Page 5 of Lucifer's Revenge
“I am, however, I don’t have anything new to add,” Bandit said. Others went around the room and admitted the same thing, and Luc nodded.
“Good, that will make what I have to say so much easier. I know we are still months away, but for this year’s Halloween party, I want to go all out in decking the bar out, as well as the fully patched members having special costumes.” He looked around the room and nodded when he saw interest. “For the bar, think black and red themed. Just like the club and bar name, Hell’s Coffin, make the bar look like it’s, well, a coffin from hell.”
“Damn, I can picture that,” Alley Cat said. “Instead of having the blue lights we have around the bottles now, replace them with red, we can get some dry ice, and have them sitting around the bar and the steam coming out could also have red lights in them, or maybe some sort of smoke machine to make out feet look like we’re walking though mist. We have to repaint the bar already, I’m not saying doing the top, but what if we painted the front of the bar black? The rafters could be painted black also.” The more he talked, the more the others joined in, and Luc sat back with his signature smirk as the guys got into the theme of what they wanted to do. He liked that he had brought it up so early, this would give the guys plenty of time to do the painting, and have it dry before the party. He knew it would be a work in progress, but he thought seven months would be plenty of time to get the bar up to snuff. He made a mental note to talk to Bandit afterward to see if the town would need to be notified, but decided to do it now.
“Bandit,” Luc said in his gravelly voice, and everyone turned to look at him. “Will the town have a problem with what we want to do? Will we need permits?”
“No, not if it’s cosmetic things like painting. Now, if you wanted to change the structure, then yes, we’ll have to apply for a permit. So far, the only thing we’ve talking about is painting, and having different decorations around. Cosmetic changes.”
“Good, keep us updated if we get carried away and we need permits.”
“Will do.”
“Now,” Luc nodded and pointed to the wall on the opposite side of the room where he had hung a sheet earlier. “There is nothing behind that wall that I’m about to reveal. I hung the sheet, because I needed a clean surface to show you what I want us to do for our makeup.” He pulled his laptop to him, fiddled with the key, called out for someone to hit the lights, and everyone turned to look at the screen. The first image was the one Starr drew of all the patch holders standing in front of the bar. The image was of them from shoulders and up. The second one showed the same group of people dressed up in the makeup she thought would bring out the person’s best features. Luc didn’t wait for them to get a good look. He flashed to his normal image, then to him fully made up as Lucifer. Then the next ones. He grinned as these hardened bikers that would likely kick ass and ask questions later sat there with their mouths hanging open. When it flipped back to the original image, he left it there, and waited for the questions to come. The others were too stunned to say anything.
“Okay, what you just saw was personal drawings done by Starr.”
“Our Starr?” Gator asked.
“Yes, as you all know, she’s in her final year of college as an art major. Back in January, she started a program that laststwo years, but when she’s done, she could probably get a job in Hollywood as a makeup artist. Her professor told her class they have until Halloween to find someone a convert them to something else, using prosthetics and such.” He flipped through the images again until he came to the one with him as himself, then as Lucifer. He split the screen and pointed to it.
“Starr has already taken the prosthetics of my face.” At their confused looks, he wrinkled his nose. “Impression of my teeth, molds of my cheekbones, forehead. One thing I told her is that I refuse to shave my beard for this, and she told me she could and would work around it. As you can see from the pictures, she did. The final look is what I will be looking like for our haunted house.” He brought the image closer, and the men looked between the two of them, then over at him.
“Wow,” they all said as one.
“Yeah, imagine my shock to wake up on a Sunday morning and finding all this shit spread out on my kitchen table.” He shook his head with a growl. “Anyway, she said that it will take hours to get the final makeup done, and she wanted me to ask you guys if you’re interested in getting your images done, the ones she’d already drawn, or something different, then she would be willing to come here to a church meeting to discuss it.” He held up his hand and shook his head. “She knows how sacred these meetings are, however, I have to agree with Starr. I think if we do this, then this should be discussed behind closed doors. Personally, I don’t want to let anyone outside this room, besides Starr and her two or three friends that she will recruit to help her, know what we’re going to look like before we open our doors that night. Halloween is on a Saturday this year, so it’ll be busier than usual. I would like all upgrades and repairs done on or before September first. That will give us two months to tweak any last minute things that will be done.”
“Can we make a coffin?” Hawk called out.
“Make how?”
“Like out of plywood, like in the old days where the coffins were standing up in the streets and they were used after a gun fight. We can paint it black, maybe either paint or line it with red fabric, and on October first, we can prop it in the corner. I wouldn’t be opposed of putting a life size, but fake, skeleton inside. Maybe have them wear one of our cuts.”
“Or,” Luc said with an evil grin, and watched as everyone shivered. “What about a cut of one of our enemies. I’m not saying a real cut, but a mock up would do. We can modify it slightly so it’s not a real cut.”
Everyone nodded and agreed to that, and Luc liked that Vampire was taking notes, as every good secretary did. Ideas were tossed around, and several people nodded. The more they talked, the more Luc became excited for the upcoming event. His only sad thought was that he didn’t have a woman in his life he could invite as his date. He sighed heavily, and got his mind out of the sadness of not having someone in his life. He felt that when the right woman came around, he would know.
“So,” he raised his voice to be heard. “I’d like a vote on inviting Starr to the next church meeting to discuss makeup.” They all voted in favor, and Luc said he’d talk to his sister to be there at the bar in two weeks’ time. That concluded the meeting and the guys asked if he could go through the images again, and they were all laughing when they left the room, and headed down to the bar, that was in full swing when he finally came down the stairs after cleaning up the room. He nodded to the prospect that had a beer for him as soon as he stepped into the room. It was even better when it was ice cold. He made a mental note to keep an eye on him in the future. If he kept this up for the next six months or so, he might be given his first rocker to strike for the club. In the last three months, he hadn’t been disappointed in the guy’s dedication. The only problem Luc hadat this time was that for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the kid’s name. He shrugged, and sipped his beer.
*****
Two weeks later, Luc opened the door and looked at his sister as she went to enter the room. “Breathe,” he said quietly. “You know these guys.”
“I know, but this is different, this is my reputation on the line.”
“Just breathe.” Luc stepped back and allowed his sister to enter the meeting room before him. He smirked from behind her when he saw her head on a swivel as she took in everything around the room hanging on the walls. It wasn’t like anything different you would see in any bar, or a car garage for that matter. Several posters of almost naked women draped over motorcycles, skulls or skeletons, most of them flipping you off, just your typical biker stuff. He took his seat and nodded when Starr stepped up beside him. He liked that she drew in a deep breath, calmed herself, and looked at the men sitting at the table. Again, this was only full patch members present. That was what the church meeting was for. No prospects, no women, and no strikers were allowed.
“Hey,” Starr said. “Luc told me he told you guys what I want to do for Halloween this year. I’m here to answer any and all questions you might have.”
“Will you be paid for this?” Bandit asked first.
“No, think of this as a hands-on exam for my class. If you guys agree to have me do your makeup, then I’ll tell my professor what I will be doing. If he signs off on it, then he will be here the night of your Halloween party to grade my work.”
“Will you do all the work yourself?”
“No, not that I don’t want to, but...” she paused and turned to the laptop in front of Luc and when he moved it toward her, she accessed the photos of him in his everyday look to his transformation. “I’m anticipating just this look to take several hours. I’m not talking to you like you’re little children, but there are a lot of factors to work with here.”
“Like?” Luc asked with a scowl.
