Dancing In Darkness (7 page)

“Ladies and Gentleman, tonight for your entertainment and pleasure, we have a special guest. A beautiful woman and spectacular dancer, please welcome, Ms. Pris.” He announced.

The room filled with applause. In the far corner of the room, sitting on a sofa that was hidden in the dark, a pair of eyes followed her every move. He didn’t applaud, he didn’t stand. He folded his hands in his lap and simply watched. “Well isn’t this interesting.” The shadowed figure thought to himself.

Priscilla started to dance to the music coming from the surround sound system. Soon, as always, the music filled her and she was one with it. Her movements and the music moving simultaneously together. It’s what made her so damn good. Her body worked on its own. Time slipped by and she hadn’t even realized that she had been dancing as long as she had. It didn’t matter to her, she loved the way she felt when she danced. Tonight, she had other things on her mind. From Nina’s call to activities here at the party. She could see more and more of her surroundings.

Couples and individuals alike would come and go from the main room. Some pairs would split up and go separate directions, others would leave the room together. Some would walk with their mates, some would crawl out while their Doms held their leashes. It was odd to her. Perhaps it was something that had to grow on you or there was some mental issue making this seem logical. She didn’t know. It didn’t affect her, so she was going to do what she did best, mind her own.

CHAPTER SEVEN

She caught a glimpse of the man in the shadows as she made her way down the stairs to take a break. Losing track of time was a job hazard, especially when you enjoyed what you did. Priscilla had an innate ability to know when someone was watching her and she had felt this since the beginning. Trying to see if she could tell who it was without being obvious, she looked around the room slowly and concentrated. It didn’t help. It was too dark behind the flashing lights.

Thinking that it might be Adam, she opened the door that led under the stage. Her original thought of Adam was confirmed when she heard him say, “Stunning.”

“Adam! You startled me!” She exclaimed.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to. Everyone is raving over you and I’m wondering why I hadn’t thought of this sooner.” He smiled.

His smile was true and pure. She noticed when it went from a grin to a full smile, it lit up his eyes. It momentarily took her mind off of the person who had been watching her. She had seen some familiar faces here tonight. Not familiar as she knew them personally, rather, she recognized city officials, the deputy mayor, and one that she knew was a plastic surgeon in the area, because his face was plastered on billboards throughout the city. Adam was the only one she knew, even then she had just met him.

While Priscilla was entertaining at the party, Nina was distraught. The girl that had become her assistant and Priscilla’s best friend, was found dead in the park earlier in the evening. This was number three and nowhere near being random. Someone was targeting girls from her club and she had no idea why. Megan Dryer, Diamond Jacquere and Zena Wilkins all murdered within weeks of each other. It made no sense. Not only was she losing good women to senseless acts, her business was going to be affected. Girls wouldn’t come in to work and the clientele were not going to want to be targets of the police investigations. Tomorrow, Nina would have to contact the police department to speak with Detectives Ward and Tony.

Unaware of the tragedy she was about to be wrapped up in, Priscilla made her way back to the stage. There was a little over an hour to go and she wanted to give it her best. Whatever happened behind closed doors here, didn’t bother her in the least. Everyone was here of their own free will and the worst thing she had witnessed was one man spanking his sub. She couldn’t tell if it was serious or for show, but either way, they were consenting adults.

After the party started to come to a close and the guests were all gathering back in the stage room, Priscilla made her way to the bottom of the stairs. “Not yet, Ms. Pris.” Adam called to her.

“Excuse me? I thought we were finished. My apologies.” Priscilla started.

“No apologies, we just have a tradition of treating our guests and performers well. We would like to thank you for participating with us and if all are in agreement, we would love to have you return on a regular basis.” Adam said.

The crowd of almost one hundred cheered loudly at the suggestion. They had all mentioned how absolutely stunning she was to watch. Her movements, the music, the entire scenario played well together. Priscilla turned a light shade of crimson. While she was used to the cheers, this was a much smaller group of people who were entirely focused on her. She wasn’t sure if alcohol had been served, but no one appeared to be intoxicated.

Thanking them for their kindness, Priscilla asked if she could go get changed.

“Yes you may. When you are finished, please come back out. There is a large jar on the edge of the stage. Those are your tips above and beyond your compensation.” He told her.

“I’ll be right out.” She said.

Walking down the hallway, she could see that some of the doors were ajar. While she couldn’t tell exactly what was in them, without opening them the rest of the way, she had to admit that she was curious. Reaching the changing room she hurriedly dressed in her own clothes. Taking the time to hang her costume carefully on the hanger, she took a look in the mirror and said to the image, “You, Priscilla Barnes, are now ten thousand dollars richer.” She knew that she would attend any other parties that she might be invited back to. Hell, she knew that she would sign his contract.

“All done.” She said as she entered into the room. It was now drastically emptied out.

Priscilla found her eyes making their way back to what had been the shadowed corner with the figure watching her. It was eating at her and she reminded herself to say something to Adam.

“Yes, all done.” He responded. “If you would like to collect your tips, I would be glad to see you back to your car.”

“Oh, I have to be dropped off at Nina’s Place. She will take me back to my car.” She reminded him.

“That’s right. I almost forgot.” He shook his head.

As they pulled up in front of Nina’s Place, he handed her an envelope. In it were one hundred crisp and new hundred dollar bills. Priscilla couldn’t speak for a moment. When she found her voice, she muttered, “Thank you.”

“The tips that were in the jar amounted to another two thousand five hundred and fifty dollars. I went ahead and kept that, so it wasn’t so much bunched up together and have the larger bills for you.” He told her as he handed the second envelope. “Go ahead and put these both in your bag and I will wait until you are safely inside.”

“Thank you, Adam. This means a lot to me.” She told him sincerely.

“You’re welcome, but I should be thanking you for willingly coming out. Can we look forward to the pleasure of your company next time?” He asked her.

“Of course, I would love to.” She said, adding, “I have to admit that my curiosity was getting the better of me all night. Somehow it seems a little voyeuristic but I was a bit intrigued.”

“You aren’t the first one to admit that.” He answered her with a laugh. “Hey, can I take you for a drink? An actual date I guess you would say. No more strange business propositions.”

“I think that would be nice. Just give me a call and let me know when.” She replied.

“Alright, you better get in there before Nina gets suspicious of me. Besides, with everything going on, I don’t want you out here at night by yourself. Do you understand?” He said with a firmness in his tone that she was not used to hearing. His dominant side rearing its head.

Adam reeled himself back in when he heard the tone he had taken with her. He didn’t want to scare her away now, he was interested. Not only business but for pleasure. Her reaction to the submissive side of things had him a bit concerned, but he knew that she had never been exposed to it on this level. All he could see was her as his sub. Would it ever come to fruition? Who knows, but it would be fun to see where it led.

It was a side of him that she had never seen and while he wasn’t mean in any way, she could tell that when he said something, he meant business. It made her look twice at the man. For whatever reason, he grabbed her attention when he spoke. Getting ready to open the car door she looked at him and thanked him again. “You really do not understand how much this opportunity means to me.”

“It’s fine. I will call you about that date. Now go. Get indoors.” He said.

“Good night.” She called as she closed the door. The car sat waiting patiently for her to make it inside.

“Nina, I’m here, is everything okay?” She called out.

“I’m up here.” Nina yelled down from the office.

Making her way upstairs, Priscilla felt the creeping wave of unease wash over her. If she were ever the type to believe in a sixth sense, this one would have been it. It was like clockwork. It wasn’t good news, she knew that much. There was no way she would ever come to terms with what she was about to learn.

“Priscilla, sit down please.” Nina spoke softly. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying. It appeared that she had been crying for some time.

“Nina, what is wrong?” She pleaded.

“They found another body this afternoon. She was one of ours.” Nina broke down into sobs. “Priscilla, it was Megan.”

Priscilla gasped for air as she tried to play the words through her mind. There was no way. Megan was her friend and she would still be here tomorrow when she called her.

“No! No!” She screamed. Tears ran down her cheeks at an alarming rate.

Nina stood up and walked to her. Circling her arms around her, she let the younger woman cry. This had to come to a stop, they were losing everyone and at this point it had nothing to do with business. They were all from her club. “Priscilla, I need you to be extremely careful. If you have to go somewhere, please do not go alone. Take someone with you. The police say they are working on it, but there are more deaths. Obviously they can’t be everywhere.”

“Megan can’t be gone, Nina. She just can’t. She was the one real friend that I had since I’ve been here.” Priscilla was still crying and finding it hard to breathe.

“We will get through this. Megan would want you to be strong. What we have to do is keep you and Abi from being the next victim. I wish you had some place that you could stay other than your apartment.” Nina told her.

“I don’t. It took me long enough to get in there and feel secure. Now I have to worry about that again. Not only at home, but anywhere that I go. Why is this person doing this? I don’t understand.” She cried.

“Me either, Mija. Me either.” Nina spoke softly to the younger woman.

Outside of the club there was no common connection to the dead women. The detectives were baffled, there were no clues and nothing left at the crime scenes that linked them, other than what they already knew. They were employed at the same place. They had all been found within fifteen feet of each other. There had been no sexual assault on any of the women and they all had been killed in the same manner. Strangulation. The police conducted interview after interview and realized that any of those that had been considered suspects were now dropping dead themselves.

“If you don’t want to stay at home by yourself tonight, you are welcome to stay at my place.” Nina offered.

“No, I think I’ll be okay. Changing things up would be allowing this monster to win.” Priscilla told her. “Could you take me to get my car now, please?”

“Yeah, let me grab my bag and double check the backdoor.” Nina replied.

Nina took her to pick up her car and told her she was going to follow her home. When the cars came to a stop, Nina told her to go straight in. This wasn’t something to play with. A serial killer was targeting her girls and now Priscilla was one of them. Priscilla promised her that she wouldn’t answer the door or leave for any reason until morning.

“Thank you for the ride. I need to get in and try to process this. Megan was the best friend that I have ever had. We had each other’s backs and I failed miserably.” Priscilla said, the sadness crawling through her voice.

“You couldn’t have prevented this, do not let guilt eat you up. Stay strong and we will figure this out. I am calling the police in the morning and seeing what we can do about upping patrols around the club and at you and Abi’s homes. These weren’t only strippers, they were mothers, daughters, girlfriends, sisters.” Nina told her. “At some point they are going to have to announce on the news about a serial killer. That’s what this is no matter the reasons.”

“I don’t understand it. The more I think about it, the more it boggles my mind.” Priscilla said as she opened the car door. “Good night, Nina. Please be careful yourself.”

“I will sweetheart.”

Priscilla made her way back to her building. Now she hated the fact that there was a building between her and the parking area. It was well lit at least and she could see. Making her way quickly upstairs she locked the door behind her as she entered. Sleep would not come easy tonight. She was mourning the loss of her friend and praying she wouldn’t be the next victim. There were only two left from the night crew that was disappearing. Herself and Abi.

Pouring herself a glass of wine to relax, her phone rang, scaring her. “Who the hell would be calling at this hour of the morning?” She said out loud to the empty apartment. Looking at the screen on her phone she read the name, Adam Linston.

“Adam, is everything alright?” She asked without saying hello.

“I was calling to ask you the same thing.” He replied.

“Ugh, no it’s not. Not at all really. There was another murder and this time it was my best friend. Megan. I don’t know what to do and I am scared and upset.” She told him. “I don’t feel safe in my own home and I can’t go anywhere without watching everyone. This is crazy. None of these girls did anything to anyone, Nina hasn’t done anything to anyone.” She broke down in tears as she vented openly to this man who was essentially a stranger.

“I know this is going to sound insane and forward, but I think you should get out of there. You do not need to be staying by yourself right now. Not permanently, only until they catch the person responsible for these killings. Priscilla, listen to me, if it keeps up you will become a victim.” Adam stated.

“I can’t just pick up and leave, Adam. I have no one here. I had Megan, until tonight. Nina is calling the police in the morning to see if they can have extra patrols through here.” She told him.

“Extra patrols are great, but unless there is an armed guard with you at all times, how safe do you think you are? Do you feel safe now?” He was starting to get frustrated.