Friendly Neighbors

04. She's a Murderer

THE DAY WAS dark, gloomy and wet. The clinic was (not surprisingly) empty and only one visitor came, so Theo simply sat and stared at the wall. What was the point in life if he seriously just got paid to stare at a wall for countless hours? He didn't graduate from UCLA just to become some receptionist at a rundown office - even if it is for the number one psychiatrist in California. His life was simply lacking ... something.

He really needed something to spice up his life a little.

And that was where Rebecca came in. Whenever she wasn't with Dr. Maundy with patients, she spent most of her time with Theo and they had gotten to know each other fairly well. Theo had learned that she was once attacked by a giraffe at the zoo, her favorite color is blue, and her great-great-grandparents were part of some royal family in Scotland. Of course, in return, Rebecca learned that Theo isn't too fond of monkeys ever since he got his banana stolen from him at the zoo during a school field trip, his favorite color is green, and he has no family members associated with any royal families anywhere.

"So what are you planning on doing after this?" Theo asked as they ate lunch at the reception desk.

"Well, I'm hoping to finish my internship here and then graduate and hopefully, I'll get a job somewhere in a hospital or a small clinic like this. Honestly, my goal right now is just to gain as much experience in this field as possible so that I have a lot of liability when I step out into the real world." The redhead explained, stabbing her fork into a meatball. "What about you?"

"Me?" Theo asked, blinking several times as he stared down at his food. He was caught off guard. He wished he knew the answer to her question. "Uhm ... I'm just ..." He stopped, sighing as he placed his plate down on the desk. "I have no clue at all. I'm just hoping I find something to do - I can't stay a receptionist forever. Well, I can but that isn't something I want to do. I'm still wondering what I should be doing with my life." He said somberly, scoffing. "I expected myself to do all the figuring out stuff at college but I guess not. I'm a graduate of UCLA and I still don't know what my purpose in life is." Theo finally looked up at Rebecca who stared at him with what looked like pity. "I'm pathetic, huh?"

Then silence ensued. And all they could hear was the soft droplets of the rain hitting the clinic.

"No," Rebecca finally said after a while. "No, it's not pathetic at all, Theo. People spend their entire lives figuring out what they want to do. You're not the only one struggling right now."

"Yeah, but it would be nice to at least have some sort of vision. I mean, look at you. You know exactly what you want."

"I do, but at times like this, I envy you. You still have so many options, you still have time to figure everything out, to do things you want to do and to try new things. I chose a career path and now I'm just sticking to it because I'm too much of a coward to drop everything and start over. I didn't always want to be a psychiatrist, Theo. I've wanted to be a lot of things and a psychiatrist was never one, ever."

"What did you want to be?" Theo asked, lifting up the corners of his lips.

"Well, I've wanted to be a mermaid, a singer, a hippie ... a circus girl ... hmm, ooh! I once told my parents I wanted to be the Queen of England." She revealed and quickly glanced at Theo. "I was five and I thought wearing pretty gowns and ruling a country would be amazing, okay? I was five!"

"Hey, I'm not judging you," Theo said, lifting his hands up as if to say he was surrendering. "But, I'm really curious. Why not be the Queen of Scotland?"

"I dunno, I guess it never crossed my mind," Rebecca laughed. "Well, fine, what did you want to be?"

"I wanted to be a lot of things," Theo said, huffing out air. "I wanted to be an astronaut, a movie director, a dinosaur expert, a clown ... a magician, oh I was really serious about that."

"Really? Did you have the whole magic kit with the hat and bunny?" Rebecca asked, completely amused.

"Unfortunately."

"Did you know magic tricks as well?"

"A few," Theo said and laughed as he shook his head. "It was a dark time in my life, I was seven. I didn't know any better." He told her dramatically, shaking his head somberly.

"Do you still know any magic tricks?"

"I do, but I'm a little rusty."

"Can you show me one right now?"

"Right now?" Theo asked as he leaned against the counter with a smirk. "Magic always comes with a price."

"What's the price?" Rebecca asked with a small grin, leaning in closer to him.

Theo gulped when he realized just how close they were. He cleared his throat and leaned back. "Not today, the rain is throwing me off my game. But next time, I will definitely show you next time."

"Good, I'll be looking forward to it," Rebecca said with a sly grin and sighed when she heard Dr. Maundy call her name. "I need to go."

"The greatest psychiatrist in California awaits."

"Right." Rebecca lingered just a few more seconds before packing up her lunch and quickly walking over to the room. "Coming!"

And then Theo was alone, again. "Is my magic stuff all up in the attic?" He wondered to himself as he furrowed his brows. "I should call mom."

+ + +

It had been a few days since the knife incident but every time Theo walked by that girl's house, he felt shivers run down his spine. And what was even stranger was she stopped coming out at night. Before that night, she always came out at the same time wearing all black and a hat watering her plants or running off somewhere mysteriously but not anymore.

He took a quick glance at her house and jogged over to his house, pulling out his key at lightning speed. He suddenly heard footsteps and looked behind his shoulder to see Mary and Jack, the young couple from down the street. "Oh, hey guys." He greeted them, waving with an amicable smile. "Where are you guys coming from this late?"

"Oh, you haven't heard, huh?" Jack asked with a solemn frown as he and Mary both gave Theo a sad look.

"Heard what?"

"You know that small little coffee shop down the street from McKay's?" Mary asked softly.

"Oh, yeah, I remember that place! It had some quality coffee, and the lady there was so nic--"

"She was murdered last night, they found her body today." Jack cut in with a heavy sigh. "Mary and I were over there for some late night pastries but when we got there, the police was everywhere and ..."

"It's so sad, isn't it? She was such a nice lady, I don't know why anyone would want to do that."

Theo felt his heart drop at the sad news and sighed, his shoulders drooping. "Was it ... a break in and ..." He didn't have to finish his sentence. Jack nodded as Mary sighed. "Oh man ... then have they found the killer?"

"No, but they do have a suspect. The police told us to look out for a woman, maybe 5'5, wearing all black and a hat covering most of her face. If you see one, you should call the police because she probably has a knife and is dangerous."

"Knife?" Theo asked, his ear perking up just as his face lost all color. "Sh-she was stabbed?"

Mary nodded. "Lock the doors and stay safe, Theo. I just can't believe why anyone would want to do such a horrible thing, you know? That woman needs to be put in jail for what she's done."

"We should start heading back. Night, man." Jack said and waved goodbye as they hurriedly walked to their home.

Theo stood with his mouth agape. He dropped his keys in his hand and shot his head toward the little blue house. "...m-m-my neighbor is a ..." In lightning speed, he grabbed the keys off the floor and unlocked his door. Slamming the door behind him, he closed all the curtains and locked every door and window.

His neighbor's a killer.

+ + +