Chapter three
BONG!
BONG!
BONG!
BONG!
In the downstairs hallway, an old grandfather clock began to chime. The music was suddenly shut off and everyone became silent once they gathered in the large lounge area on the first floor. Hellen stood in the middle of the room with a few "newbies" standing by her side. She watched at the other guests stood along the walls of the room, creating a circle.
"Thank you, everyone, for entering the room in an orderly and timely fashion." Hellen said with a sly smile "Now my fine, esteemed guests, it is midnight, and you all know what that means." They gave a short applause for their answer "It's time to initiate… I mean welcome our new friends Sami, James and December. Bam Bam would you like to help me do the honors?"
"Of course my dear." Bam said as he stepped into the center of the circle
Hellen whispered something to Bam as she handed him three silk scarves. The scarves were black with pink heartagrams printed on them.
"Now," Hellen said to the three newbies "I ask you to kneel in your places while Bam Bam helps you with your scarves."
The three newbies knelt and Bam began to wrap the scarves around their faces, covering their eyes. Hellen continued speaking to the others as Bam tied the scarves.
"These scarves, as you all know, are part of this ceremony." She looked down at the kneeling newbies "They're also yours to keep once the ceremony is over." She clapped her hands together and held them in front of her as she spoke "These scarves are a representation of the pure good, and love that we share for each other and our beloved band. And they're also quite fashionable, if I say so myself." She chuckled
Bam stood next to Hellen holding a large wooden paddle in his hand. The paddle was royal blue and had a small heartagram carved into the handle, and a silver heartagram painted on top of the smooth, flat surface.
"The heartagram symbol is quite special, and must be treated thusly. Now join me in the ceremonial prayer." She said to the others "The heartagram is powerful and will forever be my guiding light."
"I will keep the heartagram power with me for the rest of my days." Everyone else, except the scared and confused newbies, chanted back
"The heartagram is love, the heartagram is life." Hellen continued
"I shall keep it with me always."
"In my darkest hour, "Kill me" I cried."
"And love said "No."."
"Now newbies I ask you to move to all fours."
The three of them did what she said and Bam stood behind them with the paddle. Bam raised the paddle and everyone else clapped. Hellen raised her hand, signaling for them to stop.
"Bam Bam has in his hand, the ceremonial paddle." She bent down in front of the newbies "You know what paddles are used for, don't you?"
The newbies began to shake in fear, knowing now what was going to come next.
Bam gripped the handle of the paddle and smiled broadly. Everyone else began to chant: "Spank! Spank! Spank!" over and over. Bam warmed up his swing for a second. He sung the paddle towards Sami's butt, stopping just inches before the paddle could make contact with it. He pulled the paddle back again and did the same for the next newbie in line, James. Everyone continued chanting, except for the shaking newbies. Bam swung that paddle one more time, just missing December's butt like he did before. He moved back behind Sami and swung the paddle one more time.
WHACK!
The sound of the paddle hitting the floor caused the three newbies to jump. Everyone else began to laugh, Bam and Hellen included. Hellen and Bam helped the three of them stand up and pulled their scarves down so they could see.
"You actually believed that I was going to hit you guys, didn't you?" Bam asked them while still laughing
The three of them laughed uneasily as they realized that they had been gotten good. Hellen hugged each of them and smiled.
"We'd never cause bodily harm to any one of our friends. Well unless we were in the Razorblade Romance or Ville Valo rooms. But that's just purely sexual of course." She smiled "Oh and that "prayer" we said was a bunch of bullshit we say for fun. This "ceremony" is all just a show to welcome new guests like you. Don't worry you haven't joined a weirdo cult or anything. Now go and enjoy the rest of the party and make new friends." She said as she escorted the three of them back to the rest of the guests "Thank you all for playing along, especially you, Bam Bam."
"You're very welcome." Bam said, handing her the paddle.
The music was turned back on and the party continued.