Chapter 3 One: Missing Staff

The dull-painted room, windows shut close, behind dark curtains. It started with a soft kiss, their tongues so smooth and comforting, to a reckless kiss, their teeth clenching against each other. The woman on the table whom Henry stood with was not Sarah, neither were they Kyla, Rebecca nor Irene. It was Jessica, a colleague. They stood there talking to each other in whispers, feeling each other's body parts. The large clock above the entrance door ticked loudly when they were silent, thanks to Henry. The door banged. They immediately put themselves together, but it was futile because they had already been caught. Steve's fury was obvious by the way he stamped his foot hard on the floor as he approached them.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Steve asked with his hands flinging in the air. "The props people, set decorators are going to be here any minute… Wait a second, how did you guys get in here?" Steve folded his arms.

"I have a key," Jessica lifted the key from her pocket, "I'm here for work early." Henry gave a slight chuckle on hearing that.

"Hmm. How about your colleagues? Have you even called to find out where they are?" Steve said disdainfully.

"They're supposed to be here in less than ten minutes," Jessica answered. The conversation lasted and continued in that interrogatory manner. Henry only gave replies when Steve asked questions about the monetary aspects of the production. Henry worked as an accountant at the Osinku studios and a few other private firms. The entrance door was open, and they could hear numerous sounds of people coming in and going out, walking in the hallway, and some music played. Then, they could hear the footsteps approaching fast and appointed. The guy stopped at the T-junction and then looked into the hall and shouted, "Found him!" Without hesitation, he began walking towards the room and looking directly into Henry's eyes. Henry didn't know the guy; he was frightened. He feared that he had been set up again, but not by the same person, because that person was being taken care of. What could this guy want? People began coming behind the guy. Henry checked whether they were armed to know his next move, but they didn't need to be armed because they were each twice his size.

"Mr. Dye, please we need you to come with us," the guy said. Henry looked at Steve and Jessica and could see her tremble in fear. Did she know anything about this?

"What's this about, Sir?" Henry asked.

"Hope nothing's wrong," Steve said, almost interrupting Henry.

"I'm afraid, I can't say that," the guy responded. "Please, could you kindly follow us?" the man asked Henry.

"Don't be afraid, It's okay. I hope it's nothing much," Henry told Jessica. He walked with them out of the room to a small room where he met Jones and Theophilus. He breathed a sigh of relief, yet he was still curious to know what really made him send men to search for him. Theophilus referred him to sit with his hands and ordered the men to leave, having only the three of them in that room. Jones pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to Henry while the discussion proceeded.

"You may not know why we called you here, or maybe you do," Theo said, expressionless and looking at Jones.

"What do you mean?" Henry said, slightly smiling with a cigarette in his mouth for lighting.

"The staff is missing," Jones broke out.

"What… Who are you talking about?" Henry said, scornfully.

"Look, we ain't here for this petty little game of yours," Theo's eyes narrowed and looked dead into Henry's. "You better start talking."

"What do you want me to talk about?" Henry said, letting out smoke from his mouth. "You said you would protect the staff, you didn't let me there, and now you're asking me about it?"

Henry could see the rage in Theophilus's eyes, but he didn't care. He continued smoking the cigarette, letting even more smoke come out of his mouth than before, accompanied by annoying laughter. Theophilus kept pacing linearly, holding a fist as though he might punch Henry any second from then. "You can't outrun your conscience, Henry," Theo said. He called his hefty men from outside to come in and ordered them to seize Henry. Henry kept struggling while Jones took the lighter and set it beneath his shirt.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Theophilus said.

"Are you serious, Theo? I told you, 'I don't know anything about the staff.'"

"Do you know about the staff?" Theophilus asked regardless. Henry's eyes narrowed in disbelief; he had never imagined Theophilus doing such a thing to him. Theophilus avoided any superfluous eye contact with Henry and told Jones to light Henry's shirt up.

"You can't do this, Theo. If you kill me, you will never find that staff," Henry said as Jones began lighting his shirt up. Theo gave Henry a heavy punch in his face and then ordered his men to do likewise. He also ordered Jones to stop the lighting.

Theophilus raised Henry's head, which was already covered in bruises and gushes of blood. "You traitor, Judas!" Theophilus said, spitting on Henry and kicking his stomach, "You stole the staff!" Theophilus paced from side to side with his hands on his mouth and punched Henry anytime he was struck. Jones had mixed feelings for him: pity and satisfaction, while the man held him tightly. "You never trusted me, Theo," Henry said in pain.

"I never trust anyone."

"Have you asked Jones this?" Henry said, looking specifically at Jones. Jones slapped Henry and threatened to light a fire above him.

"You speak of someone else when you've told the truth already," said Jones, letting out a mock chuckle. Theophilus walked to the window and asked, "Where is the staff, Henry?" Henry began crying; he'd never expected to die like this. He knew deep down that he knew nothing about the staff but said that for protection.

"You can kill me now, Theo. That is what you've dreamed of: waking up one day, for someone to tell you that Henry is dead. But do not forget Ransdy…" Henry began crying loudly. Theophilus's face which still faced the window, dawned in realization, but he was adamant to let that taint his decision to exterminate a traitor. "Do not forget Ransdy Island," Henry said, sucking back in mucus at the tip of his nose. "The beautiful girl, Flourish, you never wanted to leave," Henry raised his head to look at Theo. "I should have let her kill you, finish you to death…"

"Enough!" Theophilus said.

"Send you to her men…"

"Enough!"

"Hang you to death, maybe I wouldn't be sitting on this iron chair with men holding my collars and nonentities torturing me…" Theophilus punched him again. He gave a stance and stood as if he wanted to question a little child. "You're the one in the collars, young man, and you have to tell me about the staff, then I'll leave you… for good." He started walking back to the window.

"I already told you, 'You can kill me now'. You torture an innocent man because of some magical staff, and you don't kill him?" Henry smiled and clicked his tongue, "that would be a grave mistake." The men held him tightly.

"You are no innocent man, I've known you since birth," Theo said. "I know you are a crooked man, a trickster, a liar. So, enough with the pleasantries."

Henry smiled and licked his lips with his mouth wide open. He just wanted to die if that's what it would come to be. His phone rang in his pocket; Theo's men took it and told him to answer it. It was Evie's principal.

"Hello!" Henry said.

"I suppose I'm talking with Mr. Dye, Evie's father right now?" the feminine voice from the phone said.

"Yes, you've reached him."

"Evie is under medical supervision. The doctors are diagnosing her right now."

"What? What is wrong with her?" Henry said in a rather flat tone. Theophilus took the phone from Henry and continued to talk. "This is Evie's dad talking…" Theophilus said.

"Liar, liar, liar…" Henry shouted in the background while the men held him down.

"What was that?" the principal asked from the phone.

"Nothing, just a minor disturbance."

"I'm sorry, but I need an explanation for that or else I can't tell you about your daughter's whereabouts."

"It's just a noise from where I work," Theo said.

"I'm sorry," the principal said, and turned off the phone.

Theophilus was furious. He spanked Henry over and over again and called Jones.

"We're going to the school right now, get prepared. Take him to my cabin and lock him up there. Guard the whole area. Make sure nobody sees you.

"Come on, let's go. Maybe his daughter would loosen his lips a little."

The men dragged Henry out of the studio quietly and furtively while he kept shouting, "Don't you hurt her! Don't you hurt her!" Theophilus, Jones and a few other men headed to the school to find Evie.