Prologue Summary and Analysis
⚠️ 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 prologue opens in media res with an unnamed narrator holding a knife in a trembling hand. The narrator has just locked Blaine's bedroom door at Ashwood Manor, ensuring no one can interrupt what is about to happen. The other guests are occupied getting dressed for cocktail hour, which the narrator sees as a narrow window of opportunity that cannot be wasted.
Moving quietly, the narrator creeps toward the bathroom and hides behind a cracked door, peering through the gap. Blaine stands in a canary-yellow vintage tub, visible only partially through steam and a sheer shower curtain. His wool bathing suit from an earlier beach trip lies discarded on the mosaic tile floor. The bathroom itself is meticulously preserved, decorated with golden art deco mirrors—details that signal the wealth and care invested in Ashwood Manor.
The narrator notices that the gold blade of the knife matches the mirrors, and briefly entertains the idea that the universe might approve of the crime. But the narrator quickly dismisses this, identifying instead as the kind of person who refuses to let anything threaten their future. The narrator reflects that a different kind of person would have confessed their secret to Kassidy weeks ago, hoping for cosmic reward—but that is not who the narrator is, or wants to be. The shaking hands, however, betray uncertainty.
Blaine's eyes are closed, head tilted up into the water. The sound of the shower is soothing, like spring rain, and it triggers a memory: the day before prom, when Blaine danced in the narrator's apartment courtyard during a storm while the narrator's family watched and laughed from the sidewalk. In that memory, Blaine seemed vulnerable and young.
The narrator acknowledges having waited for this moment and obsessed over its details for days. But watching Blaine run his hands through his ginger hair, water streaming over his freckled back, the narrator feels a burning guilt that nearly causes the knife to drop. The narrator concedes that Blaine doesn't deserve what is coming—but insists that neither does the narrator. The chapter ends with the narrator gripping the knife tighter and stepping through the doorway toward the shower, the violent act imminent.
Key Events
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The narrator locks Blaine's bedroom door to prevent interruption.
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The narrator hides behind a cracked bathroom door and observes Blaine showering.
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The narrator notes the vintage tub, antique plumbing, and art deco mirrors of the bathroom.
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The narrator considers and rejects the idea of signs or cosmic approval.
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A memory surfaces of Blaine dancing in a courtyard before prom.
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The narrator experiences guilt and physical trembling but reaffirms their resolve.
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The narrator steps through the doorway toward Blaine, knife in hand.
Character Development
The Narrator (unnamed): The prologue deliberately withholds the narrator's identity, creating immediate mystery. What is revealed is a person driven by self-preservation, convinced that Blaine poses an existential threat to their future. The narrator is calculating—locking doors, timing the act around cocktail hour, obsessing over details for days—yet also emotionally conflicted, with shaking hands and a surge of guilt. The internal tension between cold resolve and human hesitation defines the narrator's characterization here.
Blaine: Though he appears only as an object of observation, Blaine is established as vulnerable—naked, eyes closed, defenseless in the shower. The prom memory adds a layer of nostalgia and suggests a prior closeness between the narrator and Blaine, complicating the reader's sense of who he is and what he might have done.
Kassidy: Mentioned only in passing, Kassidy is positioned as someone the narrator might have confided in—a potential ally or witness whose role is yet unknown.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Secrecy: The locked door, the hidden vantage point behind the cracked bathroom door, and the narrator's silent movements all establish secrecy as the chapter's governing condition. The narrator's plan depends entirely on concealment.
Guilt and self-preservation: The narrator's guilt is physical—burning arms, shaking hands—yet it is overridden by a conviction that Blaine threatens the narrator's future. The chapter frames the impending act as a choice between two undeserving parties, with the narrator choosing themselves.
Vulnerability: Blaine's nakedness in the shower is the chapter's central image of vulnerability. The narrator's memory of Blaine dancing in the storm before prom reinforces this, showing him vulnerable and young in a happier context.
Wealth and privilege: Ashwood Manor's preserved bathrooms, vintage tub, art deco mirrors, and antique plumbing signal a world of inherited wealth. The setting is both beautiful and isolating—a place where private violence can unfold behind locked doors.
Fate and signs: The narrator explicitly rejects belief in signs, noting that the matching gold of the knife and mirrors would tempt a superstitious person. This rejection underscores the narrator's self-reliance and refusal to externalize responsibility.
Nostalgia: The prom memory is a flash of tenderness that complicates the narrator's resolve, suggesting that the relationship between narrator and Blaine has a history worth mourning.
Why This Chapter Matters
The prologue establishes the central premise of the novel—a murder is about to occur at a lavish estate—while withholding the narrator's identity, creating immediate suspense. It introduces the key setting (Ashwood Manor), the victim (Blaine), and the narrator's motive (self-preservation against a perceived threat to their future). The chapter also plants the seeds of several mysteries: What has Blaine done? What secret might have been shared with Kassidy? And who is the narrator? By ending on the threshold of violence, the prologue compels the reader into the next chapter with the question of whether the act will be completed.
Study Questions
1. Why does the narrator reject the idea of signs in the prologue, and what does this reveal about their character?
The narrator notices that the gold knife blade matches the golden art deco mirrors and acknowledges that a superstitious person might read this as cosmic approval. By rejecting this interpretation, the narrator asserts a worldview based on personal agency rather than fate. This reveals a character who takes full responsibility for their choices—and who is unwilling to soften their actions with supernatural justification.
2. What purpose does the prom memory serve in the prologue?
The memory of Blaine dancing in the courtyard before prom humanizes him and complicates the narrator's resolve. It shows Blaine as joyful and vulnerable, and it suggests a shared history between the narrator and Blaine that predates the current crisis. The memory also triggers the narrator's guilt, creating internal conflict that makes the narrator more complex than a simple villain.
3. How does the setting of Ashwood Manor contribute to the chapter's tension?
The manor's preserved, luxurious details—the vintage tub, art deco mirrors, antique plumbing—create a contrast between beauty and violence. The locked door and the narrator's stealthy movements within this elegant space heighten the sense of transgression. The setting also implies wealth and privilege, raising questions about what kind of future the narrator fears losing and what Blaine might have done to threaten it.
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