Part 2
She’s a Showgirl

Chicago was surrounded by walls, and each wall had two entrances. For each entrance, there was an outpost, and each of these had a number, describing their position on the wall. This particular one was North 2, a small yellow cabin on the far left edge of the northern side.

"Halt!"
The border guards were shouting. 
A tall, hooded figure had suddenly appeared out of the snowy mist, and he was heading straight for Chicago.
"We need to see some ID!"
It was standard procedure to check every person trying to get into the city. Chicago was meant to be a safe haven after all, and the border guards did their part of the job well. Charles Becker was one of these guards, and to him, this was nothing but a regular day at work. "Higgins, check him...". The order was quick, and simple.
Another border guard ran across the snow towards the silent figure.
The guard came right up next to the man, whose long coat danced in the harsh gale like a pair of charred lovers. "Show me the ID!"

The guard was dwarfed by the stranger. Whoever he was, he was larger than most men Charles had seen in his years as Border Guard Sergeant. "Watch it Higgins, I’m not sure about this guy..." he said, with a suspicious look at the stranger. The man handed Higgins his card. He couldn’t see his face under the hat, and this bothered him. Caution always paid off.
"Don’t worry chief, I’m sure he is harmless." Higgins replied over his shoulder. "No Preds are dumb enough to come here!"

Higgins casuallyly looked down on the card, like he had done so many times before. But this time, his eyes suddenly widened.
"...Oh dear mother of mer-”
Higgins didn’t get any further in the sentence before he he felt something close around his throat.
 
Charles watched in horror, as the stranger clamped a set of massive jaws around his coworkers neck. A sickening crack resounded, as Higgins’ neck shattered
under the sheer force of the bite. "PREDATOR!" Charles barked, and raised his gun.
The snow turned red with blood.




A few hours later, Amy was getting ready for her next song at the "Ace of Clubs". The night was still young, and Amy simply loved the nightlife in this town.
She was sitting on top of the piano again, flirting with the audience. She let a hand slide across her slender body, and stuck a sly, sinful smile on her face.
"Do you want more, boys?"

The Pianist started playing again, and the crowd cheered for her. It filled her with a bubbling energy, almost like she was excited to hear herself sing.
She stepped down on the floor, and walked over to the front of the stage with elegant strides. Her tail moved with slow, sensual motions behind her in an almost hypnotizingly elegant way. She was a seductress, revelling in causing jaws to drop, and enjoyed creating fantasies that would never come true...
Eyeing the crowd, she started singing to the music once more.

"If I was a lady, wealthy and in high regards...
I would serve my husband, while he could play cards.
I would give him anything he could want, and..Satisfy his every need.
Oh yes, i would do many a dirty deed..."As she finished the last sentence, at least a dozen men started whistling. "I would give him all; I would be his mistress, he my Lord...But then again... I would be AWFULLY bored!”

The pace of the song stepped up, and Amy danced her way between admiring women and gaping men.
She stopped by a random table, and sat down on a man’s lap. "See, I’m a SHOWGIRL!" she sang out loud, before she winked at the man and got up.
The tune was more energetic now, but her voice was still as sweet as anything. "I don’t want to lie around, until I weigh a hundred pounds!" she sang, as she seducingly brushed a hand through her hair.
Stretching her arms, she could feel the hundreds of eyes, almost prickling her skin. God how she loved her job...

Gregorio was smiling. He was sitting in the corner, in one of the best chairs, and looked at his big star, Amy. She had been pulling quite a crowd lately, and he understood why. Her sexappeal was enormous, and her skill at using it even greater. She was more on the edge and daring than all the other showgirls of Chicago. "Bravo, BRAVO!" He shouted excitedly, and clapped. He leaned over to his trusted bodyguard Sanchez. "See? I told you she would make a good centre of attention, just LOOK at her!" 
"Whatever ya say boss..." the whiteclad man mumbled in a heavy Boston accent, before he looked away. Gregorio kept on smiling and clapping as excitedly as ever. 
"Give it to em, dear." He mumbled mostly to himself, and kept watching her show.

As Amy entertained the audience, both by singing and by very provocative movements and gestures, the door opened. In the entrance stood a man with a rough, black mane. He was clearly canine, there was no doubt about it. He had a dark shade of grey, and a peculiar marking on his long, muscular muzzle.
As if to avoid attention, he immediately found a reserved table. He sat down, before he stuck the "Reserved" sign in his pocket.

Amy was, in her own sensual way, moving through the crowd, occasionally stopping by a table to either lie down on it, kneel next to it or play with the men sitting around it.
At the moment, she was doing the latter. There was a pause in the song, an instrumental bridge, and she was sitting in someone’s lap, caressing his tie. He told her she would become something great, and that he had an offer she simply couldn’t refuse. Amy winked at him, before she got up. "I have to pay him another visit after the show..." she thought to herself, and moved on. In the corner of her eye, she noticed the newcomer. By the way he was loking around, she figured he was a first time visitor.
With a grin, she gracefully danced over to him, and sat down on his table. She was going to make this his first and best visit to the Ace. "Hey handsome..." she purred, and eyed him. But she didn’t get the wanted reply.
"Sorry, I need to think, come back a little later please..."
Amy stared down at the guy. "E..Excuse me?" she gasped, having never been rejected like that.
The man looked up at her, and revealed his eyes.
One was pale blue like shallow, icy water, and the other green like the grassy fields of summer. She couldn’t quite tear her attention away from them. 
"I said..." the man said with a heavy, almost russian accent. "please come back later. I am busy."

Amy grinned, and jumped off his table. So he was playing hard to get, eh? Well, she could play that too.
She strutted back up to the stage,where she spent the next minutes finishing up her show. The audience clapped wildly, and she felt the delightful rush it gave her.
But she saw that the newcomer was just sitting in his own thoughts, not even bothering to look up.
She felt slightly less fulfilled than usual, and as the curtain closed, she walked off stage towards Gregorio.
Gregorio was practically glowing with excitement.
"MY MY, That was a GREAT SHOW! Your best one yet, dear!". Amy sat down next to him for a little chat. "Why, Thank you Gregs!" she giggled, and smiled. 
"Did we raise much money today?". She loved her job, but the one thing she loved more was money.
"More than EVER, dear! More than ever." Gregorio beamed.
Amy smiled widely, and revelled in the thought that she would get a fair share of it all.

Benjamin was one of the men that clapped the most. Amy had walked right past him, and he had scented her perfume. It was like a piece of heaven in itself. Tina, on the other hand, was not so impressed.
"I don’t get it. She is just another hooker who happens to be good at singing! She’s not THAT freaking good!" 
Benjamin sat back down, and his eyes were beaming with excitement.
"Did you see how she winked at me? DID YOU?"
Tina looked at him, and raised a degrading. "You are WAY too gullible!" she sighed, and sipped the last of her Martini. "She is just putting up a show. You don’t really think she came onto you?"
Benjamin just grinned widely, and chuckled. "Daydreaming isnt a crime..."
But his face soon lost its shine, when he noticed that Amy Stryker, the woman he was oogling, was sitting with Gregorio. "Uh...Tina?" he asked. "...Why is she sitting with the big fish? You think they’re... Seeing each other?". The last part was said in an almost panicking voice. Tina just shook her head. "Of course they’re not. She is just an employee, and happens to be Gregorio’s favourite. She is just there to get her money, I bet. But enough about her already!". Tina leaned across the table, and whispered; "How do we bust Gregorio? He doesn’t do much besides hanging out in this club..." 

Amy practically shone like a sun when she got her handful of dollars. She squealed, and hugged Gregorio, who more than gladly hugged her back.
"Oh Ames, theres no need to be so excited!" the old man chuckled, and smiled.
Amy stuffed her cash into her purse, which had been with Gregorio during the show. "Thanks Greg, these will come in nice and handy!” she giggled, before she kissed him on the cheek and left. 
That egocentric newcomer was going to get a lesson taught to him... Riiight after she had checked out that offer she was given.

Brian O’Donnell was a fox. He had bright red fur, and wore a blue suit. He had, like so many others, been blow away by Amy’s performance. When she came up to him to discuss the offer he had given her, he felt a smirk slip across his face. He offered her a seat, and she sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Amy Stryker, I take it? Is that your real name, or just some artists cover?"
"Yes, that’s me." She said, with a rather confident voice. "But I am not here to talk about names, foxy boy. You said you had an offer for me..."
Brian leaned back I his chair, and grinned. "I want to offer you a job at MY club... It is well paid, clean, and classy."
Amy pondered, before she asked for the clubs name.
"Uh..It’s the Red Oyster lounge.” He said, and nodded, as if to confirm his own words. Amy raised a doubtful eyebrow. "I have never heard of this place..."
"Thanks, but... No thanks." She said sternly. "I am happy where I am now."
"Oh, come on!" Brian said sharply, seemingly agitated. "Lets discuss it over a dinner, at least. Just you and me?" he pleaded.
“I have already told you no, I’m not interested.”
Amy rose up and was about to leave, when Brian suddenly grabbed her wrist. "You know... I really meant what I said. It’s an offer you CANT refuse..."

Amy tried to pry his hand off her wrist, but he was too strong.
Brian pulled her towards him, and put a hand around her waist. She was slightly shorter than him, and their faces were just inches away from eachother.
"You WILL discuss this with me over a nice, classy dinner. And then, maybe a hotel if we click..."
"Ill call the guards on your ass..." Amy snarled, and looked at him furiously.
Brian just laughed, before he whispered a few words in her ear. "I have a gun in my pocket, and ill use it on anyone who attempts to stop me. You don’t want any of your dear Co-workers to get hurt, do you?"
He was lying, his pocket held nothing more deadly than a standard wallet. But Amy didnt know that... She didn’t know how to retort to the threat. The crew on the Ace was like her family, and she would do everything to keep them. "..L..Let go" she pleaded again.

"Let the girl go."
The new, dark voice was laden with accent. Eastern. The struggle had gotten a new participant.