Hellfire on the Other Side Book 2

Chapter 40

   "Twelve Facilier Beignets, for the happy couple!" Tina sets down a big plate of beignets on a table, in front of Shane and Charlene. They had decided to head back to New Orleans for a few days to catch up with Tina and her family. "Thank you very much, Tina," says Shane, grabbing a beignet. "By the way, how's business?" "Booming, as usual. Thanks to you," says Tina. Shane blushes. "Me? What did I do?" Charlene chuckles, taking a beignet. "Everywhere we go, you somehow manage to bring up this restaurant's beignets. And we have been going to a lot of places as of late," she says. Shane takes a bite. "Huh. I never noticed," he says. "Well, it's true! Because we refuse to become a restaurant chain, we've had visitors from all over the world. A lot of them, for our beignets, but they've also tried other menu items, too. And every single one of them mentioned you as their reference," Tina explains. "See, Shane? You're their spokesperson, whether you know it or not!" says Charlene. Shane laughs. "Well, anything I can do to help, Tina. By the way, any menu items that you'd like to recommend to me?" Tina takes a menu from the nearby shelf and places it in front of him. "You've got eyes," she says. Shane takes the menu and smiles. "Fine. I'll do it myself," he says.

   "By the way, Shane, did you get work done? Something about you looks different," says Tina. "Oh, yeah. The purple eyes," says Shane. Tina had been out of the know about what Shane and Charlene had been getting into for a while. Mainly to keep her at the restaurant, where she preferred to be. Shane looks at Charlene with worry in his eyes. He mouths, "Can you tell her, please?" to her. Charlene nods and takes a deep breath. "Tina, I'll try to make this as quick as possible. Shane was kidnapped by an old friend of his that was crazy for him," says Charlene. Tina takes a seat and says, "My goodness." Charlene continues. "While she held him captive, he became more and more corrupted. By the time me and a few others rescued him, he had seemingly reached the point of no return. Fortunately, I got through to him and he purged himself of all evil. And he got his gorgeous purple eyes as a bonus."

   Charlene tickles Shane's cheek with her finger. Shane lets out a small giggle. "Char, stop it," he says. "Sorry, Shane. I just can't resist the dreaminess of your eyes," says Charlene. "Well, I'm glad you're okay, Shane," says Tina. "And Charlene's an official member of the UHKs! Can't forget that!" says Shane. "Really?! Oh, Char, that's amazing! I'd be lying if I said that I didn't see you up there with the big dogs!" exclaims Tina, hugging her. "Okay, okay! I only did it because Shane needed a break. He works really hard with his HVK business," says Charlene. "Well, nonetheless, I'm happy for both of you. But I sometimes wonder what your friends are up to," says Tina. "Friends?" asks Shane. "Zelda, Allara, Sully, and Klunk. Those four," Tina clarifies. "Oh. Well, I'm sure that they're probably just doing their own thing. Or on a double date," says Shane.

   In Rapunzel and Eugene's castle, Zelda, Klunk, Allara, and Sully are having a meeting regarding Shane. "Right. So, it looks like Shane will be out of commission for the HVKs for a while. Which is good. He needs as much time as necessary to get himself back into shape," says Zelda. "Good thing Charlene joined the UHKs. She should be able to handle most of his work." She picks up her teacup and takes a sip. "By a show of hands, who else is still worried about Shane?" One by one, everyone raises a hand. "I see..." says Zelda. "Well, you saw what happened back in Arendelle. We all did. Something about Shane seems... different," says Sully. He looks at Allara, who nods at him. "Allara and I watched him one day. Everything seemed normal, until he was standing alone in his room, in front of the mirror." "He starts talking to himself. Or at least that's how it appears. There's something going on with Shane, and we think it's got something to do with this 'corruption' that Eris spoke about," says Allara.

   Zelda sets down the teacup. "Klunk, dear, what do you think is going on with Shane?" she asks. "What if the effects of the corruption aren't gone, but dormant? I mean, his eyes are still purple, even after he purged himself of evil. There's a high chance that he's trying to avoid becoming evil again, but every now and then, it slips out, but only in the form of his reflections," says Klunk. "That... sounds logical. That could be the best explanation so far! Klunk, you're amazing!" says Zelda. She kisses him. Klunk chuckles sheepishly, blushing. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself," says Zelda. "Okay. So we know what's going on with Shane. Now we need to know what we're gonna do with him," says Allara. "I think the more important question is if we should do anything with him," says Sully. "He seems to have it under control for now. It's just small arguments back-and-forth for a few minutes. I don't think we should interfere until it gets really serious." "But how will we know when it gets to that point?" asks Klunk. "When Shane or Charlene talk to any of us directly, asking for help," says Sully.

   Zelda rises from her chair and walks over to the window. "We all trust that Shane would never voluntarily turn to the side of evil, right?" she asks. The others nod in agreement, which she sees in the reflection. "Alright. Shane's one of our dearest friends, but there's the possibility that Eris, Midas, or Jocelyn could use Shane's corruption to their advantage and convert him to villainy," says Zelda. "And if that happens, we'll stop at nothing to get him back." After a brief moment of silence, Allara asks a chilling and terrifying question. "And if we can't get him back?" "Then we'll do what we must. As painful as it'll be, if Shane goes full villain by any means, and cannot be returned to his heroic ways, we'll have to kill him," Zelda says reluctantly. With those last few words, the entire mood changed. The mere thought of any of them having to kill Shane terrified them. Who would be strong enough to do it? How would it affect them in the long run? As if she had sensed the gloom, Zelda abruptly says, "But if Shane does manage to keep it under control, the chances of things ever getting to that are very slim. Alright, everyone. Meeting adjourned. I've got some business to attend to." Allara and Sully exit the building using a stream of water while Klunk exits the room through the door.

   "Zelda! Did you finish the meeting?" calls Rapunzel from the other room. "Yeah, we're done!" "Good! Because your father's little injury is getting worse!" "How bad is it?" "It's fine, honey! Don't worry about it! Your old man's a toughster!" says Eugene. "The way you screamed when you got that splinter says otherwise." "Aw, c'mon. It's bad enough that you mentioned the scream. Did you also have to say that it was a splinter?" Zelda chuckles at the idea that two goofballs like them could ever raise someone as poised as herself. "At least I know why I love Klunk so much," she says to herself. "Coming!"