Contents
Chapter 37
Overview
Unable to sleep, Casey secretly reads Eleanor’s green notebook and discovers graphic drawings of a woman who looks like Casey being tortured. Shaken and newly suspicious of Eleanor’s intentions, Casey panics when she realizes she left her gun in the bedroom where Eleanor is sleeping.
Summary
Casey lies awake, fearful of Eleanor and preoccupied with the green notebook she hid under the couch cushion. Despite worrying about betraying Eleanor’s fragile trust, she decides she must look, believing it may hold crucial answers.
By firelight, Casey opens the notebook. Early pages show ordinary math scratch work, but the rest are disturbing drawings in colored ink. Each depicts the same square-jawed, solidly built, shoulder-length–haired woman being tortured—stabbed, beheaded, or hanged.
As Casey studies the sketches, she becomes convinced the victim is herself. She struggles to understand why Eleanor, a girl she does not recognize, would fixate on her. Casey wonders if Eleanor once knew her from school, or blames Casey for missing signs of abuse, though she doubts such an extreme motive.
Fear rising, Casey reassures herself she could defend against a knife if needed. Then she remembers she returned her gun to the bedroom dresser after the trip to the toolshed—exactly where Eleanor is sleeping—realizing she may have left a deadly advantage within Eleanor’s reach.
Who Appears
- CaseySleepless and wary; secretly reads Eleanor’s notebook, sees drawings of her torture, and realizes her gun is in Eleanor’s room.
- EleanorAsleep in Casey’s bedroom; owner of a notebook filled with violent drawings depicting Casey’s death, heightening suspicion and danger.