The Haunting of Pitmon House Read Online Free Page A

has some kind of power.”
    “The lip balm?” Eliza asked skeptically. “It has power?”
    “Not the lip balm,” Rachel replied. “The carved block. In the
River. That has power.”
    “What kind of power does it have?”
    “Every time I use the lip balm on my lips, I like to drop
into the River and hold the block up to my eyes, and look through the hole. It
improves eyesight.”
    Eliza looked at her doubtfully.
    “It’s true. Before that thing I wore glasses as thick as Coke
bottles! Now I hardly need them.”
    “If you sold all your stuff, why do you have the lip balm?”
    “I found it one day a few years ago in an old purse,” Rachel
replied. “Forgot it was there. Decided to keep it. I wasn’t as anti-gift by
that point, and I kinda liked having it around; it reminded me of the old days.
Not to mention the savings at the optician.”
    “Sounds wacky,” Eliza said.
    “Well, the block does a couple of other things, too,” Rachel
continued. “Some objects are nasty. You have to know what you’re doing with
them. Just like some people. There are some gifteds who are truly unpleasant.
We’re not all nice, like you and me.”
    “And Shane? What’s the relevance of all this to him?”
    “Well,” Rachel started. “I’ve had my doubts about that place
for years.”
    “That place?”
    “The place we work at, honey,” Rachel replied. “The House on
the Rock. I’ve walked through some of those exhibits while in the River. I can
assure you, there’s some very weird shit in Alex Jordan’s collections.”
    “That’s obvious,” Eliza said. “The whole place is full of
weird stuff.”
    “No, I mean River weird. Beyond what most people see.”
    “Like what?” Eliza asked, becoming intrigued.
    “Well,” Rachel continued, “you know that clown in the glass
case near The Spirit of Aviation?”
    “Oh!” Eliza replied. “The one that looks like a hand puppet?”
    “Yes.”
    “That one has always creeped me out!”
    “Well,” Rachel continued, “be sure to check him out in the
River next time you’re there.”
    “What?”
    Rachel opened her eyes wide and took another sip of her
cocktail.
    “What, tell me!” Eliza insisted.
    “You’ll see,” Rachel replied. “Then walk around the rest of
the place and see what else you notice. All those figurines in the Circus Building?
Wait ’til you see those in the River. And The Organ Room? All those weird
trees? Yeah, freaky.”
    “What about The Mikado Room?” Eliza asked. “Anything there?”
    “It’s one of the worst,” Rachel replied. “All kinds of River
stuff worked into that contraption.”
    “That’s where Shane lost it,” Eliza said. “You think it might
have caused what happened to him?”
    “Very hard to know for sure,” Rachel said. “He had walked
through half the exhibit by that point. Could have been any of it before that.”
    “Why him?” Eliza asked. “Why not his friends? Why not any of
the other thousands of people who walk through that place?”
    “Hard to say,” Rachel replied. “I just thought you should
consider it. There’s lots of questionable stuff in there.”
    “I mean, he’s just a normal fourteen-year-old,” Eliza said.
“When he walked in with his friends, he was acting like he always does. Then,
this. Now he’s in an institution. It makes no sense.”
    “Maybe he’s susceptible somehow,” Rachel offered. “Is he
gifted, too?”
    Eliza thought about Rachel’s question. She’d never considered
the idea; Shane seemed like an ordinary younger brother. There was enough
difference between their ages that he’d never really been a pest when they were
growing up. They spent most of their time apart, hanging with friends their own
age. Since she’d hardly ever pursued the exploration of her own gift, she’d
never really considered if Shane had it too.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “He might. I mean, we’ve never
talked about it.”
    “Some gifteds are more sensitive to certain