Hellfire on the Other Side Book 3

Chapter 11

   "This is your home, your house. You shouldn't be nervous or scared. Just go in and get the job done and your son is safe. Jana would understand, they all would..." Clara thought to herself as she stared at her house from the distance, hidden. It had been a day since Jocelyn gave her this mission and by tomorrow at midnight, it had to be done. Claytin had taken Adri and Lyle to the Court of Miracles so if she didn't do it now, she risked running into her husband and children. Clara knew that Markus was most likely there with Jana but she rather run into Markus and not talk to him than get cornered by Claytin and not talk to him. The issue was if Markus was there, how was she going to get Jana? "Come on Clara! This is you we are talking about! If anyone can do this, it's you! You are the best villain there is! You only listen to Jocelyn because... because she is blackmailing you into being this. If you were a villain by your own choice, the Villain Society would be yours and not hers..." Clara sighed, she couldn't wait too much longer, if she did Claytin and her kids would be home, and all hope of avoiding them completely would be lost. Even if she had to break into her own house to cause a distraction, she had to. For Lyle's sake.

   Jana and Markus were talking in the living room. With Claytin and the kids gone, they were alone in the house. "Any news on Clara?" Jana asked. Markus shook his head, "None that I heard of. Not even from the Villain Society. At this rate, I'm not sure we'll get any information on what's going on." Shane enters the living room from the kitchen. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna keep hoping until I die," he says. "Also, unrelated, but there's nothing good to eat around here." Jana laughed a bit, "You know, I lot of your sweets in New Orleans are from France. It gets boring here sometimes so I've been reading a lot." Shane leans against the wall. "True, but New Orleans just does it better. They add a bit more flavor to it." "I rather Arabian food," Jana said shrugging, "But that's probably expected." "So, you haven't heard anything about Clara either then?" Markus asked Shane changing the subject. "Nothing," says Shane. "I'm going to go out back and let you two talk about this. I think I left one of Adrianna's books that she is letting me borrow out there," Jana said before kissing Markus cheek and going to the backyard.

   Shane sighs and hangs his head. "Looks like Clara's gonna miss the birth of mine and Charlene's daughter," he says. "I think that's one of the most puzzling things of everything. She was excited for you and I mean, extremely excited. If she would just say something to either one of us, we might be able to piece together what's going on. But I have yet to see her since back in Australia," Markus said. "Yeah, it's strange that she can't say anything to us. When I admitted Char into the hospital, she told me that Clara had no problem talking to her," says Shane. "Strange, she's talked to basically everyone who has confronted her but us, none of this makes sense, even to me. Usually, I can figure something out since I know how her head works, to a point at least."

   Clara snuck into her backyard and watched Jana for a moment. She could go back, say that she wasn't doing it. But that would put Lyle at risk and there was no guarantee that even if she told Shane and Markus what was going on that they'd be able to help her in time. Jocelyn was watching from somewhere right now, there was no time to make a plan, someone had to have their freedom stolen and Clara couldn't do that to her son, even if that meant taking Jana's freedom away from her. She took out her dagger and snuck up behind Jana. Moving quickly, she grabbed her and put her dagger against her throat, "Don't say anything or alert anyone!" Clara whispered into her ear quickly. Jana stiffened in shock, "Clara, please..." she begged. "Move, and be quiet!" Clara ordered her. Jana struggled away from Clara and screamed, "Markus! Help!" "Dammit, Jana! Why do you have to make this harder for me?!" Clara growled. She took out a smoke bomb from her pocket before lighting it and grabbing Jana, started to drag her away. 

   Shane perks up. "Markus, I think Jana's in trouble. We gotta go help her," he says, summoning his cane. "It's Clara," Markus said, "And I'm not deaf. I was using my magic to tell what was happening. Come on!" Shane runs out back, where he sees Clara trying to kidnap Jana. "Let her go. This is your only warning," he says. Clara sighed, of course, Shane would be here. The universe really hated her. Markus transported himself out as well. "Clara, let her go!" Clara took the smoke bomb and threw it down, causing enough of a distraction to be able to drag Jana away.