Chapter 4

Going to school that day seemed a hopeless effort. She couldn't focus on anything the teachers were saying. She kept going back to Beetlejuice locked away in her mirror in her bedroom. Lydia didn't know what to do now or how to handle anything that had recently happened. It scared her. It overwhelmed her. It left her mind with this fuzzy feeling as she tried to figure out the path her life would take when she had a ghost who was technically her husband stuck in her mirror. He wasn't going to go away and Lydia didn't know what to do the longer her mind tried to process it. She kept thinking of her ghost husband. What was going to happen now? How was she expected to lead a normal life with him in her mirror?

"What do I do now?" thought Lydia, her mind shivering in fear as those questions and more filled her mind. Lydia didn't even know where to look for the answers, but then the answers came to her.

"Juno?" said Lydia, not even realizing it as she said the woman's name the second her hand touched her shoulder startling her even as she said it.

"You don't know what to make of any of this, do you?" said Juno.

"I don't, no…I mean…I've never been normal, but things have never been like this" whispered Lydia looking at the specter as she sat next to her.

"You have questions" said Juno then as Lydia looked away.

"I've been given all the power here. I have so many options here, but I don't know what to do with any of them. I don't know what to do about him. I mean, I know nothing about him, he's just some ghost, he's a complete psychopath. How can I ever trust him?" whispered Lydia looking for answers as she ranted on. When Juno finally stopped her, Lydia released the largest sigh as it all came out. After a moment, only silence reigned, and Juno let the girl have that silence. She sensed that she needed it as she watched the girls head fall.

When that head rose again, Lydia found that Juno was staring at her as if she was deciding what to do with her. It wasn't until a moment later that she realized that she wasn't so much staring at her, but she was deep in thought. Lydia didn't know if she should bother her as she watched her. She didn't have to though because suddenly the ghost was looking at her. And Lydia had no idea what was going to happen now.

"He's not a psychopath, Beetlejuice is just…a rebel…he was that before anyone knew what that was" whispered Juno, choosing her words carefully.

"What do you mean?" said Lydia, suddenly curious about the ghost she found herself married to. At first, Juno looked like she wasn't sure how much to tell her, but after a moment, she seemed to come to a conclusion. This girl would learn eventually, at least, Juno hoped she would see that Beetlejuice was more then what he appeared. She was his wife and if she was going to learn who he was, she had to know this. Even if she wouldn't know what to do with it now.

"Beetlejuice lived during a time when you were expected to conform. Everyone lived by what their father wanted of them. He lived during the plague days and no, that's not how he died, but I want you to understand the time period. A rebel like him wasn't welcome. He wanted his freedom and he thought quick con jobs was the way to get it. His father was a priest, so his disapproval only added to the appeal especially considering he was trying to get from under his thumb. He's doing the same thing now" exclaimed Juno, looking at Lydia now, but thinking of something else entirely. Juno still remembered when she met Beetlejuice. A young version of the ghost that existed now though. He had been in purgatory a long time when she found him, but he had been eager to prove himself. He had been a good assistant at first, but things changed. Maybe because he thought she was controlling him the way his father had. Juno still didn't know what happened to him as she looked at the girl once more still trying to find the words.

"I saved him from purgatory with the offer to be my assistant…I think he thought it was better than condemnation. I think though he didn't like the control the higher beings and I had. He's always wanted to be free and he'll do almost anything for it" said Juno seeing as Lydia came to understand something in that moment.

"Now, he's under my thumb" said Lydia then, before Juno grabbed her hand as she shook her head.

"Yes and no. You have the power here, but you can choose to give him some of that. Beetlejuice can be redeemed. With you, he can earn his freedom, and no one's ever given him that chance. Not his father, not me or the higher beings. You can make him earn the thing he wants most" whispered Juno, Lydia looked at her in that moment. There was a curiosity in her eyes as she seemed to lean closer. She wanted to know everything, and Juno was going to give her that. It may be the only way she could see the true man behind the evil she had already seen.

"What did his father do to him?" said Lydia after a moment, seeing a darkness enter Juno's eyes at the question.

"Death" said Juno immediately, watching as the girl's hands covered her mouth.

"Just like the higher beings are doing now, his father tried to force him to be the man he wanted him to be, but Beetlejuice fought him as he's always fought everyone. His father though, was stronger. When Beetlejuice ran away, he had him tracked down, but this time he knew that if he brought his son back that he'd only run again. So, he made sure his son wouldn't come back. He had Beetlejuice killed by some hired men. They cornered him in a filthy alley and when they left Beetlejuice was stabbed and bleeding. He bled to death, alone, in that alley" whispered Juno, when she looked at Lydia again, she was crying real tears her hands still covering her mouth. The story seemed to make Lydia go completely silent, she was crying now, crying for the ghost she had seconds ago called a psychopath.

"Does he know?" whispered Lydia, her eyes engulfed with a type of sympathy that seemed to surprise even her. Juno nodded and when she did, Lydia hung her head. Her hands fell to her lap and Juno didn't know what she was thinking as she seemed to stare. She was taking in everything she knew now, and Lydia didn't know what to do with it. She only knew that she wasn't sure if she could look at Beetlejuice the same way after knowing all this.

When Juno took her hand again, Lydia was visibly startled from her thoughts. The two women looked right at each other and it was then that Lydia realized that it was just the two of them. They were the only two people who knew this about Beetlejuice. The only two people who cared enough to know.

"It will take time for him to trust you and you to trust him. Just keep all this in mind as you go forward" said Juno, being startled herself when the bell rang signaling the end of Lydia's lunch. When Lydia looked up again, Juno was no longer there. Lydia didn't move at first, she just stared at the place where she had been, and she felt shaken. She had no answers really, but more questions. Lydia had even more to go through her mind that day. She still had no idea what to do with it as the day went on. School wasn't any different that day. Lydia still couldn't focus on her teachers. She just kept hearing everything Juno had said in her head. She just kept thinking of Beetlejuice and wondering how to go about everything with him. She had answers now, but more questions too.

In many ways the answers changed nothing because Lydia was more distracted by them then she had before. She found herself feeling sorry for her husband, an emotion she couldn't have imagined when she woke up that morning, but she felt it all the same. Because he wasn't some crazy ghost anymore, but a man now. A human being who Lydia felt like she understood better as she pictured the life he had lived. The way he had died. She pictured it all and then she pictured him stuck in that mirror. That image made her feel bad at the thought that she was another one of his jailers. Lydia didn't want to be that, but she still needed more answers even if part of her wasn't sure she wanted them.

Her answers had distracted her more then the questions. That was why Lydia walked her bike home that day. She needed to go through it all in her mind before she saw him again. She knew she wouldn't be able to look at him the same now. He wasn't a monster anymore. Not now that she understood him. He had been turned into this person. As she got closer to her house, Lydia got an idea that seemed almost impossible. Maybe she could help him change.