Out of Sight, Out of Mind//A Beetlejuice Fanfiction

||Chapter Fifty One|| Clear Conscience

Adam and Barbara stood on the opposite side of the attic, staring at Betelgeuse with equal looks of worry and concern flashing across their faces. Their demon friend's hair was a dark bloody red in shade, his more demonic features had made themselves known to both ghosts again, and his eyes were now pools of tar black. And the Maitlands could tell immediately that he had, or was trying to, hold it back - clutching at his hair. Trying to make it go back to normal.

But nothing seemed to be working.

Barbara moved forwards, hand extended out. "Betelgeuse, if you could just calm down-...."

Adam put a hand on his wife's back, stopping her in her tracks. "Barbara, wait... you heard what Leslie said earlier. It's best that we let him calm down on his own accord."

"Yeah... but..." Barbara turned to her husband as a look of worry crossed her face. "It's been fifteen minutes and he's not showing much calming down." Before Adam could even think of a response, Barbara had already turned and was once again facing Betelgeuse. "So I figured that it'd be easier for us to try and calm him down ourselves."

Again, Adam tried to stop his wife. But she'd already come into contact with the out-of-control Betelgeuse.

"And I definitely do not want to have to fight him to calm him down," Barbara continued with a soft, but determined look set on her face. And Adam could only watch as his wife reached a hand out and touched the area in which Betelgeuse's heart would be.

That gesture returned Betelgeuse's eyes to normal. And Adam moved forwards, putting a hand on Betelgeuse's back. And that calmed him down just a little more. The Maitlands led Betelgeuse back over towards the couch that he had been sitting on before this all started happening, sitting him back down on it and sitting down on either side of him. One after the other, the Maitlands put their hands on Betelgeuse's shoulders - calming down the demon even more. Completely.

He shook his head a few times as his hair returned to its normal shade of green. Looking from Adam to Barbara and back to Adam, a clear look of confusion crossed the demon's face. "I- I didn't do anything, did I?"

"No, luckily," Barbara replied with a simple nod and a smile. "You were like that for fifteen minutes and we only just managed to calm you down."

Betelgeuse nodded, but, before he could say anything, he and the Maitlands turned their heads at the sounds of the attic door opening. And Adam and Barbara were even more worried when they found Charles, Delia.  standing in the doorway, a limp Lydia laying in Charles' arms. At once Adam and Barbara stood up and made their way over towards the three of them as Charles lay Lydia down on the floor.

Barbara looked up at the Deetzes as she and Adam kneeled down on the attic floor next to Lydia. "Oh my. What happened?"

"Another dark shadow person came at Lydia and possessed her to the point where it took her life," Charles explained. "After that happened, Leslie and Arthur were looking through the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and Leslie says she found something that would revive the recently deceased. But it would only work if the family of the recently deceased are around them. If the five of us do things correctly, then there's a chance-."

"What spell are you talking about?" Betelgeuse asked, directing the attention of all five adults onto him. "Because not every spell in the Handbook for the Recently Deceased that is used to revive someone and bring them back to life actually works. Can I see it?"

Charles held it out, and Betelgeuse levitated it over towards himself. After a quick look at the aforementioned spell, Betelgeuse turned his attention back over towards all five now curious adults with a serious look on his face. "Yep, this is one of the spells that I mentioned will not actually revive a recently deceased person. But this one that's shown below it will. Perhaps you guys should try that and I'll head back downstairs to talk to Leslie and her friends."

Before any of them could say anything, Betelgeuse levitated the Handbook for the Recently Deceased back over towards them and teleported out of the attic.

Adam caught it before it could fall to the ground and read over it just to make sure.

"Well, okay then," he finally said after a while, putting the Handbook down on the floor next to Lydia, looking over towards the other four adults. "That second spell mentioned on that page seems more worth it. Shall we give it a try and see if it actually works?"

The other four, looking like he'd just taken those words right out of his mouth, nodded in unison.

Barbara looked down at the Handbook briefly. "It says here that we need to join hands first."

The others nodded, them each grabbing hands and forming a circle around Lydia. The next and last given step, when Adam turned his attention back down towards the Handbook, was to chant some sort of incantation unknown to the living. So Charles and Delia had to listen along as Emily, Adam, and Barbara recited said spell.

A bright light appeared above the five of them, causing them to look up and follow it as it floated downwards and entered Lydia's body. And in that very same moment, Lydia's eyes shot open as she sat upright - her vision blurry at first before becoming clear and focusing solely on her worried family.

In a drowsy tone of voice, she asked, "w-what happened?"