Chapter 2Escaping My Mother's Afterlife

That night, I slipped into my mother's dream.

Her dreamscape was a cold, clinical prison of order.

I saw countless versions of "me"—

All wearing identical, perfectly pressed uniforms, sitting expressionless at identical desks, obediently copying Bible verses.

The walls were plastered with schedules precise to the minute, and the air smelled heavily of bleach and ink.

She sat high above it all in a carved, gothic armchair. Her eyes were sharp as a hawk's, scanning every "daughter" to ensure our handwriting was neat and our posture was perfect.

This was probably her ideal version of me.

Obedient, flawless, and completely stripped of a soul.

"Mom..."

My voice drifted, broken and hollow.

Because I couldn't afford the protection fees or a place to sleep, my soul had been tortured until it was withered, flickering like a candle in the wind.

Standing on the edge of her "perfect world," I looked like a stain that didn't belong.

"Who's there?" she snapped, her voice carrying a trace of caution.

"It's me."

She shot up from her chair, her eyes instantly focusing through the haze of the dream.

"Serenity, is that you? You finally came to my dream..."

Her voice carried a kind of profound relief. She reached out her hand to me, a gesture that made it seem like I had just had a bad day outside and was coming home to her embrace.

Seeing her like this, a sour, emotional lump rose in my throat.

Had she been waiting for me?

Did she finally realize how cruel she had been?

Did my death finally make her understand?

"Mom, I'm doing really badly in the Afterlife."

My heart softened, and my tone unconsciously slipped into a pathetic, wronged whine.

"It hurts so much. The pain of hitting the pavement... it repeats every single day... I need painkillers. I need to rent a crypt. I need to pay the Reapers for protection. Can you... can you please burn a little more money for me?"

I don't know why, but even though I was already dead, the moment I opened my mouth, I reverted right back to my old, submissive tone.

I sounded like a lowly beggar, wagging my tail for scraps.

That familiar feeling made me hate myself even more.

But what I didn't expect was for my mother's face to instantly darken.

"You useless disappointment!" Her voice suddenly shrieked. "You were a failure alive, and you're a debt-collector in death! I always said you had cheap bones, no self-discipline! You go down there, and you still haven't repented! You're still infected with the disease of spending money! Do you think money just falls from the sky?!"

I stood frozen, feeling like I'd been struck by lightning. My soul vibrated with shock.

"Mom, you burn 20 dollars a day. Just the painkillers cost 15. I don't have a place to live, and I have to save 200 a month for protection. If I want to reincarnate, there are taxes..."

"Enough!"

She cut me off viciously, her spit flying in the dream's light.

"Excuses! Twenty bucks was plenty for you to eat and shit when you were alive! You don't even need to eat or drink down there. Twenty Spirit Dollars is more than enough. Don't think I don't know how it works. I consulted an Occult Medium! Twenty dollars is absolutely enough! It's because you haven't fixed your disgusting habits down there that you're spending so much!"

My mother's voice was a sharp knife, piercing through every last drop of emotion I felt for her.

"Did you think I was burning money for you to enjoy yourself? Let me tell you right now, I burn money every day so you remember every single second: I am your mother! I still control you! Don't you dare think you can fly out of my palm just because you're dead!"

Something cracked deep inside my soul.

So, my mother wasn't burning money out of love. She was doing it out of "control."

She hadn't changed one bit from when I was alive. In fact, she had gotten worse.

"Do you really think... that you haven't made a single mistake?" I asked, completely hollowed out.

"I am your mother! Everything I do is for your own good!"

She exploded like a powder keg, her voice piercing the air.

"Look at me, I'm getting old, and I still have to break my back worrying about you! When you were alive, I bled for you, I taught you, and why the hell were you so fragile? You jumped off a roof over a little hardship! And now, you're dead, and you still don't understand shit!"

She took a menacing step forward, and all the "perfect daughters" in her dreamscape crumbled into dust behind her.

Leaving only her twisted face, contorted by her obsession with control.

"Do you know why I named you Serenity? 'Serene' means quiet obedience! It means you shut up and follow orders. What you need right now is to reflect on your mistakes! Not think about how to squander money!"

The one who needs to correct their mistakes... is me?

I screamed silently in my head as tears streamed down my spectral face, utterly uncontrollable.

My mother showed no sign of stopping.

"From now on, do exactly as I say! Visit my dreams every night. Greet me, and tell me this is day X of your sincere reflection in the Netherworld. Be good! Let me see your 'progress'! If I find out you're not behaving—"

A cruel, triumphant sneer tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Then I'll cut the Spirit Dollars off completely! Then we'll see what you do!"

She actually wanted me to continue "checking in" from the Afterlife?

Even though I didn't breathe anymore, I felt like I was suffocating all over again.

The nightmare of my living days was replaying in the Netherworld in an even darker, more desperate way.

But this time, from the depths of my freezing despair, a blazing, all-consuming fire suddenly roared to life!

When I was alive, I was powerless to fight back.

But now... I was already dead. What did I have to be afraid of?

"I originally thought... my death might buy a single shred of remorse from you..."

I laughed mockingly at myself, raising my hand and pointing directly at her hateful face.

"Now I see I was incredibly stupid! Naive and ridiculous!

"Let me tell you something: even if my soul shatters into a million pieces down here, I will never, ever visit your dream for another second!

"You will never control me again! Not for a single minute!"

My mother stared at me in shock, reaching out to grab my soul—

"You think you can escape me? I'm telling you, even if you don't visit my dreams, I have ways to make you—"

Before she could finish, I scattered like smoke.

The Dream Visitation was over.