The Hell-Fire Club

But he didn't answer and he didn't move, instead standing ram-straight with clenched fists, still purple and angry. Sighing, Rosemary walked down the last step and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

"I guess one of us had to grow up sooner or later," she said. "It's a shame. But that's show business."

"Would you like us to escort him out, miss?" a woman said. Rosemary shook her head.

"He can leave if he wants to."

A bell rang. Dee beckoned for Rosemary and the crowd parted. Naked but uncaring, she went to the empty throne. Up close she saw a knife with a blackened blade rested on the seat. It was a crude, rough thing, not beautiful or ornate, but hard to look away from. Rosemary kneeled.

"Are you ready?" Dee said. Rosemary nodded.

There were some words and some music and some things that Rosemary didn't really understand. They bathed her with wine and then with blood, and as they neared the end, Dee picked the knife up and pressed the point between Rosemary's breasts.

"Repeat after me," she said, and Rosemary recited the words as she was told:

"I do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, without any hesitation or secret evasion of mind, binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my throat cut and my body buried in the sands of the sea at low-water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in 24 hours, that I shall never betray the name or word or commands of the Secret Master."

There was a murmur of assent from everyone gathered. Dee twisted the point of the knife. "And do you pledge your body, your blood, and your soul solely to us, from here to forever hereafter?"

A strange feeling nestled in the pit of Rosemary's stomach. But it passed after a moment, and she nodded and said, "Yes, I do."

Dee leaned on the knife and Rosemary gasped as the blade pressed into her breastbone...

But it stopped after liberating only a trickle of blood. Dee wiped it on the knife and then held it up for everyone to see. The room exploded with cheers. Relief flooded Rosemary's chest. Dee put the knife back on its cushion; on the back of the throne, the image of an eye emitting rays of light seemed to wink at her.

Slipping a thin, silky robe over Rosemary's shoulders, Dee said, "Another marvelous performance," she said. "How do you feel?"

Rosemary felt the feathered fringe of her mask again. "Like a whole new woman," she said.

And the rest was applause.

***

It was late. Outside the car window Rosemary watched a swirling galaxy of headlights in the other lanes. It wasn't until the kid sitting next to her cleared his throat that she remembered someone else was there. "I'm sorry," she said, turning back. "I was in my own little world for a minute. Remembering something from a long time ago."

"That's okay," the kid said over the hum of the car tires. "I was just saying, I mean, wow, this is so amazing. I'm a huge fan of yours."

"And I'm a huge fan of yours," said Rosemary. She opened the bar and filled two glasses with ice. "And soon everybody else will be too. It's lucky we met; you have a big future and I'm glad I get to help you get started."

The kid shook his head in disbelief, as he had many times already. "I still can't believe it," he said. "Is this really how it happens, just out of the blue?"

"I asked same thing when I was your age," said Rosemary, putting a glass of scotch into his hand and letting her fingers touch his. "But soon you'll learn that a lot of things in life work differently than you always assumed."

She saw the look in his eye, that shiny star struck look. It reminded her, as always, of the eye on the throne of the Secret Master, shimmering with light, just as she'd seen them the first time herself years ago. She'd seen it a lot of times on a lot of faces over a lot of years now, but it was still just as beautiful as always.

"We're going to meet a few friends at a private thing on the other side of town," she continued. "We need to get you started right away; the earlier, the better."

"Wow. Do you really think I'm ready?"

Rosemary looked the boy up and down: young, sweet, unassuming, nearly virginal in how unpresupposing he seemed. She imagined how millions of people would feel looking at that same face on a screen, and crossed her legs.

"Oh yes," she said. "Very sure. I know it seems strange, but we all feel that way at first. You'll learn all about it soon enough." And she smiled her million dollar smile at him. "Welcome to the club."