Beth's ear was pressed up against the wood of Katrina's door as she listened intently to the conversation from within. She silently backed away and then turned and fled up the stairs, bursting through the attic door.
"Beetlejuice has got Katrina!" She cried. But the room was empty, her audience no where to be seen. She checked the model village in case the ghosts were hiding out there, but it too was devoid of any life.
He's taken them! He's taken them as well! Beth thought, her heart racing as she turned on her heels and bounded down the stairs, crying out for Delia.
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"I'm here for Samuel Kirke." Lydia said, leaning on the reception desk of the other side. Barbara and Adam were peering over shoulders nervously. The receptionist looked coldly from Lydia, to the Maitlands and back again before leaning back in her chair, folding her arms and saying, "That's not how this works. We're not a telephone directory, ma'am."
"Please!" Lydia begged. "There must be some way to get hold of him. It's an absolute emergency."
"What's the emergency?"
The group paused, glanced between each other and shook their heads.
"We can't tell you that." Lydia replied, "But please, please believe me. My children are in danger."
"And your children are-"
"Alive." Barbara cut in.
"At the moment." Adam added under his breath, his wife elbowing him in the stomach.
"I'm sorry. There's really nothing I can do." The receptionist said coldly, reaching up to pull down the partition and block the party off.
"Wait!" All three of them cried, throwing out their arms to stop her. She looked up at them expectantly. Lydia took a deep breath.
"The thing is..." she said, "It's about... Beetlejuice."
The receptionist shot up from her chair. "Beetlejuice?"
"Don't say it again!" Barbara warned.
"We've been looking for him for ages!" She cried. "He's started acting up again, it's been weeks but we just can't pin him down."
"He's somewhere in my house." Lydia said, "Around my girls. He... he's the reason I'm here."
"Well why didn't you say so?" The receptionist rolled her eyes and began hastily leafing through some folders in a filing cabinet to her left. It took some time, but eventually she pulled out what she was looking for; A little yellow file with "Samuel Kirke" written in thick, black cursive on the front.
"I knew it!" Lydia cried, before Barbara had time to clamp a hand over her mouth.
The receptionist dragged out a little dial up phone and began cranking out a number, she placed the receiver to her ear.
"Hi yes, is that Samuel Kirke? Your... someone's in reception for you."
"I'm his wife." Lydia whispered.
"Your wife, sir.... alright.... thank you." She put the phone down and turned back to the group. "He'll be here in a few minutes." And with that she slammed down the partition and left them all to wait.
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"Delia!" Beth skidded around the corner and into the living room where her grandmother sat at a little side table. In front of her was a selection of pipe cleaners, old sponges and some glue... she was working on a statue, some crazy new idea of hers.
"Calm down." She replied, swivelling in her chair to face her. "You're just like your mother. What's wrong?"
"He's got her!"
"Who's got who?"
"He has got Katrina, and he's going to marry her, and he says he can bring mom back but I know he's lying, Delia!" She babbled, stumbling over her words as they poured from her mouth.
"Slow down, for goodness sake." Delia scolded, standing up and putting her crafts to one side. "Who is 'he'?"
"Oh come on, Delia!" Beth threw her arms up in frustration. "Isn't it obvious?" Delia's eyes searched her granddaughter's face for a clue but she still didn't understand. "Well I can't say his name!" Beth said, and watched as the penny finally dropped.
The door to Katrina's room was locked and no amount of rattling the door handle helped.
"Beth!" Katrina yelled through the walls, desperate to reach her sister. "Unlock the door. Now!" She demanded, pressing her hands to Beetlejuice's shoulders and pushing him back.
"Hey, hey," the ghost replied, holding up his arms defensively, "ignore them, babe. They're jealous of your happiness."
The wall behind Katrina's desk split clean down the middle, pushing all the furniture around it to the sides of them room, a white light spilled from the room beyond as a horrifying creature with hollow eyes, and a large grey head came forward.
"Don't worry, babe," Beetlejuice winked, "Old friend. He was the vicar at your mom's wedding to me."
Lydia recoiled in disgust as the creature produced a small book from it's suit jacket and used it's wrinkled hands to spread the pages open. She took one last hopeful glance at the door, wondering if Beth was strong enough alone to break it down, but the thumping had stopped. Her sister wasn't even outside anymore.
Beetlejuice grabbed his bride's arm and pulled her close with a toothy grin, "Nice day for a white wedding."
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Beth's hands were red from hitting at the door, trying to get at her sister.
"It's no good." She sighed at last, when her and Delia were both worn out. "We can't get to them." Tears sprang to her eyes as she stood up on shaking legs. She pressed her back against the wall and craned her neck to listen, all she could hear was Katrina's feeble protests as Beetlejuice pried her away from the door.
"Typical Lydia!" Delia frowned, "Never around when you need her. I bet she's swanning off somewhere, exploring the 'other side'."
Beth's eyes widened. She had been so hysterical before that she'd been convinced Beetlejuice had taken her mother and the Maitlands. It had never occurred to her that perhaps they were just visiting the afterlife.
"Stay here." She practically yelled at Delia as she sprinted up the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Delia called, but Beth just slammed the attic door by way of reply.
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When Samuel finally pushed his way through the heavy double doors and into the reception room, he found his wife pacing back and forth along the grubby carpet as the Maitlands watched through sleepy eyes.
"Everything okay? Lydia?" He said.
"We're trying to exorcise Beetlej-" She stopped herself in time, raising her eyebrows for emphasis.
"Alright.." He replied. "What do you think I can do?"
"We need to know who Brother Juniper is?" Lydia said desperately.
Samuel hummed and tapped his chin in thought, "Brother Juniper... well there's only one Juniper here and that's Juno, your caseworker. But she's not a-"
"Worth a shot!"
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"Now I don't know if the living can do this." Beth mumbled to herself as she leafed through 'The Handbook For The Recently Deceased" with trembling hands.
She drew a door on the brick wall at one end of the attic, remembering to include the handle, before she knocked on it three times and took a step back. She waited with bated breath, and for a minute thought nothing would happen. But then, as she was about to abandon hope, the wall before her began to crumble and a green mist spilled into the room.
She braced herself. Beth had no idea if this would kill her, what would stepping into the afterlife do to the living? Had anyone ever tried it before?
Beth didn't give herself anymore time to think, she knew if she did she would only chicken out, and she couldn't... not this time. And so in she went, a bright light blinding her as she pushed her way through thick green smog.
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Samuel and Lydia knocked on the partition at the reception desk, calling out for help. But no body answered.
"They're bloody useless." Sam grumbled, perching on the edge of the desk with his hands folded in his lap.
A low rumble like thunder came from the entrance door and all four deceased turned their heads to look. A noise like that usually meant there was a new arrival, but somehow this sounded different.. slightly muffled almost.
They squinted their eyes against the bright light and could just about see the figure of a small child silhouetted in the doorway. Barbara's stomach dropped, it was never nice when a child ended up in the afterlife, years before their time.
But when the smoke cleared the faces in the room changed and all four dropped their jaws in shock.
"Beth!" Lydia gasped, tearing across the room and knocking over chairs to reach her daughter. "Beth? Oh my god, Beth.. did he get you too?"
"No, I'm alive." Beth replied, and then on spotting Samuel with tears in his eyes cried out, "Dad!?" She opened her mouth to take a breath in but nothing happened. She felt herself go cold all over.
"Sweetie, what is it, what's wrong?"
She tried again, taking big gulps but never getting any air in her lungs.
"There's no oxygen in here. We don't need it." Adam said, the horrible realisation dawning on them all at once.
"I need to get her out," Lydia said, scooping her daughter up and heading for the door. Just as she was about to leave Beth managed a few desperate words,
"He's about to marry Katrina."
YOU ARE READING
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Fanfiction(Post Movie) Lydia Deetz returns to her childhood home, this time with daughters of her own. But she is upset to find Barbara and Adam, the ghosts she grew up with, completely gone. (This story is continuing)
