Saturday 5th July 1929, 10:50pm. Lower West Side, Chicago, IL
"5,6,7,8!"
The Silas club was in full swing, it was a busy night, and hundreds of people were crowded inside, dressed fancy, drinking excessively. It was a good day of business for the club, but backstage was chaotic. They had a rather low budget for the backstage quarters, S. LaFontaine the stage manager spent all their earnings on the actual club scene, the stage, the bar, the décor, the place up front was breathtaking. Backstage barely anyone had space. Musicians sat in the middle, tuning their instruments, dancers practiced moves, some stretched out, singers warmed their voices up. LaFontaine pushed through the crowd, they were in panic…it was 10:50 and the Karnstein's were due on stage in 10 minutes. They'd been going in circles now and it was clear the pair weren't there but they called out anyway.
"Anyone seen the Karnstein sisters?"
Nobody replied they were too concerned with their own acts. People continued to bustle around, bumping into LaFontaine. LaF rolled their eyes and was reminded of how little respect they were shown as stage manager. They were the one who made these acts dreams come true, yet everyone treated them like crap. The Karnstein's were especially difficult to work with, but they were the reason the club hadn't gone out of business a long time ago. If they let LaFontaine down tonight they would be dead meat.
…
The car finally drew up outside the club. Carmilla Karnstein stepped out quickly. She wore a simple black dress and a large black fur coat. She held the suitcase that was in her hand close to her. She tried to keep her face as calm and indifferent as possible, but it was proving difficult when her heart was beating so fast she was sure they could hear it in Germany. Carmilla reached into her pocket and grabbed everything out of it. She thrust the dollars at the perplexed driver and added:
"Keep the change." She ran in her 6-inch heels toward the side building before he could protest.
She all of a sudden stopped running and straightened her dress as she reached the door. 'Don't run Carmilla, you'll look suspicious.' She thought to herself.
So she cleared her throat and attempted to walk at a normal pace, feigning her usual indifference. Before she entered the building, Carmilla took in the 'Carmilla and Micarlla' poster on the outside. Without thinking she ripped the word Micarlla off swiftly and continued inside. That bitch didn't deserve her name anywhere. And now she never would again.
…
If LaF wasn't panicking before they were now, less than seven minutes until the Karnstein's were meant to be on stage and they weren't even here yet. They'd circled back stage several times, and even checked in the club. The twins had a tendency to drink before the show. "To calm the nerves." Micarlla always said.
Carmilla all of a sudden burst in through the side entrance. She looked nervous and twitchy and avoided the stares that greeted her from the other acts. She walked slowly through the crowd, clutching her briefcase close to her side, fingers clasped around it so tight that they'd turned red.
LaF hadn't noticed her yet and ran into her by accident. They looked up t apologize then saw who it was.
"Carmilla, where you been?"
Carmilla didn't reply and continued to walk. LaF looked behind her and frowned there was nobody with her.
"Where's Micarlla?" LaF was gonna have a heart attack one of these days because of the Karnstein's .
Carmilla continued to walk but yelled back. "She's not herself tonight."
She was headed for her dressing room and LaF still followed close behind. They didn't appreciate the vague answer. No matter how famous Carmilla was they weren't gonna take shit from her.
"Hey! HEY! They're here to see a sister act!" LaF yelled as Carmilla opened the door.
Carmilla rolled her eyes and finally turned to face them. She looked furious, more so than usual and LaF had the feeling that perhaps the anger wasn't directed at them. Something had happened. They narrowed their eyes, suspicious as Carmilla snapped out. "Don't sweat it! I can do it alone."
…
Carmilla slammed the door behind her and for a second closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh, partially relieved to be alone at last, partly afraid that she would need to perform soon. Alone. There was also the fact that Micarlla was… no she wasn't going to think of that. She had nothing to do with that… as far as anyone knew anyway.
Carmilla dumped her suitcase on the chair, before pulling her coat off her shoulders. She'd taken Micarlla's black faux fur monstrosity, hers was a little bit…ruined and Micarlla wouldn't be using it any time soon. She hung it up then quickly opened the suitcase. Her hands were shaking and Carmilla was glad that no one shared her dressing room. It was a dead giveaway.
She unraveled the cloth in the suitcase very gently, careful not to get her fingerprints anywhere. The pistol inside looked fairly clean, but she quickly wiped it down, just in case. She looked around the room, there was no obvious hiding place and she had very little time to think so settled for a drawer, she could deal with it later. She went over to the sink and washed her hands noticing there was a blood spot on her knuckle. She scrubbed it clean and then looked into the mirror. Man she looked rough. She could hear the music start to slow down, meaning she had roughly two minutes to change and get on stage.
"Shit." She whispered. She pulled her dress over her head and grabbed the nearest costume, a black sparkly performance dress, She quickly fixed her makeup and brushed her hair (it's a bob with a fringe-She doesn't look as good as usual, but she can hear her music start so quickly puts a coat of lipstick on and rushes out the door towards the small lift she has to enter on.)
She passed LaFontaine and as she did they yelled after her.
"Move it! Move it! Hurry up."
She was now running, her heart pounding. She finally reached the miniature lifts that lifted herself and Micarlla onto stage. The lifts were her…agent Elle's request. She was always one that liked to make a grand entrance. The thought of Elle brought a lump in her throat. Though it was not from grief…but fury. Carmilla breathed deeply to calm down and she stepped onto her lift just as the pianist, Kirsh began to introduce her.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Silas club is proud to present Chicago's hottest dancing duo. Two Jazz hotties moving as one, the Karnstein sisters!"
As he spoke the lift rose up. Carmilla attempted to keep her breathing even. She wasn't the type of performer who got stage fright she didn't care about pleasing her audience. She didn't care what other people thought of her. But tonight she was so scared she was almost shaking. It was perhaps because she was singing alone, or maybe because she'd been so close to missing her cue…
(Though more likely it was because of the event that'd occurred prior to her arrival…but she wasn't thinking about that. Nope not at all.)
She kept her head down, the music was beginning to slow further and the light were still dimmed.
The crowd clapped after Kirsh's introduction and then a low murmer spread through the room. Carmilla suspected it was because there were two spotlights…and just one of her. She decided to ignore them as she heard her cue and began to sing.
Come on, babe
Why don't we paint the town?
And all that jazz
I'm gonna rouge my knees
And roll my stockings down
You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. The crowd still appeared startled at the lack of Micarlla Karnstein. Bitch was always the favorite. Carmilla was going to change this. She looked up to where the spotlights came from. The light man was sipping a whiskey not so sneakily and Carmilla rolled her eyes. The people in this club were incompetent idiots.
She made eye contact with him and nodded, her eyes flickering from Micarlla's light to hers. He surprisingly got the hint and turned the other spotlight onto Carmilla. She smiled and as she continued to sing she moved forward.
And all that jazz
Start the car
I know a whoopee spot
Where the gin is cold
But the pianos hot!
The crowd were more at ease now, and went back to their chatting or drinking and Carmilla sighed out in relief. Perhaps she could do this alone after all.
…
It's just a noisy hall
Where there's a nightly brawl
And all that jazz
And all that jazz
And all that jazz
Laura never went out to Jazz clubs, her husband Will said they were full of lowlife, corrupted drunks, who wasted their money. He believed that anyone who visited one would become a criminal or a murderer or something, which was ridiculous. But she'd promised him that she'd never be caught dead in one of those places, and for a while she meant it. Then Danny came along. Danny was a saleswoman who had sold Will furniture. The moment she locked eyes with Danny she knew she liked her. In the way she was supposed to like her husband. Danny was pretty, funny, interesting to talk to and actually had a brain. Laura's feelings for women had begun at a young age and she thought that she was the only one who felt that way. So she married the first boy who asked her, at just 18. Boy, being a wife was so uneventful, so limiting. Laura wanted to do something with her life, to BE somebody. She wanted to write, for a living she wanted to find the juiciest stories, maybe travel about. Laura told Danny this once, when she was fitting a sofa into the sitting room. Danny's eyes had lit up and she said, just like that "I know a guy that could help." So here she was, waiting for Danny to find this writer guy.
She was standing watching the show, her eyes fixed on Carmilla Karnstein. She was gorgeous, in a dark, mysterious way. Yes, she was here with Danny tonight, but that didn't mean she couldn't look. She allowed her eyes to wonder down her body. No one was paying attention to Laura anyway, so it was ok to look. Carmilla and Micarlla Karnstein were famous around Chicago. Laura had seen posters for them all over the city. "The Karnstein Sisters." Those were the kind of women she both admired and envied. They were free to travel all over. She bet they didn't have boring, controlling husbands at home to hold them back. She leant against a pole, taking a swig of her drink. It was strong, very strong. Laura had never drunk before, but she didn't protest when Danny handed her a whiskey. She felt so free and after several drinks, Danny became quite…touchy-feely. She would put her hand on Laura's leg or push her hair behind her ear, leaning in and whispering and Laura would cackle, ignoring the judgmental people around her. None of them mattered. Danny was at the bar now, talking to some guy she knew in college. She felt suddenly anxious, when was this guy going to turn up? She took a long sip of her drink again, and tried to pay attention to the singer. The song was catchy and wild and unlike any other she was allowed to listen to back at home. Will was into classical big time. Laura had nothing against that kind of music before she married him, but lately everything he liked automatically irritated her and she would find herself interested in the opposite kind of music.
Slick your hair
And wear you buckle shoes
…..
And all that jazz
Carmilla lit a cigarette and held it to her lips, breathing it in slowly before exhaling. She noticed the cute small girl leaning against a pole alone, watching her. She was a young one, probably not much older than 20. She looked sweet, in a pale pink dress falling just below the knee; her light golden brown hair was softly curled. Carmilla smirked to herself, such a naïve looking soul, pretty but utterly oblivious to everything around her. It was probably her first night out in a Jazz bar, or any bar for that matter. She had a whole deer-in-the-headlights look about her. This girl had better be careful; people like her were taken advantage of. Carmilla knew that from experience. But ha! Not anymore. No one would take advantage of her again.
I hear that Father Dip
Is gonna blow the blues
The girl leaned forward, eyes still fixed on Carmilla. Carmilla was dancing so fast, she couldn't be sure, but the girl seemed to be mouthing the lyrics. That was strange.
And all that jazz,
Carmilla put the cigarette in a dancers mouth. It was the move Micarlla usually did; She always got a special little cheer for it. People thought it was sexy. Pssh. That slut loved the attention.
Hold on, hon'
We're gonna bunny hug
I bought some aspirin
Down at United Drug
In case you shake apart
And wanna brand new start
To do that-
Carmilla made direct eye contact with the girl then, she blushed and looked away, clearly nervous to be caught staring. But Carmilla could have sworn she heard her sing the line quietly along with Carmilla. She smiled at that. Ok, so she was really cute, but Carmilla had to put her priorities in order. This was no time to be lusting after some naïve teenager. She was in deep shit.
…..
Jazz!
"Lets go baby." Danny said from behind Laura. Laura looked good tonight Danny had only ever seen her in boring house clothes and cardigans. She always looked so…well like a housewife. By showing off a little skin, she was hot and Danny knew she'd made the right decision to bring her here, show another side to her, even if she had been deceitful. Women like Laura were so predictable. Danny knew she would jump at the chance to escape her dull husband.
Laura turned around, indignant. "But I didn't even meet your friend! That-that writer guy…"
Danny resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she'd only just gotten her to stop babbling about the 'writer' Danny knew. Still, she had to keep her interested somehow. She interrupted Laura by placing an arm around her waist, before she could question her further. Laura relaxed against Danny's side. Danny grinned.
"Don't worry Hollis…" She said, leaning close to Laura's ear. "It's all taken care of."
"You told him about me?" Laura giggled.
Her eyes were widened, like a deer in headlights, but there was an edge to her small smile. Danny had to give the girl props. She had that whole cutesy, virgin, innocent vibe about her that made everyone around her melt, Danny included. She could tell Laura used it to get her own way, but Danny was smarter than Will. She knew just how to manipulate Laura Hollis.
"Yeah kid, it's all arranged." She replied to Laura's question. She reached down and lightly squeezed Laura's ass, causing Laura to made a satisfying squeak.
Yes, Danny Lawrence knew exactly how to keep this girl in line.