Beastly's Arc

Chapter 9 of 11

Three days before the recital, Beastly finds an official envelope slid under his studio door. He reads it twice. A competing instructor has filed a formal complaint with the auditorium, claiming his booking should be voided. The recital is in jeopardy. Beastly sets the letter beside the blank programs and stares at the empty floor. He walks across town to the rival's lodge. A grand iron gate stands out front, the instructor's emblem welded into its center. Beastly does not knock. He walks past the porch and on to the auditorium, where a heavy pine gate now bars the entrance. Chains loop through its boards. A paper notice pinned to the wood lists his name and the word VOIDED in black ink. Beastly returns to his studio and opens the rented ledger. He pulls out his receipt, the manager's signed deposit slip, and the newspaper clipping that named him. He carries them to the auditorium office and lays each one on the counter. He says only that his students have paid and practiced. The manager reads, makes a call, and cuts the chain himself. The gate swings open. Beastly walks home with the voided notice folded in his pocket. The booking holds. But that evening, a new envelope waits under his door. The competing instructor has scheduled a recital of their own, at the same hour, two blocks away.