HIS NEXT VICTIM (DARK THRILLER)

1

Kenise peeked through the sweat clung curtains watching the men at the rim of the stage toss dollar bills in the air. The woman danced under beige lights, dropping into a split and bouncing her jiggling ass. Kenise's gut filled with dead butterflies, making her feel as if she'd vomit or shit.

"You okay, girl?" Embry asked, touching her back, causing Kenise to flinch from shock.

"Yeah," she fibbed, not wanting to admit she was petrified. She had never done anything like this before.

Embry smirked. "You need to let the nerves go. All that money out there is waiting for you." The girls met in their freshman English class a few weeks ago, although Embry is two years older.

Kenise moved to Atlanta two months ago from a small town just outside of Norfolk, Virginia. She was raised with modest and humble values. Her parents kept her sheltered, and she didn't mind. She filled her time and heart with music, writing love songs that conveyed her pain. She had dreams of completing her degree in music and making a name for herself.

"You're right. I-I'm just scared. How you do this every night? You don't feel gross?"

Embry had invited Kenise to dance at her club during college night. She'd convinced Kenise that she could make a least five hundred dollars with her curvaceous body, dark skin, slanted eyes, and pierced cheeks. Kenise looked like a doll, between her fat, round face, and large pouty lips.

Embry had been dancing at, Club Sapphire, for nearly three years. She had her regulars and never worried about a new girl stepping on her toes, especially since she was a crowd favorite. All the men fawned over Embry's body.

Her skin was soft yellow, blemish-free, and glowing. She was fit with a perky, heart-shaped ass and pierced double D breasts that were barely covered in her fishnet costume. She wore her kinky auburn curls into a high bun, and coiled bang covered her eyes.

Embry smacked her lips, "I invited you here because I thought you weren't gonna be a lil' ass kid about shit."

"I didn't mean to disrespect you," Kenise apologize quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was piss Embry off. She had her reasons, one being Embry was the only friend she'd made since moving to Atlanta. Two, Embry was her ride.

"Yeah, whatever. You ain't gonna be thinking about none of that shit when you're counting your money."

"Period," Kenise agreed, hiding her genuine disbelief. Sweat gathered under her armpits when the DJ announced the beginning of the amateur hour.

"Look, you up, girl. Don't forget the moves I taught you," Embry referred to the quick dance lesson in her living room this afternoon. Impulsively, Kenise wrapped Embry into a hug. Embry smiled even though her arms laid limp at her side. She left the new girl backstage to gather her bearing and made her way to the bar. She ordered a shot of Hennessy and buffalo wings.

Kenise walked onto the stage with shaky legs. The shiny, sticky pole became her lifeline. Circling the pole with her head down and bangs covering her face helped her feel invisible under the heated gaze of the audience. The DJ dropped the bass, and she had no choice but to move. She began with a simple two-step, which led to her squatting down and bouncing her ass. The men sent singles into the air.

Embry internally cheered on her new friend while biting into a wing. She scanned the room for her bag, sizing up the quality of men judging by their cash stacks, designer shoes, and chains. Embry was too pretty and experienced to be dancing for a twenty-dollar buster. You needed at least a stack to get her attention.

She'd got into dancing right after high school. When she first started, it was tough. She got played by a lot of men and women because of her naiveté. She didn't grow up with street smarts.