The whole beeing soulmates thing

Act 2, chapter 4: Love Stories

Lydia was sprawled on the couch in the Deetz living room, the afternoon sun pouring in through the large windows, the only source of light. In front of her, Adam and Barbara stood side by side, watching her with a mix of anticipation and concern. On the center table, a notepad filled with semi-legible scribbles and hastily written questions served as the anchor for their conversation. Lydia tapped her pen repeatedly against the edge of the couch, the sound echoing through the tense silence. She had spent the entire night awake, rereading her books and analyzing all the information she had. Beetlejuice was an enigma, but also a figure full of untold stories.

"Listen," Lydia began, her voice low but steady. "Juno isn't going to make it easy for you. She doesn’t help for free and, never, without some resistance. This means you’ll need to be smart. Direct, but careful. If she feels you’re pressing too hard, she’ll shut down."

Adam, already restless, adjusted his glasses and ran a hand through his hair, trying to mask his anxiety. "Okay… but how exactly should we approach this? We don’t have much information. What if she just ignores us? Or worse..."

Lydia sighed, placing the pen on the table and crossing her arms, her gaze fixed on the Maitlands, revealing the urgency of her mission. "The question isn't if she’ll ignore you. She’ll try, no doubt, but you have to be persistent. Ask about his past, who he was before he became what he is now. There’s got to be something we don’t know yet that would explain so much. Something Juno might be hiding. But be careful; she might not like revisiting those moments."

Barbara, always the voice of reason, leaned forward, her expression worried. "Lydia, do you really think anything we do will make her cooperate? She helped us before but seemed so impatient… Maybe she doesn’t want to get involved again. And she’s definitely powerful; this could go wrong in so many ways!"

"She’ll have to help; we have no other choice. We’re dealing with something much bigger than us. Beetlejuice is hiding something, and I need to find out what it is. Not just for him, but for all of us," Lydia replied, her determination palpable. "You just need to find the right approach, start the conversation convincingly. Don’t provoke her right away; try to gather information without making it look like you’re desperate. If she realizes we’re onto something important, she might get even more evasive. So, grab onto any detail, even the smallest one—it could be crucial."

Adam nodded slowly, still processing the instructions. "And if she just doesn’t say anything? I mean, what if there’s nothing in his past that makes sense?" Adam asked, nervously adjusting his glasses. "And what exactly should we ask? We don’t know much about Beetlejuice's past."

"Adam," Lydia replied, raising an eyebrow. "We all know there’s something. He might not remember or want to hide it, but I feel there’s something huge in that mysterious past. And if Juno knows, she’ll let something slip one way or another. But you’ll need to be ready to catch it, maybe someone, or some event, that changed his life’s course. But remember to be subtle."

Barbara squeezed Adam’s hand, trying to convey reassurance. "We can do this, Adam. We’re good at investigating. And we don’t have much to lose, right? Lydia’s right; we’re the ones who spent the most time with him, and you feel it too—that something’s wrong."

Lydia smiled slightly at the two's solidarity, but quickly returned to her serious tone. "I trust you both. Now, go. I'll open the portal."

The Maitlands stood up slowly, exchanging glances. The portal, a glowing, green, shimmering vortex, was opening in the corner of the room near the stairs, its edges spinning and distorting the space around it. Barbara gave Lydia one last look before crossing, and Lydia took a deep breath, knowing this was the point of no return. "We can do this, right, Barbara?" Adam asked, trying to sound confident.