The dressing room door opened a crack before Chass stuck her head around the barrier to peek out.
She wanted to be certain that the coast was clear before scampering across the backstage area
to cloak herself among the draperies that served to shroud the wings of the stage.
This is silly! she thought.
The theater was completely deserted after all!
Why, even old Uncle Buck, the custodian had stowed his mop away in the closet and called it a night!
Chass was alone here on the stage at Aunt Chilada's Cafe - of which she was very well aware!
That had been her intention, after all!
She wanted the opportunity to sort of get the feel of the place before her first performance tomorrow night!
Now at last all those years of ballet lessons her mother had put her through as a kid were going to pay off!
Not that any of the dancers here at Aunt Chilada's Cafe specialized in ballet!
Hardly!
And Chass knew that she was neither long nor lean enough to ever be taken seriously as a prima dona.
Her buxom little body somehow seemed to lack the elegance of those who performed the classic dance.
But she could wow the boys in her own right!
And, by golly!
She would!
Funny that Uncle Buck always refered to this place as either Aunt Chilada's Cafe or Dinner Theater!
Uncle Buck said that the old building had been a school in its earliest day.
But now it was too small and not nearly modern enough to suit the parents of the scholars these days.
After a brief period of inactivity, an with no modification other than the state mandated entrance ramps,
the place had been designated as the local Senior Center.
What wasn't good enough for school aged children was certainly good enough for the old folks, after all!
The cafeteria doubled as a small auditorium once the folding chairs that were stowed under the stage were set up.
For a while, this had become the only room in the building that was used on any regular basis.
The woman who had charge of the day to day operations of the Center had been dubbed Aunt Chilada by Uncle Buck.
This was due primarily to her tendency to serve up heaping plates of nachos, tachos, and anchiladas
in lieu of the sandwich which was mthe ore common fare in these parts.
And so, Aunt Chilada's Dinner Theater it had become.
And tonight, Chass was alone in the old building and was about to practice making her Grand Entrance at Center Stage!
Chass thought that she detected a movement among the stage draperies and her body tensed!
But then she realized that the motion must have been caused by either a draft coming from somewhere,
or in sympathy to the fact that she herself had disturbed the draperies somewhat as she made her way among them ...
Still and all, Chass backed suspiciously away from where she had seen the curtains move ...
In a way, it may have been a small mercy that Chass never saw the hand that threatened
to drive a knife beneath the gentle curve of her lower belly!
And with no more than a moment of hesitation, the unseen assailant brought the knife forward ...
An action which promptly started the blade into the girl's gut!
The razor-sharp blade met with little resistance as it slipped quickly and easily into her belly ...
And then the knife was withdrawn so quickly that except for the sudden burning sensation in her gut,
it may have seemed as though her imagination were playng tricks!
Chass howled in painful protest ...
Her assailant must have stared in wonder at the deep, dark and oh! So enticing pit of the victim's navel!
Could there be any doubt of the location of the knife's next thrust?
And yet somehow, despite her shock - or perhaps because of it -
Chass could not quite make herself believe that she had just been stabbed!
But then the pain in her belly reasserted itself which served to remind her ...
The invisible assailant may have thought that the victim required further convincing ...
For now, as we had speculated earlier, a well-directed blade
embarked upon a journey to plumb the depths of the young woman's navel!
Chass screamed as the knife took her and again, pain seared through the center of her body ...
The merciless knife was thrust to the hilt through the girl's navel and deep into her belly ...
Chass gasped and her bosom heaved in response to this latest emergency ...
Her killer withdrew the blade slightly ...
And then punched it again back into the victim's ruined navel ...
Although she was now quite literally dying on her feet, Chass still managed to summon the strength to remain standing ...
Wracked with pain, Chass still attempted to determine the extent of her injuries ...
It was as though she still could not quite believe that any of this was happening to her!
Her self-examination came to an abrupt end as the killer now directed the knife to the upper regions of the girl's abdomen!
And once again the hardy little dancer seemed determined to stand her ground as again she took the knife deep in the stomach!
There had been no hacking or slashing ...
The killer apparently sought to drive the knife directly amd methodically into the girl's body ...
As the blade was withdrawn, her strength and determination failing her at last, Chass sank to her knees ...
And then she toppled back to the floor of the stage ...
The assailant, who had managed to successfully hide herself among the draperies
from where she launched her attack was not inclined to take any unnecessary chances ...
And so now the knife was buried to the hilt in the dying woman's chest ...
The assailant rose to her feet leaving her knife protruding from her victim's chest ...
"Let this serve as fair warning to any of you Dancin' Gurls who think you can safely sneak across the border and steal our jobs!
That ain't gonna go 'round here!"
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