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Curtains Drawn

"Beetlejuice, huh? That's a bit of a strange name." You hummed.

"Well, that's my middle name. My first name is Lawrence." He shrugged, "The middle name is what's important. You wouldn't happen to want to say it two more times, would you?"

"That's wildly suspicious." You narrowed your eyes, "Why would you need me to do that?"

"I am an invisible ghost! Nobody else can see me besides other dead people and yourself. But, if you said my name three times, I would be free! People would be able to see me and I could directly affect the world of the living." He explained, with a flourish.

"I would do anything you want me to in exchange for my freedom." Beetlejuice said.

"I'm not sold." You said, "You'll need to truly convince me. After all, I have no idea whether or not I can trust you."

He sighed, "You're a tough one, huh?"

"Just wanna know who I'm working with." You shrugged, "You gotta prove that you're trustworthy."

"What??" He gasped in mock offense, "I'm plenty trustworthy."

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'Trust Nobody'?" You scoffed, "You gotta be careful. You never know who's just waiting to stab you in the back."

"Yeesh, who hurt you?" Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow.

"The world. The cruel, cruel world!" You exaggerated, throwing your arm against your face in a flourish.

"Okay, you theater kid." He rolled his eyes.

"From what I'm hearing, you have no choice but to deal with my bullshit. If you want freedom, that is." Your face held a smug grin.

As Beetlejuice groaned, you couldn't help but chuckle.

"You did say you would do anything for freedom. So, here you are! You have no choice but to deal with me and my dramatic antics."

"I did say that." He sighed, "Fine. I'll prove to you that I'm trustworthy and deal with.." He vaguely waved in your direction, "All of that."
"So mean." You tutted.

"I'm a demon, what did you expect?" He shrugged before stopping in place.

Seems he realized what he said a bit too late.

"So, you are a demon! I knew there was something off." You laughed.

"So, what if I am? Something wrong with that?" He questioned with narrowed eyes.

"Not necessarily." You shrugged, "Just heard a lot of negative shit about demons. Mostly by lunatics."

"Not that it affects much. Just as untrustworthy as a human." You said.

"Huh. You're the first breather I've met that doesn't care about that. Actually, probably the first breather I've talked to in a hot minute." He said, putting his arms behind his head, floating upward.

"Whatever, we'll talk about this more tomorrow." You stood up, stretching, "I've got sleeping to do."

"Already? So early." Beetlejuice tutted in a mocking way.

"Maybe for you, but I'm a human. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think you actually sleep." You pointed at him.

"You got me there." He chuckled, "Whatever, get some rest. I'll be here when you wake up."

You waved good night in his general direction, heading to your bedroom.

Wow. You had only lived in this house for a few hours and you've already met a demon. You really should start listening to the rumors. More than that, the supernatural actually existed? You really should be in more shock, considering you didn't believe any of that kinda thing a few hours prior.

You met a demon.

You met a demon!

That was insane. Mad, even. Meeting a demon was not on your 2023 bingo card. Hell, meeting a demon wasn't something you thought would ever happen to you in your life! And yet, here you were. Oh well. What could you do? Although.. Having a personal demon did sound pretty sick. At the same time, he was a demon. Pretty risky. A personal demon, though.. Eh, you'll give it some time before pulling the trigger. Sleeping on it was a good idea.

That morning, you once again felt the feeling of being stared at.

Ah.

So it wasn't a dream.

"Change your mind, yet?" He asked.

"Nope." You poured coffee into a mug, "It hasn't even been 24 hours."

"Agh, you're impossible!" He threw his hands up.

"You're just not very patient." You argued, taking a swig of the coffee.

"I've been waiting near one thousand fucking years. You'll have to excuse me for not being patient." He scoffed.

"You know what? Fair." You said.

"Well, you're going to have to wait a bit longer. I'm not going to be in the house today." You added.

"What?? Leaving me all alone, how mean." Beetlejuice tutted.

"Yeah, well, unless you have a magical method to attach yourself to me, you'll have to deal with it." You brought up, joking.

"A magical method.." He hummed in thought, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"..Okay! I'll uh.. Leave you to that. I'll be back soon." You forced a smile, walking to the door.

He was still talking to himself when you left. Welp! That was a problem for future you. You mainly just needed ingredients for your shop upstairs. Groceries, too. Hopefully he wouldn't wreck the place while you were gone. Actually, that was dumb. He said himself that he couldn't directly affect the realm of the living.

You were out pretty much all day, buying ingredients from all sorts of various stores. It was evening by the time you got home and the house seemed untouched. You grabbed your keys and some grocery bags, opening the door. You nearly dropped everything you were holding at the sight.

Candles and a giant book were in the middle of the living room, with Beetlejuice flipping through the pages of the book. The candles and books both were coated in a green glow. You figured they were both from the beyond, considering he couldn't affect the land of the living. The rest of the house was perfectly clean. Good.

As you brought the groceries in and put them away, you looked briefly at the spot where Beetlejuice and the book was.

"Doing some light reading?" You joked.

"I found a way to attach myself to you!" He said, "It takes a ritual, though."

You had to take a second to process.

"Are you serious? I was just joking earlier." You blinked.

"Will you allow me to attach myself to you?" He said, before pausing, "In the literal way! Not the horny way."

You fake gagged at the last sentence, but had to seriously think about what he was asking. He would be with you forever. That's what it seemed like, at least. A ritual was some risky stuff. So was just talking to a demon. However, this way you could keep an eye on him. Make sure he didn't mess up your shit or was doing shit behind your back.

You contemplated the options before sighing.

"Okay. Let's do it."

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! You are never going to regret this." He rubbed his hands together.

Oh, fuck. You were totally going to regret this.