Wicked Game

Chapter 1

            It was just past midnight when the door of the Blue Kitten nightclub swung open, allowing a plume of thick smoke to escape into the cold winter night. A man stepped into the room, brushing the snow from the shoulders of his black trench coat. His fedora was pulled low over his eyes, pink wisps of hair escaping from under its brim. The air was stale with the smell of cigarettes and booze, and the noise was threatening, full of loud music and cat calls. He was a stranger among a sea of regulars and bottom feeders, and they took notice as he made a steady b-line for the bar which stretched the length of the room from the door to the stage.

He removed the coat, letting it fall over his arm as the music paused and the lights dimmed. His pace slowed as it became momentarily harder to see until suddenly a bright spotlight shot out from the back of the stage, illuminating the perfect silhouette of a woman.

Natsu blinked toward the light. The woman was seated sideways in a chair, one leg pointed into the air, her back arched, her head leaning so far back the sharp curve in her chin pointed toward the sky, her straight hair spilled down to the floor.

The lights changed and the music cued, though it was louder now than before. Natsu continued towards the bar, but his eyes were fixed on the beautiful blonde on stage.

A long row of recently vacated stools appeared at the bar, Natsu took one across from the bartender who stood transfixed in his spot drying the same tumbler over and over again as he eyed the blonde who had begun a slow and seductive dance.

Natsu waited, watching the girl, wondering how long it would take the bartender to notice his new customer.

Longer than he thought.

It was not until Natsu spoke to him that he even acknowledged his presence, and if he had seen him before hand, he certainly hadn't let on.

"Who's the girl?"

The bartender replied by pointing up toward a poster taped to the back of the bar, nestled among the tall bottles of whisky and bourbon. 'The Celestial Goddess', the sign read, 'every night at the Blue Kitten, with a special appearance Friday nights at midnight. Don't miss out, let her cast a spell on you'. The words framed a smiling picture of the girl peeking out from a nest of white feathers.

"What's her real name?" Natsu asked the bartender, who had yet to take his order.

This finally caught the wiry man's attention. He gave Natsu a sideways glance, looking him up and down, following the red pinstripes along his black suit. He eyed the expensive gold cufflinks at his wrists and caught a glimpse of the gold chain peeking out from his vest pocket.

"What are yeh havin'?" His voice was low and gruff, much more formidable than his general appearance made him out to be.

Natsu grinned, revealing the sharp point of his canines. "Scotch, top shelf, single malt, straight up." The bartender nodded and began his work as Natsu turned back to the girl.

By now she had long left the chair lonely and pushed aside. She was out on the catwalk swaying from a pole that reached up into the blackness of the celling. The plunging neckline of her top cut all the way down to her naval, revealing a voluminous line of cleavage. One of her long legs wrapped around the pole, and the other heeled foot pressed tight against its base. The slit of her long shimmering skirt was so high he could catch a clear glimpse of her ass. She gripped the pole effortlessly with her right hand as she spun around it in a circle, before letting go completely, arching back and stretching her arms out over her head as she spun, the audience reaching out and touching her fingertips above them.