Mixed it up Together: a Beetlejuice AU (a collab with GreatestShowman123)

The Plan...

A strange looking man entered the area, dressed in an all black outfit. Except for his black and white checkered scarf. A nasty gash like wound lacerated his throat, deep enough for the esophagus to be seen. Every time he took a big puff of his cigarette, smoke came out of his wound. His hair was greasy, combed back with a dark shine to it.

As he spoke, his voice didn't seem to match his looks. It sounded more like his vocal cords were comprised of cobwebs. He pointed at Lydia and Emily. "After them!"

The attention of every deceased soul in the area, a sorrowful Argentina included, snapped to Lydia and Emily, both of whom had since stopped and returned fleeting glances to the group of deceased inches away from them. Emily grasped her daughter's arm, pulling her close to her. Quickly and frantically, she shouted,

"Come on! We've gotta go!"

But Lydia pushed herself away from her mother. "Mom! Draw a door, go home! I'm going to go look for my dad!"

Emily didn't have a chance to answer. She just stood there in concern as Lydia took off in a different direction. The strange man—Otho—pointed at Lydia again, as she dashed right through another detector-like machine and set off its alarm. Lydia stopped for a moment to stare at it, then she resumed with her running off.

"We have a runner!" Otho shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth and blew through them like an owl whistle.

Emily dashed right through the detector-like machine to go after Lydia, not caring that any of the group of recently deceased that they'd encountered were in close pursuit of them. They pursued Emily and Lydia, looking as though they were possessed. And then again, maybe they were.

The two kept running, Lydia not knowing that Emily was rushing after her. Her mom was a good distance behind her. Whilst Lydia kept running, Emily diverted a small group of recently deceased away from her, whilst the others continued after Lydia.

Once she had finally lost the group that'd been after her, or she thought she had, Lydia felt her legs start to strain and give out from under her.

She stumbled on her feet, collapsing on the floor of the hallway that she was currently in.

"Dad?!!" she screamed out, hoping that he would hear her. But there was no answer. Why wouldn't there be? She got to her feet once she'd regained some strength.

She looked around some more, spotting the group of recently deceased souls, Otho at the forefront of them, still after her. They continued towards her, and she, a 5ft 2 teenager, wove in and out of them in her continued attempts to find her dad. She fled away from the recently deceased, this time not bothering to pause and check behind her.

Though she could clearly hear the sound of her mother yelling and throwing rocks that she'd somehow found at the group of deceased to divert their attention from Lydia. It worked, and the deceased focused their attention on Emily instead. That gave Lydia enough time to dash off and get away.

Finding herself tired once more, and her legs once again giving out from under her, Lydia stopped to get some more rest. She sat down again, glancing around once more. "Where have you gone, dad?" she pleaded, her attention now focused down on her reflection in the hallway floor.

She felt tears start to form and flow, again not bothering to wipe them away and instead letting them drip onto the floor. She was much too sad.

"Dad! Dad!" she called out again, breaking down and tearing up even more. "What—what am I doing?"

Whenever she felt overwhelmed, her dad used to teach her to use a strategy that he said always seemed to help him: singing. That was what Lydia needed to do now. She curled in on herself, tapping out a rhythm on her thigh and humming. Words popped into her head immediately, and she turned her attention toward the ceiling. Her tears had since stopped flowing, but still occasionally dripped down her face.