Page 39 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Bellatrix seemed to have a problem with gay men in general. As a succubus, she couldn’t use her charms on them… so she viewed them as a threat. I have no idea what Julian got out of the relationship. He was like her little abused pet that still loved her and wanted her affection, even after she left him chained up outside all the time. She probably said some horrifically homophobic shit around him. Somehow he stayed around and did her bidding, often helping her to destroy careers. If she took Bevan out, he’d happily take his place and do whatever she asked to get Beyla out of the company.
Marsden had Arden off to the side, teaching him one of his solos, but he was clearly distracted. Arden kept shooting glances over to Bellatrix and Bevan. I hated Arden, and everything he stood for, but if he were protecting Bevan, I’d partner up with him. He was one of Beyla’s minions, so I guess I’d have to learn to get along with him if I wanted in on that.
I still thought that, if she was going to have a harem, we should get input. She was totally going to have one, though there weren’t enough witches and warlocks in the company for her to make a coven. Sure, she could have one outside the company, but I liked the idea of a harem better because I wanted to be in it.
Bellatrixwas nothelping Bevan with their section of this dance, she couldn’t even keep herself upright for a fucking fish dive! A fish dive was one of the first baby lifts you learned when you moved into apas de deuxclass.
Bevan did his part and dipped her, totally supporting her waist and right leg, and there wasn’t much she could do to ruin it… though if she wasn’t holding her core, it was going to be a bitch on his back and knees. I already knew she wouldn't. I’d fish dived that bitch before, and she never helped.
All she had to do was lower her leg and stand en pointe while Bevan supported her. This part was all her. She kept stumbling, then shrieking at Bevan that he was dropping her. She did that shit to me exactly once, and I really did drop her on purpose.
She then pulled her whole spiel about her feet being insured and threatened to sue me, like she did with literally every male dancer who had the displeasure of partnering with her. I wasn’t scared of her. I informed her I’d drop her ass in front of a packed audience and make her look like a talentless hack if she didn’t start contributing more when I was lifting her.
It only got marginally better after that.
Bevan was a much better man than me, he wouldn’t dump a ballerina on her ass on purpose, but honestly, she wasn’t going to stop unless he did. She was going for a career ending injury, and he was trying to be polite.
“If you can’t even do a simple fish dive, you need to be teaching baby jazz classes in the middle of nowhere!” she shrieked.
Marsden looked up from his work with Arden right when Bevan tried to fight back.
“You’re the one blowing it, Bellatrix! I’m still completing the lift, even though you are determined to hold yourself like a noodle. Allyouhave to do is balance, and you can’t even do that!”
“He’s right,” Nicolai said. “He’s doing his job, you aren’t.”
Was that fucker eating my popcorn? We had house rules about stealing food. That wasmyrehearsal food for the drama.
“I’m the star of this company!” Bellatrix shrieked. “He’s a nothing, a nobody! I’m doing everything right. It’s not my fault he’s been miscast.”
I grabbed my popcorn away from Nicolai, and was glad to see that at least he hadn’t eaten too much of it. Asshole.
“You forget, Bellatrix, we’ve all had to partner with you,” I said. “Every male dancer in the room is on Bevan’s side. If you hadn’t brainwashed Julian, he’d agree with us that lifting you would be a million times easier if you actually fucking contributed.”
I stuffed a mouthful of popcorn in my mouth as Beyla walked over to Bevan, and they did it perfectly. I got she was standing up for Bevan, but what a way to fan the flames! Bellatrix knew she was outnumbered, she wanted Julian here, and she already felt threatened by Beyla.
Bellatrix looked like she was going to lash out again. I totally didn’t regret making popcorn, because Beyla had already laid her out once and it looked like she might have to again. Bellatrix had once broken someone’s nose with her pointe shoes, but somehow didn’t get fired because there were no witnesses. I was betting on Beyla if it came to blows. Bellatrix was taller, but something told me little Beyla had been in more than a few fistfights before.
I was so ready for this.
“Bella!” Marsden barked, as she struggled in his arms. “Stop this at once! Go home. Smoke a cigarette and draw yourself a bath. Calm yourself. This is how things are, and I’m not changing the cast because you aren’t happy. Bevan got his role for a reason, and he’s going to make you look amazing on stage... but not if you shatter his trust in you during rehearsals. Do what you need to do to center yourself and come back tomorrow, prepared to work.”
My popcorn didn’t taste as good anymore. Seriously, what was it going to take to get Marsden to open his eyes? Heknewwhat Bellatrix was doing with Bevan and that it could hurt him. It could hurt her too if he dropped her. He was overcompensating to make sure he didn’t, but we had only learned one dance so far, and it was already complicated. We would likely do more challenging lifts, almost certainly, and it would be too hard for us, no matter how strong we were… Bellatrix would fall. That was something she never seemed to realize.
He knew damn well we didn’t make any progress today because of his girlfriend’s drama, and he had to hold her back from assaulting Beyla. They had already canceled this ballet for some reason, and if Marsden didn’t check his girlfriend, it was going to get canceled again.
Chapter29
Beyla
Rehearsal was much less dramatic after Bellatrix left. Honestly, if this were my show, she already would have been recast, even if I didn’t want the lead. I didn’t have the files from Kaine yet, but there was already way too much shit associated with this show to have the lead sabotaging it out of pettiness.
I had this theory that Selena and Bellatrix were a lot alike, and history was somehow repeating itself with this show…. figuring out why might be the key to stopping people from dying, but I didn’t have enough information. Still, I didn’t get the feeling Selena made things harder for her partners deliberately. That would be a special level of crazy, even for ballerinas. It wouldn’t just hurt your partner, you could get dropped and sustain career ending injuries. Yeah, everyone always blamed the guy if a ballerina got dropped on stage, but the girl could be at fault, too.
I only didn’t want Bellatrix’s part because I needed to be focused on my job. If I was just here as a dancer, I’d be begging for it after she got kicked out of rehearsal twice. The accompanying music was eerily ethereal, and what I’d seen of the choreography so far was excellent.
Bevan, Nicolai, Arden, and Merlin were perfectly cast in their parts, each possessing everything you wanted in a male dancer. They had the technique, the tricks, the musicality, and the acting, so I felt safe doing even the more dangerous lifts with all four of them. There was also this insane connection I had with all of them when we were dancing together.
Marsden dismissed us, but I wasn’t done with him, not yet. Arden was still totally up my butt, even more so after Julian crashed my lunch. I had to ask him to wait outside, because I didn’t need anyone hearing this. He finally agreed to leave.
