Gabriella dances and Miguel arrives.

Maria sipped her blood cocktail slowly, fighting the nagging urge she felt in the pit of her belly to ravenously consume the vitae thirstily. She was aware that her welcome at the Savona had been carefully stage-managed to impress, and it had succeeded admirably. Miguel had demonstrated that within these walls, Kindred were in total control; the bartender who had mixed her cocktail, the girl who had served her, and most likely the security that had greeted her as well were aware of Kindred and appeared to accept the fact. Maria wondered how deeply Kindred influence and control ran in the city and how she and the rest of humanity could have lived oblivious to their presence when she was still mortal.

The soft ambient background music of the club changed, the volume rising, and the hard beat of synthwave could be felt by her supernatural senses, the bass making her body tingle. The lights dimmed and red laser beams played across the small stage. Through the curtain at the rear of the stage, a figure emerged and strode forward to pose motionless with their back against the pole in the centre of the stage. For a few beats, they were shrouded in darkness, only briefly illuminated by the roving red beams as they crossed the figure. Then, as the intro music was complemented by husky feminine vocals, spotlights revealed the woman. She was blonde, her hair long, loosely wavy and golden and was clad in black leather, a mini-skirt. Biker-style jacket and thigh-high, stiletto-heeled boots.

Maria recognised the music track, a dark synth remix of Self Control. The woman lifted her chin, and if Maria had needed to breathe, her beauty would have taken that breath away. She began to dance, sliding around the pole sinuously and provocatively. The jacket was soon discarded, revealing a strapless black leather bustier beneath that barely contained her ripely rounded breasts. The dancer's athleticism was displayed as she spun around the shiny steel pole, sometimes spinning only supported by a single leg or arm. Piece by piece, her clothing was discarded, the black mini-skirt was unzipped and slid down her lithe legs before being flicked away with a kick of her foot. Under the skirt, Gabriella, Maria recalled her name, wore a black leather thong fastened with thin straps tied in bows at her hips.

Gabriella spun around the pole supported only by her legs, her body arched out horizontally from the pole as she reached behind her back and unzipped the bustier. The bustier was tossed into the wings, leaving Gabriella topless. Maria counted herself as strictly heterosexual; she had only ever touched or kissed another woman with the purpose of exciting and attracting men to buy her drinks or invite her to VIP areas in clubs. It was with a shock of revelation that she felt moist heat suffusing her pussy as she watched Gabriella strip. The leather thong was the last piece of clothing to be discarded, a tug at the bow on one hip, and Gabriella tugged it free to leave herself naked except for her thigh-high laced boots. The dancer allowed the audience to appreciate her naked body for only a few seconds, standing with hands on her wide hips, head proudly high, before the spotlights cut out and the stage returned to darkness.

Maria joined in the applause without reservation as she could make out through her superior night-vision, Gabriella recovering some of her clothing and exiting the rear of the stage. With her attention focused, she did not notice Miguel's approach until he slid into the seat opposite her. Maria turned her attention towards him; he looked to be in his early thirties, immaculately dressed in a tailored black suit and ruggedly handsome.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Maria blurted nervously, wondering if she should have stood as he approached to introduce herself to the owner of the club and prospective employer. "I'm Maria. Um, I got your message, your Email."

"Of course you are, Maria." Miguel smiled warmly and extended his hand, kissing the back of Maria's fingers when she went to shake hands. "

Maria felt a presence emanating from him, similar to that she had felt surrounding her in the Kindred theatre and from the man who had taught her the basics of her new unlife. She could not understand how exactly she sensed it, but the presence was far stronger than that of regular humans; the Kine, she had encountered earlier.