Neitherworld
"So, did we find something?" Beetlejuice had been looking through several client papers, but he didn't see anything. There were several bioexercists now, so calling some up would normally be a good idea. Letting them know about a living human's predicament would just make them a new target though.
Love her or hate her, he couldn't let Lydia just become a target. He watched one of his employees come up. Actually, several of them gathered around. They had Bob's things. "Poor Bob." He was such good material, not many like Bob.
They handed him several papers.
Beetlejuice checked them out. "What?" He looked at all of them. He eyed all of them. "Just in Bob's?" They all nodded.
This was bad. There were a ton of client papers, with the hit being on Lydia and Astrid. "That Ghost House show rubbed the wrong way." Being a bioexorcist meant more than getting rid of people in a house. It meant getting rid of anyone that was needed.
He thumbed through the papers. "Ghost House. Ghost House. Ghost House." Her damn show. They either wanted her dead claiming she was proving life after death, or that her show was shaming the dead. He counted them. Twenty. "Shit. All dated when they were in the Neitherworld." That was bad.
He may have started the business, but he wasn't the biggest in it. When it was clear that several wanted the same person, then several contracts were gathered together, to get the fattest paycheck.
Lydia and Astrid were the biggest and fattest paychecks. That gremlin was just the first one that gathered enough clients for his fat payday! "Hundreds are gonna be after them." Shit! "Well? They are royally fucked." He dropped the papers.
To stop all of those coming after them in the future, it would take a lot of juice, and he couldn't do it. He could if he could stay, but others knew his weakness. That's why he disappeared away from them. It would just be a constant namefest back and forth, being there and not.
Living World
And this was interesting? He was still holding the papers, but he and his desk were in the living world. Astrid was standing in front of him, her arms crossed.
Oh yeah, she would go places some day. "Don't see anyone threatening your life, so why'd you call me?"
A part of her was nervous. She summoned the demon herself. If she was wrong, she could end up in real trouble, but she needed to understand what happened. What if it happened again? This guy made it clear that he wouldn't just drop in and pull them out whenever they summoned him. He wasn't a genie, he was a demon.
Fortunately, she had called it right in the car. When left with no choice, he did save them, and pulled whatever was causing the mayhem away. She needed to trust in herself to get this done too.
Her mom would do nothing but offer a marriage that appealed, but wouldn't be trusted. Not for a third time. She'd either have to go through with it first, or he'd eventually stop helping. Neither of those were right.
She hardly knew him. All she heard were terrible things, but when it came down to it, at the end of the train, her mom was there for her. She risked everything to contact that demon for help. It was a real big leap to trust in that.
Everything she did that day with the book was a leap of faith too. Astrid had to risk it. They couldn't just be in trouble and risk him not wanting to help. "Betlelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse."
He appeared in front of her studying papers with a desk. He looked at her.
She had to stay strong. "What was the gremlin thing about?" she asked him.
He just smirked. "If I tell you, what do I get out of it?"
Astrid stood up straight. She had to go with her gut. Something had to be tried. "I'll marry you."
He looked grossed out. "No way."
"Why not? I'm prettier and younger than my mom," Astrid said. "It's the same thing. It gets you freedom."
"Because!" He still looked disgusted, but he didn't answer right away. He eventually spoke. "I started with Lydia, I'll end it with Lydia."
Yeah, Astrid called it right. "You never looked twice at anyone else in that church. You were into mom. You don't want marriage. You want mom."
"It's the same thing."
"No, it isn't. You know that."
"Okay, clearly you are trying to make some kind of deal with a demon?" He grinned wickedly. "Didn't your mom ever warn you about that? No? Mine didn't either," he joked. "Well, maybe we can strike some kind of deal. Dealing's part of my business."
"First, what's going on with that gremlin?" Astrid asked.
"He's a bioexorcist, same as me. Great pay. Fun job. Killing people bugging ghosts," he answered, probably half trying to scare her. "You and your mom." He whistled and turned the papers around, showing them off like a deck of cards. "Ghost House shoved you on some big lists."
Mom's show? "How come we haven't had trouble before?"
"Greed. Getting as many contracts as possible to take you out first," Beetlejuice said. "Why get paid once? I've got twenty right here myself. My employee was collecting them. Poor Bob."
"So no one ever tried before the gremlin?" Astrid asked.
"You have to know where your prey is. Can't just call out a name," Beetlejuice said. "Nobody knew where you guys were at, until they did. Thanks to me blowing up the backdoor."
The trip to the Neitherworld. "Yeah, but we aren't there anymore."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they don't know. That's where you were, for the contracts. It's up to the bioexorcists to find and take care of you."
Oh no. "So more are going to come?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"Probably soonish," he answered. "What kind of deal are we talking? Because if you haven't guessed-"
"Someone else was calling your name and making you leave," Astrid said. "We have to break that curse to even have a chance."
He actually held his hands out. "Well, nice to see someone smartened up. Always knew you would."
This demon. She didn't know how to explain it. His hygiene was terrible, he smelled really bad, and no one would ever trust that face. But? "You talk like you knew me longer."
He wasn't giving anything away. Yet.
Fine. "If you marry my mom, can you let her go later? After this is all taken care of?"
He looked like she was insane. "Hell no, once she's mine, she's mine!"
"And that's why my mom doesn't want to marry you!" Astrid yelled at him. "You're a nightmare to her. You aren't her hero, you're the last chance stop at the pit of desperation." Her mom said something like that. "Mom didn't like the last guy either, he was just the one that was there for her."
Beetlejuice seemed to squirm and mutter at that second. "What's it got to do with anything?"
"Mom. Is." What could she say? "She's afraid of you."
"She should be," he said.
"Should she, or do you want a half decent chance for her to like you?"
She tried to read his expression. It was tough, but she swore that she saw it correctly.
"You know? Pretty bold considering you kinda fell for a ghost that killed his own parents and tried to end you."
Oh. That hurt. It was true though, she didn't see it coming. She messed up, a lot. She was the reason her mom needed to get help. She was the reason all those contracts ever found them. It was really all her fault.
"Guys say sweet shit all the time to get what they want, don't worry about it," he said offhandedly.
But that. Again. Right there. "I might be wrong," Astrid said. "I have been wrong, but I don't have much choice. Especially if so many are trying to kill us." They would soon. "I have to go with my gut."
"I'm an undead guy with a curse on me," Beetlejuice said. "You are digging pretty deep there, Sister."
"Mom's . . . used to seeing ghosts." How could she say it? "I don't know, but, if you care."
"If I care, just be nice, from the bottom of my heart?" he said. "Nice. Cute. Did I mention I have a soul sucking ex-wife that wants to kill me? Not like dead. Dead dead. Death for the dead, no coming back. Poor Bob knows."
Okay, step two. "Mom said the Maitlands were ghosts that used to live there. They found a loophole to leave. Do you know what that loophole had been?" She watched his expression. She got that right it looked like.
"Clever," he complimented her.
"Is there a way that some kind of loophole could block the name curse and stop your wife without dragging my mom into marriage?" she asked.
He looked to the ceiling. He seemed to be thinking. "Why should I?"
Okay, there was something. "Like I said before. Do you want marriage, or do you want my mom? You know. Dates. Kissing. All that stuff," she said. "Mom isn't going to fall for someone throwing a random ring on her finger, but if you genuinely care, then maybe she'll give you a chance?"
He just chuckled and smirked at her again. "You really don't know who I am."
Oh. That wasn't a good sign. "It's not a sure thing," she backtracked a little. "There's never a sure thing, but if you are around her, and you save her all the time? She has a history of being manipulated really easy." Wait. "No, that's not what I meant to say."
"It is true." He was glancing to the side. "Especially the last guy. Few nice words, some cornerings, and she was easy to manipulate."
"No, that's not what I meant." She didn't want him going down that path. "If mom is ever going to like you, this is your chance to see if it's possible." It probably wasn't. It was hard to stand that close to him, he smelled so bad. She finally had to pinch her nose again. "I could even give you tips?" Like, bathe.
"You know? Interesting deal," he agreed. "Shaky. Bad at making it, clear you don't often make them."
Okay. "Well?"
"You really think she'll fall head over heels for a dead guy, just because I save her unselfishly?"
Probably not. "Maybe."
"Uh huh. It's written all over your face, Astrid."
Astrid felt writing all over her face. She looked in a mirror. Liar was written all over it in several places.
She knew he wouldn't play easy. She had to stay strong. "The answer isn't easy." He was already gone though. Working something out wasn't going to be easy.
Then, a scream was heard downstairs. "Mom?"