Arriving at the club.

Alighting from the Uber, Maria eyed the gaudy neon-flashing signs on the exterior of the Savona club dubiously. Her gaze was drawn to the huge sign covering one window. A beautiful young woman with long dark hair dressed in a sheer black-lace bodysuit was the main feature. At the bottom of the poster, there were opening times for the club and admission fees listed. A minor detail that Maria picked up on immediately, which just a couple of days ago she would not even have noticed, was the decoration on the bodysuit. Over each of the woman's breasts and the crotch of the almost transparent bodysuit were black leather motifs of an ankh symbol. They were obviously designed to conceal the genitals and nipples of the woman and prevent breaking some city ordinance, but the symbol itself was significant with her newfound knowledge that vampires were not creatures of myth and Hollywood. The Camarilla, a sort of government for the kindred, used the ankh as its logo. The Prince, who had ordered the execution of the vampire that had embraced her and for whatever reason had chosen to spare her life. or undeath, was the city's head of the Camarilla. The Savona management was clearly sending the message to those who recognised the significance of the ankh that this was a club run by vampires loyal to the Camarilla.

A pair of large and very capable-looking men dressed in black suits who stood flanking the entrance to the Savona were beginning to cast curious glances towards Maria as she stood lost in thought while staring at the sign. She **** a smile onto her lips and dragged her gaze from the poster and approached them with an attempt to appear far more confident than she felt. Maria could almost feel the men's gaze like a rough caress travelling over her body as she neared them. The returned smiles from the men showed that they liked what they saw, a reaction Maria was used to from charming her way past bouncers and into clubs in her previous mortal life.

"Hi, I'm expected," Maria informed them with feigned self-assurance. "I have to meet with someone in here."

"Maria, right?" The nearest hulking security man replied to Maria's surprise. "Yeah, Mig...the boss said you might be coming by."

"Said pretty, petite, dark hair and eyes," The second man added. "Should have told us, drop dead fucking gorgeous. Please tell me you're a dancer and not looking for a bartending job."

"I have been known to dance," Maria replied. She had been a cheerleader and taken dance in school and college, though she had never worked as such.

"Sweet, can never have too much eye candy in the Savona," The first man declared before muttering something into a mike fixed to his collar and putting a finger to his Bluetooth earbud. "Okay, on it. Right this way, beautiful. Boss will see you as soon as Gabi's set closes."

"Gabi? One of the strip...dancers here?" Maria asked as the second man opened the door, and she was led through the foyer to the main floor of the club.

"Gabriella? Oh yeah, she's the queen bee here." The big man seemed eager to converse with Maria. "Lives in the apartment upstairs with Miguel. Never seen a chick dance as she can, one shake of her hips or toss of her hair, and there's not a limp dick in the house. Probably a few wet pussies too."

"That's the boss," The security guard pointed out the back of a grey business-suited man standing near the stage. "He said take a seat in the corner cubicle, and he'll be with you as soon as Gabi's done."

Maria nodded and headed towards a set of plush leather couches that formed a U configuration at the far corner of the main floor. A curtain could be pulled across the open end of the couches to give privacy to whoever sat there, and in the centre of the alcove was a gleaming steel pole. There were several other similar alcoves around the walls of the main floor, but this was the furthest from the entrance and the most secluded. Maria had barely taken a seat when a pretty woman wearing tight black leather pants and a crisp white shirt deposited a large cocktail glass filled with a dark red liquid with an umbrella and a slice of pineapple on the shelf-like arm of the couch beside her.

"Compliments of the house, Maria," The woman, like the bouncers, must have been told to expect her and given instructions to make her welcome.

Maria thanked the woman and took a sip of the exotic looking cocktail as she left. The drink had been sweetened and Maria could taste the pineapple, but the salty copper tang of the drink's base was unmistakable, blood. She felt the nagging thirst that that was ever present since she had been turned diminish slightly as she sipped the drink through an elaborately knotted plastic straw. Miguel seemed to be making every effort to make her feel welcomed here.