Beetlejuice: Handbook Novels & Stories

Shameful. One of the domestic staff rushed over to help take my bag in. I’d brought just two bags: one had my clothes and a few essentials and the other had some shoes and files. I didn’t think I would need anything more than that. I didn’t want to arrive at the Hansons mansion looking like I was escaping from my home. “Is he in?” I asked the girl who helped with my bags. “Who, Miss Vendel?” she asked. “Christopher,” I said after a deep breath.

I did everything to be a good friend, only to be treated as my so-called best friend’s scapegoat. When her husband found cigarette ash in their house, she claimed I was the one smoking. When she snuck off for a private rendezvous with her lover, she told him she was celebrating my birthday. And when she got pregnant, she pinned the blame on me again, declaring I was consumed with jealousy—that I had spiked her drink and hired someone to violate her. Enraged, her husband marched to my doorstep wielding a blade and hacked me to death. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the exact day she had asked me to cover for her affair.

"Be good. Don't move around. And no kicking the blanket." Orion closed his eyes like a man who had lost all hope of living. After turning off the light, I lay down with my back to him. Pulling out my phone, I opened the customer service chat box with a heavy heart. Me: [Hi. My incubus seems… off.] Customer service: [Hello, if you're having any basic care issues during the raising process, please consult the Incubus Care Manual. Ah… sorry, looks like I forgot to send you the manual last time.]

I was kicked out of the moving car without warning and sent crashing onto the ground hard. The sharp pain sent a wave of dizziness through me. Even so, I stumbled to my feet, instinctively popping my dislocated hand bones and kneecap back into place. I then slowly made my way down the familiar path I'd walked countless times before. I still needed to return to the Sanders residence to retrieve something. Compared to what I'd felt in the past three years, this little bit of pain couldn't do anything to stop me.

Aleph’s eyes widened and he stared at Azaliah who was staring at Beth’s retreating back. “This cannot be good. She sounded like she was about pass judgement on us”. Aleph cried. Azaliah smiled softly and stared at him. “She’s just trying to scare you”. She said. “But you’re probably right, what she wants to talk about might not be good”. Aleph sighed. “Well, only one way to find out”. Aleph then raised his right hand and tapped Azaliah’s shoulder forcefully. This action made him to lose his grip on the jar and before he could fix anything, the jar greeted the floor and made an deafening and irritating sound.

Just the two of them. But then came the sickness. The mysterious fever that spread through their village, the strange behavior in the infected—the eyes that glowed too bright, the bodies that changed. And Brawn, stubborn and selfless, had gone to help. He’d gone into the woods after one of the infected children wandered off. He never came back. A letter was sent to me two days later— the death of my brother. I had refused to come back to the town, I didn't bare to see the place he'd spent his last memories or maybe it was guilt.

Chapter 15 Beast *** Content Warning: This chapter might contain violence, abuse, crime, or triggering factors that may be harmful, disturbing, or traumatizing to some. Reader discretion is advised. Thank you. *** POV: Shea Vestine - Thorne “Oh, gosh! I really can’t believe what happened last night!” Carrie exaggeratedly exclaimed as she sat beside her on the huge rock near the riverbank.