[IC] Stranger Beetles

[Metronome]

"Lydia, what the fuck?!" Beetlejuice couldn't believe this shit! Everyone was looking at them now; this was not a way to avoid being captured again. He shrunk down and flew in between Lydia and kid, floating on his back right in front of her face. "Excuse me, doll, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Nate was shocked at this turn of events. He eventually came to his senses and went to pull Lydia off of Zach. "Hey, chill out psycho girl!"

[Beetlejuice96]

"I'm going to make that little shit pay for what he said!" Lydia fumed, seemingly threatening Zach as she was pulled away from him and not responding to the demon. She kept kicking and flailing to get at him, letting out very primal snarls, growls, and roars.

Her anger was cut short as she heard Barbara called out her name, seeing the horror in her eyes. She stopped struggling as realization hit her. That boy was right, she was a freak. The facility had changed her to where she'd never be deemed normal again.

[Metronome]

"Who cares what he said?! He's just some punk in a mall, Lyds!" Beetlejuice was absolutely certain this couldn't get any worse. And then it did. The labradoodles arrived.

Nate released Lydia, a little freaked out at her primal screams. When he saw Barbara Maitland marching over, he grabbed Zach by the shirt and hauled him away. "Dude, run!"

"Delia, what is going on here?" Barbara asked, a mixture of embarrassment as every eye was set on her, concern that her not-child was causing this kind of scene after they had lost and just now found her, and a touch of anger. She didn't know what was going on, but she was sure those boys started it. She glared at them as they ran off.

"Delia, are you okay, sweetie?"

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia looked around at the crowd staring at her, her vision blurring for a moment before she closed her eyes and ran off, the crowd not even trying to stop her. Everything was going to hell. She couldn't go ten minutes without getting into a fight and now the Maitlands were probably going to turn her in.

She only stopped running once she had reached a part of the mall no one went to, trembling in anger and shame. "Fuck!" She yelled, punching the wall hard enough to bruise and break skin. A choked sob escaped her before she sat on the floor, crying into her knees. "I'm a fucking idiot. I'm sorry, Beej."

[Metronome]

"I mean, maybe a little. But, hey, aren't we all, kid?" Beetlejuice appeared on the ground next to her. "That doesn't mean you should just give up on everything, though. Shit, if I gave up every time I did something stupid, I'd probably wouldn't be here with you right now."

He tilted his head at her, and made his hand corporeal enough to rub her back comfortingly. A few minutes later, the Maitlands caught up with them.

"Delia!" Adam said, sounding relieved to have found her. "Delia, hun, why don't we head home? I think the mall might of been a little too much, too soon." What were they thinking? Bringing her here right after all she'd been through?

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia looked up at them, her cheeks stained with tears. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of that to happen. It's just...I'm different from everyone. I'm not normal." She said. She knew that they wouldn't believe her, hell who would after the stunt she just pulled.

She looked over at Beej before signing, telling him she didn't want to lie anymore and if she should tell them everything. She didn't care that the Maitlands were there seeing this, she just didn't want to keep up this facade with them.

[Metronome]

"We can't! These two might be okay with a cute, cuddly kid. But what happens when they find out you come with a demon? They're gonna' try to get rid of me!" Beetlejuice looked a bit scared, now. His eyes darted between Lydia and the Maitlands.

"It's okay to not be normal, Delia," Barbara said. She looked confused when the girl spoke to seemingly no one beside her. Did she have schizophrenia? Could they get her tested for that without scaring the hell out of her? Barbara came over to her and sat down beside her, coincidentally right where Beetlejuice was. The demon let out a indignant squawk like a cat who's tail had been stepped on and disappeared, reappearing a few feet away with his arms crossed huffily.

"What do you want to tell us, hun?" Barbara asked gently.

[Beetlejuice96]

"My name isn't Delia. I lied to you so you wouldn't send me back to the facility. My name is Lydia." She said, taking a deep breath before telling them everything. The facility, what they did to her and even what they had her do.

"I didn't kill anyone. Beetlejuice, my only friend, did that. I...I became numb to it all after a while. I just shut down when he attacks." She said before looking at them.

"He's a demon, but he's not that bad. A total pervert with the mind dirty as the gutter and a sailor mouth to boot, but he's been there for me through it all."

[Metronome]

Adam and Barbara were exchanging glances the whole time. They clearly thought she was having a mental break down. Beetlejuice rolled his eyes.

"They don't believe you, kid. Breathers don't typically take well to this kind of thing. They're gonna' have you locked up in the nut hut if you can't convince them otherwise." He sighed and looked around, making sure they were alone. "Go ahead and summon me. I'll prove it to 'em."

[Beetlejuice96]

"I'm going to summon him, just...don't freak out, okay?" She asked them before looking at Beetlejuice.

"Behave yourself, okay?" She said before closing her eyes. God she hoped that they wouldn't run away screaming in terror.

"Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice."

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice suddenly popped into existence next to Lydia, and the Maitlands both jumped at least a good foot into the air. He smiled a toothy grin and flew over to them, wrapping an arm around each of their necks.

"Babs! Adam! It's good to finally meet you guys in the flesh," He gave them both a sloppy smooch on the cheek. "Rotting flesh, that is." He cackled and floated back over to Lydia.

The Maitlands were in shock for a solid five minutes before either of them could speak up.

"Y-you're a demon?" Adam spluttered.

"That's what they tell," Beetlejuice shrugged.

"A-and you kill people?!"

"Sometimes," He shrugged again. "I only did what I had to do to keep my kid safe. If you two breathers can't accept that we're a package deal, then we're out. Right Lyds?"

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia nodded solemnly in reply before looking at the clearly spooked couple. "Please don't turn us away. There's nowhere else we can go unless Beej teleports me there. We'd always be on the run until they finally capture us again. They'll separate Beej and I from each other for who knows how long. It's torture to us. We're somehow linked. He can't go a certain distance without me, if he does he's unsummoned automatically." She said.

"He's really not that bad once you get used to him. He's the only family I have left."

[Metronome]

Barbara looked torn between snatching Lydia from the nasty, dirty, demon man, and trying to respect the girl's feelings. How could a murderous demon be any kinds of friends with this sweet, innocent girl? But, if she wanted to help Lydia, then she guessed she'd have to get used to...what was his name? Bug juice?

"Mr. er, Juice," Barbara started. "From what Delia, er-Lydia has told us, you have been a very important...adult figure in her life." The word 'parental' didn't seem to fit. "I think Adam and I can respect that, but, if we are going to welcome you into our home, we need to set some ground rules."

She paused, looking down at Lydia. "But maybe in the car?" Where strangers couldn't walk up and see this incredibly bizarre exchange going down.

"No problems, Babs!" Beetlejuice promptly turned into a cat and jumped into Lydia's arms, purring loudly.

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia chuckled softly at Beetle Cat before gently scratching between his ears as if he was a normal cat. It was one of his forms she was fond of aside from his true one, it had helped calm her in the past. She followed the Maitlands out to the car, placing Beetlejuice in the seat beside her. "I'm pretty sure language is the first rule." She said once they were alone.

[Metronome]

"Yes," Barbara confirmed. "We would be very happy if both of you could try to watch your language."

"What a load," Catjuice snapped. "Naughty words don't hurt anyone."

"Beetlejuice, please," Adam said, "These are our rules. We need you to respect them if you are going to live with us." He sounded like he was speaking to a child.

"Another one is respecting each other's privacy. We will respect yours, if you respect ours."

"Privacy is a social construct," Catjuice muttered to himself.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Beej, come on. They're our only safe haven right now. If we have to leave because of that then...I'll give you the silent treatment. I won't even summon you." Lydia threatened. It might have been too cruel or even a huge bluff, but she was right. The Maitlands were the only ones they could trust in town.

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice hissed at her, but settled quickly. "Fine!" He continued to grumble under his breath as the Maitlands listed more rules. So many rules!

"No violence in the house, unless absolutely necessary, and not against anyone who lives there. But if someone tries to break in, then it's fine to defend yourself," Adam said, being sure to cover all his bases.

"And please try to be truthful to us from now on. I understand it's difficult, but we're just trying to help. And to do that, we need to know what's going on," Barbara looked at the two of them from the front seat. "Is that okay with you both?"

"I guess," Beetlejuice was suddenly back to his normal form, sitting cross armed like a pouty child.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Everything I've told you has been the truth. Even those languages I picked up." Lydia replied.

"I even know sign language my mom taught me when I was little. That's how Beej and I communicated when we didn't want those as- jerks to overhear us." She added, catching herself as she started to curse. Man, that was going to be a hard habit to kick.

"I can teach you what I know if you want." She offered.

[Metronome]

"We would love that, hun!" Barbara seemed genuinely thrilled. BJ couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. They were too adorable. Were they going to brainwash him and Lyds to be that cute?

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia smiled a little at her, she was just too precious to be this sweet. She definitely wouldn't be this way if she saw the things Lydia went through. As the next few days passed, she taught them sign language, politely correcting them if they made a mistake. Then the other shoe dropped on her one evening.

"School?!" She exclaimed, almost choking on her dinner.