Chapter 1: The Hellfire Club
November 17th, Central Gotham City
The Yellow Cab cruised up to the front entrance of Gotham City's newest and probably its most controversial nightspot, The Hellfire Club, just as the clock on the nearby church steeple, was chiming 10:00 pm. The grey liveried doorman, stepped forward, smartly, and opened the nearside rear door for its two passengers, who quickly alighted onto the brightly lit sidewalk, in the heart of the city's entertainment district.
The man gallantly helped the woman from the vehicle, before turning to the cab driver and casually thrusting a small wad of cash into his outstretched hand. "Thank you, my good man!" he said, smiling. "This should more than cover our fare, old boy."
The driver chuckled and nodded his agreement, before checking his rearview mirror and pulling out into the traffic flow.
"Welcome to The Hellfire Club, Sir, Madam," said the doorman, smiling politely. "Please follow me."
The tall blond-haired man, nodded and, taking the woman's hand in his, followed the doorman up the four wide marble steps that led into the building.
At first glance, they looked much like any other opulent couple, out for a night on the town. The man was shrouded in a long black silk cloak, which reached almost to his booted feet and also wore a top hat, perched jauntily on his head. In his right hand, he carried a long silver walking cane, although he displayed no signs of any invalidity. His slightly shorter female companion appeared younger and was warmly wrapped up in a gorgeous silver fox fur coat, that reached down to almost mid-calf. Her feet were encased in some startlingly high, black stiletto-heeled pumps with platform soles. The integral hood of her fur coat, was raised, partially obscured her features from view, but long wisps of red hair escaped its confines, to whip about in the cold mid November wind. An observant onlooker may also have noticed that both the man and the woman wore glittering masks, that covered much of the upper parts of their faces.
Once out of the bitter chill of the wind, the man took off his hat and gloves and smoothed his disheveled hair back into place with a hand, before walking through the opulent dΓ©cor of the foyer, toward the front desk and cloakroom. The doorman departed, to return to his outside vigil.
"Phil, I-I don't think I can go through with this," the girl hissed, shaking her head and hanging back, reluctantly. She had slipped the hood back from her head, to reveal a gorgeous green-eyed beauty, with a tangled crown of glorious red hair. Her makeup was a little on the tarty side, with too much rouge on her cheeks and dark green eyeshadow. Bright crimson lipstick and lip gloss coated her full, eminently kissable lips.
"Nonsense!" her handsome escort growled, out of the side of his mouth. "It's only natural that you should feel a bit nervous, darling."
"A BIT nervous," she protested, "I'm almost wetting my knickers."
"What knickers?" he retorted, with a roguish grin, squeezing her small hand.
The girl couldn't help but smile. His humor was infectious and it did help to sooth her jangled nerves. "But..." she began.
"C'mon, Barbara, you'll be just fine!" he insisted.
A large bull of a man, wearing an evening suit that barely contained his bulging muscular physique, stepped forward and blocked their progress. "Could I see your invitations, Sir?" he asked, politely.
"What? Oh, yes, sorry old boy!" Phil fished two embossed cards out of a pocket in his cloak, and handed them over.
The man scanned them, momentarily. "These seem to be in order, Sir," he said, smiling, as he returned them. "I hope you both have a most enjoyable evening."
"Er, thank you. I'm sure we will."
Taking Barbara's elbow in a firm grip, Phil dragged her over toward the cloakroom desk, where a mousey blonde girl, in a skimpy blue uniform, was apparently acting as the cloakroom attendant.
"Good evening, Sir," the hatcheck girl greeted, smiling at him and thrusting her chest forward, so that he could get a better look at her cleavage, which Phil had to admit, was well worth a closer inspection. "Can I take your cloak and hat please?"
"Er, yes, thank you." He handed over his hat, gloves and silver walking cane, then swiftly stripped off his cloak, with a theatrical flourish, before he had the chance to change his mind.
The blonde's eyes widened in appreciation, as she took in his outfit and his broad shouldered, muscular physique. Apart from his mask, he was wearing a tight-fitting pair of black leather boxer shorts, with an impressive bulge at the front, a black leather waistcoat, open at the front, to reveal his tanned muscular chest and mid-thigh length, tight-fitting black leather boots. He also wore a four-inch, black studded leather belt, tightly cinched about his narrow waist and matching leather , lace-up cuffs about his wrists. His only item of jewelry, was a gold-colored medallion, dangling from a chain about his neck.
"Do you approve?" he asked, noting the direction of the girl's gaze.
"I do indeed, Sir," she gushed, reluctantly raising her eyes to his face, then blushing, as she realized that he was aware of what she'd just been staring at.
She took the proffered cloak from his outstretched hand. "Thank you, Sir. Now, if the lady would be so kind..."
"C'mon, honey, give the lady your coat," Phil urged his reluctant companion, with a boyish grin of anticipation. Until he'd first seen Barbara in her outfit for the evening, even he hadn't appreciated just how sexy his girlfriend could look.