Performer

"What do you mean Maine's missing?" I heard Zen say. I froze and turned around to face them. Shit, I thought. What the hell?

"Fuck, okay," Zen said. "I'll call you back. Bea's parents asked us to get her things at the company building. Yeah. Okay. Talk to you later." Zen ended the call and put down the phone. They turned left to to face me.

"Maine's missing?" I asked.

"Yeah," Zen said. "She hasn't been seen since the wake. Snow just went to visit her today at her apartment because she noticed she hasn't been replying at our group chat but she wasn't there."

"How about her mom?" I asked.

"Snow called Maine's mom but she wasn't there at their house as well," Zen said. "And that the last time she saw her was before the wake."

"How about the orphanage she volunteers at and her work?" I asked.

"They said she hasn't been around for about a week now," Zen said.

"Where could she be?" I said.

"Who did we see her go home with?" Zen asked.

"I think she went home alone that day," I said.

"Right, Virginia offered to drive her to her apartment but she refused saying she wasn't drunk anymore and that she wanted to go somewhere else," Zen said. Zen walked towards me. Shit, I thought.

"Where did she go?" I said.

"I don't know," Zen said. "And none of our friends know apparently."

" This is crazy timing," I said.

"What?" Zen said.

"I have a hunch this has something to do with the kidnappers," I said.

"Come on," Zen said. "Why would they kidnap Maine?"

"I don't know," I said. "More money?"

"But they don't even want money," Zen said.

"Ugh," I said. I scratched my head. What is happening? I thought.

"Let's just go get Bea's albums quickly and help with looking for Maine," Zen said. I looked at them and clicked my tongue.

"Yeah," I said. I turned around and started walking towards the entrance of the tall building in front of me. I sighed. I reached out my left hand. I felt Zen intertwine thier fingers with mine.

"Look," Zen said. We stopped walking a few inches away from the glass doors. At the left of the entrance there was portrait of Bea surrounded by candles, letters, flowers, and a lot of other things.

"Her fans really love her," Zen said.

"Well, she is the best idol there is," I said. "And we're going to get her back." Zen nodded. We faced front, pushed the glass door open, and walked in. We were greeted a high ceiling lobby with different kinds of chandeliers danging from the ceiling.

"Good day," the bodyguard on my right. We nodded at them.

"May I ask what is the purpose of your visit?" the bodyguard said.

"We're here to collect and bring home Bea's things," Zen said.

"I see," the bodyguard said. "Please get your passes at the concierge straight up ahead."

"Thanks," Zen said. We nodded at the guard again then started walking towards the concierge area at the back of the room. There's a lot of bodyguards to the elevator entrances, I thought. There's a lot more bodyguards at left then the right. Hmmmmmm. We finally arrived in at concierge area. The outside of it was made out of marble and it reached up to below my chest.

"Good day," the employee behind it said. "How may I help you?"

"We're here to bring home Bea's things," Zen said. "I think her parents called about it."

"Oh Yes, they did," the employee said. They grabbed something from below. That was fast, I thought.

"Here are your passes," the employee said as they offered to us two IDs with the word visitor on it, connected to a lanyard. "Sir Robert will be here soon." Zen and I eached grabbed one. I put the landyard over my head and let it rest on my neck.

"Thanks," Zen said.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," the employee said. "I am a fan of her and was shocked to learn that she killed herself." Zen and I looked exchanged glances.

"Thank you," Zen said.

"Heyyy!" I heard someone shout. "Zen, Dos!" I looked right and saw that it was Robert.

"You're here for Bea's thing right?" he said as he walked towards us.

"Yup," I said. Robert raised their hand towards the concierge.

"I'll take it from here," Robert said. The concierge bowed.

"This way you two," Robert said. He walked past us, towards the left side entrances. We followed him.

"They're with me," Robert said to the bodyguards. They made way to three gates. Robert walked to the middle one while I took the left one and Zen took the right. I tapped my visitor pass on the scanner on top of the gate. The gate beeped and the fortified glass doors opened. I walked through them. My feet clanked at the white and black floor tiles as I ran towards Zen who was directly behind Robert. They were already halfway to the first elevator.

"What took you so long?" Zen asked.

"You know I walk slow," I said.

"Yes you do," Zen said. I positioned myself to their left.

"You're lucky that I saw the two of you first before you saw-" Robert said. The first elevator to the left dinged open.

"You got to be kidding me," I said. The elevator doors opened. The person inside stepped out with their personal bodyguards.

"Oh, its the unassigned manager, and the suicidal superstar's best friends," she said.

"Fuck you Valentina," I said.

"Okay," Zen said. I felt them grab both of my arms.

"A person is dead you disrespectful shit," I said.

"Oh you mean Bea?" she said. "That's actually good news. She talent-less. Serves her right to die like that." What the actual fuck? I thought.

"Okay," Robert said. "Let's move along you two. Ignore her now." Zen steered my body forward. We started walking towards the fifth and last elevator.

"I swear," I said. "That piece of shit is annoying. Why is she even in the company still?"

"Profit," Robert said. "She is the second best. It was only Bea who was out doing her."

"That's right," I heard Valentina shout. "Run away like Bea who was so scared to face her responsibilities and killed herself."

"Okay that's it," I said. I shook my whole body.

"Let me go Zen," I said. "Let me go."

"Zen," Robert said. "In here." I continued shaking my body. I slowly felt my entire body being carried. They slowly shifted from carrying me by torso to carrying me with their arms underneath me, supporting my back.

"What the hell Zen?" I said. Zen started running towards the fifth elevator to the left, carrying me.

"Calm down baby," Zen said. "That's not what we're here for."

"But we can't just let her insult Bea like that!" I said. "Plus, I really want to punch her annoying face."

"How?" Zen said. "She was surrounded by multiple bodyguards."

"Obviously going to dodge my way past them and punch her in the face," I said.

"Sure you will," Zen said as we got in the elevator. Zen walked towards the back of elevator and leaned on the wall. They elevator doors dinged to a close. They sighed. We really had to her out of all people, I thought.

"You can put me down now," I said.

"Oh right," Zen said. They lowered their arms until I was able to stand on the floor with my feet.

"She's always so hostile," I said as I straightened the clothes I was wearing.

"I'm mean," Zen said. "You know she has always been jealous of Bea's success."

"I know," I said. "But Bea's dead now. Wouldn't hurt her to be respectful. Can't you do anything Robert?"

"Unfortunately not," Robert said. "Profit is profit for the company."

"Ugh," I said. "Unless maybe she's the one who k-" I felt a hand clasp over my mouth. Shit, I thought Nice catch Zen.

"She's the one who what?" Robert said.

"The one who likes attention a lot," I said. But Valentina being the kidnapper is possible, I thought. Or murderer. Ugh. Zen got into my head with their theories too.

"Isn't that obvious?" Robert said. The elevator dinged. The doors in front of us opened. We were greeted by a wooden door which had a pink and purple neon sign that read Bea. We stepped out of the elevator. Robert shoved his right hand into his pocket. He pulled out a set of keys connected to an acrylic glass with Bea's photo inside of it. Of course it's Bea's merch, I thought. He walked towards the door a few feet in front of us. He inserted the first key to the first lock and turned it. He did the same for the other two locks. He tapped his ID on the scanner. The door made a beeping and unlocking sound. He grabbed the door handle and pressed down on it. He pushed the door open as he walked inside. He pressed the switches on the left wall and the whole room lit up. We followed him inside. We walked towards the end of the hallway, passing Robert, and stopping at the edge of the huge sunken couch at the middle of the room.

"I can never get over that Bea has her own floor," Zen said.

"I'm sure you know this already but she was a big contributor as to why this building was built," Robert said. "If you ask me a floor dedicated to her was not enough." I heard a phone buzz.

"That's mine," I heard Robert say. "Its Ms. Liu. She wants me to come to her office. You can just go if you guys are done. But don't forget to lock the door." I tapped Zen on the shoulder and turned around.

"Uhm, actually Robert," Zen said. "We have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" Robert said.

"We were hoping that maybe we can have some of Bea's signed albums that you have in stock," Zen said.

"What for?" Robert said.

"We were-," Zen said as they looked at me.

"-planning to do a charity raffle where the proceeds will go to the orphanages," I said. What? Zen mouthed.

"Bea did like going to charity events and actually wanted to do some of her own but the company wouldn't let her," Robert said. Zen and I looked at each other.

"Plus," I said. "Its good pr for the company after you got blamed for Bea's suicide."

"We're lucky the contents of the suicide note were not made public at her parent's request," Robert said. "If there was something about the company there, I don't know what would've happened. I know that sounds bad after everything but I know that there were times that the company pushed her to do something she didn't want to do but ended up doing still."

"Fuck," Zen said.

"Yeah," Robert said. "So I'll see what I can do." They turned around and opened the door.

"Thanks Robert," I said

"Yeah thanks," Zen said as the door closed.

"Did you know that?" I asked.

"No," Zen said. "Did you?"

"No," I said. "Maybe Helen did. She was probably the only who Bea vent about this."

"Yeah," Zen said. I sighed. So its actually now possible that it really was a suicide? I thought. Bea did say something about this in the suicide note. Fuck. I'm confused.

" So where do you think we should start?" Zen asked.

"What did her parents tell us to bring home again?" I asked.

"Sentimental things," Zen said. "Pictures, journals, books and whatever you can think of that fits."

"I'll check the bedroom," I said.

"Okay," Zen said. "I'll collect the photos from her photography room."

"That's a good idea," I said. I sighed.

"Its going to be fine," Zen said. "We'll get her back." I nodded. I turned around and started walking to by the edge of the circular pit at its right. I walked forward towards the giant room at the back - it was aligned at middle of the room as well. What the fuck is happening? I thought. I looked around this floor dedicated to Bea with its walls and decorations being a mix of pink, purple, and white. After a few more steps, I finally reached the door. I took a deep breath. I grabbed the door handle and opened it. I turned pressed the switch on the left wall. The lights in the room turned on.

Untouched, I thought. Still messy as the last time we were here. I mean it always was. I stepped in the room and walked to the far left corner of the room where her bed was. I picked up the shirts, shorts, pants, socks, and others that were left on the floor. I put them in the middle of the bed. I opened my bag and grabbed a foldable bag. I unfolded it and set it beside the clothes. I squatted down in front of her bedside cabinet. I pulled open the drawers one by one starting from the bottom and grabbed everything inside. I stood up and put them inside the foldable bag. I kneeled down on the floor and reached under her bed.

Trash, trash, trash, trash, trash, I thought. Trash, trash, notebook. I sat down on my feet and flipped the notebook open.

Are these her new songs? I thought as I scanned the lyrics on each page. These songs seem sad. I closed the notebook. I knelt down again and reached under the floor.

Nothing else, I thought. I stood up and put the notebook in the foldable bag.

Okay, I thought. Where else? I looked around the room.

I guess her big cabinet, I thought. I started walking towards the opposite side where it was.

The view here has always been pretty, I thought as I glanced through the glass windows to the left. The river was reflecting the stars and moon above. I sighed.

"Shit!" I said as I stumbled on something. I knelt down. A raised floor board, I thought. What's that? There was a button on the floor space the floor board was supposed to be in. I pressed it. A portion of the floor to my right suddenly retracted, revealing a small space underneath. It was full of pillows and stuff animals. It was enough to fit two people laying down and a bit of space for movement as well. I climbed down and knelt on. I started rummaging through the pillows. I was able to grab three notebooks. I sat down and opened to first one.

A journal, I thought. Of her struggles of being an idol. I shouldn't read it. I put it down to my right and grab the next notebook from my left. I opened it up. There were polaroids.

A photobook, I thought. of her and Helen. Cute. I closed it and put it on top of the notebook before. I grabbed the last notebook from my left. I flipped through the pages.

And a photobook of our friend group, I thought. I closed it and put it down. I sighed.

Didn't know she had a panic room like this, I thought.

"Dos," I heard Zen call out.

"What?" I shouted back.

"Where you who turned off the lights outside?" I heard Zen say. What? I thought. I stood up and climbed out of the panic room. I looked towards the door. Someone else turned off the lights, I thought.

"I didn't," I shouted. I slowly crept towards the door until I was right by it.

"Then who-" I heard Zen shout. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Zen!" I shouted. The living room lights suddenly flickered.

"Shit," I said as I saw a hooded figure right in front of me. I stumbled back to the floor. These shits again, I thought. Ugh. I stood up. The lights were already back on and the hooded figure was no where to be seen.

"Dos! Dos!" I heard Zen shout. I looked to my right and saw them running towards me. They stopped in front of me, breathing heavily.

"Were those the ones you saw at the wake?" Zen asked.

"Yeah," I said. "But fuck, are you okay Zen? I heard you shout." I quickly turned to them and checked their body.

"I'm fine," Zen said. "I was just surprised."

"That's good," I said. "But as you saw. We really are being followed."