Chapter 17 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

After a night out, Sam drives Andrew back to the house. Andrew carries a paper packet containing Eddie's ring, which Troth returned to him at the party. Inside, Sam tosses him blankets for the couch. Andrew checks his phone: Riley sent questions then went silent, and Del sent three messages checking in on him. Andrew replies to Del with a brief request for more time and sends a message to his mother before shutting off his phone. He wonders whether Eddie ever slept on that same couch.

Andrew falls asleep and dreams. Eddie's voice guides him through a cavern toward a stag's skull with antlers. The dream reworks a childhood memory of falling into a cavern—Andrew recalls reaching out and touching his friend's chest as a child, but in the dream he touches a slick, porous surface and finds antlers. Eddie's hands guide Andrew's fingers around the antlers, and power conducts through him with an agonized ripple.

Sam wakes Andrew in the woods. Andrew sleepwalked and lay near a rotting deer carcass. Andrew recoils in panic, and the cold energy the haunt raised in his blood pours from his fingertips into the earth and toward the corpse. Andrew swears a hoof twitched. Sam, wearing only basketball shorts and house shoes, found him after hearing the door open and searching for about twenty minutes.

Back at the house, Andrew showers and Sam gives him shorts. Sam warns Andrew with his grandmother's advice: don't mess with what's outside your scope. He says he told Eddie and Riley the same thing, but they didn't listen. Andrew sleeps in Sam's bed that night—Sam invites him up from the floor.

The next morning, Andrew walks home in borrowed shorts. Riley is cooking eggs. Andrew explains he slept at Sam's. Riley reveals he went through Eddie's materials in Andrew's room and the field notes are missing—only personal journals and planning documents remain. Riley suggests checking Eddie's library carrel, which is under both their names.

They drive to campus and find carrel number 32. Andrew enters alone, then Riley joins. They find books, two composition books, and a purple notebook belonging to Riley, but no field notes. Andrew says he'll ask Troth on Monday. As he's about to leave, he notices newspaper clippings pinned to the carrel wall: articles about two boys found after a 72-hour search, with a photo taken at Andrew's twelfth birthday.

Key Events

Andrew returns home with Eddie's ring and replies to Del's messages, though he doesn't mean the affection he expresses
Andrew dreams of Eddie guiding him through a cavern to a stag's skull with antlers, where power conducts through him
Sam finds Andrew sleepwalking in the woods near a rotting deer carcass; Andrew's supernatural energy flows into the corpse, and he thinks a hoof twitched
Sam warns Andrew against involving himself with local supernatural matters, citing his grandmother's advice
Andrew sleeps in Sam's bed, accepting physical comfort
Riley discovers Eddie's field notes are missing from the materials in Andrew's room
They search Eddie's library carrel but find no field notes; Andrew plans to ask Troth on Monday
Andrew notices newspaper clippings about two boys found after a 72-hour search, with a photo from his twelfth birthday

Character Development

Andrew continues to withdraw emotionally from the people who care about him. His reply to Del is brief and hollow—he admits to himself he doesn't mean the love he expresses. Yet the chapter also shows his vulnerability: he accepts Sam's invitation to share the bed, and the narration notes he misses sleeping beside a warm, breathing body. His sleepwalking episode reveals how deeply the revenant's influence has penetrated his unconscious mind, and his reaction to the deer carcass shows genuine fear rather than his usual guardedness.

Sam emerges as more than a gruff mechanic. His grandmother's warning—don't mess with what's outside your scope—reveals a local, inherited knowledge of the supernatural. He tells Andrew he gave Eddie and Riley the same advice, which frames his protectiveness as a pattern. His care for Andrew is practical: he searches the woods for him, gives him clothes, and invites him into his bed.

Riley shows his proactive side, going through Eddie's materials without being asked and identifying what's missing. His knowledge of Eddie's carrel and his willingness to accompany Andrew suggest a deeper investment in the mystery than he lets on.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Sleepwalking as supernatural conduit. Andrew's body acts without his conscious will, drawn into the woods by the revenant's influence. The episode blurs the line between dream and reality, suggesting the supernatural operates on Andrew even when he's unaware.

Antlers as power conduit. The dream's stag skull with antlers functions as a channel for supernatural energy. Eddie's hands guide Andrew's to the antlers, and power conducts through them—an image that connects the natural world, death, and the transfer of necromantic force.

Missing research notes. Eddie's field notes are conspicuously absent, creating a gap in the archive of his work. The absence is itself significant, pointing toward Troth and the possibility that Eddie's research was deliberately hidden or taken.

Carrel as archive of the dead. Eddie's library carrel preserves his presence—books, composition books, newspaper clippings—but lacks the crucial material. It's a space where Eddie's intellectual life remains frozen, yet the most important evidence is gone.

Childhood disappearance trauma. The newspaper clippings about two boys found after a 72-hour search, with a photo from Andrew's twelfth birthday, hint at a shared childhood event that may connect to the supernatural. Andrew's urge to tear the clippings down suggests unresolved pain.

Grandmother's warning. Sam's grandmother's advice—don't mess with what's outside your scope—frames the supernatural as a local, known danger. It also foreshadows the consequences of Eddie and Riley ignoring that warning.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter advances the mystery on multiple fronts. The missing field notes create a concrete gap in Eddie's research that points toward Troth, while the newspaper clippings introduce a childhood event that may explain the connection between Andrew and Eddie. Andrew's sleepwalking episode demonstrates that the revenant's influence is growing, and the dream sequence provides crucial imagery about antlers and power that will likely pay off later. Sam's warning establishes the stakes and the local knowledge about supernatural dangers, while Andrew's acceptance of Sam's comfort deepens their relationship.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What does Andrew's dream reveal about the connection between Eddie's revenant and the stag's skull?

The dream reworks a childhood memory of falling into a cavern. In the original memory, Andrew reached out and touched his friend's chest; in the dream, he touches a slick, porous surface and finds antlers. Eddie's hands guide Andrew's fingers around the antlers, and power conducts through them. This suggests the stag's skull functions as a conduit for supernatural energy, and Eddie is actively guiding Andrew toward it—both in the dream and, apparently, in the sleepwalking episode that follows.

2. Why is the absence of Eddie's field notes significant, and what does it suggest about Troth's role?

Riley identifies that Eddie's personal journals and planning documents remain, but the ethnographic field notes—demographic data, transcriptions, and similar material—are missing. The absence is significant because it means Eddie's research is incomplete or deliberately hidden. Andrew plans to ask Troth about the notes on Monday, suggesting she may have them or know what happened to them. Her interest in Andrew continuing Eddie's research, mentioned at the party, makes her a key figure in the mystery.

3. How does the newspaper clipping from Andrew's twelfth birthday complicate our understanding of Andrew and Eddie's shared history?

The clipping reports two boys found after a 72-hour search, and the photo was taken at Andrew's twelfth birthday. This suggests Andrew and Eddie were involved in a disappearance or lost event as children. Andrew's urge to tear the clippings down indicates the memory is painful. The clipping connects the childhood event to Eddie's carrel, implying it may be related to the supernatural forces at play in the present.