Chapter 4

   Sandra took Bella to the bartender to get drinks before the went down to where the main events is taking place but even their row was starting to fill out. Bella quickly realized that if the present turnout was a good representation, Sandra was probably the youngest Red Club Member.

        A few minutes later, the crowd began to buzz restlessly. She looked at her phone and saw that it had just turned eleven. The competition would doubtlessly be starting soon. Some particularly good-looking men began to stand up and head toward the stairway that led up to the stage and behind a heavy blue curtain. She recognized a handful of them from campus.

     One of the girls in their row stood up, his collar still attached to a leash held by the broad man behind her. Her light brown hair partially covered her otherwise bare chest, accentuating her delicate build.

    "Are you going to be a good girl, Amber?" the burly man at het side demanded.

   "Yes, Master," the younger woman purred, leaning down for a kiss.

      "Good," the other man said, unclipping the leash from her collar so his submissive could trot off to join the others.

       "Alright everyone, may I have your attention?" A familiar British accent rang out through the open dance floor. Clara took the stage, her prim and proper blue dress looking out of place in the crowd of mesh and leather.

       "Get off the stage, bitch, we want the Wolves," a lone dissenter bellowed from the back of the room.

        Clara looked hurt. "I'm only here to facilitate the contest so everything can go as smoothly as possible. I'm still missing several entrants backstage," she explained.

    The fact that anyone could be so rude to someone just trying to do their job was awful, Bella thought.

      The deed didn't go unpunished for long. Before Clara had finished speaking, two huge men came from the back of the room and descended upon the heckler with intimidating speed. Darian was one of them. The other was significantly smaller, but still a force to be reckoned with. They both looked furious as they dragged the man away kicking and complaining out of the club.

      A nonplussed Clara continued, "I need to have Joyce Connors, Lou Johnson and Susan Baxter come backstage for registration and prep." She turned the page on the clipboard she held. "I also need Henry county, Chris Logan and..." She did a double take, squinting at the list. "Bellas Starr?”

            Bella's head snapped up at the sound of her own name. There was no way anyone else had the same name, that much was certain. Her stomach sank as realization set in and she turned to Sandra to see what she had to say for his treachery.

          "It wasn't me," she mouthed. Bella wouldn't have believed her, but her pupils were so wide she could barely see the slivers of blue around them. She was every bit as shocked as Bella was.

         Bella said nothing as she tried to figure out what to do. The other stragglers were filing backstage. She started to panic when she saw Clara flipping back through her clipboard.

        "What do I do?" Bella hissed, still angry at Sandra even if she couldn't pin anything on het in the moment.

            "I don't know," she replied, glancing around. "You have to go backstage and explain the situation."

        "Me? You're the one who got me into this," Bella reminded het.

        "Bella Starr,” Clara called, her eyes locking on Bella. Of course she remembered her. She had to have seen at least two-hundred people that night, but she remembered Bella's weird name.

          Bella stood up hesitantly. She seemed to show no signs of backing down from her task, and she didn't want to make Clara's night any worse. "You're coming with me," she whispered, grabbing Sandra's hand and pulling her with her.

            "Alright then," Clara said in a newly chipper tone. "It looks like we have all the contestants. I suggest you folks grab some drinks at the bar, enjoy the music and prepare for the show. Also, do take note of the emergency exits at the far end of the club and by the entrance."

         Once Bella and Sandra were too close to the stairs for her to run, Bella let go of her arm. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Darian wasn't the one guarding the stairs that led backstage. In his place was the other man who had dragged the heckler offstage. He wore a similar uniform of jeans and a black T-shirt, but he was blond and wore a leather jacket. He looked like he could have stepped off the screen of a James Dean film with his light hair slicked back in a perfect coiffure.

      "A little late to the show, huh, kid?" he asked without smiling.

        Bella pulled Sandra to her side. "Tell him what you did."

          Sandra groaned. "Yeah, uh, Clarence, I don't know what happened but my friend wasn't supposed to be entered in the contest. There's been a mistake, so if we could just go backstage and talk to—”

   Clarence cut him off with a dismissive laugh. "No way, no one besides the contestants gets backstage. Not even you, Sandra," he said, ushering Bella up the stairs before she could even argue. "You can pick your girl toy up after the show, we gotta get this thing movin'."

             "Huh? No, you don't understand," Bella protested, tripping her way up the stairs. Girl toy? She had always felt like a doormat around Jeff, but not such an obvious one.

           "Oh, I understand perfectly," Clarence said, pushing her up the last step and behind the curtain. She cast one last forlorn but also infuriated glance back at Sandra and saw her shrug helplessly before they disappeared down a hall. "You subs think the world is gonna end if you're away from your precious Masters for one second. Well, there's a reason we don't let them backstage anymore. Doms are like stage moms on crack."

           “Sandra's not my Dom," Bella grumbled. "And I'm not a sub. I'm not part of this whole BDSM thing, that's what I'm trying to tell you."

      He looked her up and down with refreshing disinterest. "You're sure dressed for the part," he said. His hand was still on her back as they approached a room she was sure was the source of the growing chatter.

     "I'm just here for my friend," Bella said. "For whatever reason she decided to sign me up for this thing, but I didn't give permission."

        "Well, that's a bummer and I'd punch her in the face if I were you," he said, pushing me into a room of the no less than two dozen girls and some guys who had gone up onstage. "Unfortunately, it's really not my problem. Getting you in here was. Bye," he added, pulling the door shut behind him.