It's A Wonderful Afterlife (Sequel to 'A New Life')

Chapter 7: Chaos and Family

They were all on watch, and the room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

"Are we sure this won't get Uncle Bj hurt?" Breaking the stillness, Remus inquired.

"No, I don't believe so. So long as our strategy doesn't get misdirected to me." Betelgeuse soothed the worried youngster.

"Can't we just exorcise her?". Lydia enquired.

"Exercising a demon, Scarecrow, is extremely difficult. Even I have a hard time." Betelgeuse regrettably confessed. None of them appeared to see a portal to the Netherworld open up behind Lydia and Remus, who were giggling and making jokes with each other out of boredom. A red-clad woman with tall brown and grey hair walked out. She went unnoticed. At least not until the woman said the word,

"you!" She snatched the two from their grip and began dragging them over to the Netherworld's entrance.

"MOM! Please." Betelgeuse screamed, a brave expression on his face.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" he cried once again, shoving his mother out of the way and forcing her to stumble and fall. He then snatched Remus and Lydia from behind and dragged them away. Remus let out a little gasp and stared down at his wrist. Betelgeuse's grasp was too tight, causing an old wound to reopen.

"I'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry." Betelgeuse's hair turned gold, grey, and purple, and he felt so sick and guilty since he had injured an adolescent who was already suffering. Remus tried reassuring the demon that he was Alright, just surprised. Juno grinned, determined to take advantage of what he'd done.

"Now take a look at you. You attempt to be a father, but you fail miserably. You can't help but cause anguish to everyone else." Juno chuckled as she moved closer to her son, her 5ft 11 height towering over his 5ft 6 stature. This plainly intimidated him, and he trembled slightly. "To be honest, Lawrence. You're still the coward that you've always been." She smacked him across the face and scaled him. Remus was about to rush in and punch her when Charles stopped him. Remus kicked and fought against his hold. He almost broke free but Charles whispered something in his ear, making him stop instantly. "You're a strange father, Lawrence. Taking a child somewhere he isn't supposed to be." Juno burst out laughing. Betelgeuse calmed himself by taking a big breath. Juno lunged out to strike him, but was stopped by a hand forcefully grasping her wrist and yanking it back to her side. It was Betelgeuse . He couldn't believe he was capable of what he was about to do.

"You know something, mom? You've always stated I'm the biggest disappointment ever. I made the mistake of believing you. You have degraded, humiliated, and physically and emotionally tormented and abused me for 621 years. In reality, I was never the one who disappointed or failed. You were the one who did it. You're a disappointment and a failure of a mother! All I wanted was to be loved or to be loved one day. I had it till my father stepped out. You blamed everything on me, like you did with everything else. EVERYTHING! However, the fact is that it was always YOU who was to blame. You've just projected your own problems onto me in order to make yourself feel better about the environment in which you live. You can at least TRY to be a good mother now if you couldn't be one then!" Betelgeuse screamed angrily.

"You really want me gone, huh? "Well, guess what—"

"Are you going to go and never come back?" Lydia inquired, hoping.

"Nope. I'm staying right here, and you'll never be able to get rid of me." Juno smirked to himself as he sat down on the sofa. Charles eyed the male demon, who was fidgeting nervously with a stray thread.

He silently told him to do something as he gazed at him.

"Where is my glass of wine?" Juno demanded.