Hi Here's chapter 7 but before you start reading I have a confession. This is a very dialogue-heavy chapter and dialogue isn't my strongest point so I am really sorry if it sounds a little staged or wordy in places.
Please Please PLEASE review, I am desperate for feedback and I will love you forever if you review. As always I hope you enjoy and are looking forward to me posting more.
"Sorry I forgot the effects apperating has on mortals," Juno said apologetically as Lydia gasped for breath. She felt incredibly nauseated and things seemed slightly off as if there was half a second delay. She felt dizzy and ended up slumping down onto the attic sofa; a cloud of dust filled the air making Lydia cough for a moment. She found it somewhat fascinating that Juno coughed as well and fanned her face with her hand all the while still smoking like a chimney.
"There should be an old mirror in here somewhere," Juno said fanning herself and taking a deep drag from her cigarette which convinced Lydia even further that if the woman ever stopped smoking even for a minute she would stop completely. "Perhaps they are what keeps her going, take away the cigarettes and she will power down like a robot with the batteries removed," Lydia thought to herself, it was defiantly an amusing thought and a theory she would have to test some time. She was brought back to reality as Juno addressed her.
"We had to bind him to something and the silver makes them particularly good conduits," Juno said though she didn't bother to explain what they were good conduits for.
"Sorry did you say a mirror?" Lydia inquired only to get a nod in return. "By any chance is it a big mirror with a white frame? It looks kind of old and it has a weird mark in the bottom right corner" Lydia asked already knowing the answer to her question.
"That's the one? It didn't smash, did it? The Maitland's assured me that it was hidden somewhere very safe". Juno said sounding both worried and pissed off at the incompetence of the newbie ghosts. "Speaking of which, shouldn't they be here by now?" Juno asked.
"No, no the mirror is fine it's all in one piece, more or less. But I haven't seen Adam and Barbra for a good few years actually" Lydia explained sadly. "I got a letter from them and they said they were going to give things in the netherworld a try. Personally, I would have been happy if they had stayed, but the call of retirement was too strong or something" Lydia said watching the cloud of dust begin to settle again.
Things sounded more than fishy to Juno, but she decided to stay quiet on the matter until she had more evidence under her belt. There was no point in chasing shadows and upsetting Lydia in the process until she knew what she was actually dealing with. "Do you still have that letter by any chance?" Juno asked trying to keep all hint of emotion out of her raspy voice.
Lydia nodded in response "Yep it's in my dresser and so is that mirror you were talking about. Well, that's on the dresser not in it, it wouldn't fit IN the dresser" Lydia rambled which was a dead giveaway that she was nervous. She let out an exasperated sigh before stating "it's this way" as she got up from the sofa; gave herself a quick dust down and she began to make her way to the attic stairs.
They crossed the attic and the stairs in silence and Lydia felt the need to say something, but she thought it would just aggravate Juno more and she really did need the woman's help. They walked into Lydia's room and the mirror as sitting on the table looking perfect and completely untouched. Well, it would look untouched to a stranger but Lydia knew she had left the curtain draped over the glass, it was the only reason she had a chance to get away. Now, however, the curtain was back in its usual place and the mirror was unobstructed.
"Last time I saw him he was hanging out inside my mirror. That was this morning, but things seem different now. The dresser isn't as I left it" Lydia said trying to keep the crippling fear she was feeling out of her voice. "Er should I?" she asked gesturing at the dresser seat, hoping against hope she wouldn't have to do a repeat performance of this morning's horror show.
"If you wouldn't mind," Juno said in a stern voice which made Lydia feel even worse, she really didn't have a choice in this situation and she hated it. So biting the bullet Lydia sat down at her table and pretended as if everything was normal, she began to run a brush through her hair hoping that she wouldn't see that flash of sickly green. She fiddled with some of the cosmetics and bottles of perfume on the dresser as if she was looking for something and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the green glow taking over the mirror. She still couldn't see him properly yet but the more she ignore him the more in focus he seemed to get. It felt almost as if he was mocking her, staying out of focus just to annoy her.
"So Babes couldn't get enough of me ay," the gravelly voice said breaking the silence making Lydia's heart feel as if it was about to drop through her stomach.
"Something like that" Lydia said flatly hoping that he wouldn't pick up on how frightened she was. She had planned out what she would say to him in incredible detail, but she ended up blurting out "Why are you here, what do you want with me?" instead. She could hear a small sigh coming from her bedroom doorway where Juno stood out of the mirrors sigh.
"Wow, that a lot of questions for a chick who claimed she didn't even know my name. Sounds like someone was telling lies this morning" he whispered in a hiss which was both patronising and oddly appealing at the same time.
"Look Beetle…" she trailed off as she watched him repositioned himself in the mirror. She could see him better now and now and he was much more than just a pair of floating eye. He looked fully formed, in real time in real size. He was standing on the other side of the glass which now looked more like a window than a mirror. He was looked just like he did when she first summoned him all those years ago and it was both terrifying and thrilling that it seemed that all he had to do was lean out of the glass and he would be able to touch her.
"You've got stronger since this morning," Lydia said as calmly as she could. She would never admit that seeing him almost in the flesh was having a rather strange effect on her. Her heart was racing like crazy and once again she felt the strange pull to talk to him and tell him all her secrets. It was even stronger than any of their previous encounters and she wasn't sure why. There was something about seeing the stripes in his suit that made her feel very, very confused. They were so distinctive that she couldn't fool herself into thinking she was talking to anyone else.
"Seeing that we're stating the obvious why don't I congratulate you on snapping. Honestly, I thought it would take a lot more to get you to snap and off yourself. I'll admit I'm disappointed I was looking forward to playing a few choice games with you. Then again you always were a little trigger happy and hungry for the afterlife" Beetlejuice said mockingly as he could see that Lydia was covered in gore. He honestly felt disappointed Lydia was bloodied and she looked incredibly weak so he presumed she was on the way out. He had enjoyed the thought of feeling her warm willing flesh under him and all the games he could play on her. Sure he could make her life hell if she was dead but all the teasing and pent-up frustration sexual and otherwise somehow lost its appeal if she was now one of the living impaired.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but I wouldn't congratulate myself so soon if I were you," Lydia said with venom in her voice. She was quickly overcoming her fear of him and though she still felt sick and incredibly confused the more they talked the less scared she felt.
"I'm a photographer" Lydia stated flicking a large clot of the fake blood at the mirror. It landed with a satisfying splat and Lydia felt a kick of satisfaction at the fact that he had woefully underestimated her. Though she didn't expect what happened next, almost as soon as the blood hit the mirror Beetlejuice began to grin. It was disgusting as his teeth could be the poster child for tooth decay and gingivitis; she could practically see the bugs crawling between his teeth. In fact, one of them fell out of his gum line and he chuckled as he quickly scooped it up and put it in the breast pocket of his jacket. "Save that guy for later," he said cheerfully before he turned his attention back to Lydia and the blood splat.
His grin widened and a striped, forked tongue slithered out from between his lips. It stretched out to an abnormal length looking almost cartoon-like as it reached out to meet the mirror's surface where he licked away the blood. "Fake, such a pity" he muttered. "I was so looking forward to tasting more of that delicious blood of yours" he practically purred his bright emerald eyes locking with Lydia's. There was an unmistakable moment of audible silence as Lydia looked deep into his eyes, they were so strange and yet familiar. It was like something she had seen in a dream a very long time ago and it made Lydia's skin feel an almost electric tingle.
Beetlejuice could feel it too, there was something off about Lydia, as he looked into her deep, chocolate brown eyes. They were warm and inviting, but that wasn't what disturbed him. It was the fact that it reminded him of something he had seen a couple of hundred lifetimes ago. Something that he hadn't understood fully at the time and he only understood an iota more from his many years of being the undead. He wanted to know more about Lydia, he wanted to undress her body and her mind to see what made her tick but most of all he wanted to find out why she felt so familiar to him. It had something he felt the moment he had first seen her all those years ago when he had turned into a snake to terrorised her family. There had been a moment where he something deep inside him had recognised her and he wasn't sure why. That's why he had taken such an interest in the girl, after all he could have manipulated anyone into marrying him, one of the party guests, hell even the girls shew of a stepmother. Yet he decided she was the one that held the key to his freedom and he would have got it if it hadn't been for that bloody sandworm.
The pair were quickly broken out of their haze as Juno practically exploded from her corner of the room. "WHAT, Deetz you, idiot. Never feed your blood to one of the dead, especially someone like him" Juno said with disdain as she burst from her corner to stand behind Lydia so she was in full view of the mirror.
"I didn't, I haven't, I would never" Lydia mumbled, feeling incredibly angry and on the verge of tears at the accusation. "I know I'm not as savvy as you are when it comes to the world of the dead, but I'm not a moron. I would never share my blood with anyone!" she practically shouted, outraged at such an accusation.
Beetlejuice sat back smugly watching the scene unfold as the two women bickered. It was quite a show and he wished he had a bucket of popcorn to munch on as he watched the pair trying to figure things out. "It's such a shame I could really go for some more of your juice babes, especially now it's such a fine vintage," He said in a voice that was so seductive it sounded like liquid silk. Then he laughed his unmistakable, insane laugh that made Lydia shudder to her very core.
Juno fixed Beetlejuice with a glare as sharp as any dagger "And you; you leave this poor girl alone or I'll have you exercised to the lost souls' room. There will be no getting out of it this time" She said trying to sound menacing, but the ghost with the most laughed it off as if the threat had been spoken by a harmless little mouse.
"Wow, big threats coming from Ms Marlboro," Beetlejuice said sarcastically "The truth is you couldn't get rid of me if you tried," he said before his face split into a sickening grin. "Wait a minute you did try and this was the best you could do. Face it you old hag the only 'exorcizing' you could do is in a gym" Beetlejuice said before he cackled maniacally. Juno literally steamed in reply, though she was no longer smoking a cloud of what looked like steam seemed to shoot angrily from the hole in her neck. As she glared at the mirror she noticed something, a little mark on the frame that was a deep scarlet almost brown. It sat on the frame of the mirror, it being the only colour marking the cream paint.
"Lydia did you ever cut you on the mirror," Juno said trying to keep the anger from her voice as she tried to ignore the idiot that was her ex-assistant. "Think back, did you hurt yourself when you first moved in? Juno asked anxiously.
Lydia paused for a moment as she tried to remember back to her childhood. Things were fuzzy at the best of times let alone when she was stuck in the middle of two dead people, belittling each other.
She reached out and touched the strange scarlet mark on the mirror, as she did so she was filled with that strange tingling cold feeling. It seemed to radiate from her hand outwards until it sat at her core and radiated along her spine. It made her shiver internally in a most enjoyable way, she tried to ignore the feeling just like the tried to ignore the emerald eyes staring straight at her, but she failed at both.
"Yeah I did, when Mama first got the dresser. Before she painted and varnished it I was playing dress up and I ended up splitting my hand open on a splinter" Lydia said taking her fingers away from the tarnish in the wood to reveal a scar across the palm of her hand. It was bright white for some reason and it was incredibly cold to the touch.
"Did little Lydia want to play doctors and nurses?" Beetlejuice said with an extra sleazy smile.
"Fuck you I was 6… and my mama had some awesome clothes" Lydia retorted with a snarl.
Juno was quiet for a moment before she put her hand on Lydia's shoulder "Can I talk to you in the hallway for a moment?" she asked sounding genuinely concerned. Lydia nodded and got up from the dresser leaving the ghost with the most to his own devices.
"Hey come on we had something going here; I insult you, you insult me…" at that point Lydia had moved away and the mirror had turned into a mass of silver clouds before its surface turned back to what a mirror should be. "And then we make out a little no big deal," he said looking back up to see that he was back in his black void of a prison. "Fuck!" he said kicking the edge of the mirror which made a taut twanging sound like a rock hitting a frozen lake.
Meanwhile, in the hallway Juno was discussing things with Lydia and it didn't seem hopeful. "Lydia if you really did hurt yourself your blood could have soaked into the makings of the mirror," Juno said and Lydia realised it must have been serious as it was the first time the woman had ever called her by her first name. "If B…" she stopped to take a breath and then restarted what she was saying. "If HE has drunk your blood like the claims then there is nothing I can do," Juno said sadly.
"Wait what do you mean there's nothing you can do it's just blood, anyway its way over a decade old. One crusty little puddle of blood shouldn't matter" Lydia snapped hoping that it wouldn't actually be a big deal.
"You don't get it, Lydia, there's nothing I can do, it's not that I don't want to help you I honestly do, but I can't," Juno said getting out a cigarette to calm her nerves.
"So what If I don't need your help, it's just blood" Lydia replied hopefully.
Once the old woman was smoking like a chimney again, she replied. "I don't make the rules Miss Deetz," She said slipping back into her professional persona. "There used to be ceremonies hundreds of years back where the living would share their blood with the dead. It was usually only performed by the desperate, the mad and the incredibly lonely. It was rare, but it did happen every once in a while" she stopped to take a drag of the calming stick of ash.
"Blood was shared so that the dead had a bond with the living. It was an almost instant thing, the dead would become almost alive again. They could move about the world of the living and the world of the dead with ease; the human could do the same thing sometimes, but that was even rarer still. As far as I know, all the humans go the short end of the stick because the dead's power increased if they feast on the living blood" Juno said with a tone of pity in her voice. "You said he looked stronger since you last saw him, that's what the blood does. It imbues the living impaired with power that only something with living can bring. It doesn't matter how old the consumed blood is, they could be chewing down on scabs if they wanted" she said taking another drag before adding "And I have seen souls desperate enough to try. But if the blood isn't from something that's still alive at the moment of consumption then it won't work. It doesn't matter that the blood was from when you were a child, you're still alive so he can take your power" Juno said before she did something incredibly unexpected she reached out with her free arm and gave Lydia a half cuddle.
"I'm so sorry Deetz, but he basically owns you now. It's the rules, the dead have more rights that the living and as far as everyone is concerned you're his". Juno said softly, there wasn't an easy way to say it and there was no way of breaking a blood tie so she decided to fill in Lydia with some of the details; she at least owed her that. "He will be able to feel you at all times, he will know when you are in danger and it will be in his interests to keep you alive for as long as possible. He will make you suffer, but he will keep you alive as long as it suits him" Juno said softly before the stunned Lydia broke the awkward half hug.
"Great just like fucking True Blood" Lydia muttered before Juno interjected.
"Whats a True Blood?" Juno asked curiosity obvious in her voice and for a moment it distracted them both from reality
"Er it's a TV show about Vampires but that doesn't matter now" Lydia explained before getting back to the subject in hand. "What does matter is that fact that i don't belong to anyone. No-one owns me, no you, not Adam, not Barbra and certainly not HIM!" She said angrily, tears of frustration stinging her eyes. "You said that ghosts can feed off a human and take their power. Has there ever been a human who has taken the power off a ghost?" Lydia asked desperately.
"I honestly don't know Deetz I can try and find out for you. I can speak to the netherworld council and I will have a look in the law library, but I will be honest with you off the bat it's not looking promising. As far as rights are concerned you don't really have any. Why else do you think HE could try and marry you without your permission" She stubbed her cigarette out with the heel of her shoe and gave Lydia a pitying look.
"Look I have a friend on the council that owes me a favour or two so I will try my best, but it will be a miracle if I can even get them to look at your case. Even then it will take a while, the Netherworld justice system is slow even on ghost time. It could be a few years before they even get to the case IF they choose to take it. " Juno said bluntly.
"Fuck that I'm not waiting years for someone to lock him back up. There has to have been someone who reversed it, someone, who took the power back," Lydia said frantically to which Juno replies with giving her a condescending pat on the head, it had been meant to be soothing, but it just came out as patronizing.
"While I'm here I'm going to need that letter from the Mainland's, perhaps it will help me contact them; I'm sure they'll be happy to help out," Juno said and Lydia nodded in reply the words only just about sinking in. It was a lot of heavy information to process all at once. In a sort of autopilot, she walked back to the dresser, opened one of the draws and took out the letter. She didn't need to actively avoid looking at the mirror in her numb state everything was cloudy. Internally she was screaming as she handed the letter to Juno. It had been the last thing they had ever given her, before they disappeared and now Juno had it. She knew the end would justify the means, but I didn't stop her from wanting to clasp the letter to her chest and never let it go.
"Stay strong and try not to let him get to you," Juno said with as much love and emotion as a stone though she might as well have told Lydia not to let the sun, shine it was an inevitability they both knew that. Juno had been about to give some words of encouragement, but she knew it was useless so she silently disappeared in her usual puff of smoke.
Lydia stood there for a while trying to process the mountain of new information before she gave up and robotically made her way back to bed. She tucked herself under the covers, making a blanketed fortress of solitude before she let the floodgates open and she sobbed herself to sleep.