Lydia 2.0||A Beetlejuice: the Musical Fanfiction

In Two Minds

Lydia and Betelgeuse's goofing off was cut short by a few frantic knocks on the door. As Betelgeuse poofed away the pillows, Lydia turned to her door.

"Come in!" she called out.

Barbara and Adam, the Handbook clutched in the latter's hands, floated in through the door whilst Charles and Delia opened it and walked in. Barbara and Adam sat on Lydia's bed and motioned for the teenager to sit in between them, Betelgeuse moved off to the side, and Charles and Delia stood in front of them.

"Did you guys need to talk to us about something?" asked Lydia, curiously.

All four adults nodded in unison and Adam flipped open the Handbook to the bookmarked section, beginning to read it. "Some souls may be barred from entering the Netherworld if they do something wrong, while others may be cursed and unable to enter. Betelgeuse do you think your mom cursed you when she showed up to try and take Lydia and Charles back to the Netherworld for breaking a rule?"

"No." The demon shook his head. "My mom's already cursed me once." When the family looked confused, he clarified, "with the whole 'I'm unable to say my name thing'. Do you guys want to hear that story?"

"Maybe later," said Barbara. She continued on from where Adam left off, "If someone who wants to go to the Netherworld can't go to the Netherworld because of an invisible barrier, a living person close to them must give up their soul to set them free. And that's only if the living person can see them." The whole family gasped when Barbara finished reading that part of the paragraph.

"NO WAY IS SHE GIVING UP HER SOUL TO ALLOW BETELGEUSE ACCESS BACK TO THE NETHERWORLD!" shouted Charles out of rage. "I WON'T ALLOW IT! NOT AFTER LOSING EMILY! I CAN'T LOSE HER TOO!"

"Charles, calm down. We can talk this over." Delia took her fiancé's hands in her own as she turned to look at the Maitlands. "Surely there's a way we can do that without losing Lydia. If she doesn't want to do it, then Betelgeuse is stuck unable to go back to the Netherworld for the rest of eternity."

"I'm afraid there isn't," said Barbara, looking down at the Handbook.

"Then I have to do it!" Lydia suddenly said, shocking all the adults. "I'll be fine," she said in an attempt to calm them down, frowning slightly when nothing seemed to happen.

"But, Lydia," Barbara complained, pulling the teen close to her for a hug. "Adam and I only just met you and you're giving up on life that easily?"

"I have to do this, Barb." Lydia wrapped her arms around the ghost to return her hug. "If you find a resurrection spell in the Handbook, you can copy it onto a piece of paper for my dad and Delia to read over my grave and bring me back." With her arms still wrapped around Barbara, she turned to Adam. "How do I do this? Are there any instructions?"

"Lydia, we need some time to talk this over before we make the decision over whether or not we're going to allow you to go through with this," said Adam sternly, causing the teenager to grumble something in annoyance (which Adam and the others ignored because they knew it was a bad word).

"How about we wait a day before we discuss this further. That way, we will still spend some time with you for if you do decide to go through with this. Though we will miss you terribly if you do," said Barbara, ghostly tears dripping down her and Adam's faces and regular tears dripping down Charles and Delia's face. "Isn't that a better idea?"

"It is," said Lydia, nodding. "But I feel like we should discuss this now. Remember the resurrection spell that I told you to give my dad and Delia once I do go through with this whole 'giving up my soul' thing?"

Barbara nodded sadly, saying, "I do. But it's going to be pretty sad and hard without you here to lighten the mood for a while. It's hard saying goodbye sometimes."

The others mumbled their agreement and Lydia sighed. "What are the instructions?"

"Lydia, you still need to give it time. Let's talk about it now and then you can make the decision to give up your soul," said Adam.

"Alright, fine!" grumbled Lydia, her, Adam, and Barbara moving to the center of Lydia's bed to allow Charles and Delia space to sit down as well.

"Lydia, you know I'm still against you doing this." Charles' hand phased through Adam's arm as he rested it on his daughter's shoulder. "You're my daughter, our family, and none of us ever want you to do this but if you want to, then..." He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"Then we support you," finished Delia. "But like some of us said, we're strongly against this as well and know what's going to happen when and if you do this."

The others nodded in unison and Lydia did the same, showing them that she was listening to them. But she had something to say on the matter herself. "Beej caused trouble for the lot of us yes, and we want him gone, so to do that, I have to do this."

Betelgeuse opened his mouth to protest against what Lydia had said but then closed it when Barbara chose to speak.

"She's right," the female ghost said, directing the attention of everyone else in the room onto her. "It's going to be sad and we're going to miss you, but, Lydia, if you have to do this then go for it." It was the hardest thing she had to say, a few clear ghostly tears dripping down her face.

"I'll miss you all too," said Lydia, tears streaming down her face as she wrapped her arms around the tearful female ghost and motioned for the rest of her family to join in on the emotional hug. Betelgeuse stayed put, deciding to let them have what would most likely be their last moments together as a found family of five. "But, like I said, please try to find a resurrection spell of some kind to bring me back to life. I won't be dead forever and I have so much more that I want to live for. I want to grow up, graduate High School and College, go out and explore the world with a degree in photography, and start a family of my very own someday."

"We'll try, we promise," Barbara spoke softly into Lydia's shoulder.

Lydia smiled at her then turned to Betelgeuse, whose hair color was a mix of grass Green and Yellow. "You ready, buddy?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, my spooky little friend."