Chapter 156: The Treasure Room Ritual in King Sorrow

⚠️ 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

The chapter opens with the group—Donna, Gwen, Tana, Allie, and Robin—climbing the winding staircase to the Special Collection (the treasure room). Gwen, badly injured from a prior event, struggles physically: her hoodie is soaked with sweat, her legs shake, and each step sends a jolt through her body. She experiences moments of darkness as if a dimmer switch were being adjusted. Yet she feels a surprising easiness, reminiscent of the last day of school. She thinks of Arthur and wishes he knew the truth of an unspecified moral stupidity he did not commit.

Donna unlocks the small door to the treasure room. Gwen catches her foot on the stone jamb, falls, and tears something inside her lung. Pain flares. The women help her, and Tana inspects the wound, finding the bandage soaked. Robin provides a kerchief. Tana whispers angrily at Donna, who pushes her back without replying. The room is long and peaceful, with wooden tables, a folded newspaper fluttering, and wire-grilled bookshelves secured with padlocks. In the back third, a glass wall encloses the most valuable books, climate-controlled and under camera surveillance; the camera is pointed away from the rest of the room.

Donna kneels beside Gwen and proposes they try to bring Arthur across. Gwen agrees, saying it must be done through shared belief and shared magic, the same way King Sorrow and Elwood Hondo were brought into their world. She asks for her cell phone and projector. Allie unpacks the contents: a cracked Russian mirror, the phone, a Bluetooth projector shaped like a black Coke can, and a cloak made of coarse brown and gray hair (which Allie estimates is thirty percent pubic hair). When Donna suggests placing the cloak over Gwen, Gwen refuses, wanting King Sorrow to see her. She directs that one of the others wear it, and after a brief argument, Allie is forced into the cloak against her protests.

Robin turns on the projector, aiming it at the glass wall. Gwen opens a video on her phone—a recording of a past incident on a blacktop where Gwen (wearing an ankle-length cape) is knocked down by a lacrosse player with a bulging forehead. In the video, Allie screams and skates into view wearing a unicorn head and hooves, but is stopped by Van, who is dressed in chain mail and carrying a buckler. Arthur Oakes glides into the circle, throws a shoulder into the attacker, and snatches the lacrosse stick. Arthur spins, striking other players, and Van whoops and joins the fight. Colin is behind the camera. The video freezes on Arthur looking into the lens, then repeats.

The women form a hand-linked line facing the glass wall. Donna calls Arthur, Tana calls him, Robin looks into the broken mirror. When the mirror reaches Gwen, she sets it on the floor, leans forward, and sees a dying woman: limp hair, dark satchels under eyes, sweaty lip. She speaks to Arthur. She coughs; a drop of blood plinks onto the mirror, creating a crimson crack line. She closes her eyes briefly. When she looks up, the mirror has moved to Tana. Donna and Robin look concerned. Gwen learns she was unconscious for half an hour—they had come upstairs at 7:30, and now it is after 10 PM.

The ritual continues. The mirror circulates again. Gwen picks it up and sees a table behind her reflected; the Y-shaped crack seems to split the image. A breeze lifts a newspaper corner; as it crosses the crack, it becomes a storm of black butterflies, then disappears. She looks and sees the newspaper has slid off the table and onto the floor. She leaves the line, ignoring Donna’s question, and picks up the newspaper. It is open to a crossword puzzle, partially filled in. A drop of sweat falls on it. She tells the others to keep calling for Arthur while she finishes the crossword.

Gwen reads clues: “Hurts sharply” (SMARTS), “Sex cells” (GAMETES), “Where J. Nighswander died” (CALI). She thinks the answer “GROUNDS” for “Property and coffee.” When she opens her eyes, that answer is filled in in her handwriting. One cross, “Elwood Hondo,” fills in as “GHOST” in Arthur’s calligraphic handwriting. Van’s voice echoes from the video. Gwen searches other clues: “Internet troublemaker” (TROLL), “Deal with a psychic” (ZENER), “Phone for spirits” (CONCH), “Cutest member of Mystery Inc.” (VELMA). Answers appear as she thinks them, and simultaneous answers appear from Arthur—a “cat’s cradle” of their joint knowledge. Across the room, Donna breaks another window. Gwen mutters for her to stop, but Donna replies that it’s Easter morning and that Arthur is here.

Key Events

• The group ascends to the treasure room; Gwen’s health sharply declines.
• Gwen falls and reopens her wound; the women tend to her.
• They set up the ritual: projector shows a video of Arthur fighting lacrosse players from their past.
• Allie is forced to wear the hair cloak to serve as a backup plan.
• The women hold hands, take turns calling Arthur while passing the cracked mirror.
• Gwen loses consciousness for half an hour; the ritual continues.
• Gwen notices a newspaper crossword puzzle; answers begin to fill in from both her and Arthur.
• Donna breaks windows for air; she declares Arthur’s presence on Easter morning.

Character Development

• Gwen: Despite severe physical pain and blood loss, she remains focused and determined, even finding a strange peace. Her intuitive connection to Arthur deepens—she can sense his thoughts through the crossword. Her leadership is evident as she directs the ritual.
• Donna: Takes charge of the group, unlocking doors, breaking windows, and insisting the ritual proceed. She is calm and insistent, showing a protective fierceness toward Gwen.
• Tana: Initially angry and worried about Gwen’s condition, she reluctantly follows orders. Her affection for Arthur surfaces when she calls him “Artie” and recalls their “okay times.”
• Allie: Anxious and tearful, she protests being forced into the hair cloak but complies. Her role as backup plan adds tension.
• Robin: Quietly supportive, she helps tend Gwen’s wound and operates the projector.
• Arthur and Van: Only appear as projections from the video and via the crossword answers, but their presence is felt as Gwen completes the puzzle in conjunction with Arthur’s calligraphic handwriting.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

• Sacrifice and pain: Gwen’s physical deterioration mirrors the toll of the ritual. Blood on the mirror becomes a key element in the attempt to connect with the dead.
• Belief as magic: The ritual relies on “shared belief and shared magic,” echoing earlier acts of summoning in the story. The women’s collective faith appears to make Arthur’s return possible.
• Crossword as bridge: The crossword puzzle serves as a literal and symbolic bridge between Gwen and Arthur. Answers appear simultaneously from both, representing a merging of their minds and knowledge.
• Time distortion: Gwen loses half an hour without noticing, suggesting that the ritual affects time as well as space.
• Easter morning: Donna’s final line links the resurrection theme of Easter to Arthur’s impending return, implying a rebirth.
• The cracked mirror: A recurring symbol of fractured perception; the blood in the crack creates a “crimson shatter-line,” perhaps representing the breaking of the boundary between life and death.
• The hair cloak: Disgusting and uncomfortable, it is a protective item that Allie is forced to wear, highlighting themes of sacrifice and unwilling participation.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 156 is a turning point where the ritual to bring Arthur back begins in earnest. Gwen’s physical decline raises the stakes, and her intuitive crossword connection offers the first concrete sign that Arthur’s consciousness is reachable. The chapter reinforces the novel’s magic system based on collective belief and memory. Donna’s declaration that Arthur is here on Easter morning sets up the climax of the book, blending resurrection imagery with the supernatural mechanics of the story.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What does the crossword puzzle reveal about the relationship between Gwen and Arthur?
The crossword fills in answers simultaneously from Gwen’s thoughts and Arthur’s handwriting, showing a deep, preternatural connection. Their knowledge interlaces—Gwen solves “GROUNDS” while Arthur writes “GHOST” for “Elwood Hondo.” This indicates that Arthur’s consciousness is present and interacting with Gwen across the divide between the living and the dead.

2. Why does Gwen insist that Allie wear the hair cloak instead of herself?
Gwen states she wants King Sorrow to see her—she does not want to hide. By making Allie the backup plan, Gwen ensures that if the main ritual fails and the others are killed, Allie can try again later. The cloak is a protective tool, but Gwen chooses to remain visible as bait or a focus for the summoning.

3. How does Donna’s line “It’s Easter morning, and he’s here” function thematically?
It directly invokes the Christian resurrection, framing Arthur’s return as a kind of miracle. Easter symbolizes rebirth and hope after death, mirroring the women’s desperate attempt to bring Arthur back from the dead. The timing (the ritual spans into Easter morning) reinforces the idea that the boundary between life and death is thin, and that the ritual may succeed.

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