The Haunting of Pitmon House (6 page)

“And that’ll be the object that infected Shane?”

“Exactly.”

Eliza was about to ask “and then what?” but she landed upon
Shane’s room, and decided to ask later. Inside, her brother was lying on a bed
with an IV in his arm. A curtain divided the room, and she could hear movement
on the other side.

“Oh,” Rachel said, as they walked up to the bed. “I’m so
sorry, Eliza!”

Shane looked worse. Dark patches had begun to form around his
eyes. Eliza looked down and saw that his arms were still strapped to the sides
of the bed.

The curtain dividing the room was pulled back by a nurse,
revealing another patient, also asleep. The nurse smiled sweetly.

“I’m his sister,” Eliza said. “Can you tell me anything new
about him?”

“He arrived this morning,” she replied. “He’s out most of the
time. Whenever he regains consciousness, he becomes very agitated and violent.
So, for now, they’re keeping him sedated.”

“Thank you,” Eliza replied, returning her attention to Shane.
The nurse left the room.

“It’s not physical,” Rachel said. “This is River. I’m sure of
it.”

“How do you know?”

“Jump in and see,” Rachel replied.

Eliza let herself slip into the flow, feeling the room change
around her. The previously silent hospital was suddenly filled with wails and
cries in the distance, as though people were being tortured in other rooms. It
frightened her and made her feel that she needed to get Shane out as soon as
possible.

When she studied her brother, she could see his face shift
slightly, as though something inside him was moving, but his physical body was
restraining it. It was only a fraction of an inch, but it was there.

What is that?
Eliza asked.

I think your brother is gifted,
Rachel said.
Maybe not as much as
you, but he’s got something. Whatever they’ve drugged him with, it’s stopping
him from expressing it. He’s trying; you can see that. Maybe he senses we’re in
the River, and wants to communicate.

Gifted?
Eliza wondered. She wasn’t even sure of her own gift; the idea that
Shane might have it too seemed foreign and strange.

Shane?
she called.
Shane?

No response.

It might be more than the drugs,
Rachel replied.
Whatever infected
him at House on the Rock is probably a factor, too.

A sense of helplessness washed over Eliza, and she suddenly
felt the need to do something — anything. Watching Shane lie strapped to the
bed, unable to communicate, was making her feel impotent, and she hated the
feeling.

Do the Tapura thing,
Eliza said.
Let’s get it over with.

Rachel dropped from the flow and reached into her purse, retrieving
the plastic case. She turned the edge of one deck toward Shane and pressed it
against his hospital gown, holding it there for a few moments while she
re-entered the River.

Eliza watched as the card turned white. Black lines began to form
very slowly, twisting and turning until they settled on an intricate pattern.
As it solidified, it gave her a chill; here was a physical manifestation of
what was wrong with Shane. She looked at the pattern, horrified by it. It
scared her even more to realize that she didn’t have the first clue what to do
with it; without Rachel’s help, she’d be completely lost.

Rachel dropped from the River and Eliza joined her. The card
instantly returned to the red and gold Asian design that was on top of the
entire deck.

“There,” Rachel said.

“It holds on to that pattern?” Eliza asked, concern in her
voice. “It won’t lose it if we enter and leave the River?”

Rachel held it out for Eliza to see; she dropped back into
the River and saw the black and white pattern, the same as before.

It’s there,
Rachel said.
It’ll stay there until it’s replaced with
another pattern.

Eliza left the flow. “You have to be careful not to erase it,
then?”

“Not as simple as that,” Rachel replied. “It doesn’t pick up
the pattern by just holding it next to something. You have to concentrate on it
and make it happen.”

“Oh,” Eliza replied. “Interesting. And you think we’ll get a
match somewhere at work?”

“I’ll bet my bottom dollar on it,” she said, giving Eliza a
smile and returning the plastic case to her purse.

“OK,” Eliza replied, turning her attention back to Shane. “He
looks worse. His eyes weren’t dark like that.”

“Whatever’s happening to him in the flow is probably
responsible,” Rachel replied. “What happens to you there can impact your
physical health.”

“Like rabies,” Eliza muttered. “It’s like he has a form of
rabies, that only impacts his River self.”

“That’s probably the most accurate diagnosis he’s received so
far,” Rachel replied. “The doctors won’t figure it out, I guarantee it.”

Eliza reached for Shane’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She was
expecting it to be cool to the touch, but instead it was warm. She took it as a
good sign.

“Come on,” she said, turning to leave the hospital room.
“Let’s find that match.”

“We’ll have the entire place to ourselves,” Rachel whispered
to Eliza.

“You talked to Randy?” Eliza whispered back, trying to hide
the conversation from Lois and Bernice.

“Meet me at the side entrance to Streets of Yesterday fifteen
minutes after your shift ends,” Rachel replied.

“Shane had his episode at The Mikado,” Eliza said. “Shouldn’t
we start there?”

“Just because he started exhibiting signs at The Mikado
doesn’t mean that caused it,” Rachel replied. “It might have incubated. We need
to do it methodically, and check everything from the start.”

“Alright,” Eliza replied, trusting her friend. “Don’t start
without me.”

Rachel left her and walked to the counter, where the last of
the day’s patrons was waiting to ring up a souvenir purchase. Eliza checked the
time; it was 5:00. She wouldn’t be meeting Rachel for another hour.

She busied herself restocking shelves and clearing out the
fudge counter.
Why do we even sell fudge?
she wondered.
Lois and
Bernice nibble more of it every day than we actually sell.
Bernice always
slowed down this time of the day, so she stepped in and picked up the slack,
completing her own tasks as well as most of Bernice’s. When 5:45 rolled around,
they’d been closed for fifteen minutes, and everything was in order for
tomorrow’s opening.

Everyone said their routine goodbyes, and Rachel said she
wanted to take a smoke before heading home. Bernice and Lois made straight for
their cars, and soon Eliza found herself wandering alone to the employee
entrance of the Streets of Yesterday. When she opened it, she found Rachel inside,
her purse in hand.

“What happens if we get caught?” Eliza whispered.

“I already talked with Randy,” Rachel replied, not trying to
lower her voice. “He does his sweep right at five, so we’re past that. He said
he was fine with us wandering around for a bit.”

“Randy?” Eliza asked. “Since when?”

“Since I told him it would probably make us all hot and
horny!” she giggled.

“Oh, Rachel, you didn’t!” Eliza protested.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to sleep with him!” Rachel
replied.

“Good, because I have no intention of doing that! I can’t
believe you said that to him! Now he’ll be expecting something.”

“I’ll go out with him for dinner down the road,” Rachel
replied, dismissively. “Trust me, it was the only way to get him to agree. I
know what makes his mind tick.” She rummaged for something in her purse. “Here,
take two long gulps.” She handed Eliza a flask.

“No, thank you!” Eliza said, refusing the drink.

“It’s not booze, it’s protection!” Rachel said. “It’ll taste
like bad booze, though, so be ready for that.”

“What do you mean, protection?” Eliza asked.

“If we run into whatever item caused Shane’s problems,”
Rachel said, “I don’t want it to impact either of us. This’ll help. Just drink
it. Two large gulps, at least.”

Eliza took the flask and sniffed at it; it smelled like
vodka. She raised it to her lips and let two large mouthfuls slide down her
throat. They burned immediately, all the way down to her stomach. She resisted
the urge to feel regret.
In for a dime, in for a dollar,
she thought.
She handed the flask back to Rachel, who followed her, drinking liberally, then
capping the flask and slipping it back into her purse.

Eliza’s eyes had adjusted to the dark inside the exhibit, and
she dropped into the River. None of the items in the first room appeared to glow.

“Nothing here,” Rachel said. “Come on, let’s get to main
street.”

They wound their way through the dark displays, Eliza not
entirely excited at the prospect of seeing the riverboat again. As they entered
the long exhibit, lined with recreated facades, she could see the dimly-lit
menagerie at the end of the walk, waiting. She couldn’t help but picture the
creature she’d seen on it, scraping the strings of the musical instruments,
delighting in the screech and pain. The protection she drank moments before was
beginning to radiate outward from her stomach, giving her a sense of
confidence, making her feel she could take on the creature if it came to it.

She followed Rachel to the first window. “There’s nothing in
this one,” she said. “Plenty in the doll one, though.”

Rachel crossed the street to the doll shop, dropping into the
River.
Oh, that is totally creepy!
she said.
They’re all looking at
me!

Good, it wasn’t just me,
Eliza replied.

As they dropped and turned to go to the next storefront,
Eliza stopped Rachel. “See these little ones?” she said, approaching a small
display behind a piece of glass no more than two feet square. “They’re easy to
miss because they’re stuck between the big shop windows, but they were all
glowing when I saw them before.”

Rachel stopped in front of the scene; a winter hill with
skiers. Eliza watched as Rachel dropped into the River and examined it.

It
is
glowing,
Rachel said. She held the plastic card case up to the glass front,
just like she’d done with Shane. Eliza saw the pattern Shane had produced on
the opposite side, and waited for the card next to the glass to register a
pattern. It went blank, but no black lines appeared.

Hmm,
Rachel said.
It’s glowing, so we know it’s River, but no pattern. Do
you have any tokens?

Eliza dropped from the River and checked her pockets. “No,
but there’s a token machine over there,” she said, pointing.

“Go get a few,” Rachel replied. “Let’s crank this baby up.”

Eliza walked to the token machine, removing a couple of
singles from her wallet and inserting them into it, a little irritated that she
was having to pay for something she could get for free from the ticket booth,
but knowing she didn’t want to take the time to walk all the way back there.
She returned to Rachel with a handful.

“Go ahead,” Rachel said. “Give it a try.”

Eliza dropped a token into the slot, and they watched as the
winter scene slowly animated. A boat on a fake lake drifted back and forth, and
skiers coming down the hill disappeared into a snowbank, returning to the top
of the hill on a loop.

Eliza dropped into the River and watched as Rachel took the
reading. Sure enough, black lines began to form on the blank card, twisting and
swirling just as she’d seen in the hospital with Shane. She found herself
holding her breath, hoping that they’d match. Once the pattern solidified,
Rachel pulled it away and examined it.

Nope,
she said, turning the cards to Eliza.
The patterns aren’t even close.

They moved to the next window. One item appeared promising,
and Rachel held the Tapura to the glass; three feet separated the device from
the object, but Rachel was able to pick up a pattern nonetheless. It, too,
didn’t match.

“Can it be too far away to read?” Eliza asked as they walked
to the next display.

“Definitely,” Rachel said. “If we run into that, we’ll find a
way to access the display from the back.”

“Randy will be pissed.”

“Randy won’t know,” Rachel replied. “Although it wouldn’t
surprise me if he’s watching us on the cameras right now, working himself up.
Try to act casual.”

Eliza suddenly felt spied upon, wanting to look up to the
dark ceiling where she assumed the cameras were located, but resisting the
urge. Instead she looked down the street, the riverboat now closer. Everything
was beginning to creep her out.

“This one,” Eliza said, walking to another small animated
display, tucked between the cinema and the statuary. Inside, three men sat in
chairs. Two of them had fishing poles, with lines of thread dangling into a
fake lake; the third had his hand outstretched, pointing forward as though he
was trying to catch the attention of the other two.

“Drop a token,” Rachel said, walking up to the glass and
positioning the plastic case. Eliza let a token fall into the slot, and within
seconds the scene began to move. The lines on the two fishing poles tightened,
and the little men holding them reared back in their chairs as though they’d
caught a whale. The other man on the end began to turn, his outstretched arm
passing to the right until it was positioned over a glowing lantern.

As the hand paused over the lantern before returning to its
earlier pose, Eliza felt something inside her body, an intense rush of emotion
that wanted to settle in the back of her brain and nest there, but couldn’t
take root.

Did you feel that?
Rachel asked.

I did,
Eliza replied.

Rachel kept the Tapura positioned next to the glass until the
black lines appeared and began to form. The man’s hand moved back from the
lantern, and Eliza saw the lines on the card freeze.

That’s not a match,
Rachel said.
But it doesn’t look right, does it?

No, it doesn’t,
Eliza replied.
It looks incomplete. Let’s wait.

The scene inside the mechanism continued, with the fishermen
struggling with their poles, and the third man reaching the end of his routine,
preparing to move his hand back over the lantern. As it came into position, the
little lantern underneath glowed brighter, as though the man’s hand was
activating it, and Eliza saw the lines on the card resume their motion,
shifting into new positions.

It only emits the pattern when his hand is over the lantern,
Eliza observed.

You’re right,
Rachel replied.

Once again the automaton moved, his little arm leaving the
lantern. The black lines on the card stopped moving.

Still incomplete,
Rachel said,
but it’s getting there.

Eliza looked at the blank expression on the figurine’s face,
his features simple and innocuous, not betraying the hidden malevolence she
could sense behind the scene. As his hand returned to the lantern once again,
she thought she could see his simply painted mouth smile ever so slightly. The
lantern flared again, and this time Eliza felt a much stronger attack,
something that desperately wanted inside her head, but was rebuffed by the
protection she’d drank earlier.

The lines on the card resumed their motion, twisting and
splitting until they settled on a pattern. Eliza could tell it was a match well
before it slowed and came to a stop.

Rachel looked up at her as the mechanical display ground to a
halt, the lights inside extinguishing.
That’s it!
she said, holding the
Tapura for Eliza to see.
It’s exact.

Eliza looked into the dark display.
So this is what hurt
my little brother,
she thought, anger quickly rising. She wanted to reach
out and knock it off its stand; to send it to the ground and smash it into
hundreds of pieces.

Destroying it won’t change anything for Shane,
Rachel said.
I’d help you do it if
I thought it would.

The thing that tried to enter my head,
Eliza said.
That’s what happened
to him?

Most likely,
Rachel replied.
He didn’t have any protection, so he had
no defense.

Eliza dropped from the River, the faint glow of the object
disappearing. “What now? We know this is what caused it, but what do we do
about it?”

“We have to figure out more about it,” Rachel replied,
slipping the Tapura into her purse.

“And how do we do that?”

“There’s a fax machine in the admin office, right?” Rachel
asked. “You work in admin sometimes. Do you have a key?”

“I do.”

“Great, let’s go there. We’re gonna send this pattern to
someone.”

They left the Streets of Yesterday and made their way through
the employee-only sections of the exhibit, eventually winding up on the path
that led back to the main building. The front doors were locked up for the
evening, but Eliza used her key to enter a side door, and they walked across
the large, open lobby until they reached the small administration office. They
had the place to themselves; Alice normally left moments after the doors were
locked at 5:30.

“We should call him first,” Rachel said, digging through her
purse for a small address book. She opened it and flipped through the tiny
pages until she located the number she wanted, then she read it to Eliza, who
punched it into an office phone.

Eliza turned on the phone’s speaker, and they listened while
it rang. After six rings a message kicked in.

“You’ve reached Dixon,” a pleasant, older man’s voice said.
“You can leave me a message but I won’t get it for a while, since I’m on the
boat. If you want, you can try my new cellular phone…” and the message rattled
off a number that Rachel jotted down.