Summoning

                                    

                                          
     For a few seconds, nothing happened. 
     Lydia looked around the room for anything, any sign of the man she had met a week ago, but nothing changed. She clenched her hands into fists, her face reddening. Great. Now she looked like an idiot.
     But then the lights went out. 
     It startled her, and as she glanced up to find the light switch she knew something was wrong. This wasn't a power outage. 
     She was in some sort of void, everything around her consumed by black. There was no floor; she seemed to be floating endlessly. She couldn't see her own hands, couldn't see any end to wherever she was. She couldn't help but whimper in fear. Had he tricked her? Had she trapped herself forever just because she couldn't fight her own battles?
     "Well, it took you long enough!" 
     A familiar voice echoed loudly through the darkness, cackling with..joy? Malice? She couldn't tell. 
     There was a bright flash, almost like lightning had struck only feet away from her, followed by a loud, thunder-like boom. Lydia squeezed her eyes shut, stumbling backwards as the ground became solid once again. She fell onto the floor, her already sore head pounding in agony. Gritting her teeth, she went to stand. 
     And there he was, in all his pinstriped, green-haired glory. Beetlejuice floated in the middle of her room, stretching his arms and legs. "Finally!" He shouted, letting himself drop onto the floor. "Oh, my God, finally!"
     Lydia just watched in awe, her hands trembling. Her mouth hung slightly open in shock. He turned to look at her, smiling.
     "Kid, you have just made my eternity. You have no idea." He whooped with triumph, shaking his hands. "Oh, man, I feel good."
     "Uh..I.."
     "Did I flip you out? Sorry, first summoning's always a little dramatic." He shrugged. "It won't be like that every time- that's just because you freed me. And oh, boy, am I glad you did that!" He came up to her, taking her hands in his. They were freezing. His fingernails were bitten down and painted with black polish. "We are gonna make the best team this world has ever seen, kid!"
     Lydia couldn't find any words. He was talking too fast, saying too much. She didn't want to just stare, but that was all she could do.
     Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow. "You act like you've never summoned a demon before. And what happened to you? You're all red there." He pointed to his left eye, which was weighed down by bags. 
     "I, uh..these girls. They beat me up," she said, slowly gaining her senses back. "They beat me up today, and I'm not happy about it."
     He frowned. "Jesus. That's..that's brutal. They did that? That's gonna look nasty tomorrow, I'll tell you that."
     "They just..they pushed me to the floor, and they kept kicking me. They wouldn't stop. I've probably got bruises everywhere else, too." She looked up at him, noticing that he was only about a head taller than her. "They did it in front of everyone, too!"
     Beetlejuice finally let go of her hands. "Well, I see why you called," he said. 
     "It's not just that, though. I'm..I'm fed up." She looked him in his yellow eyes. 
     "Tired of being alone?" He asked. She nodded hesitantly. 
     "Well, take it from me: you made the right choice. I feel the same way as you, kid; I've been waiting so long to finally have a buddy. We're gonna be the best team!" He paced around her room, moving with much more energy than she'd ever seen from him. 
     "A team doing what exactly?" 
     Beetlejuice lifted off the ground, floating like he was lighter than air. "C'mon. You didn't call me so I could help you make friendship bracelets for these girls." He flipped upside down, getting face to face with Lydia. "You called me because you wanted the whole world to know that Lydia Deetz is not one to be messed with. Am I right or am I right?"
     "If you're right..do you think I called the right guy?"
     "Totally!" He smiled, flipping back to a normal position. Excitement lit up his face. "They are so gonna regret it."
     "Only problem: they're all suspended. I don't know where they live, either."
     Beetlejuice scoffed. "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."
     "I don't think that's-"
     "Tomato, potato. Now c'mere." He flopped down onto her bed. "I'm gonna show you how old B-Dawg does his job."
---------------------------
     "What's worse, in your opinion, spiders or snakes?"
     Lydia looked up at Beetlejuice floating on his back. His hair dangled down from his head, the only part of him that seemed to follow any law of gravity. "Depends on the person, I guess."
     "What would she hate more?"
     "Almost every girl hates spiders. It's a safe bet."
     "Totally. I don't like snakes, though. They're too much like sand worms. And they don't have arms. Or feelings."
     "What's a sand worm?"
     He shuddered. "Demon eaters."
    The sound of the garage jolted Lydia before she could inquire more. "Shit, they're back," she mumbled, setting down the pad of paper she had been writing on. 
     "Crap. Quick, say it again."
     "Say what again?"
     "Uh, my name?"
     "Beetlejuice."
     He nodded, waiting for her to go on. 
     "...BeetlejuiceBeetlejuice?"
     In a startling puff of smoke, he vanished. Moving quickly, Lydia turned off her bedroom lights and flung herself into bed. She heard her bedroom door slowly creak open, and she closed her eyes. Whoever was checking on her seemed satisfied, and the door soon clicked shut behind them. Lydia sighed. 
     Beetlejuice had acted a lot different than he did on the roof that night. He was hyperactive now; he never stopped moving, constantly finding something to do with his hands. He spoke so fast that sometimes Lydia had to strain to understand. He was a lot..happier. She didn't mind that. 
     Still, he knew what he was talking about. He had a whole plan, a layout of how to scare people. "My blueprint to making people shit their pants," he had said. She trusted him, and after hearing what he wanted to do, she knew he had been right. 
     Claire was so gonna regret it.