Book Three: Double Feature — 13.

Van limits his lies during questioning, admitting he and Donna were involved in the deaths of Jayne Nighswander and Ronnie Volpe in spring 1990 at an abandoned drive-in. He frames it as Donna rescuing him from drug debts to Jayne and notes his own drug-fueled desire to witness the paranormal rather than kill directly.

Donna adds Jayne’s exploitation of her younger sister, Tana, to justify the choice of target. Dr. Patrick—amped and jittery—presses for alternatives like using a gun, while Van describes his detox aftershocks and preference to have Jayne “be dead” without doing it himself.

Valentine shifts to King Sorrow’s predation, pressing for details. Donna explains victims first experience him in their minds—the Long Dark slipping through a porous border—seeing him in the sky or under the bed and smelling charred wood in the rain.

Valentine cites historical traces (Dresden, Wolf Messing’s “Imperator Slez”) and asserts summoners need a person’s true name to target them, except in immediate defense. He tests whether Donna knows his real, “outside” name.

Donna implies she does and needles Valentine about his sleep, suggesting Sorrow already has him in sight. Valentine’s nervous tics escalate; he nearly topples his chair, then ends the session with a warning they will revisit the matter. The “next time” arrives sooner than expected, signaling rising danger.