After looking further for the rest of the pages, I stumbled across the old man's body. He died on his bathroom floor, autopsy found a needle mark in his neck. Maybe someone found out before me, maybe they have the missing journal entries.
I was given a week off while a professional team cleaned out the basement, but I don't think I can go back. When the paramedics removed the body, the residents of the building all piled up around the doors to watch them take the guy away. I went back inside to ask some questions about the room to the people there, but no one remembered the paramedics coming. They didn't even have any recollection of the old man's corpse being found in the basement. Now they probably just think the town is doing a favor by cleaning out their basement.
Later that day I went to meet the building's job supervisor at the daycare on the second floor, the children remembered. They spoke of an old man that used to wander the halls months ago, but the staff just called him an imaginary friend. An old woman stepped out down the hall to talk with me. She said the little kids could see Penther, but once they got older they lost their gift.
She told me a story, her dog was barking at the doorway of her bedroom for hours one night. She had woken up to think there was an intruder, but she realized Penther was watching her. In the morning she found an empty picture frame on her counter. Knowing she had been given a gift, the woman hung it on her wall. She didn't know why she was given an empty frame, but she cherished it nonetheless. I asked her if I could see it, so the lady let me into her small room to show me. There's a mans face in that frame, but she swears it's empty.
YOU ARE READING
Penther
HorrorA man who lives in an isolated community begins to kidnap people. While in his procession he straps them to a chair and hypnotizes them into believing he is their god. As time goes on, he falls into his own madness, and begins to believe his delusi...
