Beetlejuice and Lydia

"Lyds, you're sorta scaring me right now." Betelgeuse said, his hands in front of him defensively. He would've probably chosen to be faced with a hungry lion at the moment rather than with me in this forsaken place. The doctor shrunk back further into the wall, staring at us with a wary expression.

"This is your fault. You were the one who got me drunk." I growled.

"Let's be honest with each other; I didn't force you to drink anything...and, and you seduced me. Yeah, that's right. How could I resist you, Babes? You're a tempest. You know that used to be a crime punishable by death back when I was living." He gave a nervous chuckle and his back hit the wall. I wrapped my fist into his coat, pulling him closer to my face.

"Fix this." I hissed.

"I-I can't just 'fix it'. Come on, I'm a bio-exorcist; not a miracle worker. You're pregnant, you're pregnant. There's nothing I can do about that." He said, cringing away from my face. I stared him down, deciding on whether or not I wanted to hurt him. I unclenched my fists from his coat, deciding he wasn't worth it. Beetlejuice stumbled back, and slid against the wall out of my reach.

"So what do we do now?" I asked the doctor. The doctor seemed to be snapped back into the present as I spoke.

"Well, you'll just have to wait...until it's time." I cringed.

"When it's time you mean," It took everything I had to spit the word out, "labor, right?" The doctor moved his head from side to side.

"More or less."

"What do you mean by 'more or less'?"

"Spirits aren't born the exact same way human people are born, dear Lydia." He said, growing more confident and moving closer to me. "Although, the process will take a few months, and I'd advise you to come to the Spirit World every so often to make sure your baby is getting the proper environment it needs." Beetlejuice snapped his fingers. I didn't like the look that came over his face. That was his 'bright idea' face.

"I got it!" He said. "You know what this means, Lyds? This means you're going to need a temporary replacement spirit to cover what's happening in your body so you can be here for a while."

"Wh--"

"That wouldn't be necessary," The Doc interrupted. "Days move differently here in the Spirit World, and what may seem like just a few hours here might as well have been a few hundred years in the Physical World."

"A few hundred years?" My voice was shaky as I thought about the possibility that once this was over I might not be living anymore. Life wasn't the best but it did beat the hell out of spending the rest of eternity playing house with Beetlejuice.

"That's not always the case though." The Doc retracted.

"Which is why we should get a replacement," Beetlejuice sung, "The replacement would look after your body and keep it in functioning order while you're here, so as long as they're in your body you'll stay alive and time will run more smoothly. Are you following me?"

"Sort of?" I said.

"Great! Come on, we need to go find you a replacement." Beetlejuice then grabbed my arm and began to drag me out of the room. I followed behind, pulling aggressively on my arm but he wouldn't let go. He was too busily tied up babbling.

"Now that it's official we're going to have to find a house or a condo around here to keep home in while you're in this condition. Meanwhile, your replacement will be possessing your body back in the physical world living out your life." He rambled on.

"Posses--Beetlejuice you never said anything about being possessed." I protested.

"Come on, Lyds! Trust me; I'm a bio-exorcist! I know all about possession. Besides, we'll make up an agreement that you'll have your body back anytime you want it." He began pulling me through cobble streets. This place was familiar. If we made a turn East, we'd be heading towards the courthouse.

"I didn't think we'd be in this town again--"

"...you'll like this place. I've went here many of times when I needed a job done and trust me, they pick the best of the best when it comes to demonic possession." Before my eyes I could picture it now: Green goop running down my chin as my head spun around, spitting out profanities as my father and Deelia looked on from my bedroom doorway. Beetlejuice was sending me straight to hell, if such a thing ever existed.

We stopped at a orange and black stripped building, with marble snakes running up the pillars out front. A large sign written in Greek lettering above the pillars read 'Possession Inc.' Beetlejuice marched up the steps, removing my hand from his. I looked up at the building, too afraid to walk inside.

"Come on, Lyds. What are you doing just standing there? We have a baby to get ready for!" He said.

"I don't think this is such a good idea." I called.

"Don't be a chicken!" I sighed, walking slowly up the steps.

"Okay fine, but I'm going to be giving my say on which spirit gets picked." I said, allowing Beetlejuice to open and shut the heavy door behind me.


Inside the main door was a lounge fit for a lawyer's office. Well, if you minus the blue flamed torches hanging on the walls that gave the room a bluish look to it. I sat down next to Beetlejuice on a thick sofa. He already had an issue of 'Dead Weekly' opened up to the first page. What can I say? Being dead was almost the same as being alive.

"How come you have magazines when you're dead?" He gave me a wicked smile.

"Because we get all of the really good writers." He chuckled and went back to reading. I sat back on my chair, noticing for the first time someone sitting in a chair across from us. It was a woman, lying back in the chair with her eyes wide open. Her hands were thrown over the chair arms, almost as if she was beckoning to someone. She appeared freshly dead, her lips blueish black with a sickeningly blue tint to her skin. Her hair looked black and wet, pinned down to a soaked through black evening gown. Something about her gave me the creeps.

Just as I was watching her the wall on the left opened up, startling me. A woman who looked like an air brushed porn star wearing too tight of a prison guards' uniform sauntered into the room. She had on a white hospital mask over her lips, which she pulled down as she spoke.

"Witch Bethany, you may come back now. Hector is waiting for you." The undead woman rose from her chair without her feet touching the floor and followed the woman back to where the wall had opened up. It wasn't until they were gone and I felt Beetlejuice staring at me did I notice I had my nails stuck into his arm.

"Lyds, seriously?" He asked, arching his brow at me. I was about to give him a witty comeback when the wall opened up again. This time a man dressed in a suit walked out. He had black hair slicked back into a ponytail, and had a goatee and a mustache.

"Beetlejuice? Is that really you?" He asked.

"Levi! It's been so long." Beetlejuice stood up. The man's eyes shifted to me.

"And who's this young creature you brought with you?" He asked, offering his hand out to me. I didn't take it.

"Lydia." I said.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Lydia. Are you the one that will be looking for a spirit today?" He asked.

"Unfortunately." I said. Levi's lips curled into an almost gentle smile.

"Ah, well we better get on with it. Come with me this way." He took us back to wherever he just came from. Before stepping over the threshold, I grabbed Beetlejuice's hand. I gave him a squeeze, hoping he'd know not to let go. He must have understood, because he squeezed my hand back.