Summary

Abby and Ralph arrive home at the start of chapter 11, and Ralph prepares Abby to try and see Laura. Ralph turns all the lights off in the basement and tells Abby to stay down there alone. As she stands, she begins to hear a sound, “just like Ralph said,” and she calls out Laura’s name (100). She hears more sounds and what she thinks is Laura bumping “into the couch” before screaming out for Ralph to come in (101). He comes in, turns on the lights, and “the room is empty” and Laura is not there (101). Ralph takes Abby back upstairs as she thinks about how she will “believe everything” Ralph says if that will help “lure [him] back to life” (102).

Chapter 12 takes the form of a play. Ralph, Laura, and Abby are discussing “ridges” in Ralph’s head that Laura says made Ralph...