Chapter 31

Casey gives Eleanor an oversized T-shirt and worries over the girl’s gauntness. When Eleanor goes to the bathroom without her backpack, Casey seizes the moment to look inside despite fearing it could shatter the trust she’s building.

In the larger pouch, Casey finds only clothes increasingly stained with blood and, at the bottom, a small washcloth soaked in dark red. In the smaller pouch she finds a lighter but not the switchblade, and a damp green notebook, which she takes and hides in the sofa cushions when Eleanor calls for her.

Eleanor asks for a Band-Aid. Casey discreetly washes blood from her own hands, brings the first-aid kit, and insists on helping. She treats an oozing abrasion on Eleanor’s elbow and sees a dark, finger-shaped bruise on her upper arm, fueling Casey’s anger at whoever hurt the girl.

As Casey works, Eleanor notices a painting in the bathroom and learns it was done by Casey’s late father. Eleanor then shares that her own father abandoned her before birth and declares that some people are simply rotten and that bad people always get what’s coming.

Eleanor pointedly asks if Casey believes that. Casey replies, “everything happens as it should.” Eleanor calls her “very stupid,” pushes past her, and shuts herself in the bedroom. Casey, left unsettled, still has Eleanor’s green notebook.