The Pantheon Read Online Free

say what came next. This was probably the time to tell her why he was even talking to her but if he said what he wanted to say next, she’d think he was crazy.
    He wanted to tell her about a man. There had been a mustached man following her around the school for days now. Peter knew no one else could see him. For some reason, he knew he wasn’t crazy. He had seen other people like this man before. They were usually lost or protective. This one looked like he had something very important to say.
    He looked at the man. The man looked back, frustrated. Penelope looked over her shoulder. All she could see were cars. There was nothing else there for him to be staring at.
    “ So did you want something?” she finally asked.
    “ Can I walk you home?” He returned his gaze to her sky blue eyes. The intensity in his own eyes scared her. They were so dark and his gaze was sharp. He was worried about something.
    “ Uh... okay. I guess.” What harm was there in letting him walk with her?
    They started moving. Peter kept his hands in his pockets. Neither of them spoke for a while. Peter finally found something to say. “So your mom’s a science teacher?”
    “ She is now. She used to do drug research.” Penelope picked a flower off a branch near the sidewalk. The magnolia tree clearly belonged to someone else. She took a moment to smell the blossom before she held it out to Peter. He smelled it and then he sneezed.
    “ Bless you,” she chirped and tucked the flower in her headband.
    “ So what does your dad do?”
    “ He died when I was nine.”
    “ Oh.” His eyes flickered to her right again. The man looked at her with sadness in his eyes. Those same sky blue eyes that Penny had. Peter was sure of whom he was now.
    Penny started up the steps to her apartment. When the door was open she turned around to say goodbye. It was one thing to let him walk her home, it was another to let him in her house.
    “ So your dad... glasses? Mustache? Blonde?” Peter wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at that spot again. Penny stood frozen. She wasn’t sure if this was a joke. Peter nodded and looked back to Penny. “Is Sparky your mom?”
    Penny grabbed the door, pushed it shut, and ran up the landing stairs. Peter put his foot in the way and his shoulder into it to stop it from clicking shut. He ran into the strange apartment and grabbed her arm. “Wait, please. Just let me talk to him. I think it’s important.”
    “ Get out of my house!” She pushed him off her. Penny hoped that if she screamed, the old man in the apartment upstairs would hear her.
    “ He wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something wrong.” He grabbed her hand again. “He’s been following you for a week.”
    “ You’ve been following me for a week?”
    “ No, just watching when you walk by my spot. It’s not as creepy as you think.”
    “ You just forced your way into my home and now you want to talk to my dead father! I’m sorry, it’s a little creepy!” She twisted her wrist, trying to get free.
    “ Please,” Peter let go of her. He knew holding her there, making her feel trapped, was the worst way to gain her trust. “Ten minutes.”
    Penny’s light blue eyes traveled over Peter’s form, trying to assess him as a threat. He looked desperate. “Fine, then you get out or I’ll scream. The guy upstairs is home, he’ll call the police.” Penny watched him intently. What was he going to do?
    Peter looked to the right of her again. Her father stood next to her. He had thin black glasses and a fluffy mustache. To Peter he looked very real but he knew Mr. Davis was dead.
    “ I’m Peter. I think I’m the only one who can see you.”
    “ I’ve made that deduction myself,” he replied. “I’m Richard. You scared my little girl.”
    “ I didn’t mean to... sir.” Peter could tell Penelope was starting to get anxious so he tried to speed things along. “Why are you here? Why are you following her?”
    “ She needs to know