young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 16

The aftermath was horrible. So many audience members were hurt or injured. The cast escaped with minor injuries, mostly from the wooden set splintering. Javier was in the hospital, and Alysha narrowly escaped serious injury.

Even the next day, everywhere Kasey looked reminded her of the shooting. The ruined stage, the tears in the curtain... everything. The curtain had ended up saving most of the cast's lives. The theatre was ruined. Blood was everywhere. Audience members had been killed as they fled the main theatre, as they sat watching the show... it had been a massacre.

Nineteen people had died, and sixty-three people had been wounded.

It was hard to bounce back from the shooting. Now, people swarmed the outside of the theatre with candles, flowers, and gifts. It was a unifying sight, but on the inside, the people were torn.

What hurt Kasey most was not the damage to the Richard Rodgers. It was how the shooting affected her friends. Most of all, how it had hurt Pippa.

Kasey had never seen Pippa so vulnerable. Renee had explained what had happened.

A disabled audience member had screamed for help from the front row when the shooters killed the person next to him and trapped him in his seat. Pippa, selfless Pippa, had jumped from the stage into the audience to help the man out of the theatre. They hadn't been quick enough and had been stuck in the main auditorium, where the gunmen locked the exit doors. About half of the audience had been trapped there.

Kasey couldn't even imagine going through what Pippa had been through. The gunshots, which had seemed so loud from the dressing rooms, had been all too real for those in the audience. And Pippa had been alone and afraid, with only the terrified audience to keep her company.

The media was awash with news of the shootings. Kasey found her phone flooded with messages, Tweets, and notifications that it took her most of the night to sort through everything. It had been about six o'clock in the morning before she'd reached the messages from her friends and family.

After reassuring Wendy and Paul that she was fine, she finally saw Jace's texts from that night.

Jace: Are you safe, Kasey?

Jace: Kasey, they're saying people are dead. Please let me know you're alright when you can.

Jace: They're putting people into ambulances. I'm assuming you guys aren't trapped anymore, so please, let me know.

Jace: I'm going to bed. Call me if you ever see this.

Kasey dialed Jace's number immediately, holding her breath. It was eight in the morning. He was probably asleep, since he had a show the night before.

The phone only rang twice before Jace picked up.

"Kasey, thank god," Jace said, sounding fully awake.

"I'm alright, I'm sorry I didn't get your texts. I didn't check my phone until just a few minutes ago," Kasey said.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No, I wasn't hurt. I'm still processing, but I'll be alright," Kasey said, taking a deep breath. "There was only one injury in the cast, thankfully."

"That's a relief. They've released the information about it. I didn't realize it was that bad. Our stage manager downplayed it as much as possible," Jace said. "I'm so glad you're safe, and the rest of your cast, too. How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing alright," Kasey told him. "I could be better, but honestly, I got it easy. They closed the curtain and not many of us actually saw most of what happened."

"Can I see you?" Jace asked.

"I'm held up in police work and the cast just wants to be together today, but we can meet later. How about tomorrow, at noon, at that coffee place?" Kasey suggested.

"That sounds great. I'll be there," Jace said immediately. "Call me if you ever need to talk."

"I will. Thanks, Jace," she said. "I have to go."

"I'll see you tomorrow. Stay safe," he said.

Kasey hung up and sighed. Talking to Jace had strangely soothed some of the stress. She checked her phone for the time. Lin had called a cast meeting.

Kasey walked to the green room, where many of the cast and crew had already assembled. Lin was there, and Leslie. Renee sitting in one of the moon chairs, and Pippa, who sat at Renee's feet, had her head resting on Jazzy's shoulder. Kasey sat down next to Jazzy, who gave her a thin smile.

Cast members gradually filed in. They were all quiet. The absence of Javier made it even worse, but Kasey knew that they could have lost more than just Javier if not for the tech's quick thinking in closing the curtain.

"Yesterday was the worst day of my life," Lin began once everyone had arrived. "I created Hamilton with the belief that it would inspire others and bridge the differences in this world. I felt that I did, but there are always those who refuse to belief what the world is communicating to them. You all took a huge risk in continuing to perform last night, and you all paid the price. The deaths in this theatre, the terror, the hate- now this is the legacy that I've created."

Lin broke off, swallowed, and cleared his throat. "None of you should have needed to go through this. I was a fool for ever thinking we could stop racial prejudice. This time, innocent people have gotten hurt because of a musical I made. You all put your faith in this show, in me, and instead I handed you death on a platter. I will forever hate myself for that. If any of you want to leave this show, I will completely understand. I will hug you, and cry for you, but I will watch you go knowing that you are better off without this show in your life. To most of you, I am sure it holds nothing but bad memories."

Lin looked around at each cast member. "And to all of you that are hurt because of this show, I beg your forgiveness. Javier, who is not here. Alysha. Pippa, I am so sorry. Even Kasey, not from tonight, but from last week. So I have thought and thought about this all this morning, and I have decided to close Hamilton on Broadway. No one will ever get hurt because of this show, because of my reckless faith, again."