll and said nothing as he moved through the mirror to return to his own bedroom in the Neitherworld.
The canine took a moment herself to stretch a bit before moving to the light switch, turning it off to put the room in darkness. She tilted her head toward Lydia's bed, having a thought come to mind. 'Well, I can say one thing about the kid right off the bat and that is that she sure has a lot of patience to be around a ghost like Beetlejuice.' A sigh escaped the wolfdog as she moved to curl up on the floor at the foot of the bed. 'Guess, I will be in for more than I originally thought.' She added mentally as she rested her head on her large paws, eyes drifting shut as slumber took over the canine. A few hours went by in the night, until the time struck midnight and at said time, there seemed to be noise coming from downstairs. Almost like something or someone had opened or no, broken in through the kitchen door. This sound certainly alarmed the sleeping wolfdog as her eyes snapped open, head lifted up and ears perked up on alert. Her brows lowered as a soft growl escaped her throat, moving to get on her paws as she stood and made way toward the bed room door. She looked to the doorknob before jumping up to paw it around, eventually getting the door itself open to a crack. Katie nudged and pawed until she managed to get out of the room, shaking herself off briefly and then heading down the stairs carefully and quietly.
Within a minute or two, she had reached the kitchen's doorway and took note of the sounds beyond it, raising an ear up to listen. "Now, where could there be something of value in this dump?" Came the low whisper of a male intruder. Katie let out a low snort as she peaked in on the said crook. The man looked rather bulky in build, but not bulky enough to scare of the wolfdog. He had his back turned and didn't seem to even catch inkling of there being a big animal watching him sift through drawers. The canine, herself, took this chance to cautiously move into the kitchen as she slowly snuck up on the burglar. Once close enough behind him, she let out a rather aggressive and threatening growl. This, in turn, startled the intruder as he jumped around with a look of shock on his face. He could see a pair of glowing teal eyes staring him down and a nice set of sharp fangs bared in his direction. His expression was now turning into one of fright and intimidation as he tried to back away from the growling beast in front of him. "N-n-nice doggy. G-good doggy. Don't t-tear into the pl-pl-pleasant man." He stammered as he shivered and trembled. The mane was trying to find his way out at this point as he fumbled his hands behind him to search for a doorknob.
The canine gave a fierce and nasty bark toward the man in the response as she snapped at his waist's location. The intruder jumped and let out a high pitched squeal of terror, falling back on the floor and causing a loud thud. All this noise had awoken the Deetz pair upstairs as a nervous Charles and frightened Delia moved out from their bedroom, heading for the stairs to reach to kitchen. Both were surprised to find the new family pet, growling and now snarling at the burglar whom had been pressed up against the door frame. "Help! Somebody! Call off the dog! Pleeeaaassse!" He cried out in fear, sniveling on the floor and unable to move. Delia then exclaimed to her husband. "Charles, call the police!" Her nervous wreck of a husband quickly nodded and ran off to dial for them. At this moment, Lydia had come down to the sight, blinking in surprise of her own, but wasn't really as fear stricken as her parents were. Delia moved to pull Katie off and away from the intruder while the sounds of sirens echoed from outside the house. It was rather quick for the police to arrive, but in a place called Peaceful Pines, it's kind of something to expect in order for peace to be kept.
The burglar was screaming as the wolfdog kept up with her growling, snarling, and barking at him. An officer came him and within an instant, the man who was beyond terror, jumped into the cop's arms and pleaded. "Please, take me away. Do anything you must to get me away from that dog!" Lydia seemed to hold herself back from a snicker because the crying man who now learned his lesson about breaking in was just too amusing to not get a laugh out of. The office seemed to hold a 'what a baby' expression as he then made sure to fulfill what was pleaded, taking the big and sniveling man out to the patrol car. Minutes passed as the police had pulled out and left with the previous intruder. Delia soon held a rather large grin on her face as she squeezed Katie into a hug. "Charles, can you believe it? My doggy woggy just protected our lovely home from a burglar." The wolfdog, herself, just held a flat look that only Lydia paid mind to in lue of her mother's returning excitable attitude. Charles only gave a nervous laugh, as well as, a sneeze in replying. "Yes, ACHOO, I saw, dear." The canine squirmed in Delia's arms as making sign to be released, which the woman granted as she let go.
Katie quickly moved to be standing at Lydia's side as she stared warily at her mother. "Well, this has been enough for a late night event. So, let's all just get back to bed." Lydia chimed with a mock chuckle of her own. Her parents only nodded to the suggestion as they made their way to return to bed. Lydia merely sighed as she gave the wolfdog a pet on the head, smiling as she lead the canine along. "Way to impress my parents, Katie. Now, I know they'll be letting you stay for quite a long while." She then held a slight grin as she added. "You certainly made that intruder nearly piss himself." She snickered a bit softly as she and the canid companion returned to her bed room. The canine simply smiled back at the young girl as she thought to herself. 'Well, I have to protect what is part of my job, but I'm starting to believe that this will be seen more than just a job. I may even come to love this kid and her family.' Once back in the room, Lydia moved to lie back in bed and lightly patted the side, looking to Katie as she did. "Come on up here and sleep. It's better than the floor." Her smile still on her face as she spoke. The canine gave a nod and did as asked, moving to climb up into bed as she curled up at the edge of the bed. Lydia had done the same and had soon fallen back into her own slumber. 'Hell, I may even grow to love that obnoxious ghost too.' The wolfdog thought lastly as she chuckled lowly to herself before making her own return to world of slumber. This certainly had become the start of what could be called Katie's insane adventure.