Hellfire On The Other Side

Chapter 14

Claytin left the graveyard, he had to find Clara and to find her, he had to find Shane. he had to get money to get on a plane to New Orleans. Suddenly, a portal appears in front of him. Shane walks out, covering Claytin's mouth before he could speak. "Clara's in New Orleans. I'm going to get her. You stay here, and if you see anyone suspicious, break this on the ground." Shane hands Claytin a purple gem. "It'll teleport me everyone with ten feet of me to your location. Stay safe," he says. Claytin back away a step, so Shane's hand didn't cover his mouth. "What is going on?! What happened between you and Clara?!" he asked before Shane could leave. "Frollo's looking for the Court of Miracles. And I'm assuming that this building is it. We need to get Roma and Clara here first. It's the only way she'll realize the truth," says Shane. "I can't let Clara in the Court Shane! My dad doesn't know about her. Why do you think when she performed it was just me and her!  If you bring her, take her to the cabin. And Roma, she is dead. I only know what my dad told me. And he just told me that after Roma got pregnant she left the court, what does Roma have anything to do with Clara?" Claytin questioned Shane confused. Shane takes off his mask. "Claytin, I brought Roma back. She's alive. And by the way, Roma is Clara's mother. She probably didn't want to be associated with her, but if you take one look at her, the resemblance is uncanny," he says. Claytin sighed. "That explains a lot actually. But don't bring them here. I'll meet you at the cabin. I've been needing to talk to Clara anyways. I'm sure you heard she broke up with me." "Yeah. I'm sorry," says Shane. "It's fine, it sucked cause I was actually going to propose but now the ring is hidden again. I wanted to marry her and get her away from Frollo. I thought maybe she would be her own person long enough to say yes but for now? Well, the challenge is to get her to be my girlfriend again. But I'll be at the cabin, meet there." Claytin said as he left to go to the cabin that Clara used to stay with him. Shane nods and smiles as he walks back into the portal.

Back in New Orleans, Roma picked up Clara's phone. As soon as Shane had hung up, Clara dropped her phone and sprinted away. Neither, Tina, Charlene, or Roma knew where she went and she was gone to fast for them to chase after her. A portal appears by the entrance. Shane walks through and asks one single question: "Where's Clara?" Roma looks to Shane, "She ran off, dropped her phone and ran. I don't know where she went." Shane reaches into his pocket and takes out his magic mirror. "She's by the Voodoo Emporium," he says. "Shane, I think Clara did something bad last night. She said I heard what she said wrong but, I don't know. I have a weird feeling. Whatever it was, it got her so frustrated she was muttering like crazy, in french. She said she only did that when she got super frustrated but I don't know her scale, do you know the last time she did that?" Roma asked. Shane strokes his chin and paces around the restaurant. "Hmm. Five years ago. I was playing with her dagger and broke it. I hadn't learned the repairing spell yet, so she was defenseless for three weeks," says Shane. "She said that she should have waited I think. That is one thing I am positive she said. She won't listen to me, even now. She might listen to you and she might tell you. Please, she needs a friend right now." Suddenly, a text went to Charlene's phone from Clara. They had switched numbers the day before. 'Don't tell Shane. He'll stop me. I can't do it. Tell him I said thank you though. Tell him he was a good friend, my best friend. And ask him to tell Claytin that I love him. Goodbye...' Shane goes wide-eyed. "No. Not again," he says through gritted teeth. He runs out the door and searches for Clara.

Clara was where he said she was. In a dark corner, she took a breath. Her dagger in her hands against her chest. it just took one push, and everything would be over. She'd die in pain like she deserved, she let herself be tricked. Closing her eyes, she tightened her grip on the dagger handle and got ready to push it into her chest. An orb made of pure shadow blasts Clara's hand, knocking the dagger onto the floor. It slides all the way to Shane's feet, who was standing with anger in his eyes and a single tear rolling down his face. Clara froze and stared at her friend. "I said to stop knocking my dagger out of my hand..." was all Clara could muster up and even that was muttered. Shane picks up Clara's dagger and slowly walks towards her. "Is this really what all of my efforts amount to?" he says. "Do you know what I did, Clara? I lost sleep learning all of the spells and skills that I know now. I sacrificed a significant amount of my blood to get Roma back." His voice started breaking. "Heck, even my plan involved killing my own father! Imagine having to give up so much for a person that can never appreciate it!" Shane's lips quiver, his eyes redden, his usually sturdy stature, crumbling. "Clara, I understand exactly how you feel. Everything that you did throughout your life, gone to waste." He falls to his knees in front of Clara, crying. "You can't keep running away from your problems, Clara. And offing yourself won't solve them." Clara pulled him up off the ground. "Shane, I don't care about what all my father said. Deep down, Shane, there was a part of me that always knew. And I do appropriate all you've done for me. The reason I was doing this was... Shane, I don't feel different towards him. I still don't hate him. And someday, he is right Shane, I might end up back. The only thing that changed is... I'm angry. And I am so tired of being angry! I want to stop being angry! All my anger at my mom is gone but now I am even more angry at my father and your father! I'm sorry Shane, I honestly don't know what to do." Clara said, fighting back tears. Shane wipes away his tears. "I'll tell you what to do. You use that anger. Let it fuel your actions. Take it out on the one that made your life miserable. Prove to him that you're not gonna let him manipulate you or hurt you or lie to me anymore," he says, offering Clara her dagger. Clara took it and sighed. "Do you remember when we were young? I miss those days. We used to go around Paris pranking people. Yeah, they were harmless but that was because you have a good big heart. I didn't. I miss that. Just having fun with you. We forgot about the rules, about the church, about the Friends. Back then, in those moments, it was just you and I, two best friends against the world. But then... we grew up." Shane chuckles. "Yeah. That's when life hit us. But we can't help growing up. It's out of our control. Honestly, I'm just glad that we didn't grow apart. Even with our differences." Clara gave a small laugh, "Yeah, but hey I wasn't letting you go easily. And that is still the same now. One thing my father was wrong about, he sure as heck needs to be worried about me staying away from you because that, is never going to happen. Whether you or he likes it or not." "Well, I guess only one question remains. Hero or villain?" says Shane. Clara didn't answer at first, "Villain. He said it, I haven't given up on being a villain which could mean, yes, someday I might end up right back in his hands. But I will never stop being your friend. No matter what he says or does! He hasn't pulled the last straw yet. Maybe he will but for now, I am still a villain, just not a very good one yet." "Dang," says Shane. "Ah, well. As long as we can work together and stop your father before he frees all of the souls from the Soul Realm." "Who says he'll do that? I thought that was you... your father when he was alive," Clara asked. Shane looks at Clara sideways. "He told you? Oh, no, no, no. See, I want to free the good souls from the Soul Realm. Frollo wants to free all of them. He's gonna use the good ones to get stronger and let the bad ones roam free. Facilier was always kinda stupid," says Shane. Clara muttered something in french until she took a deep breath. "Why do I always forget! Villains are liars! Which probably lied about everything else I talked to him about... I'm going to shut up now..." Clara said before stopping. "Clara, what are you talking about? What else did he tell you?" Shane asks. "Nothing, just forget... oh forget it. Pretty much all secrets are out in the open now. I may or may not have gone to your father's grave and talked to him. I don't like him much. He told me that, you wanted to set the Friends free but that would end up being the end of the world. I mean, I also asked what my dad knew and he said he suspected I came here but wasn't sure and no one was coming after me which could be a lie for all I know. Oh, also he said he always watches you which I think is the truth and you most likely know that." Clara explained, "And before you say anything, yes I know it was stupid and I was an idiot but in my defense, you went to Paris and that was very stupid." "Yeah, well, it doesn't matter now. Shadow Man is dead. He won't be bothering us anymore," says Shane. "And you're the only one that did something purely stupid. My plan worked." "So you aren't going to free the Friends and end the world?" Clara asked. "I will free the Friends. But it's cool. I know that they're not gonna do anything bad once I do. I managed to do the impossible. I've tamed them," says Shane. Clara gave him a look, "I hate saying this Shane, but maybe we should trust the guy who is dead and was killed by them. Maybe you need to let this one go Shane. And this is coming from a villain. This just sounds like suicide." Shane snaps his fingers. "I've got a whole bunch of good voodoo energy flowing through me. The Friends trust me," says Shane. "Throughout the Facilier bloodline, every Facilier that was evil eventually died at the hands of the Friends. Wanna know why?" "Because they tried to do stupid things and got themselves killed. Your father turned a prince into a frog Shane. I'm sure there was a much easier way of doing that." Clara said, annoyed. Shane sighs. "No! Because they made promises that they knew they could never keep. World domination, control of all living things, the entire city of New Orleans. Every single time, they failed. And every single time, the Friends made them pay," he says. After you left after our little catch-up session, I made a deal with the Friends. I promised that if I could stop Frollo from carrying out his plan, that I'd free them and all of the good souls from the Soul Realm. That's it."And that's where you're going to get yourself killed. Shane, how are you going to defeat my father?" Clara asked rolling her eyes and crossed her arms. "Not alone. I can tell you that," says Shane. "Anyway, we should get back to the restaurant. The others are definitely worried sick about us." "If you mean, you're using me, you better tell me soon. And by the way, I swear if my mom starts yelling at me, either someone is getting hurt or I am getting drunk. Probably both." Clara said. She put her dagger in her cloak and put her hood up. Shane puts on his mask and grips his cane tightly. "Let's just go," says Shane.