A New Life (Sequel to 'Beetlejuice: A Blast into The Past')

Chapter 7: Searching For The Demon

TW: Brief and minor mentions of seizure  and a scene of minor abuse

It was a struggle, but Betelgeuse finally fell asleep, cuddling Delia tightly, resting his head on her chest. Adam walked upstairs and began running a bath for the demon. When it was ready Delia ran her hand through the demon's hair and gently stroked his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to make sense of his surroundings. His left cheek was completely red from laying on his mum's chest and his morning face was funny to look at.

"Hey, you okay?" Delia asked in a sweet voice, holding him close. Betelgeuse tried to form a sentence and after a few tries he mumbled "Yeah. Just tired!" "Okay. By the way, Adam's just ran a bath for you." Betelgeuse sleepily mumbled a thanks and stumbled to the bathroom with the help of Delia. His muscles still trembled as he was in but not as violently as before as the heat relaxed him. Delia fed him the rest of the half-eaten biscuit and this time it wasn't brought back up, but it was clearly a struggle to eat it. Betelgeuse fell asleep in the bath and Delia let him rest, holding him up as she gently massaged some shampoo into his hair. With a jug she poured the water on his hair and rinsed him off before letting the bath out. After it was drained, she wrapped him in a towel and scooped him up into her arms and carried him into his bed where she put some comfortable pyjamas on him. She left him a note saying 'come down when you feel ready. There is no rush – Mom ♡' and went downstairs when she saw that the sofa had been cleaned and had everyone sitting on it. Delia chuckled and crossed her arms, gesturing to Sandy to get her head off. Mimicking what her owner would do in this situation, she stuck her tongue out and rested her head on the sofa again, making everyone giggle. Delia scratched the bottom of the sandworm's chin and she lifted it up enough for Delia to have her seat back. Sandy then shrunk down to the size of a regular snake and perched in her lap.

"How is he?" Lydia asked.

"He's okay. Still clearly not feeling great but he is mainly sleepy now."

"Aww. I hope he gets better soon." Charles said.

"Me too. For all our sakes." Barbara responded. The family heard Betelgeuse stumble downstairs and they realised he had a few strands of green in his hair. Smiling to himself, Betelgeuse crept up to Delia and plonked next to her. He skilfully materialised a fluffy blanket and pulled it over him. Betelgeuse pulled puppy eyes and gently tapped Delia's arm which wrapped around him and gently stroked his cheek comfortingly. Every few minutes, the demon would eye the life coach lovingly and the look would be mimicked, earning a kiss on the forehead. If ever the demon was not getting enough attention, he would make adorable wimpier sounds.

"What?" Delia asked as if she didn't know what was going on. The demon grumbled and cuddled up to Emily.

"Aww!" Emily exclaimed along with Barbara.

"Oi you. What has Aunty Emily done to deserve that?" Charles asked in a joking manner.

"It's cause I'm Aunty Emily!"

"Mhm!" Betelgeuse sighed happily. Emily ran her fingers through his hair and earned a soft and quiet purr. A clear sign that he was okay. Temporarily. He fell asleep peacefully cuddled up to Emily who hummed a lullaby that she used on Lydia that never failed. As he slept his hair became overtaken with black and his breath hitched. His muscles shook violently and began to seize, drooling and vomiting without consciousness.

"BEEJ?!" Emily yelled, trying to wake him up. "Delia, get help!" she yelled but Delia froze up in a panicked state. Emily leapt up off the sofa and ran through the Neitherworld portal and returned five minutes later with the same doctor from before.

"When did the seizure start?" he asked, already tending to the demon.

"I came and got you as soon as it started.'' The doctor timed the seizure and with the help of another medicine, it stopped. Betelgeuse tried to open his eyes but was completely drained and his muscles ached as a wave of nausea overcame him. Adam held the bucket to the demon just in time before he threw up into it.