9.40pm, Walmart job interviews
"That's really great Garcia, you got future, kid. With those computer skills, you have some fine options! I'm talking Ivy league if you want it!" Penelope smiled subtly at the praise she was getting from the manager of the local green grocers. "You don't need a part time job here, you're young! Go get out into the world!" He picked up her resume and waved it towards the door. "Some people are gonna need you, kid. Go and find 'em!"
"Thank you" Penelope smiled shyly, getting up and neatly pushing the chair back, before turning away and walking out of the office.
"One more thing!" The manager called. Penelope turned around, raising her eyebrows. He chortled and picked up his copy of the resume one more time. "This stationary is great!" He laughed "Use this again and I bet you'd get any job you want." He smiled, waving her away.
"Note to self, glitter pens and pink paper will always work." She smiled to herself, walking out of the office. A couple of people were standing outside of the office door, waiting to be interviewed for the job of stacking shelves. Not exactly classy, but it pays the bills.
"Hey you! Wait up!" A man called from behind her. Penelope turned around and moved out of the way, narrowly avoiding being run into by this dark haired young man. He leant against the corridor wall, trying to catch his breath.
"Yeah?" Penelope laughed, looking down at the wheezing guy. "... You alright there?"
"I'm good, I'm good. It's just, I saw what you did in there. You're only, what, twenty and you can do that? Have you even had training yet?" He exclaimed, his voice cracking with excitement.
"Well, I'm eighteen actually. And I've been studying computing tech since ninth grade, but I started doing advanced in senior year." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"Nice! So, you can code?"
"Not really, I studied the basics last year but I've never gone further than that. I wouldn't know why I'd ever need it, to be honest. I'm just taking a gap year, yknow, to see what I want to do later on." Penelope tapped her feet around nervously, she hadn't really talked to anyone so much.
"Oh, oh, by the way, I'm Michael. What's your name?" He burst out, laughing suddenly. Penelope jumped a little, slightly taken back.
"Penelope"
"Cool." Michael smiled. "Hey, why don't you come back to my place, we can hang out and talk tech! I could even give you a little course on coding!" He said enthusiastically, pulling out his mobile. Penelope looked down and her watch and hesitated a bit.
"I'd really love to, but it's almost ten. And my curfew's half ten. And I still have to cycle home..." She said, pulling out her phone as well. "Don't want to get the parents worried. They may be the care-free type but they get super worried about me."
"Walk with me" Michael invited, strolling towards the exit. Penelope watched him walk for a little, and ran after him.
"I really would go, but it's really too late. Like, it really sucks how the interviews had to be after the store closes. I mean, I wouldn't have minded coming out at 6am, yknow?"
"I get it, but Penelope, I'd really love it if you came." He said softly, grasping her hand in his. Penelope blushed softly. "Hey, is it alright if I call you Penny?"
"Sure" She replied between explosive giggles.
"And you can call me Mike." He said, opening the door widely. "Ladies first." He smiled. Penelope beamed and walked through the door, catching her hip in the frame slightly.
"Oop." She laughed, patting at her backside. "I should really get at losing a couple pounds."
"No, Penny! You're perfect. You're beautiful, girl." Mike smiled. He ran down the steps and slid onto the bumper of a black rover, and banged on it. "Aint she a beauty!" He called. "I've only got one girl in my life..." Mike said sadly, looking up at Penelope, sticking out his bottom lip and whining.
"Oh, shush you!" Penelope giggled, lightly slapping him on the shoulder.
"c'mon, let's go! I'll get your bike" Mike called, wheeling her bike towards the car and loading it into the back.
"I guess maybe a few minutes won't hurt." She smiled, and climbed into his car.
"I knew you'd give in" Mike chuckled, sliding into the driver's seat and swiftly starting the car. After about ten minutes of driving, Mike pulled into a poorly lit car park, and helped Penelope out of the car. "Sorry, it's a little shabby, but hey. I'm only twenty-four, haven't had the time to get enough money yet." He gestured towards a tall block of apartments. "Still, I've got top floor. It's not quite a penthouse" he laughed, "but there are great views of the city." Penelope smiled and nodded, slightly nervous of her surroundings. "You alright?" Mike asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, it's just I've never been to this neighbourhood before." She said quickly, darting her eyes around.
"It's alright Penny, come on." He walked quickly towards the apartments, with Penelope in hand. Penelope tried her best to focus on Mike, but she couldn't ignore the constant wail of police sirens and far off cry of shouting.
"At last" Penelope sighed, when the two of them had reached Mike's apartment. Mike smiled and walked into the kitchen, bringing out a bottle of cheap white wine.
"Care for a drink, Penny? Then I can show you some stuff on my computer. Do you like my set-up?" He offered, then gesturing to a corner of the room with five monitors set up on the desk and wall.
"Um, yes please." She said, as Mike poured out a glass for her. "Nice set-up, Mike." She said approvingly, flicking through a couple computing books scattered around his desk.
"Here." Mike handed her the wine, and crashed out on the couch. "Hey, why don't we relax a little bit before anything else?" turning on the TV, he patted a seat, and Penelope swiftly sat next to him. "So Penny." He said, slipping his arm around her shoulders. "Have some wine. Tell me more about yourself."
1.30am, Mike's apartment
After a couple hours and a couple more drinks, Mike and Penelope were dancing and singing along to a selection of karaoke songs.
"I'm so glad I, so glad I came here!" Penelope shrieked with joy, dancing around. Mike fell to his knees and laughed.
"You... are so funny" He slurred, laughing so much that tears were coming to his eyes. "Shouldn't ya... call your hippies?"
"Wha?" she replied, balancing cushions on top of each other. "I don' have hippies, what are you going on 'bout?"
"Your mum hippies!" He replied, swaying around and giggling foolishly, and landing on the couch.
"Oh god." Penelope gasped, suddenly more together, and took out her mobile. "oh, It's late! God, no signal! Mike!" Mike was lying on the sofa, passed out. "What." Penelope got up and walked towards the door, clawing aimlessly at the locked handle. She looked around the room, only to be surprised with a strange double vision of the room. "Oh my gosh." She sighed as she stumbled into an armchair and passed out.
11.20pm, earlier that night, Penelope's home
"Oh honey, she's never been late home before! And I've tried calling her several times, she's not picking up!" Penelope's mother wailed, banging her hands on her husband's chest. "Harry, Harry are you listening to me? She's never even been remotely near coming back at half ten, she's always home ages before then! You know this!"
"Lisa, calm down. Penelope is like a little bird, she's hatched and now she's flying free from the nest. She's young, let her grow her wings."
"Harry now is not the time for your metaphors." Lisa snapped, sadly looking at the mounted picture of Penelope on the wall. "Oh, I don't know, she's not a child anymore. Am I really being too harsh on her?"
"Let her flow with the wind, she'll be lighting up the room with her car soon."
"Oh god. She didn't take her car. Harry! She must've cycled there. For god sake, snap out of whatever Hippy state of mind you're in! Its 1995, we'll be in a new millennium soon! We have got to stop hanging onto our parents dreams from the sixties, and face reality already. Harry, are you even listening to me?" Lisa cried, angry tears running down her face and her legs shaking with fear and agitation. She kicked the armchair, turning away from Harry.
"What are you saying, what, that you want to stop all this? Stop the care-free road to-"
"Harry, my daughter might be in trouble. You might not be her father, but she has your name. What if she's in trouble?" Lisa spat, her voice barely a whisper. Harry sighed and looked outside the window, clutching the curtains blinds slightly too hard.
"Alright, I'm sorry I'm sorry." He grabbed his keys. "Let's go and find her." Harry attempted to fix the blinds back in place, but they ripped a little bit more. Frustrated, he struck them and opened the front door. "Come on."
"What if she comes back when she's out? You wouldn't let her have a key!" Lisa growled, stamping towards Harry.
"Oh, so you're blaming me? Because I wouldn't let her have a key? You know Penelope, she'd loose it within five minutes!" Harry said, making huge gestures with his arms, and accidentally hitting his fist against the rough wall, slicing his knuckles. He cursed and pushed past Lisa, walking calmly to the bathroom, his arms hanging loosely by his sides.
"God Harry, you're messing up the place! Clean up that blood!" Lisa snapped, opening the front window shielded by the damaged blinds, then picking up the phone and thinking. "If she comes back, she can get through that window..." She murmured to herself.
"Ha, as if." Harry smirked meanly, striding out of the door and starting up the car. Lisa rolled her eyes and dropped the phone, leaving it hanging, and hurried out of the door.
"Hurry, go into town. She might be at the drop in internet café or the library." Lisa said, not looking at Harry. Harry drove recklessly and fast into town, glancing slightly nervously at the youths still walking around the streets.
"I hate Happy Hour. God, suppose she's gone out drinking?"
"Penelope would never!" Lisa retorted, frowning at the care-free youths. "God, Harry, slow down! You're scaring me." Harry sharply braked, in front of the local internet café.
"Let's both go, but quickly. I suppose there are extra cops around this time of night, and I don't want a ticket." Harry said gruffly, speaking between pants. Lisa sprinted into the café, to be met with the stares of many people, but Penelope wasn't there.
"Check the library!" She ordered, watching Harry run ahead of her. She trotted a little bit behind him, not breathing correctly through her tears.
"Nothing!" She heard Harry call ahead of her. Sighing, she took the driver's side of the car and started the engine again, only to see a cop advancing towards her. She reluctantly rolled down the window.
"Alright? What is a fine lady such as yourself doing out so late?" He inquired, watching as Harry got into the passenger side.
"Why can't I drive?" He asked, slightly annoyed at Lisa. The cop raised his eyebrows, leaning into the car window.
"Because, you drive like a lunatic." She said quietly to Harry. Turning back to the cop, she sighed. "I'm looking for my daughter, she's out past her curfew and..." Lisa broke down crying, shielding her face from both men. The cop pulled out a notebook, and hesitated slightly.
"How old is she? What does she look like? I can get a nationwide search for her. When did you last see her? I am highly-decorated officer Chuck Reynolds, the best at my job. You can count on me- now, details please." He said quickly and proudly.
"She's called Penelope Garcia, She's eighteen, she has-" Lisa started.
"Oh, she's eighteen? Well she's legally an adult now. She's probably just out with friends. Nothing to be worried about. We can't help ya anyway." He said shortly, and walked off.
"God! Thanks for the help you son of a bitch! Chuck!" Harry shouted angrily, holding his head in his hands. "Just drive, go to your sister's house. She might have gone to see her cousins."
"It's all the way cross state! And we'd have to go through the capital, or we'd be stranded in the suburbs for hours." Lisa moaned, driving slowly uptown.
"It's your daughter we're talking about." Harry said. Nothing was said for a while, Harry leaning against his window in silence, watching the world whiz by. "For the capital take this exit." He said, after a long while.
"It's long gone midnight now, suppose she's come back home?" Lisa wondered hopefully, checking her watch. "It's half past one! Harry, call her cell." Harry fumbled around with his cell, as the car turned this way and that.
"Nothing, she's either got no signal or no battery." He sighed, watching as the car slowed in front of a busy four-way junction. A few moments went by, with nothing but the sound of speeding cars racing by and Lisa's constant sniffing.
"What if we don't find her? What if something's happened to her?" Lisa cried, slapping her hands on the wheel.
"Go now, go now!" Harry urged, the lights finally turning green at the junction. Suddenly, they both could hear the screeching of breaks behind them. Harry twisted around, not even getting the chance to wonder why the cars next to them had stopped and swerved, because Lisa gasped and screamed. Not even Lisa had the chance to scream for long, as she was cut off by the car going at breakneck speed into the side of her own car. The speeding car crushed the side of the car, forcing the car to roll and crush itself even more. The car burst into flames in mid-air, coming to a abrupt stop on top of another car.
There was no hope.
10am, Penelope's home
"I am never cycling anywhere ever again." Penelope mumbled as she pulled into her driveway, after about forty minutes of cycling home. Not even realising the absence of her parent's car, she knocked on the door. "Mom! Mom, I'm home!" She waited for a little while, trying to peek through the windows. "Mom?" She called, leaning against the window, jumping when she felt it close under her hand. Why was the window open? It's never open, not this one... she thought to herself, lifting her eyes up and noticing the badly damaged state of the blinds. It looks as if, as if someone had climbed through the window and disturbed the blinds. What if somebody had tried to get in? White-hot fear was struck through Penelope, and she clawed her pocket for her phone. "Eight missed calls from Mom, and another from Dad?" She panicky tapped in a number she hoped she'd never have to dial.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"I think my house had been broken into! My parents aren't here I've been out all night, the window was open and it never is, please help!"
"I'm sending a patrol to your house right now. If you don't mind, could you answer some more questions."
"...sure." Penelope said, focusing on controlling her breathing.
"Is there any reason why your parents would not be in? Couldn't they have gone to the groceries or gone to see a movie or..."
"no, no, they don't work or anything and we live next to the local shops they never go anywhere else. Anyway, they would've been worried sick about me and not gone anywhere, I was out way past curfew last night and I didn't call them and I've only just come back and..." Penelope threw herself to the floor and cried, not quite holding her cell to her ear.
"Ma'am... ma'am. Ma'am, please remain calm. May I ask your age?"
"huh? Sorry... what?"
"Your age, ma'am. How old are you."
"I am eighteen years old."
"Ok, my team will be with you shortly."
"Okay."
"Alright, I am going to hang up now."
"Okay."
"Okay, goodbye."
"Okay." The operator hung up the phone. Penelope looked miserably around her street, longing for the return of her parents. After not too long, a single black car drew up. Penelope watched as four men and one woman came out the car, started taking pictures of the window and pointing to Penelope. She stood up as two men approached her.
"Hi, Agent Jarvis, FBI." He introduced himself, skipping the hand-shaking process. "Intern Hotchner." He said, gesturing to the young man standing next to him. "Would you mind walking us through this, this is a suspected break in?"
"Yeah, okay." Penelope replied quietly.
"Great, my area of expertise." Agent Jarvis said, hinting at smiling. Penelope led them to the window.
"Look, I know it's only little, but this window was open. This window is never ever open, because we had a break in about six years ago, and mom never opens it. She's scared to death. And their car is gone, but they wouldn't go out because they-"
"I know, the operator you were talking to forwarded all the information to me. And, I see, these blinds are very broken, as if someone's been gripping and clawing at them." Agent Jarvis observed, frowning intently. He turned to the rest of the team "Let's go in. I doubt anybody will be inside, but we have to see what's been going on inside. Reynolds, open it, it's locked." He shouted to a chubby police officer. He nodded and broke down the door in one try.
"He's good." Intern Hotchner quietly said to himself, raising his eyebrows. Agent Jarvis chuckled slightly.
"Officer Chuck, he's the best at what he does." Agent Jarvis smiled, striding forwards towards the door. "I know it might be hard, but we request your presence in your home. After all, you are the key to this investigation." He said, turning to Penelope. She hesitated a little.
"Okay, that's fine." Penelope said timidly.
"God, Jarvis get in here." Officer Chuck called. Penelope followed Jarvis in, to be met with an unsettling sight. There was blood on the wall, dripped on the floors, and everything was displaced. "Looks like an ol' break-in to me!" Penelope looked around the room, horror-struck.
"No... I don't think so." Jarvis replied, examining the blinds. This was done from the inside, not the outside."
"But sir... it's still done." The woman said, frowning around the room. "Um, was this room like this when you left yesterday?" she said, addressing Penelope. She shook her head no.
"Maybe you should go to another room and sit down." The other agent said to Penelope. "What's your name, kid?"
"Penelope Garcia." She said, edging towards the door. Officer Chuck frowned.
"You eighteen years old? Out past your curfew last night?" He asked her. Penelope nodded. "Hey! Your parents were out looking for you. Maybe they're just not home yet." He said. Penelope exhaled in relief, they were just somewhere looking for her and would return soon.
"Just, where." Agent Jarvis said "And why is this scene so disturbed everywhere, there's dried blood in the bathroom too. The phone's unhooked and dangling, the chair has been moved and disturbed, does this not look suspicious to you?" His voice was slightly raised, like he was almost agitated.
"Don't fret the kid she's just eighteen." The woman said, glancing towards Penelope. "Here Penelope, why don't you watch some television why we finish checking out the place, okay?" She beamed and handed Penelope the remote.
"State cops are saying this is the worst road incident ever in this State, maybe even America! The incidence was caused by a single driver under the influence of alcohol, who struck a car carrying two people. Those two cars then caused the build up of thirty-two more cars. Ninety-three Americans and four foreigners were involved in this devastating incidence. Out of the Ninety-seven people who were involved in the crash, only fifteen people survived." The news presenter said, often showing images of the nasty crash.
"Good god." Officer Chuck breathed.
"The drunk driver has been identified as Adam Lewis" The image of Adam came up on the screen behind the presenter.
"Ooh, I know that guy!" Chuck said excitedly, pointing enthusiastically at the screen.
"Get back to work, Chuck!" Agent Jarvis called from the bathroom.
"And the two people he originally hit have been identified as Lisa and Harry Garcia."
Penelope's heart seemed to miss a beat. "It's not them, it's not, no, no, no..." She murmured to herself, her heart hammering in her chest. When the image of two familiar faces flashed onto the screen, all the colour drained from Penelope's face. She felt her muscles loose all power, the room jolted and faded before her eyes, and the floor rushed up to hit her in the face.
"Penelope? Penelope!" Officer Chuck yelled, rushing towards the fainted girl.
Hi! I hope you liked my first fan fic! if you did, please follow my blog as I usually post things there first and it would help me out a lot xxx thanks! :) -Daydream Kitty 3