The Frankenstein Complex

The Demon Who Isn't There

A crash from the kitchen wakes me up abruptly, I lift my head from where it rested and make eye contact with Beetlejuice.
"Morning" I say to him as one of his hands trace along my spine, the other resting on my hip.
"Good morning" he says, I press my hands against his chest and kiss him gently.
His hands travel to the back of my thighs, pulling me closer and deepening the kiss.
"Lydia, breakfast!" Delia yells up the stairs, a groan escaping me as I pull away from Beetlejuice hesitantly and sigh as I stand up, I go to my closet and pull out my favorite black dress, safety pins lining the frill along the top and a pair of floral fishnets.
I pull off my nightgown and quickly get dressed, I look up and notice Beetlejuice taking his hands off from over his eyes even though his fingers had enough distance apart to see me clearly through.
The level of comfort that I felt with him enough to forget he was in the room as I realize my actions too late.
"Hey! At least I tried not to look!" He says, hands going up in a defensive position.
I laugh and move to him, placing a hand on his upper arm.
"You're not in trouble perv" I say, giving him a kiss on the cheek before I go downstairs, breakfast goes by quickly, my dad already gone for work, as soon as I'm done with the dishes I rush up to my room, a mug of coffee in either hand.
"Can you drink coffee?" I ask, setting the mugs on my desk as I sit down, he pulls the chair from my vanity and joins me at the desk, his arm draped over my shoulders.
I slide a mug to him and offer a small smile to him, I grip my mug and take a sip, my eyes close and I lean my head back against his arm.
"How long can you sit still for?" I say, opening my sketchbook and quickly drinking my coffee.
"I'm dead so, probably a while. With proper motivation of course." He says, puckering his lips, I give him a quick kiss as I grab my mechanical pencil.
"Mmm, I could try to last longer..." he says, looking around the room in mock innocence, I roll my eyes at him, I press my lips against his, my arms going around his neck as he pulls me closer to him.
The next hour consists of us talking and joking as I draw him, a knock on the door causing us to immediately stop laughing.
"Lydia, who are you talking to?" Delia says through the door.
"Uh, no one! I was just watching a video" I call back to her, Beetlejuice shifting in his seat as he grabs a notebook and pen from the desk.
"Okay, carry on!" She says, her footsteps fading as she walks down the hallway, the sound quickly fading into silence.
"Watching a video, huh?" He says in wonder as he doodles in the side column of a notebook.
"Watching a video sounded a lot better than "I'm drawing a demon that I've been sharing my bed with for the past couple of days."" I say, my cheeks getting warm with slight embarrassment.
"I mean, that would get their attention" he says, placing his hands on my hips as he turns me to him.
"Mmm, I'm sure it would be but as much as I would love to see that, I don't want you exorcised just yet" I say with a smirk.
"You would exorcise this?" He says, leaning in and kissing me, when the need to breathe becomes too much I pull away and look at him.
"Just because I wouldn't doesn't mean my dad wouldn't. And I wish you luck if he figures out what we get up to in here" I say, turning back to the portrait, adding in the finer details.
"Which is nothing compared to what I could do" he says, I raise an eyebrow in intrigue but quickly toss that thought aside.
We sit there drawing together as I mention dad's stupid business dinner tomorrow, by the time he puts his pen down, I have a mostly finished portrait of him.
"You are really good at this" he says, I shrug as I go over the lines with a black pen, erasing the lines beneath before finishing the shading on it.
"Photography is my thing but, I have been known to surprise every now and then." I say, happy with how the picture looks, I hold it up to him and am surprised to see that it is an exact copy of him.
I hear my dad's car door slam and the front door open and shut a minute later.
Beetlejuice focuses on the door as I go over to my bulletin board and look for a pin to put the portrait up.
"Will you help Delia in the kitchen?" My dad says, standing in the now open doorway, his words not so much a question but an order.
"Yes, I will" I respond, finding a pin and fixing it to the board.
"Who is that?" My dad asks in confusion as he has never seen Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice smiles and leans back in the chair, expression full of amusement at my dad's clear lack of seeing him.
"Lawrence, he's my demon" I say, telling him Beetlejuice's given name, not wanting to risk the name that holds power over him.
"There is no such thing as demons Lydia" he says before walking out, leaving my door open as he goes into his room.
"Maybe I should just tell them about you, it got a reaction" I say.
As I go to leave the room Beetlejuice grabs my wrist, I turn to him, expecting him to be sitting but am proven wrong as he towers over me.
He backs me against the wall behind the open door and kisses me, passion taking over as we continue, I break away for air and his lips trail down my neck.
"Say it again" he says, leaving what I suppose will be a dark hickey on my neck, high enough that I won't know what to say if I'm confronted about it.
"Lawrence" I breathe out as my fingers tug on his hair, his lips colliding with mine once more.
He pulls away and I gasp for air, attempting to catch my breath before going downstairs.
When my heart stops racing I make my way down the stairs, rushing into the kitchen.