Finding Theo

Three Strange Men

Safely inside her apartment now, Pennie stared down at the small box on the counter in front of her. She didn't touch it—she only stared at it intently as if it could move. She'd been staring at it for hours, she was sure of it but she was too afraid to look up at the clock. Pennie had the most irrational fear that the box would disappear and she'd never know how it connected to Theo. Her eyes felt heavy and her vision began to blur. She did her best to shake away the tired with a quick jerk of her head but it was of no use. Slowly, everything faded to black.

Once again Pennie was awakened by a knock on her door. Pennie jerked herself awake—the sun shining through the open windows stung her eyes. She squinted up at the clock—8AM. She rubbed her eyes and looked down at the box still sitting in front of her. She sighed and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. The knocking continued and yelling ensued,

"Come on! We know you're in there! We just saw you go in." Pennie frowned. The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place it nor could she comprehend exactly what they were yelling. She slumped off of her stool and stumbled lazily over to the door. Not bothering to look through the peephole, she opened the door, mid yawn. In front of her were three men all about three inches taller than her and twice her size. She was suddenly wide awake and knew exactly why that voice had sounded familiar. It was the same demanding voice she had heard down in Theo's room. Then she realized that these were also the men she had seen at the police station, who she had assumed were friends of Theo's. Now she wasn't so sure they were friends of his. She gulped and looked up at them with wide eyes.

"Can-Can I help you?" Her small voice shook and the smile that spread across her face trembled. The man at the front of the group wore a glare and stared down at her, arms folded.

"You happened to be trespassing just a moment ago." His voice trembled—not in the way Pennie's had but in an angry way. Pennie frowned and furrowed her brow. Trespassing? Did they know she was down in Theo's apartment? The broken vase and the missing box. Of course. But if she admitted to being in his apartment then they could go to the police and they didn't have any proof.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She smiled, her voice no longer shaking.

"Don't give me that bullshit. We saw you slither your way in here." She frowned again. Did they see her come back up last night? But the hall was clear and she would have heard someone go up the stairs—especially three men.

"I have been in my apartment all night." The man scoffed and threw his hands in the air obviously distressed.

"We saw you barely come in here. Just barely!" The man raised his voice and stepped towards Pennie. She stepped back and looked up at him with fear in her eyes. He must have seen it because he relaxed his shoulders a bit and stepped back.

"I have been in this spot all night staring at this box and-" Pennie turned and pointed to the empty counter top. "The box." She mumbled and raced over to the counter, looking all around. "The box is gone!" She looked wide-eyed at the man.

"Um...box?" A man to the right of the angry one stepped cautiously inside. "What box?" Pennie rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"The box I found in Theo's room inside the stained glass vase filled with fake Daisies." The other two men stepped inside after exchanging some strange looks with each other. The angry one closed the door.

"You found a box in Theo's room? Where is it?" Pennie felt like dying. What had she gotten herself into this time? These three men could easily beat her to a pulp and she could do nothing about it. Well, if she was going to die now she might as well be honest and earn some good karma.