[IC] Stranger Beetles

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice floated down the stairs and hovered over Lydia. "Kid?" He asked, floating the to end of the couch and sitting down. Charles didn't react. Lydia had gone too far, and he'd been unsummoned. Beetlejuice didn't mind, though. He figured he probably deserved it a little bit, and also his kid was hurt. Or something. He wasn't really sure what happened.

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia stayed unconscious until early in the morning, long before the sun even rose. She moaned softly, eyes fluttering open. "Wha...Dad?" She called out, sitting up on the couch. Her mind was fuzzy, mouth drier than the desert as she tried to recall what happened.

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice was curled up on the ceiling above her, and Charles had set up camp in the recliner next to the couch. He stirred when he heard her waking up.

"Lydia?" He sat up, the room too dark for him to see. "Are you okay, hun?"

Beetlejuice floated down from the ceiling. "What happened, kid?"

[Beetlejuice96]

"I'm okay, a little parched. What happened? What time is it?" She replied, trying to see both of them in the darkness. Or at least Charles since Beetlejuice's eyes glowed a little.

[Metronome]

Charles stood to get her some water. "It's five in the morning," he said as he handed her the glass. "You lost control of that mind power thing yesterday."

Beetlejuice hunched on the end of the couch. "Those powers again?" He asked. "Lyds, we need to get you some anger management classes. ...And maybe me, too. This is my fault for being a jerk yesterday."

Maybe Chuck was right, he was a bad influence.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Lost control? What are you talking about?" Lydia asked after finishing the glass. She looked at the two of them, completely baffled. "I heard you two arguing, I ran after Dad and started to argue with him then I woke up here." She explained, having no recollection of the outburst or blacking out.

[Metronome]

"You passed out, Lydia," Charles sat right where Beetlejuice was on the couch, earning an indignant squawk from the demon as he flew up towards the ceiling. "After you did that power thing you talked about before. I brought you back here. I don't know where your demon went. I can only assume he saw himself out."

"Maybe we should just let him think that for a while," Beetlejuice suggested. He flew down closer to Lydia. "Kid, we gotta' find out where these powers are coming from. They look pretty dangerous."

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia tried not to look at Beetlejuice as her father spoke, not wanting him to know that he was still here. "Dad, please try to remember if I ever did anything like this when I was little. Anything that might explain how or why I have these powers." She said.

She really hoped that those sick freaks from the facility weren't the cause of this. She didn't know how they'd be able to do it since Beej was beside her the whole time.

[Metronome]

"Well, your mother was into some odd things, but she never had powers like this. Not that I knew of, anyway." Charles frowned, thinking back.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Odd things?" Lydia echoed, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

[Metronome]

"She had a lot of pagan books and wiccan stuff around the house. I never really bought into it, but your mother was her own person. She was big into crystals and auras and that kind of thing. But I don't see what that has to do with this?" Charles looked at her, confused.

"You know, they used to burn people for that shit back in day," Beetlejuice said off handedly.

[Beetlejuice96]

The faint memory of playing with crystals replayed in Lydia's mind before fading away. "I think mom might have passed on her gift to me. Maybe she didn't show it around you because she wanted to keep us safe. She probably had more control over her powers than I do."

[Metronome]

"You think you got this power thing from your mother?" Charles asked.

"He's not big into the whole 'strange and unusual' thing, is he?" Beetlejuice floated behind Lydia.

[Beetlejuice96]

"It's the only reasonable thing I can come up with. I don't remember anyone at the facility doing anything to me that would give me these powers." Lydia replied before sighing softly.

"The difficult part now is learning how to control it so I don't hurt anyone." She whispered.

[Metronome]

A week passed. Charles kept Lydia up on her online homeschooling, and Beetlejuice helped her practice with her powers when Chuck wasn't around. But the two of them could only be cooped up for so long. After all, Lydia had spent most of her life stuck in a cell, and Beetlejuice liked to think of himself as a free spirit. So when Lydia suggested sneaking out to visit the Maitlands and the boys, BJ was all over the idea.

He hadn't seen those two, adorable, incredibly boring and sexy cinnamon rolls in too long! But, first, they went to visit the boys. With Beetlejuice summoned, he could just pop them over to Nate's house, where they'd be playing DnD like they did every Wednesday night. The demon put them right outside the little window and leaned down to peak in.

"Nerds ahoy!" He called, seeing the two boys at their DnD table.

"Wha?" Nate looked up. "Hey, it's the demon car salesman! He's back!" Nate jumped up and ran over. "Is Lydia there too? You guys are okay, right?!"

[Beetlejuice96]

"Hey, nerds." Lydia teased as she grinned before telling them everything that was going on.

"Wait, Mr. Charles is your real dad?!" Zach exclaimed, mouth agape.

"Yeah, and he'd totally freak out if he knew we were out here after the deal we made. We're supposed to wait until we're sure the facility isn't looking for us anymore but Beej and I were going crazy being cooped up."

[Metronome]

"Yeah, this demon's had enough watching the paint dry to last the next eternity," Beetlejuice said. He flattened himself down and rolled himself up like a poster, then tossed himself through the window. The demon popped back to shape inside the basement.

"Wow, look at all this nerd shit. I missed this little guy!" He flew over to a painted figuring and reached for it.

"Hey!" Nate quickly ran over and snatched it before the demon inevitably broke it. He turned back to Lydia. "So...when are you coming back? Everyone at school thinks you moved away or something. And we thought Beetleboost was dead."

"That's not my name, but thanks for trying," Beetlejuice was now laying on the DnD table, playing with the little figurines.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Probably once the facility isn't looking for us but who knows how long until that blows over. Also, you can't get rid of Beej that easily. He's staying for a while." Lydia smiled as she looked over at the demon who was now a miniature dragon version of himself fighting the figurines.

"There's something I found out about my mom, and myself." She said before telling them how her mom was a witch and that's probably how she got her powers. "I've been learning how to control it and have a grasp on it."

[Metronome]

"So you do have powers?! That's so cool!" Nate gushed. "Can you shapeshift like Beezlebuck?"

Beetlejuice looked up from where he was making a tiny ranger and a tiny wizard make out. "How did you mess it up that badly?"

[Beetlejuice96]

"Beetlejuice." Lydia simultaneously corrected and scolded before looking over at Nate. "No, nothing like that. It's more like...that bald guy in the wheelchair who has that school for gifted kids." She explained, forgetting the name.

"Professor X? That's so cool!" Zach grinned