Showtime

Prologue

The Netherworld was a lonely place. Everyone who ever entered that place was utterly alone. A complete and total hell. At least, the closest you could ever get to hell. Life passes by in a flash and you're never prepared for it all to come to a halt. Life is a rollercoaster, compared to the dull and dreary nothingness that is The Netherworld.

Beetlejuice was sick of it. In fact, most of the dead were sick of it. The eternity of the afterlife was torture, especially after being around for so long. I mean, one thousand years of scaring? That's a lot of years! To the human perception, at least. Being the son of a human and the head honcho of The Netherworld didn't help, not in the slightest.

If he didn't want to be stuck in the hellhole that was The Netherworld, he was stuck in an abandoned and dusty house, filled with cobwebs. His only friends were spiders. Great. Although, he'd rather talk to the spiders and eat them in succession than spend even one minute in the netherworld. At least in the empty house, he didn't have to worry about running into his asshole mother.

On the other hand, you had just saved enough money to buy your very own house! All on your own, too. It was difficult, trying to maintain the money for your house and your other expenses. You did it, though! This house specifically was in a fairly good sized town, with a second floor that could double as both a house and a shop. That was your ultimate dream! To have your very own shop, where you could sell what you wanted while being able to pay for other expenses. It was finally coming together, after so long.

With boxes in the back of your vehicle, you drove to the house you had bought. You had heard a bunch of rumors about the places being haunted online, but you didn't pay them any attention. Ghosts aren't real. That was crazy. The world isn't going to shit because of ghosts or demons or whatever. You didn't believe any of that.

You pulled into the parking lot, smiling at the house in front of you. You had looked at it online, through a virtual tour. That's just how the world was, after the whole quarantine thing. You closed the vehicle door, taking boxes from inside the vehicle and carrying them to the front step. The neighborhood was pretty quiet, as it was the middle of the day in September. Most people were either at work or at school.

It wasn't hard to get the boxes inside, considering the last place you lived was an apartment. The house was dusty, but nothing a bit of sweeping couldn't fix. Most of the boxes were set in the kitchen, as you spent a good amount of time unboxing all of your belongings. You had been pretty much everywhere in the house, except for the attic. Furniture was all set up and the house was ready for living in. It took all day, but it was worth it.

You were getting a glass of water to go along with dinner when a certain ghost had heard all of the commotion. From the attic, he floated down to the kitchen where you were eating. So, his dead ears didn't deceive him! There you were, taking a sip of water. He couldn't help but stare. You were the first person to live in this house in ages!

You slowly turned your head, feeling eyes burn through your head. You couldn't help but spit out your water at the sight before you. A floating man. One with yellow eyes, green hair and sharp teeth. Was that mold on his face? Grimy.

Well, so much for ghosts not existing.

He wiggled his fingers in your direction.

"Hiya. I'm gonna take that aggressive water spit as a 'you see me' kinda spit."

"Uh.. Who the hell are you?" You asked, raising an eyebrow and trying not to totally freak out.

"I can't say it!" He shrugged.

"Okay." You hummed, "How about a game of charades?"

"Yes, let's play it!" He clapped.

Jesus, this was weird.