Chapter 10: Six Cycle
Dante watched Alan fall into a fitful sleep. He began to toss and turn, and his breathing became irregular. The demon realized that Alan was having a nightmare. He reached his hand out to wake Alan up, but…the fear that Alan began to feel while in the clutches of the nightmare began to crash through Dante, filling him with power.
Dante’s horns sprouted out of his head, his incisors lengthened, and a red aura began to flare around him like flames. Dante pulled his hand back. He felt bad that Alan was feeling such intense fear caused by whatever he was dreaming about, but with the power Alan was providing him Dante would be able to use his magic to repair the pub.
This was the first time Dante had ever felt guilty for using a human’s fear to gain power. Dante reached out and patted Alan’s sweat-soaked brow. “I won’t take long, Boss.” The demon left Alan’s bedroom and closed the door softly behind him. He made his way down the stairs and back into the pub.
Dante looked around, inspecting the damage that had been done to the pub. Several glass shelves behind the bar had been shattered. Two tables had been smashed to bits, and the front window had a huge gaping hole in it. Dante raised his hand towards the glass shelves first and summoned his demonic power. The broken shelves were bathed in a pulsing, red light and then the glass began to put itself back together. In seconds, the shelves had been restored. Pity the liquor would not return to the newly formed, empty liquor bottles. Dante shrugged, the empty bottles could be used to practice his flair bartending techniques.
Dante pointed his hand towards the smashed tables next. They were bathed in a red-tinged light and the broken tables began to put themselves back together. In a blink, the tables were whole once more. Now for the front window. Dante pointed his hand at the front window and concentrated on his power. The window flared brightly with red light and in seconds it was whole once more. Dante wiped his hands off together and looked pretty pleased with himself. The demon figured it would look extremely suspicious if he didn’t have any tools with him, however, so he used his power to summon a toolbox, several pieces of lumber, long sheets of glass, several cans of paint, brushes, turpentine, and plastic paint mixing trays.
The overall color theme of Dullahan’s was currently brown, green and yellow. Dante decided to give the entire pub a new paint job while he was empowered by Alan’s nightmare. He would paint the brown tables black, the yellow accents would be painted gold, and the pale green accents would be changed to dark hunter-green. The front window and exterior of the pub would also need to be painted with this new color theme.
Dante got to work and with a wave of his hand the lids flew off the paint cans. With another wave of his hand brushes were lifting up off the floor and dipping themselves into the paint. A flick of his wrist sent the brushes on their way to start painting tables and wood paneling.
After the brushes set to work on the interior of the pub, Dante carried a few cans of paint and brushes outside so he could give the front of Dullahan’s a complete renovation. With a wave of his hand Dante popped the lids on the cans off. First, he sanded and scraped the exterior wood paneling to give himself a smooth surface to start with. After that he began to paint the window by hand. It was one o five AM, and conveniently there were no humans around.
Alan had come up with a new sexy logo for Dullahan’s, which he’d already put on the new Dullahan’s t-shirts and tank tops, and which Dante intended to use for the new sign he was going to make. Dante carved a new sign by hand, painted it, and then copied Alan’s illustration of the headless horsewoman. The horse was black and had glowing red eyes. It looked much like a steed from Hell, Dante realized with a pang of fondness. He missed his own horse.
The headless horsewoman was wearing a low-cut white blouse, a leather corset with straps and buckles, a dark green skirt, and a pair of black riding boots. Her skin was pale and freckled. With her right hand the dullahan was holding the reins and in her other hand she held her severed head. The dullahan’s head was pale, freckled and she had strawberry blonde hair that was almost pink. The details that Alan had come up with were pretty amazing.
As Dante painted the visage of the headless horsewoman upon the sign, he felt like he was being watched. Eyes were boring into the back of his skull. He ignored the strange sensation. He wouldn’t allow something like that to bother him. Dullahan’s was supposedly haunted anyways. Although Dante had yet to encounter an evil spirit there and if he did he would probably exorcize it. For Alan’s sake.
Dante hung the freshly painted sign and smiled at the overall new look of the pub. It was a lot darker and sinister now. But in a good way. Perfect. Considering all the rumors about the place being haunted they should have made the pub look spookier ages ago. Dante had learned about the rumors during his short time at the pub. Apparently, everyone enjoyed talking to the bartender even if he didn’t respond. Dullahan’s regular customers would sometimes mention to him about how the place was haunted. The patrons would exchange ‘ghost stories’ and go on to say that they felt invisible eyes watching them, especially in the bathroom. But apparently everyone kept coming back because they liked Alan, Dante was a very skilled bartender, Joan was a cute waitress, and Kim was smoking hot.
Haunted? Perhaps, the pub really was haunted. Alan seemed to be keeping a few secrets from him and the others. Including how he got that mysterious burn scar on the left side of his face. There was also something rather odd he’d heard the customers mentioning. Apparently, every musician that ever worked at Dullahan’s died a mysterious, horrific death. Odd. Was a demon behind this? Dante wondered. He looked at the headless horsewoman, who held her severed head in her hand. She had a beautiful cherubic face, and there were freckles along the bridge of her nose, giving her an air of innocence despite the fact that she was a vengeful ghost. Her eyes were closed, her dark lashes fanning against her cheeks, and she had a mane of wild, strawberry blonde hair. As Dante stared at the severed head it seemed to smile. Dante blinked. Had he painted that smile or…?
The night passed quickly. The night sky lightened to gray and then began to lighten even more as the sun rose. Unfortunately with all the skyscrapers in New York City one really didn’t get to watch the sunrise. By the time the sun had risen over the nearby building, Dante was doing the finishing touches to the bar. He had been outside for most of the night and his body was as cold as ice. He’d decided to paint the entire bar counter a glossy black and was currently finishing the job by painting swirls and decorative accents with gold paint.
Dante heard a gasp behind him and turned to see a sleepy-eyed Alan staring at him. The pub owner rubbed his eyes and blinked again. “Dante? Am I still dreaming?”
A smirk quirked Dante’s lips. “Good morning, Boss. And no, you’re not dreaming. What do you think? I thought this place could use a renovation. I hope you don’t mind.” The demon gave Alan a hopeful look and felt like crossing his fingers behind his back - something that he’d seen Joan do before.
Alan looked around the interior of the pub with interest. The glass shelves had been repaired, and so had the tables. Everything had been repainted and looked glossy, fresh, shiny and new. The theme was darker now - black, dark green, and gold. Alan noted that even the front window had been fixed. He couldn’t believe it. Paint cans and tools were scattered everywhere. How had Dante managed to do this all on his own in a single night? Alan wondered. It just wasn’t…normal.
Alan rushed out the front door and looked at the new front. “Wow.” His pub looked awesome, modern, new, and ancient - all at the same time. And the sign with the female dullahan on it…whoa. She looked alive. He could almost feel her smiling at him. He swallowed. She really did feel familiar…a face he’d seen in his nightmares time and time again. He shuddered. It’s her. Dante really brought her to life on that sign.
Dante had done this for him. His pub had been fixed, restored, and even looked better than ever. Alan sunk to his knees right there on the sidewalk. It wa
s too much for him to handle. Maybe…Dante is my guardian angel or something? No way. Dante exited the pub and saw Alan on his knees and his expression grew concerned. “Boss, what’s wrong? Are you angry? Should I not have done anything? Forgive me. I can return the pub to the way it used to look…”
Alan shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I like it. It’s amazing, in fact. It’s just…I’m used to everything going wrong in my life. So when something like this happens…I don’t know how to feel or react. It’s too good to be true. I’m afraid to be happy because I know it can’t last.” The young man scratched the back of his neck and gave Dante a sheepish look. “I know that doesn’t make any sense.”
Dante frowned at Alan’s words and ruffled the young man’s hair. “Be happy. Don’t think about what might happen tomorrow. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, so be happy now, in this moment.” The demon advised in a firm tone.
Slowly a smile stretched across Alan’s face as Dante’s words began to sink in. They were wise words. “Yea, you’re right, Dante. I was being stupid. Thanks. This is…incredible. And…I am happy. The girls are gonna love it.”
Dante’s lip twitched. “Indeed.” Joan. He had to stay away from her. But he couldn’t forget about that sizzling kiss. Blazes, how have I let a mere human girl affect me so much?
***
Joan, Kim, Fred and Hilda arrived around eight o’clock, and admired the renovation Dante had done with looks of awe and surprise on their faces. They were definitely impressed. Joan seemed dazzled too, but strangely nervous. She’d started to chew on her lower lip. That idiot…showing off his powers again. He’s going to get found out.
The new sign for Dullahan’s, which featured the headless horsewoman, had also captivated Joan. She’d gasped as soon as her eyes had landed on it. That woman…she…those freckles on her chest. On Halloween Joan remembered seeing a female dullahan ride right through Dullahan’s front window and down the street. At the time, she thought she’d been seeing things. But had the headless horsewoman been real? A ghost? And not really a ‘demon’?
The new look Dante had given Dullahan’s helped to attract more and more customers over the course of the next few weeks, which was perfect timing since they’d just entered the month of December. Christmas was one of the busiest times of the year for places like restaurants and pubs. It was on holidays like Christmas that most businesses made most of their money for the entire year.
Everyone at Dullahan’s had fallen into a kind of routine. There had been no strange incidents and things had basically stayed the same. This irritated Joan to no end because things shouldn’t have been the same. She and Dante had shared a kiss but…Dante was acting like it had never happened. Things hadn’t changed between them like she’d expected. She was convinced that Dante was avoiding her, but couldn’t talk to Kim about it since her friend wouldn’t believe her.
No one else could tell anything was amiss because Dante was still kind and polite towards her. Only Joan was able to sense his sudden distance. She frowned. Why had he pushed her away? Because she was a lowly human? Because it was for her own good? Stupid demon. He was infuriating and sexy as hell. Pun intended.
From the looks of things, Dante had put her in the ‘friend zone’. Perhaps, he hadn’t liked the kiss? Maybe he hadn’t felt anything - unlike her. Her lips tingled any time she thought about the kiss. It hurt her female pride to think that Dante hadn’t desired her in return. She wondered if she had thrown herself onto him and he had been unwilling, but the memory was getting fuzzy. She was pretty sure that Dante had seemed into the kiss at the time.
Gilebert and her friend Kim were still going out but…Kim appeared less happy about her relationship now. Joan told her friend to just break up with Frenchie if things weren’t going well, but Kim claimed that she couldn’t break up with him despite their problems. Maybe Kim had actually fallen in love with Gilebert. Joan was sort of jealous. She was happy for her friend but…she also felt sorry for Alan.
Alan obviously adored Kim. But he seemed content with watching Kim from afar. Although, Joan noted the concern shinning in Alan’s eyes as Kim’s happiness seemed to decrease. Joan knew that if Alan were to go out with Kim that he’d treat her like a princess. He’d cherish her, protect her as best he could, worship her, and respect her. Unfortunately, Joan also knew that her friend Kim was usually attracted to ‘bad boys’.
Joan looked around the pub thinking that it should have been busier since Christmas was right around the corner. But it was slow for some reason. Joan’s gaze was drawn to the stage that was situated towards the back of the establishment. The empty performing stage. Around this time of year the other restaurants in the area offered live music, and their musicians’ playlists usually featured holiday classics. Since Joan started working at Dullahan’s she’d never even asked Alan about why the pub didn’t have someone to perform live music there. She wondered why the subject had never been brought up and frowned. She intended to remedy this immediately.
“Ahem.” Joan cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “Hey guys, why don’t we look into hiring a musician for the pub? I think if Dullahan’s had live music available it would attract more customers. What do you think?” It was normal for Joan to make suggestions like this. Alan encouraged it and had told Joan on several occasions that she had a natural business sense. Joan had become more of a manager than a waitress recently and Alan had even given her a raise.
Alan had been holding a tray of drinks, but at Joan’s words he paled and dropped the tray. The glasses shattered as they hit the floor. “Whoops. Clumsy me.” Alan murmured as he bent over, and lowered his head to allow his bangs to shield his freaked out expression. “A m-m-musician?” He shook his head. “No.”
Joan gave her boss a surprised, frustrated look, and placed her hands on her hips. “But why not? You have a stage and everything. It’s perfect.”
Alan’s mouth was a grim line and he let out a heavy sigh before speaking. “No one would say ‘yes’ to working here as a musician anyways.” He muttered darkly to himself. Alan reached out and began to pick up the pieces of broken glass and set them down into the palm of his hand. But as his hand began to shake he ended up cutting his finger on one of the glass shards and gasped. “Ow.”
Kim was at his side in an instant, “You okay, Alan?” She asked before grabbing his hand, sticking his bleeding finger into her mouth, and sucking.
Alan’s eyes went wide. “Uh…” He nearly let out a moan as Kim’s tongue laved over his cut. He shivered, feeling himself get aroused. Alan wanted to respond: ‘I am now’, but had temporarily been rendered speechless.
Alan’s eyes traveled over Kim’s body. She was dressed conservatively again. It wasn’t like her. Even in the dead of winter Kim liked to wear belly shirts to show off her washboard abs, and tank tops to show off her toned arms. Not that Alan was taking tabs on what she wore to work every day. Okay, fine, he was. He pouted. Currently, Kim had on a long-sleeved shirt with a Dullahan’s t-shirt over top, dark blue jeans, and strappy, silver, platform shoes. Her shoes were the least conservative item she was wearing, and Alan noticed she’d painted each of her toes a different color. He missed seeing Kim’s skin, but the conservative look was nice on her too. He was sure Kim would look good even in a potato sack.
Kim opened her eyes, and noticed Alan’s blush. She also noted how he was leaning forward unconsciously, and quickly pulled back. She looked guilty and a little bit nervous like she hadn’t realized what she’d been doing. “Sorry.” She stood up. “I think it’s a good idea, Joan. I think…live music would be good for Dullahan’s. I recently went on a date with Gilebert to Casanova’s. They have a popular pianist named Carmen usually playing there. Carmen is beautiful, classy and extremely talented. I think she’d make a great addition to the Dullahan Team. Come on, Alan, why don’t we all go to Casanova’s for dinner tonight and listen to her play. You can see if you even like her. Pu-lease.” Kim gave Alan the
puppy-dog eyes.
“D-Dinner?” ‘Dinner’ was all Alan had really heard. Had Kim just asked him out to dinner? He wondered. Is this a date? A goofy smile formed on his face.
“Dante and Joan can come with us. It’ll be like a double date!” A sly smile curled Kim’s lips at the thought. She’d noticed that Joan and Dante were being way less lovey-dovey lately than they used to be, and wanted her friend Joan to find happiness.
“D-Date?” Alan felt faint. Kim had said the word.
Kim leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Joan and Dante have been having problems lately. I want to help them. It’s like so obvious they’re into each other, you know?”
“Joan and Dante?” Alan’s expression fell and the reason why Kim suddenly wanted to go to Casanova’s for dinner was suddenly made clear. She wanted to ‘help’ Joan and Dante. Alan had also noticed their ‘connection’. And he’d also noticed how Dante had been distancing himself from Joan lately. He wondered why. If anything Dante was his friend, and he owed him one. If this dinner outing could help Dante be happy then Alan was definitely in. He finally smiled and whispered back to Kim in an equally conspiratorial manner: “I think that’s a great idea.”
Kim sucked in a breath as Alan’s hot, minty breath wafted over her ear. “Uh, thanks.” The supermodel’s cheeks had become a flushed, rosy color.
Alan cleared his throat and spoke in a louder tone. “Actually, I think this is a good idea. Besides, Casanova’s is one of the most popular restaurants in the area. It might give us some more ideas by going there. And I have clothes you guys can wear for tonight. Dresses I’ve designed for the girls, and a suit you can wear, Dante.”
The girls let out excited squeals: “Eeee! New clothes!”
Dante gave Alan a surprised, grateful look, and a nod. “That’s very kind of you, Boss.”
Even though Alan didn’t really want to meet Carmen, or try to get her to perform at Dullahan’s he’d somehow been convinced to go out to dinner to Casanova’s. But as he gazed upon Kim’s smiling and now excited face, he knew exactly why.