Michigan, Beauty and the Beast tour, Monday

William,Props and running

“5 minutes till places” calls sienna. That's my cue to start getting the set into place. 

As I head out of the greenroom, I notice Sebastian in the dressing room writing a note. I walk by, minding my own business until he suddenly stops writing and closes his notebook. 

“Good luck tonight” I call out to him. 

“Yeah” he says, stumbling out of the guys dressing room  and closing the door abruptly. 

“Aren't you supposed to be in warm ups?” I ask. 

“Just finishing up my makeup.” he says. I could prove him wrong right now, but we have a show to put on, so I nod and head towards the stage. 

“William, are you gonna help or not?” Calls out hannah. I rush towards the set and help push it towards the gaff tape. 

    “ Belle, curtain and lights cue one Go” I hear Sienna call over the headset. I know I should be watching Harper shine onstage as Belle, but I can't stop thinking about what Sebastian was writing. It's not like i'm not gonna see the show. We still have like 7 shows in 30 states before the tour finishes. 

It's now or never I think to myself. I slowly head towards the guys dressing room. I look at sebastians  mirror, and there it is. The notebook. I grab it, start flipping the pages(which are almost all ripped out or blank) but before I can find the page, the opening number ends, which means that he’ll be back soon. I grab the notebook and run. 

“Where did you sneak off to?”asks hannah. 

“ the bathroom” i say, while pretending to watch  Harper and Adam do their scene, mainly so i don't have to make eye contact. 

The show goes on, and I still can't stop thinking about the notebook. How come there were so many pages ripped out. And why was he being so secretive about it? 

************

After the show, while the cast was signing autographs and sienna was goofing off with them, I went to the greenroom with the notebook.

“What's that?” Asks Conner who's on the lights crew.

“Nothing” I say. I don't need a partner in this investigation. 

I open the notebook and start flipping through pages until I find it. It's a letter. 

Dear  Harper, 

 feel we've gotten extremely close  during this tour. Maybe even  enough to meet up outside the theatre. You'll certainly want to for the sake of the show and the props crew's  sanity. What do you say?  Meet me at the ice cream shop after Thursday's show.  Hope to see you there. 

Tuesday

Harper, Belle

Hey babe! Missing something? Good luck tonight without it. 

I take the note off my mirror and stare at it. These notes have gotten more and more confusing. 

“What's that?” William asks me. 

“Oh! Nothing.” I say.

“Okay” he says and gives me a kiss. “Break a leg”

“What are you doing here anyways william?” asks jenna. “This is the girls dressing room. Out” all the girls laugh as Jenna shoos William away. 

As soon as he's out, I start getting ready. What could I be missing though?

As long as the show goes smoothly without it, i'll be okay i guess. 

Sienna,Stage manager

“Sienna! Have you seen my book for scene 12?” asks Harper. That is the sixth prop today that's gone missing

“Or any of gaston's guns?” asks adam. Make that seven. 

“Sorry guys. I can't help you. Things are going missing left and right. You're gonna have to do without them” I say. “Lights 48 go. And belle, that's you! Go!”

“What do i use to attack the beast then?” asks adam.

“Adam, you know I love you but you're gonna have to do without it. I don't have time to look. Now go.  You'll do great.” 

“Love you too” he says and plants a kiss on my cheek. 

“Background orchestration 4 go” I say, trying to hide my smile. Adam and I aren't dating, not yet, but when he does  things like kiss me, it really makes me wish we were. But that's not important. I've got a show to manage and he's gotta find a way to perform without any props. 

Wednesday

Jenna, Ensemble

Look, I don't know what's going on with the props, and the notes, but it's getting out of hand and I'm gonna get to the bottom of it. I saw another note on Harpers mirror today, and it seemed like they were connected somehow. I Tear the note off of the mirror and decide that I'm gonna go to the ice cream shop tomorrow. 

Sienna, Stage manager

“How are you holding up?” asks adam.

“I'm doing okay” i say “It's just so many props have gone missing and our leading lady seems really distant and scared all the time, Half our costumes are missing,  and if we don't sort this out the company is threatening to cancel the rest of the-

“Hey. You got this. Were gonna figure it out.” he tells me. Then, out of nowhere, He kisses me. On the lips. 

Thursday

William, Props and running  

As soon as the show is over, I rush to reset the set and props. When I'm done, I head over to the ice cream truck. If Sebastian thinks he can mess with MY girlfriend, he's got something else coming. 

When i get out of my car, he's already there, waiting for me. 

“Shouldn't you still be giving autographs?” I ask.

“No one wants an autograph from ensemble members. I mean you of all people should understand that, props and running crew.” He teases. “Speaking of which, how are you handling the whole props crisis?”

“Well, i'm not that concerned. I think i have an idea of where they're going.” I say. 

“Really” he asks very on edge. I'm supposed to be doing the investigating here. Not him.

“I suppose you want me to tell you” 

“Actually, No.” He says. “Look, we both know that you took the notebook. It's not what you think, so just hand it over.” 

“Really? Because I think that you are trying to mess with my girlfriend. Besides, 

I don't have it anymore. I left it in my bag in the greenroom.” I say. But now that i think about that, it wasn't there this morning when i got to the theatre.

Just then, My phone rang. I don't bother picking it up.

Voicemail from kelly, Director:

HI william. Just wanted to confront you about something,

 so if you could come see me before tomorrow's 

show that would be amazing. Thanks. Bye

Friday

Jenna, Ensemble

“I don't Know if it's just me, but that email seemed suspicious. We have to go in early and figure out what's going on.” I tell harper. 

“Fine. Only because the notes are getting more and more scary. I mean look at the one i found last night.” 

Hey bae. Hope you're doing  okay for now. But if you want to find the props and keep your job on the tour, you'll  do what i say.  

1. Break up with william
2. Come to the football field behind the theatre after  the show tomorrow. 

Love ya! 

“Well you're not going alone” I say.

************

When we get to the theatre, William is already in the greenroom with the director. 

“Now what?” Harper asks. 

“Now we wait”

William, props and running

“You wanted me to come see you” I say, opening the door to the green room, holding it open for mrs. Kelly.

“Yes, thank you for coming” 

“Why?”

“Well,” She says, with a really long pause afterward, “Conner was nice enough to tell me what's been going on with the notes. I can't afford to let you go right now because everything is total chaos, but i really expected better. I better not hear of this again or you'll be sent home from the tour. It is extremely disrespectful, even if they are to your girlfriend. Thank you. You may leave now.”

“But Mrs. Kelly, its not m-

“Out.”she says. 

I walk out, closing the door behind me, and I see Jenna and Harper right outside the door. 

“It was you!?” jenna says. She looks ready to attack me. 

“It's not” says harper, staring off into space and twirling her hair, which is what she does when she's thinking. “One of the notes told me to break up with him.”

“She's right,” I say. “And i think i know who it is”

Harper, Belle

After the show, I meet up with Jenna and William  at the ice cream shop  to make a plan. As were discussing, Sierra comes up. Don't get me wrong, I like her, but a stage manager isn't always the most trustworthy when you're trying to keep things from the director. 

“Hi. i'm so bored. Adam had to be somewhere immediately after the show, along with Conner and  Sebastian.”

“Sebastian” whispers William.

“What? Asks jenna.

“On monday, I saw him writing a note in a notebook. So during the show I snuck back and grabbed the notebook, and it had a note to you harper. That's why i was curious when you had another one on tuesday.”

“Oh, well in that case, I've been getting those notes the whole tour, but this week, they've gotten threatening” I tell him. I feel even more scared now. 

“You could have told me Harper,” says Sienna. 

“Yeah right” says Jenna “you've been so obsessed with adam this whole time”

“Of course! Keep the stage manager distracted from backstage drama by making your own.”says William. Siennas face drops. “Guys, i don't think this is a one person operation.” 

“What do you mean?”asks Sienna

“Well if you think about i-

“Sebastian is writing the notes,” Jenna jumps in. “Adam has been distracting sienna, and Conner pinned it on william for a stage manager, you sure take a while to catch on”

“Well how come they have the props?” I ask. They all look at me in disbelief. “Did i forget to mention that? In almost every note since the props started going missing, they have been part of the threat. If I wanna get them back, i have to go to the football field tonight.”

“I bet that's where they are.” says sienna

“Wow. you figured it out kid.” says jenna. I don't think she likes sienna very much. 

“Well, do i go or not?” I ask

“We are all going. There's no way I'll let you go alone. The way sebastian wrote the note about the ice cream shop seemed like he wanted more than just a little date.” says william. wait a minute, isn't that the same note that still made it to my mirror for jenna to find?  

Adam, Gaston

“She's coming!” I say. But it's not just her. It's a whole lot of them. “Well, they're coming.” 

“What!?” asks Sebastian. “Quick! Get the props. We’ll trade the props for her” 

“Okay” i say. I hate that I let him rope me into this, but it'll all be worth it in the end. Hi ya’ll” says Asher, grabbing both of harpers hands “My little belle, i see you brought some friends”

“Don't touch me,” she says. You can tell she's trying to be confident and failing. 

“Give us the props” says William

“Only if you give us five minutes with Harper” 

“Fine” says william

“No Way” says Jenna 

“It's okay,” says Harper, as she walks to us.  And that's the last I ever saw of her. 

William, Sienna, Jenna and I walked back to put the props back, and when we got back, they were gone.

William

After the disappearance, the tour was cancelled. We no longer had the lighting, an ensemble member and we didn't  have Belle. Adam quit the show two cities after because he supposedly “Got better offers”. We all know that after the guys left him out of their plan, he started drinking. Kelly had to kick him out because the tour couldn't have any more bad publicity. Hannah felt left out from the whole situation and quit the running crew, and Sienna quit once she found out that she was being used for Sebastian and Conners scam. 

Me? I felt like I owed it to Harper to keep going with the show. I eventually ended up on the crew for quite a few Broadway productions. I met a wonderful girl named Mackenzie, but not a day goes by when I don't think about her. I loved her. I wish I had a chance to tell her. 

Jenna

A few years after I had finally gotten over the whole thing with Harper, I saw a news article about some human traffickers in michigan. This was a sensitive topic, for obvious reasons, but I clicked on it anyway. Turns out it was about Asher and Sebastian. They were the most creative human traffickers ever. After they took harper, they both became teachers, and trafficked children for a while. After that, they joined a circus, where no one made it out. That's where they got caught. I can't believe I let them get  away with it though. I Shouldve known not to let them be alone with her in a place completely surrounded by woods. 

After I read that, I have never been the same. Every day i am reminded of how lucky i was y=to get out of it, and what an unfortunate ending Harper had. I like to think she’ll come to New York one day, somewhere in my mind, I know she's gone.