Contents
Chapter 27
Overview
Bret drifts through a school day on a Quaalude as Thom begins realizing Susan and Robert are involved. A tense lunch cements Thom’s suspicions. That night, Terry calls from the hospital and sends Bret to Malibu, where Bret discovers Debbie’s horse has been grotesquely mutilated, likely by a cult. The violence escalates the broader menace and isolates Bret further as Debbie vanishes from school.
Summary
On Tuesday, Bret takes half a Quaalude to blunt his anxiety and moves through Buckley in a hazy calm. He notes Debbie’s guarded manner and Susan’s deliberate lateness. During Phys Ed, Thom presses Bret about Susan’s unannounced Palm Springs trip; Bret hints Robert was there too and suggests Robert is not gay, stopping short of a full reveal.
At lunch, Susan and Robert’s strained nonchalance tips Thom off. His direct questions about Palm Springs force evasions; Susan proposes talking after practice, and Thom reluctantly agrees. Jeff Taylor later sells Bret more Quaaludes and admits he’s avoiding Robert’s birthday dinner due to the unresolved situation with Susan and Thom.
That night, Terry calls from Cedars, panicked about Debbie’s horse at Windover Stables and asks Bret to go as his witness. Bret drives to Malibu amid strong Santa Ana winds and meets Connie Myerson and subdued sheriff’s officers. Led to the barn, he’s shown Spirit’s mutilated corpse—gutted, ears removed, tongue extended, eyes pinned open, genitals pulled out—fans running to keep insects and bats away.
Shaken, Bret phones Terry, who stops the description and has Connie handle paperwork. Driving home, Bret recognizes the act as deliberate, possibly tied to the Riders of the Afterlife, and feels paranoia surge—checking locks, keeping a knife bedside, relying on his dog to warn of intruders. Debbie does not appear at school the next day, her absence unexplained to others.
Who Appears
- Bret EllisNarrator; numbs himself with a Quaalude, hints to Thom about Susan and Robert, and witnesses Spirit’s brutal mutilation in Malibu.
- Thom WrightReturns from a trip, questions Susan’s Palm Springs weekend, and at lunch realizes she and Robert are involved.
- Susan ReynoldsArrives late, evades Thom’s questions about Palm Springs, and sits with Robert, fueling Thom’s suspicions.
- Robert MalloryAppears at school; his strained interaction with Susan exposes their connection when Thom questions him.
- Debbie SchafferWary with Bret in the morning; absent the next day after her horse is found mutilated.
- Terry SchafferCalling from Cedars, urgently sends Bret to Windover Stables and has him report the horse’s fate.
- Connie MyersonOwner of Windover Stables; coordinates with sheriffs and Bret, references local cult incidents.
- Jeff TaylorSells Bret Quaaludes; voices unease about Robert’s situation and plans to skip the birthday dinner.