Chapter 33: Callie — 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

Callie has finally pieced together what her mother intends to do. The blue plastic case on the table holds a syringe, and Callie understands that her mother plans to inject her with something that would change her into a different daughter. Her mother tries to lure her upstairs with a gentle suggestion about counting stars, but Callie is ready. When her mother slams the door behind her, Callie shoves back, hits her mother with the door, grabs the key, locks her mother inside her room, and runs.

As she passes the living room, Pale Callie urges her to grab the syringe case. Callie snatches it and flees into the cold desert dusk, throwing the key into the dark. She hides behind cacti, then climbs into the high branches of the jacaranda tree—the same tree where her mother first met her father. In the safety of the branches, she opens the case and discovers the syringe is empty. There is nothing in the reservoir. This revelation unsettles her more than the threat of the needle itself.

A car approaches from the direction of Cielo. Callie slides down the tree, ignoring Pale Callie's warning, and runs toward the headlights, hoping to reach the car before her mother does. Her mother bursts out of the house and pulls Callie out of the car's path just in time. The driver steps out: it's her father, Irving.

Irving claims he has come for Callie. He tells her that Annie is with Hannah Goodwin, and that Mr. Goodwin and the boys are camping. Callie is immediately suspicious—she knows Annie wouldn't go to Hannah's house without her pink night-light, and the story feels wrong. When her mother refuses to let Callie go, Irving grabs her by the hair and punches her. Callie tries to intervene and is struck herself. She runs into the desert, and Irving pursues in his car, driving across the scrub.

Cornered at the west fence, Callie realizes Pale Callie has led her into a trap—or so she thinks. Irving catches her, but her mother, bloodied and limping, grabs his belt and refuses to let go. Callie tosses her the syringe. Her mother stabs Irving in the eye with the needle.

Callie falls into a shallow depression in the ground and discovers a cow skeleton. Pale Callie tells her to pick up the femur and give it to her mother. Callie throws the bone, and her mother raises it high and brings it down on Irving. When the air goes quiet, Callie opens her eyes. Her mother is lying beside her, breathing. Callie doesn't look at what remains in the headlights.

Pale Callie reveals that she is Callie's sister, then fades away, dissolving into silver and gold mist. Callie is devastated—she has only just understood what Pale Callie was. Her mother wakes and stares into the darkness beyond the car's headlights. Something moves at the edge of the light. Her mother whispers: they're here.

Key Events

Callie locks her mother in her room and escapes with the syringe case and the key.
Hidden in the jacaranda tree, Callie discovers the syringe is empty.
Irving arrives, claiming he has come for Callie and that Annie is safe with Hannah Goodwin.
Irving attacks Callie's mother, then strikes Callie when she intervenes.
Callie runs; Irving pursues in his car; her mother intercepts him.
Callie tosses her mother the syringe, which she uses to stab Irving in the eye.
Callie finds a cow femur and gives it to her mother, who beats Irving with it.
Pale Callie reveals she is Callie's sister and fades away.
Her mother wakes and announces that