Dead Shadow: Beetlejuice Fanfiction Story

Chapter 14: It Takes A Working Family Guy

Beetlejuice rested his head on his parents table. His mom wanted his dad to give him some kind of tips to help. He didn't really see what his dad could offer, but he had tried for a whole month. And now? Lyds was cut off, for good, until he killed one of them.

"I just don't know what to say," his father said to him. "I'm sorry about your friend. It feels wrong to kill the living, and I saw Donny after helping last time. Even you? You look a little different. This changes people."

"I'm not asking you to make the kill," he said again, "I'm just wasting my time asking for any advice!"

"Beetlejuice, if I change like you, then I won't work. Then who's going to provide for the family?" he asked.

"Oh, good point," his mom agreed. "We should figure that out."

Money. Working. Time was sliding by so fast, and if he didn't figure out how to kill one of them, Lyds would have to go through murdering her parents again.

"I just don't see how you can go through with this, Son. Making someone be afraid who isn't afraid? Who doesn't have any easy fears to prey on? This is harder than work, and you hate work. I don't see you getting through this any time soon."

"Great, just great! You know, a little bit of believing in me would go a long way!" he scolded him. "Yeah, it's harder than work. I don't care, I'm going to get this done and save Lydia."

"If you hardly ever work, then it's hard to work when you have to," his father said. "You can't expect miracles."

"Not an ounce of faith." Beetlejuice held up an ounce cup with the word faith in it. He poured it out. He looked at his mom. She didn't even care, she was reading something. "Your son is over here pouring his faith out, and you're just reading?" He grabbed her book abruptly.

What? He looked away from the page and at the title of the book. "Raising Clean Grand Ghost Kids, Edition 379?"

"I believe," she said as she reached back for her book. "I'm preparing."

Raising Clean Grand Ghost Kids? "Something I don't know about Donny?"

She just shook her head. "Now, head up from the table, Beetlejuice, you are getting it all dirty. You need a bath too. Try looking a little better for when you get this done." She gestured to the book. "Brush your teeth, get out most of the beetle parts. No one likes to kiss with food in the mouth."

Beetlejuice just gave his mom a small . . . smirk. He poured the faith back in and lifted his head. His mom didn't just believe that he could get this done. She believed that- "Wait? Whoah. I never told you I like Lyds."

"Pretty obvious, Dear," his mom said. "Fate had you visiting her while she was alive, so she'd have a chance to get to know the one person who can get her out of being a dead shadow. It's just like cleaning a very stubborn stain, you can't just throw it together, you need several things and extra time to pull it off."

"Yuh huh. Leave it to you to take hell, eternity and shadows and make a point with cleaning stains." Like he should have expected anything else?

"Now, I've been waiting awhile. I really want a ghostboy and a ghostgirl for grandkids, but I don't know if she could handle two from our genes."

Well? Death was weird. Beetlejuice couldn't say yes or no to that thinking. "Wait, wait, wait! Even if Lyds is freed, who said anything about grand ghost kids?"

"Grand ghost kids with Lydia?" his father said surprised. "Lydia is finally going to give us some grandkids?"

Boy, they were both in their own daydreams. "I need to save her first," he reminded his dad.