Summary: Chapter 7

Cal and his father have coffee together in the Bowl-a-Rama and talk about Quinn’s ties to Hawkins Hollow. They discuss how the terrible events that occur during the Seven become a blur for most of the townspeople and are often forgotten until the Seven happens again. Cal then returns home, and Fox arrives. They discuss what Quinn has seen and how their own dreams have come much earlier than usual. Cal says they need to find a way to stop the events of the Seven in order to prevent more people from getting hurt. That evening when Quinn goes to the hotel’s restaurant to have dinner, she sees the young woman who she noticed in the lobby earlier. Just as Quinn gets ready to invite the woman to join her, Quinn sees a slug-like creature slither across the floor and crawl up onto a table. The people at the table don’t notice, but Quinn sees the young woman react and knows that she has seen the creature too. Quinn takes the woman’s arm and they run outside to Quinn’s car. 

The woman introduces herself as Layla Darnell. Quinn drives them to Cal’s house, and they tell Cal and Fox what they saw. Layla explains that she lives in New York, but she’s been having nightmares involving blood and fire. In one of the most recent nightmares, a figure raped her, and she heard a voice that said “Hawkins Hollow.” Layla says that she’d never heard of the town before but rented a car and drove, somehow knowing how to reach Hawkins Hollow. Layla adds that when she arrived at the hotel, she was able to sleep without nightmares for the first time in days. Quinn and Layla return to the hotel.

Summary: Chapter 8

The next morning, Quinn, Cal, and Cal’s dog, Lump, set out into the woods to go to the Pagan Stone. As they walk, Quinn asks Cal more questions about the Seven, and he explains that people in Hawkins Hollow do things that are completely out of character, such as destroy property, start fires, and hurt each other. He adds that the police can’t help because they too are overcome by violent and destructive urges. Quinn describes her own encounters with supernatural events, including dreaming about the murder of a girl whose body was later discovered. 

As they get closer to the Pagan Stone, Quinn recognizes the area from her dream. When they reach the Pagan Stone, Quinn touches the stone and feels it heating up. Suddenly, both Cal and Quinn feel the powerful urge to kiss. When they come apart, Cal apologizes, and they both acknowledge that the kiss happened because a mysterious force had briefly possessed them. Cal tells Quinn about what happened on his tenth birthday. He explains that ever since then, he can see events that happened in the past, including what happened between Giles Dent and Lazarus Twisse. Cal tells Quinn that he, Fox, and Gage released a demon when they became blood brothers at midnight on the night of their tenth birthday. As such, Cal feels responsible for what happens to the people of Hawkins Hollow during the Seven.

Summary: Chapter 9

Quinn begins taking pictures of the Pagan Stone and writing notes as she explores the area. As Cal watches her, the scenery around him changes, and he sees a different woman, one who is pregnant and singing. A man comes out of a shed and kisses her, and she says she does not want to leave him. The man insists they will never truly leave each other. The figures fade, and Cal sees Quinn once again. He describes his vision to Quinn, and they agree the man and woman were Giles Dent and Ann Hawkins. They both agree it’s time to leave the woods and head back to Cal’s house. Cal thinks of the amulet he saw Giles Dent wearing in his vision, which is the same as the bloodstone that he, Fox, and Gage each have a piece of, but doesn’t share this with Quinn. Meanwhile, Layla visits Fox at his office. She then accompanies Fox on a visit to one of his clients, and on the way, they see a bloody wolf. Layla screams, but Fox tells her the animal isn’t real.

Analysis: Chapters 7–9

The trip to Pagan Stone is a critical turning point, as is the second trip at the end of the novel. Cal shares what happened on the eve of his tenth birthday with Quinn. It is the first time he’s trusted an outsider with the story, suggesting that he doesn’t see Quinn as an outsider anymore. The two share their first kiss, drawn to each other both by their present-day attraction and by a mysterious force that seems tied to Dent and Ann Hawkins in the past. As the bond between Cal and Quinn deepens, the power of both the good and the evil ancient forces seems to increase.

The symbolic importance of blood is central throughout these chapters. In many scenes, a creature, place, dream, or memory is covered in blood. The slug in the restaurant oozes a trail of blood. Lalya says she dreamed of fire and blood. The trees bleed on the way to the Pagan stone. Images of a deer and a wolf appear covered in blood, and Cal shares the story of the blood ritual that began the Seven. Like the number three, blood holds a complex magical power that can be good or evil in Hawkins Hollow. The Big Evil uses blood to terrify and intimidate people, but the blood ritual and the bloodstone create a protective force around Cal, Fox, and Gage that helps them protect the ones they love.

Though frightened and suspicious of the events that brought her to Hawkins Hollow, Layla proves to be a sensitive character and a valuable asset to Cal and Quinn’s growing team. Quinn points out that, rather than fleeing from the restaurant, Layla trusted her instinct to follow Quinn, even though she was a stranger to her. She also used her instinct to navigate to Hawkins Hollow, even though she’d never been before. That instinct is an important part of Layla’s character. Like Fox, she has the ability to see more deeply into the present moment than most other people do. Both Quinn and Layla will choose repeatedly throughout the novel to stay and fight, despite their fear, illustrating that bravery and tenacity are a part of both women’s characters.