Hellfire on the Other Side Book 2

Chapter 4

   Shane and Charlene play with Shadow in the backyard. "Whoa! Energetic girl, huh?" says Shane. "She sure is!" Charlene replies. "Seems like she never gets tired! I love her so much! I'm so glad you got her for me! I've always wanted a pet dog. But the fur would ruin my mom's clothes, so she was against it." Shane raises an eyebrow. "Didn't she have a pet cat, though?" Charlene scowls. "She did?! Oh, I might need to have a word with her next time I see her," she says sternly. Shane chuckles as he pets Shadow. Shadow jumps into Shane's arms. "Aww! She's so cute!" Shane squeals.

   "Shane, it seems like every time something big happens in our lives, you show more of your soft sides," says Charlene. "What do you mean?" "Well, when we first met, I basically got you addicted to beignets. Then we got together, and you got all lovey-dovey. And let's not forget when you proposed." Shane blushes. "Yeah, that moment was definitely the softest I've been," he says sheepishly. "And then the way you looked at me on our wedding day. And when you saw me in my new outfit. And every time I bring up having a kid," Charlene continues. Shane nearly chokes. "Char, We've got our whole lives ahead of us. I mean, we're only twenty. Plus, there's so much going on. Don't you think that's moving a bit too fast?" he says. Charlene kisses Shane. "I know there's a lot going on. I'm just wondering if you'd ever wanna have kids." "Well, obviously. It's just... you know how I get with that type of stuff." Charlene chuckles. "You haven't had the talk yet, have you?" she asks. "Char, my mom is miles away from us and my dad died long before I even fully understood the concept of death. What do you think?" "Oh, Shane. You're way too innocent to even exist," says Charlene.

   Shane checks his phone. "Oh, shoot! Clara's gonna be leaving soon. We'd better go and check up on her before we go," he says. "Aww, but who's gonna watch Shadow?" Charlene whines. Shane looks at Shadow. "Don't cause too much trouble, okay, girl? We'll be back," he says to her. Shadow barks in agreement. "Good girl." Shane grabs his motorcycle keys. "Because you never know when we'll need to take a leisurely ride." Charlene puts on her coat. "So where to first?" "I'm pretty sure that she'd be at the mansion," Shane answers. He summons a portal to the mansion's entrance. "Shall we?" "After you, Shane." Shane and Charlene enter the portal, taking them to the mansion entrance.

   Shane and Charlene enter the mansion. "Whoa! This place is so big!" Charlene exclaims. Her voice echoes through the mansion foyer. Shane shrugs and says, "Eh, I've seen bigger." "Well as rich as we may be, or now just me, there are only so many mansions near the church and castles are way bigger. I went to Emily's once, huge thing." Clara was leaning on a railing from the second floor. "What are you two doing here?" "Can't a couple of people come and see their friend just because?" says Shane. "Point taken," Clara said before jumping the railing to the main level. "Miss Frollo, you aren't supposed to do that," one of the guards says. "My house now, my rules. Leave it," Clara said waving him off. "Doesn't that hurt your ankles?" Charlene asks Clara. "Yeah, that kinda concerns me, too," says Shane. "It can, but I've gone through worse pain. Way worse pain," Clara said shrugging.  Shane leans against his cane. "So, what you been up to lately?" he asks. "Meetings, travel, some more meetings, and lying to Claytin when I come here. All the fun stuff. In an hour I leave again, for more meetings for at least a month. So much fun," Clara sighed.  "Dang, Clara. That's a lot of stuff to do," says Charlene. "A lot of boring stuff, sometimes I don't know why I took on this job. I am way too bored," Clara said shrugging.  "Well, unfortunately, someone has to do it," says Shane. "It'd be a lot easier if you could just clone yourself, wouldn't it?" "I don't know. That would cause way more problems I feel like. But I mean, after a while I shouldn't have to leave so much. I mean, I only started one and a half or so months ago. It's just tiring and boring. You're lucky, going around being heroic. Your name will be remembered as a hero Shane." Shane sighs. "Well, I struggled at first, too," he says. "Yeah! Things are gonna settle down one day," says Charlene. Clara nodded. "Anyways, let's leave the mansion. Before Adri checks out where I am and tells Claytin. That just causes a whole lot of lecturing. He doesn't like me being here. Thinks it's bad for my mental health." Shane nods. "Yeah, I still haven't told my mom that I visit the Voodoo Emporium regularly," he says. "Yeah well, I was in a mental hospital for a month. I broke out a lot. Did Claytin ever tell you where I was for that first month?"  "I don't think so," says Shane. "Well, he took your advice and forced me to go to a therapist, who convinced him to take me to a mental hospital for a month. I mostly got out and tricked all the doctors by making them think I took the medicine. Don't tell Claytin. I am still supposed to be taking it, I don't," Clara said.  "Clara, you have a serious lying problem," says Charlene. "It's called being a Frollo. And being a villain for eighteen years. Or I guess being a villain kid. Ever villain kid can lie, just not all do. Lying is in our blood." "Hmm, I don't know. Sounds like a poor excuse to me," says Charlene. "What do you think, Shane?" "Poor excuse, without a doubt." "First of all, both of you, shut up. Second of all, I can lie if I want. I personally don't like getting lectured by my husband." Shane and Charlene look at each other. "Frankly, I'd take the lecture," says Shane. "Yeah, totally," Charlene replies. Clara glared at them. "Come on," she went out the front doors and called Misty over.