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Message no. 1
From: Hunter griffinhq@****.com
Subject: Sacrifices: Chapter Three
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 23:16:08 -0400
On Wed, 31 May 2000 18:12:21 +1000 "Ratinac, Rand (NSW)"
<RRatinac@*****.redcross.org.au> writes:
> Be kind to me. :)
>
Nah.
Now there was something nagging me about this one. What was it?
<shrugs> I'll think of it eventually.

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Message no. 2
From: Ratinac, Rand (NSW) RRatinac@*****.redcross.org.au
Subject: Sacrifices: Chapter Three
Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 15:29:06 +1000
> Nah.
> Now there was something nagging me about this one. What was it?
> <shrugs> I'll think of it eventually.

Please do. I really could use feedback and suggestions.

Doc'
Message no. 3
From: Ratinac, Rand (NSW) RRatinac@*****.redcross.org.au
Subject: Sacrifices: Chapter Three
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 18:12:21 +1000
Be kind to me. :)

Doc'

=========
Chapter Three

Vicki felt her heart beating rapidly as she waited for Jimmy. Her
face was flushed and she knew it was only partly from the alcohol. Watching
the cultured, mature man speaking earnestly with Billy, a smile crept onto
her face. She turned around before he could catch her watching.
Abruptly, an arm circled her waist and her head snapped around to
look full into Jimmy's smiling face. "You look absolutely ravishing, my
dear." Stepping back slightly, he offered her his arm. "Shall we?"
Vicki smiled as she slid her arm through his. "Let's."
Stepping forward, Jimmy pushed the inner doors open. "Welcome to
_The Pit_."
The noise washed over them in a veritable wave. Talking, laughing,
shouting patrons filled the air with sound, heat and energy. Music blasted
from the innumerable speakers scattered around the club; chrome rock, shag,
dance-metal and many other styles could be heard, each one dominating a
different area of the enormous building. The centrepiece, however, was the
pit itself. A twenty-foot drop separated the pit from the rest of the club.
For the adventuresome, poles and ladders were scattered along the edge to
provide quick and easy access and egress, while ramps circled down around
the pit for those who preferred a safer route. The base of the pit was a
huge dance floor that sparkled and flared with lights, designed to simulate
anything from a star field to a volcano. The centre of floor was a wide,
circular platform that could sink into the floor, or rise to surmount the
walls of the pit itself. As usual, people packed the pit to capacity - there
seemed to be barely enough room for them to breath, let alone move. A
scantily clad woman, wearing nothing but a dark thong that blended with her
chocolate-coloured skin, gyrated through almost impossible, yet tremendously
sexual poses. The pit was dominated by an image of the dancer nearly five
times her actual height, projected on an enormous trideo screen that covered
the rear wall. Jimmy smiled as he stared up at the screen. "Ah, Selena. A
very talented young woman." Turning his smile on Vicki, he led her onward.
"Come, my dear, let us find someplace to sit and enjoy the wonders of this
fine establishment."
Vicki didn't know how he did it, but the patrons seemed to flow
around Jimmy as he moved, making way for him as he passed like a king
through his subjects. Many of them smiled, or nodded greetings. Some of them
yelled phrases or sentences to him that Vicki couldn't even begin to
decipher, but that Jimmy understood with ease, often shouting back
rejoinders that left most smiling, or laughing, but some obviously
disappointed, or even upset. Vicki grabbed his arm and pulled him down
towards her after one woman, seemingly oblivious to them at first, turned to
kiss him passionately before whirling back to her partner. "I don't
understand!" Vicki shouted. "Everybody seems to know you!"
Jimmy shrugged. "I just have a lot of friends, sweet Victoria. Ah,
this will do nicely." He tugged her between a pair of women who were
grinding away at each other furiously and deposited her on a stool at one of
the tables that lined the balcony.
Vicki gasped, trying to catch her breath and tugging Jimmy's coat
closed around her. She didn't really need it - the club was as hot as a
thousand or more bodies could possibly make it - but she'd been feeling
self-conscious ever since her talk with Billy. Although many of the club's
patrons wore even fewer clothes than she did, Vicki was suddenly grateful
for its protection. "Now what?" she yelled as Jimmy slid in beside her.
"Now I go fetch us some refreshments, Vicki girl, while you await me
here and discourage any unmannerly cads who try to cut in on me while I'm
gone!" Jimmy's eyes were laughing as he leant in and kissed her on the cheek
again. "Shan't be long!"
Vicki sighed as Jimmy vanished into the crowd. Planting her chin in
her hands, she turned to see Selena finishing up her dance. The platform
slowly rose towards the ceiling, until it reached an overhanging catwalk.
Selena favoured the patrons with one last wave before departing along the
walkway.
A hand slapped down on Vicki's shoulder and she spun with a yelp of
surprise that swiftly turned into abashed dismay as Jimmy's coat twirled
open. Her face burning, she yanked it shut quickly, but not quite quickly
enough. Behind her stood a rather short, rather dumpy ork, a leer on his
ugly face as he tried to peer through her garments again. Eventually he
looked up, meeting her eyes. "Where's Jimmy?" he bellowed.
"What?" That was all Vicki could think of to say.
"Jimmy!" the ork repeated. "I saw him with you! Where is he?"
"He's...he's gone to the bar."
"Right." The ork reached out, handing Vicki a slim strip of plastic.
"Here, girlie, take my card. You've got a nice figure and decent looks.
Young, too. With a bit of work, we could make something out of you." As she
took the card, the ork patted her firmly on the breast. Vicki was too
stunned to even try to slug him. "Give me a call if you want some work - or
something." The leer back in place, he winked at her before forging his way
back into the crowd.
Vicki was staring dumbly at the card, which read; Victor Manning,
Agent to the Stars; when a hand deftly twitched it from her grasp. She
whipped around, one hand holding Jimmy's coat shut while the other cocked
back to strike her new assailant. "Easy, Victoria my sweet!"
Vicki heaved a sigh of relief as Jimmy smiled at her, juggling a
pair of drinks in one hand and the ork's business card in the other. "I saw
that toad Manning. Did he give you a hard time? No, what am I saying? Of
course he did."
Vicki nodded. "He asked me where you were and when I told him you
were at the bar, he...he _touched_ me!"
Jimmy scowled and crumpled the card, before tossing it into the pit.
"The cretinous oaf. No manners whatsoever." He glanced up at Vicki. "And
you
say you sent him over to the bar?"
Vicki nodded again. "Did I do something wrong?"
Jimmy smiled broadly. "No, no, no. Not at all. When he comes looking
for me, my friends will see that he's suitably occupied." He sat beside her,
wrapping his arm around her trembling shoulders as he handed her one of the
glasses he'd brought back. "Drink this, dear, sweet Victoria - you'll feel
better then."
Vicki smiled gratefully. Taking the glass in both hands, she took a
deep gulp. She was surprised when the alcohol filled her with a warm,
calming glow - she'd thought she would be too drunk to even notice. Then she
realised that the events of the last ten minutes or so had burned the edge
off her inebriation. She glanced at Jimmy sidelong as a thought occurred to
her. "How on earth did you manage to get through the crowd so quickly,
Jimmy?"
Jimmy smiled expansively. "As I said, darling Vicki, I have a lot of
friends." He shrugged. "Nothing much to it, really. Why don't we just sit
back and enjoy the show? After we watch this next young lady - whom you
should be dying to see, truth be told - we can go and get you some clothes
to wear. Then we can _really_ start to have some fun."
Vicki looked at him through narrowed eyes for a moment, before she
laughed softly. "Sure, Jimmy, that sounds good to me." She settled back into
the crook of his arm and sighed. The warmth of his body was comforting, as
was the gentle pressure of his arm around her shoulders. Carefully, she
reached out and took his hand. Jimmy looked down at her with a cocked
eyebrow before giving her an amiable smile. "Jimmy," she whispered,
"why-"
Her voice broke off as Jimmy pressed a finger to her lips.
"Shhh. The show's apart to start, my dear."
Vicki frowned slightly, before turning back to the pit with a sigh.
"Fine then," she mumbled, her words a low growl in her throat. Suddenly,
they were plunged into pitch-blackness as, around the entire club, the music
and lights died. Vicki gasped, gripping Jimmy's hand tightly, but he merely
loosed a soft chuckle. The buzz of startled conversations rose for a moment,
before fading in what Vicki could only think of as anticipation. She looked
around, but she couldn't see a thing - even the bar had been cast into
darkness.
Abruptly, a soaring flute pierced the silence, rising and falling
with a sweet, lilting cadence. Vicki listened closely to it - it was the
only sound to be heard besides the rustle of clothing and the whisper of
breath. Even so, she couldn't pick the moment when a single voice joined the
flute in its song, entwining itself with ethereal grace around the melody.
With a soft hiss, the stage began to drop. Seconds later a single,
tight-beamed spot lit up. Smooth, pale skin glistened, tinged a translucent
blue by the spotlight. The dancer's form flickered through the beam; arms,
legs, a wisp of cloth alternately highlighted. Vicki leaned closer to Jimmy.
"Alex?" she asked.
"In the flesh - if you'll forgive the pun," he replied with a laugh.

As the stage descended, the spot slowly began to widen its focus.
Vicki could see that the dancer - Alex - was wearing a sheer, filmy, emerald
gown that left her arms and lower legs bare. She moved slowly and
gracefully, sweeping through what appeared to be some kind of traditional
dance to Vicki's unpractised eye, accompanied by the flute and singer all
the way.
The stage eased to a halt a good two metres above the dance floor.
As it did the spotlight settled over Alex's head. The dancer pirouetted into
the centre of the platform and stopped. Only then did Vicki realise that she
was the one singing. She spread her arms wide, her head tilted back as the
last, aching tones of her song faded away. Vicki's heart began to beat
faster as she gazed down on the lovely woman. Her face was slim and exotic;
long, thick hair cast back to reveal delicate, pointed ears. Her locks, a
red as dark and deep as blood, hung to her thighs in a shimmering wave.
Bathed in light, clad in a gown that spoke of the wilds and of elder days,
she seemed like some fey creature from the stories Vicki's mother used to
tell her, come to steal the hearts and souls of mortal men.
Suddenly a new, wailing voice sounded, to be joined by pounding
drums and then the thunderous shrill of a synthaxe. Vicki recognised the
song as _Bacchanalia_, the latest hit by the hot, new Tir rock band,
_Vinaya_. In the same instant that fact registered the lights burst to life
and Alex was moving. Her gown fluttered away in a cloud of fabric and she
stood revealed in all her glory. Only a sheer, black bikini-top and thong,
not even as wide as Vicki's little finger, concealed her secrets as she spun
and arced through the maze of flashing lasers that consumed the pit.
Vicki felt her mouth hanging open as she stared at the elven dancer.
Alex seemed to move like water, flowing across the stage in steps so fluid
it was almost inhuman. Most of the patrons were dancing again, joining Alex
in her revelry, but Vicki didn't even notice. She divided her attention
between the trideo screen, where a holographic Alex performed for all to
see, and the real, smaller, yet so much more magnificent woman, who
entranced all that looked on her. Vicki felt a heat rising in her stomach,
to her face and between her thighs and she looked away, trembling. Despite
her behaviour with Cherry outside _The Pit_, she was still young and unsure
of herself. The sheer, primal lust that she felt for Alex unnerved her. She
took a deep breath, then glanced up at Jimmy. A sad smile crossed her face
as she gazed into his. He sat spellbound, his eyes locked on Alex's flashing
figure, unable to look away, even if he'd wanted to; a lost cause.
Vicki sighed and wiped her suddenly sweaty brow. Her eyes were drawn
back to the pit, where Alex danced in a manner so sensual, so exquisite, it
seemed as if she were a goddess. _A quicksilver goddess_, Vicki thought. Her
heart beating rapidly, her breath shortening, she leant closer, letting the
otherworldly being below her steal her heart.

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!