Dark Deal

2

         She walked down what she guessed was a makeshift hallway. When it opened up to a larger room, she spotted a few people with staff shirts. "Hi. I'm Helena. My cousin told me the dressing rooms were back this way," she spoke to a lady who looked like she would rather be anywhere but here.

         "The dressing rooms are to your left." The woman popped her bubble gum and pointed towards three doors. "Your cousin is Mr. Pepper," she raised a perfectly tattooed on eyebrow, "the director?" Helena nodded. "I'm Kandi Barstow, the costume designer for this project. Why'd he send you back here?" Kandi didn't like the outfit this kid was wearing. She did respect the no nonsense attitude and straight forward answers.

         "He's letting me have free reign to dress how I want and act out this scene. He also said that I could dress the others how I wanted and give them choreography. Have you selected any outfits for this part yet?" Helena walked with Kandi over to the racks of clothes that were scattered about in a decent sized area. She fingered the leather and admired the details. Whoever had made these certainly wanted them to appear authentic.

         After selecting the outfits she desired, she went back to the dressing rooms. "Let's get the others suited up. Also, does anyone know who's controlling the music?" She had the assistant make up artist, Jillian Blair, help her with the blue paint and drawn on tattoos.

                                      *********

         As she emerged from the back with the others all dressed in their leather and painted up like the warriors from days gone by, Shane and his friends stared. A devious smirk appeared as a slash of white on her face. "Let's get rolling. Shall we?" She danced over to the set as the behind the scenes lights dimmed and the pipes of war began.

         Helena began the scene by speaking to the warriors. What no one expected was for her to speak Scottish Gaelic. "Bràithrean is peathraichean ann an gàirdeanan! Thug an oidhche so dhuinn obair. Dìon ar teaghlaichean. Dìon ar dachaighean. Dèan sabaid airson ar SAORSA!" She raised her bow high above her head as she shouted the final battle cry.

         All the warriors danced with the rhythm of the bagpipes. The music flowed through her as she remembered her school days. She'd taken an extracurricular course on traditional Celtic dance. It'd been near twenty years since she'd felt the rush of it all coming together.

         Everyone outside the set, and even a few on set, were mesmerized. She truly looked as if she belonged on the ancient battlefields, leading her clan in assault on the vicious enemy. She was grace, war, history, and passion all at once. It seemed that no sooner had it begun, the scene came to a close and the lights were turned back up.

         Skipping off set, covered in fake blood and blue paint, her dark red locks shimmering in the lights, she stopped in front of her cousin and his friends. In a low, sultry voice she said, "That's you make an authentic war scene." She walked back to the dressing rooms laughing and leaving the group stunned in silence.

         "That was beautiful." Everyone turned and looked to Jack as if he was crazy. Even if they agreed with him, there was something frightening about how easily she was able to portray an innocence, a noble righteousness in a character whose people were compared to demons by Roman soldiers. His only response was, "What? Dancing is a craft. Acting is a craft. My parents were dancers, uncle Alex was an actor. I've been around it all my life. She surprised me." He shrugged his shoulders as if that was that.

         Helena reappeared in her normal clothes with a few light smudges of blue on her face. She raised her eyebrows, "What? I'll shower at the hotel and get the rest of it off. Right now, my cousin dearest owes me dinner." She laughed the last part as she slung her arm around Shane's shoulders and jokingly puppy eyed him.

         "Yeah, I guess I do. You scared the lights out of everyone else. It's about time to wrap up here today anyways. Thanks for helping me...little cuz." He received a swat towards the face when he said the last part. "You know what," he turned to his guests, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

                                     *********

         Shane shadow boxed his way out of the parking lot in a futile attempt to impress Angelina. His ducking and dodging couldn't help him avoid the daggers of death shooting from his cousin's eyes. She wasn't a social butterfly by any means. The fact that he'd invited a whole group of people she wasn't familiar with to dine with them forged her daggers.

         "Since you're new here, I'd suggest a diner off I-10. It's a little ways outside of town, but; it's totally delicious. Unless you'd prefer something more upscale." He looked to everyone for confirmation before they left, "Alright. See everyone in half an hour at Geraldine's."

         The silence in the car was thicker than quick mud and heavier than a solid, rebar enforced concrete wall. Helena stared straight ahead as she tried to reign in her emotions. Was she glad that people seemed to not mind having her around? Yes. Was she happy about being in a small crowd? Especially when that crowd was out of her league? The thought was a bit nerve-wracking. "What in the flap jacks have we done?"

         After taking a moment to process his cousin's unique wording, Shane laughed. "It's just dinner. I know these people. Connor helped me get on this project. They're really nice and down to earth for the most part. I don't know much about Jack, but he wouldn't be hanging around the rest of them if he was a bad guy. I know crowds aren't your thing. That's why I suggested this diner instead of a club. Also, I thought you might like meeting a few new people. You don't have to become best friends with them, just give them a chance. Give yourself a chance. You never know, you just might enjoy yourself so much that you decide to move out here with your favorite cousin." He grinned as he admitted to everything.

         "So, this is how you want to die? At the hands of your baby cousin? Okay. Do you want me to make it look like an accident? I can do that. I'd do it just for you Shane the Royal pain." She resisted the urge to punch him when he laughed at her because he was driving. She could wait until they parked.