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The Redrum Strip Club: Prologue

By: Zerky DeVore (All characters are owned by their individual creators)

Zerky DeVore stuck his face out from behind one of the stage curtains. His eyes narrowed as they quickly focused to the dim light of the room. The room was packed with people, nearly all the tables were filled, and still more people were coming in. The hyon sniffed the air. He could smell it, the scent of manly musk, mixed with the anticipation of dark desires and fantasies. His tongue reflexively licked at his lips, wet with the hunger for tonights profits. This was going to be a profitable evening, he could taste it.

The hyon slipped back into the backstage, hurrying along with a his phone in hand. On the screen was the image of a checklist, with various names listed but unmarked. As the hyon turned a corner, he ran into Barty Job, one of the co-owners of the establishment.

"Oh, Zerky, there you are," said Barty. Though his voice sounded relieved, his face showed the same stoic expression it always did. "I wanted to go over tonight's roster with you." Zerky nodded to the bobcat, and followed him. They passed several stagehands, stopping for a moment to address them and make sure things were ready to go.

Along the way, Barty and Zerky passed an otter who was getting dressed for a performance. Zerky stopped and checked the otter's profile. "Excuse me," he said, catching the otter's attention, "are you Jamie?"

The otter nodded while he slipped his pants on. "That's right. You must be Zerky." He gave the hyon and bobcat a bright smile. "Thanks again for giving me this job. I can't believe how exclusive this place is."

Zerky smiled back and chuckled. "Of course. We are glad you accepted our offer. Otters are always a big crowd pleaser, you know." He rubbed his chin and smirked. "I'm just glad you and Mr. Ram got along so well during the interview." He noticed Jamie blush, even though the otter tried to hide it by slipping his shirt on.

"He was pretty amazing. Not too many people can make a stripper job sound so profound. It almost felt like..." he paused as he twirled and checked his backside, "like he was describing it as some kind of ritual, like one of those tribal sacrifices you hear about on the History channel."

Barty let out a chuckle, his lips curling into the smallest of smiles. "That sounds like Percy. He has a flare for the dramatic."

"Yeah..." Jamie's eyes looked lost in thought.

Zerky coughed, shaking the moment. "I would like to chat more, but the show will be starting soon and there are preparations to be made." He and Barty bid Jamie goodbye and quickly hurried off. Zerky checked Jamie's name off on the list. "Will Kai be handling his performance?" he said when they were sure Jamie was out of hearing range.

"Yes. He's new, but he has potential. Francois says he rough, but I think the crowd will like that."

Zerky and Barty continued until they found another performer preparing for his show. This time, the performer noticed them first. He gave the two a nervous smile as they approached. "Oh, hello Mr. DeVore, Mr. Job. How are you today?"

"Cut the small talk, Slade," Barty spat. "Are you prepared for your show?"

Slade nodded nervously, obviously trying his best to smile. "I am! I know the crowd will love me! And then... I can go free, right?"

The bobcat smiled darkly. He stepped up to Slade, and placed a rough paw around the lapphund's chin. The canine shook as he and Barty stared into each other's eyes. "Murderers like you don't deserve freedom. If I had my way, you'd be sent back to the kitchen and turned into steaks." He licked his lips, purring sensually at the thought. "But I don't make all the rules. You had better hope you please the crowd, or else I'm going to have your head served to me on a silver platter."

Slade's expression went pale. The dog's knees buckled, and he nearly fell to the ground. Barty caught him and kept him upright. "See you on stage, dog food."

He pushed Slade hard against a nearby wall before walking off. Zerky looked at the finnish lapphund, pale as a sheet and about ready to pass out. He sighed and said, "Just be sure you do a good job, and you'll be fine. Don't be nervous," he said as he placed a gentle hand on Slade's shoulder, "it's just a matter of life and death." Zerky enjoyed the wide eyed expression on Slade's face before hurrying off to catch up with Barty.

Zerky checked off Slade's name on the checklist. "Did you really have to give him that speech?" he asked as he checked some details on another app. "I mean, the guy is probably innocent anyway."

Barty shrugged. "When has that ever mattered?" He stared down at the hyon, a gleam in his eyes. "I won the coin toss, after all."

Zerky sighed, "Yeah, yeah. Say, where the hell is Percy?"

Determined to find the third in their partnership, Barty and Zerky pressed on towards the back rooms. As luck would have it, they found the ram in the third room they tried, the storage room.

"Oh wow, you really are good at this," they heard Percy's voice as they opened the door.

"Not again," Barty sighed. He threw the door open, surprising the two occupants inside.

"Ah! Barty! Zerky! What the hell, you two?"

Zerky stepped in after Barty, with no surprise at what he saw. Percy was leaned up against the back wall, his pants at his ankles, with a calico cat kneeling before him with the ram's cock in his mouth. Zerky shook his head and checked the list. "Are you Horatio?" he asked the feline. The cat nodded, though did not take his mouth off of the thick ram-meat. Zerky rolled his eyes. "Cock whores," he sighed. "Listen, I need to make sure you are ready. This is your first gig here, and it's my duty to make sure that the customers get what they pay for."

Horatio paused and let Percy slip out of his mouth. The cat licked his lips before speaking. "Everything will be fine, Mr. DeVore. I've been around a lot longer than you have, so I know what I'm doing."

Zerky blinked. Horatio looked no older than in his mid twenties, and Zerky was a decade older than that. He rubbed his head. "Fine, whatever. Just finish up in the next few minutes, or I'll make sure this is the last performance you'll ever have."

The calico looked up at the hyon with a gleam in his eye. "Better men then you have tried. But maybe I'll take you up on the offer later."

"Don't worry guys, I'll be done soon," Percy huffed as he helped Horatio back onto his cock. "I'll catch up in a bit." He waved the two off, his voice trailing into a series of grunts and gasps.

Zerky and Barty shut the door behind them. They looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and sighed. After leaving behind Percy and his 'date' for the moment, Barty and Zerky returned to the dressing room area of the backstage. They met with a few more performers and staff members, with Zerky meticulously checking things off on his phone each time.

Suddenly, Zerky's ears perked as he caught wind of a conversation. "I'm not sure about this place anymore. Something about it is really strange." He peered around the room until he caught sight of two figures in a corner. He moved in closer.

One of them, an otter, looked nervous, his paws rubbing together. "I really don't like this place. Can I please just go home?"

"No way!" shouted the other figure, a fox with dark purple fur. "You promised you would come and perform with me tonight. I already made a deal with the owners. You can't back out."

Zerky looked at the profiles on his phone. He found a picture of the otter, his name was Ket. Ket looked away from the fox, whose name Zerky discovered was Nova. "I'm really nervous. I've never danced before a crowd, and never with someone else. Besides, they told me the other guy is a snake. A snake! I've heard stories about them eating people."

Nova scoffed and waved the idea away. "Oh please. Even if that were true, do you think he'd be able to do that in front of an entire crowd?" Ket mumbled an agreement, but still looked worried. "Besides," Nova added, a smirk on his face, "you wouldn't want me to tell your mate where you were last weekend, would you?"

The otter nearly went white. "You promised not to tell him that!"

Nova nodded. "Yes, so long as you go on stage like you promised."

"Fine," Ket said with a sigh.

"Good." Nova put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You'll do great. Besides, you'll only get to- have to do it once."

Zerky turned away, silently thanking the fox for saving him the trouble of keeping Ket from leaving. He checked Nova and Ket off the list, and set off to find everyone else. He noticed the time, and picked up the pace, nearly jogging his way around the backstage. He kept his feet moving, barely stopping at each new face he ran into. His fingers danced on the screen of his phone, sliding pages left and right, checking off boxes, and scribbling notes. He only had a few more people to check off by the time he ran into Saki.

"Oh Saki, there you are." Zerky smiled at the raccoon, who, despite his bright colors of lemonade yellow and pink, looked groggy and antagonistic. Zerky ignored the daggers in the coon's eyes. "Are you ready for your show?"

Saki nodded. "Yes," he grumbled.

"Oh don't be like that," the hyon replied, patting Saki on the back. "We've treated you well these past couple of years. The labor hasn't been that bad, and I'm sure you secretly liked having sex with all those paying customers."

Saki looked away, but replied, "Yes Sir." Around the coon's neck was a collar, with the word 'slave' engraved on the nameplate. He reached for it, and held it tightly in his hand.

Zerky nosed the coon's cheek, and gave him a soft kiss. "I'm sorry you have to go, but the customers have demanded you dance in the air tonight, and you know I do not disappoint my customers."

Saki stared into Zerky's beaming face, but quickly turned away and headed off. "I'll be ready in a few minutes. Mr. Ram just has to check out how low the rope needs to be for me."

Zerky nodded as he checked Saki off of the list. "Good to hear. Have fun doing your last dance. Make it a good one." He smiled, but the coon only returned a snarl. There was not much left to do before the shows were to start. Zerky paused to thoroughly check his list. He mumbled off the names that he had marked, his eyes darting quickly between each line as he scrolled down the list. He barely registered the tap at his shoulder until it came a third time. Zerky looked up from his phone and turned his head. Standing before him was a fox of orange-red fur, with black tips on his ears.

"Hello Mr. DeVore. I'm sorry if I'm late."

The hyon's face lit up. "Not at all Jarret. I was just checking to make sure everyone was here." He glanced at Jarret's necklace, the red jewel attached to it shined even in the dim light. "Are you ready for another performance?"

Jarret's ears perked, his expression beaming. "You better believe I am? Who's going to do me in this time?"

"It'll be Barty. He was annoyed that he didn't get to perform last time, so he insisted on doing the performance with you tonight."

The fox nodded and chuckled. "Sounds like it's going to be a great night, then. I promise to make the audience swoon."

Zerky licked his lips as he eyed the fox's lean build. "Oh, you'll do more than that, I'm sure." He checked Jarret's name off of his list. "It's almost time. I really need to hurry, sorry." He hurried off, shouting back at the fox, "Knock them dead!"

Jarret replied, "I think you have it reversed!"

Everything was finally falling into place. All the performers were ready, the backstage crew had everything set up, the waiters were busy serving drinks, and the kitchen staff was abuzz with anticipation. Time to get this show on the road, Zerky thought. He sighed, straightened his clothes, and pushed through the curtain to the main stage. He was met with thunderous applause and blinding light. "Welcome to the Redrum Strip Club!" he shouted to the cheering audience.

To be continued...