Chapter 21: Luna's Fatal Yoga Session

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Luna (who later embraces her birth name, Lauren) takes advantage of the empty yoga studio at Avidya to center herself after Hannah’s disruptive spirit journey. As she moves through poses, she stews over Hannah’s judgmental attitude, her own unstable relationship with Jared, and the guilt she feels toward her sister Annie, who has struggled with addiction. A therapist named Pax encouraged her to stop trying to fix others. While practicing aerial hangs, Luna is unaware that a figure—later identified as Waylon Barlow—approaches her with a pickaxe, hovering the blade near her throat before retreating. After hearing a creak and finding no one, Luna continues her practice and experiences a moment of clarity: she decides to leave Jared, embrace her real name, and stop using yoga as avoidance. While performing upward dog with her eyes closed, the killer straddles her from behind, presses the pickaxe to her spine, and snaps her neck, killing her instantly. The chapter ends with her body in corpse pose.

Key Events

Luna begins a solo yoga practice in the empty studio, frustrated that Hannah’s spirit journey robbed her of the experience.
She reflects on her relationship with Jared, his vanishing acts, and her insecurity about their living arrangements.
Luna recalls the last time she found her sister Annie during a relapse, living in a tent near the Venice Boardwalk.
She considers Pax’s advice to stop fixing others and begins to wonder if Annie could find healing at Avidya.
While hanging upside down from aerial straps, Luna fails to notice a pickaxe wielded by an unseen figure that hovers near her belly and throat.
Hearing a creak on the floorboards, she opens her eyes but sees nothing, attributing the sound to blood flow.
After returning to her mat, Luna has a spiritual awakening: she decides to end her relationship with Jared, embrace her real name Lauren, and stop using yoga as an avoidance crutch.
She closes her eyes in upward dog; the killer (Waylon Barlow) straddles her and snaps her spine with the pickaxe, killing her.
The chapter ends with her body in shavasana (corpse pose).

Character Development

Luna / Lauren – Through her inner monologue, we see her self-deception about flirting and her relationship. She ultimately reaches a genuine moment of clarity, deciding to leave Jared, reclaim her identity, and grow beyond her avoidance patterns. Her death immediately after this resolution underscores the tragedy of her unfulfilled breakthrough.
Hannah – Though not present, she looms in Luna’s thoughts as a source of irritation. Luna labels her “fucking crazy,” revealing Luna’s resentment and her tendency to project her own insecurities onto others.
Jared – Remains offstage, but Luna’s reflections flesh out his selfish, emotionally absent behavior and the couple’s six-year stasis, which serves as a catalyst for Luna’s eventual decision.
Waylon Barlow – Appears physically for the first time in the chapter, stalking Luna with a pickaxe. His silent, deliberate actions establish him as a cold and patient killer who strikes when his victim is most vulnerable.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Yoga as avoidance versus authentic growth – Luna realizes she has used yoga to run from her emotions rather than confront them. Her final practice, meant to be a step toward genuine healing, ironically becomes the site of her death.
The pickaxe – A cold, industrial weapon that contrasts with the serenity of the yoga studio. It represents the brutal interruption of spiritual awakening by violence.
Eyes closed / awareness – Luna keeps her eyes shut throughout the chapter, missing the killer’s presence. This motif highlights how obliviousness to danger can coexist with deep personal insight.
Embodied identity – Luna’s decision to reclaim “Lauren” symbolizes shedding a fabricated persona. The killer’s attack on her spine—the literal support of her body—mirrors her desire to break old patterns, but the break is lethal.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 21 delivers a shocking, visceral climax in Luna’s arc. After several chapters of build-up and suspicion, the killer (Waylon Barlow) strikes for the first time onstage, murdering a named guest. The death is all the more devastating because it occurs just as Luna achieves genuine self-awareness and commits to changing her life. This chapter raises the stakes for every remaining character and confirms that the threat at Avidya is lethal and immediate. It also cements the novel’s central tension: the struggle for personal transformation in the face of inexorable violence.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What internal realization does Luna come to during her yoga practice, and how does the author use the poses to structure that realization?
Luna realizes that she has been using yoga as an avoidance crutch—moving through poses to suppress emotions about Jared, Annie, and Hannah. The sequence of poses (plank, down dog, warrior, etc.) mirrors her mental journey: initially restless, then gradually focused, until a climactic moment in child’s pose leads to her decision to leave Jared and reclaim her real name. The physical discipline of yoga provides the container for her emotional breakthrough.

2. How does the chapter create dramatic irony regarding the killer’s presence?
The narrative repeatedly places the killer within striking distance of Luna while she remains unaware. For example, while she hangs upside down from aerial straps, the pickaxe hovers near her belly and throat, but she does not see it. Later, she closes her eyes in upward dog as the killer straddles her. The reader knows the danger; Luna does not, heightening tension until the violent climax.

3. What is the significance of Luna deciding to go by “Lauren” at the end of the chapter?
Luna’s adoption of the name “Lauren” represents a rejection of cultural appropriation (pointed out by Kimi earlier) and a shedding of her LA persona. It signals her willingness to confront the baggage of her past—her sorority days, her need for external approval—and to start anew with authentic identity. That she is killed immediately after this decision underscores the cruel irony that genuine change may come too late to save her.