Back Home: A Beetlejuice Story

Chapter 1

BJ

I laugh maniacally as I teleport into the living world. I would recognize the voice that summoned me anywhere. "I knew you'd come crawling back to me, babes," I smirk, venom dripping from my voice. I'm not met with the same girl I was expecting though.

Lydia's slumped against a wall, clutching her thin arms in equally boney hands. She was lost four years ago, but she doesn't have that fire burning in her eyes anymore. "What the hell happened to you?"

She laughs weakly. "I guess I have changed in the last four years, huh?" She sniffles, and I can see tears running down from her eyes.

I plop down on the ground next to her. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

She shakes her head and shakily says, "I'm glad you showed up."

"Alright, listen here, doll face," I begin. "I ain't a therapist. You don't summon me just to cry on my shoulder. I am a bio-exorcist, I get people out of homes. From the look of things, you don't have a home."

She gets up and stands in front of me. "You and I both know you do a hell of a lot more than that." She's defensive now, which is exactly what I like to see. "And you're asking what happened to me. What happened to you? You look like you're dressed to go to church."

They stuck me back in an office job in the Netherworld when the sandworm got me. No more fun striped suits, just a plain black one that would make any CEO go fucking nuts.

"Well, this would be the fault of you and your band of losers!" I scream. "Now what the hell do you want so you can send me back to the Netherworld and never have to see me until you're dead."

She stands there silently, and for a second I think she's going to send me back without telling me why she brought me here in the first place. "I want you to bring me back home." Her voice is a shame-filled whisper.

"I'm not a taxi service."

"I'm not asking you to be. I just need a little help. If I stay on the streets like this, I'll die. I'll do whatever you want in return, anything."

I eye her up. She's being serious, she's desperate enough to do anything I would want to get herself out of this situation. Last time I saw her this desperate she was about to kill herself. Four years later and she finally doesn't want to die.

"Fine. But don't make a habit out of this." I stand up and hold my hand out to her. She shoots me a concerned glance. "You expect me to teleport you out of here without some form of touch? Not how this works, Lyds."

"You teleported Adam and Barbara around without touching them."

"They're also dead. They can go through planes of reality without assistance because it won't kill them."

She grabs my hand hesitantly, and I pull her in close. "Hold on, you ain't gonna like this," I warn, laughing.

Lydia

The world doesn't stop spinning when my feet hit the ground again. I have my hands in tight fists on Betelgeuse's jacket, and my head buried in his chest scared that if I let go I'll fall over.

"Uh, Lyds, we're here. You can let go now," He places a gentle hand on one of my wrists and I can't help but slap it away and release myself from him instantly. And perhaps, too fast as I stumble and fall backward. I look up at him with a huff and see his face covered in confusion.

"That was a shitty way to say thanks," he shouts. He raises his arms in an angrily questioning way as he says this.

"Sorry, you startled me." I get up and brush myself off, not that it does much help. I see the house in front of me, my home, and I hesitate. My hands get clammy and I wipe them on my clothes to try to ease my nerves. "You'll stay with me, right?" I ask Betelgeuse.