The Last Ritual: Chapter 12 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 chapter opens in the immediate aftermath of the Halloween massacre, with Jade reflecting that it isn't even midnight yet. For the dead, she observes, it will always be Halloween. Letha is already bounding away to find Adie, and Jade calls after her, struggling with her own injuries—a head wound and a torn arm.
Jade and Letha track Rexall through the woods using reflective trail markers: bike reflectors with thumbtacks pushed through them, the kind poachers use to backtrack their way out with a kill. Jo Ellen joins them, and the three women follow the markers toward what they realize is Remar Lundy's old cabin, Rexall's grandfather's place. Along the way, they discover the bodies of Paul Demming, Waynebo, and Hettie Jansson, all killed by Rexall.
Jo Ellen sprains her ankle badly and insists the other two go on without her, jokingly deputizing them. Letha and Jade continue, following the markers to a tree marked with six reflective tacks in a red X. At the cabin, Rexall fires a crossbow; Letha deflects the bolt with the Halligan, and it slices across Jade's shoulder instead. Rexall retreats into the cabin, and Letha follows.
Inside, they find Adie's shoe with a crossbow bolt shot through it, and a small grave. Letha falls to her knees, clawing at the dirt, but Jade stops her from opening it. Letha then surges up, grabs the bolt, and charges into the cabin after Rexall. She kills him with the Halligan in an extended, brutal attack—driving the forked end through his temple, then his forehead, then the axe-end into his face, and finally using her hands to snap his spine and smash his head against the trapdoor frame.
Jo Ellen arrives, wounded with a crossbow bolt in her shoulder, having recorded the entire killing on her phone. Letha decides to turn herself in, telling Jade she'll go to jail. Jade promises to visit every weekend.
Jade digs up Adie's grave and finds not Adie but a decades-old skeleton that seems to move. She digs more graves and finds more skeletons, all from decades ago. She realizes Remar Lundy built his cabin up here for privacy to snatch, use, and dispose of children—and that Rexall continued his grandfather's work.
Later, Jade sinks the yacht Treasure Island into the underwater church, crushing it. The dead rise from the lake, including Ezekiel, the shepherd, tall with wild white hair, carrying a steaming soggy bible.
The chapter closes with a 2013 progress report from Grady Holmes to Kimberly Daniels about her daughter Jennifer (Jade), praising her intelligence but worrying about her horror-movie fascination, and describing her extra-credit paper in which she's the only one who dives in to save a drowning boy while the whole town watches.
Key Events
- Jade and Letha track Rexall through the woods using poachers' reflective trail markers
- The bodies of Paul Demming, Waynebo, and Hettie Jansson are discovered
- Jo Ellen sprains her ankle and stays behind
- Rexall fires a crossbow; Letha deflects it with the Halligan
- Adie's shoe with a bolt through it and a small grave are found
- Letha kills Rexall with the Halligan in a brutal, extended attack
- Jo Ellen records the killing on her phone
- Letha decides to turn herself in
- Jade discovers decades-old skeletons in the graves, revealing Remar Lundy's history of burying children
- Jade sinks Treasure Island into the church
- The dead rise from the lake, including Ezekiel
- A 2013 progress report reveals Jade's history with Grady Holmes
Character Development
Letha undergoes her most transformative arc in this chapter. Grief transforms her into a force of nature—she deflects a crossbow bolt with the Halligan, kills Rexall with extraordinary brutality, and then, in a moment of clarity, decides to turn herself in. Her choice to accept accountability after her rage is spent shows a moral complexity that distinguishes her from the slashers she fights.
Jade spends much of the chapter reflecting on her role as witness rather than actor. She notes that others killed her father, Jan, and Cinnamon—that she's been watching horrors unfold rather than stopping them. This self-awareness about her complicity in the horror genre's cycles is central to her character. She also carries guilt about Adie, believing her own actions (or inactions) led to the child's death.
Jo Ellen represents the law's imperfect presence. She records Letha's killing of Rexall, but she's also wounded and dependent on Letha's help. Her decision to let Letha help her onto the horse even as she's effectively arresting her shows the complicated relationships in this town.
Rexall is revealed as a child killer who continued his grandfather Remar Lundy's legacy, snatching children from across Idaho and burying them in a row of graves.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Violence begetting violence: Jade explicitly reflects on how slashers accumulate trauma and cover it with more violence. Letha's brutal killing of Rexall is both justice and a new trauma.
Audience complicity in horror: Jade's reflection that she's been the audience—watching horrors unfold without intervening—connects to the 2013 progress report, where young Jade is the only one who dives in to save a drowning boy while the town watches.
The hurt child: The graves of children, both Rexall's victims and Remar Lundy's, are the chapter's central horror. Jade's reflection that killers are still that same scared kid wanting someone to hug them complicates easy judgments.
The last ritual: The chapter title suggests this is the final act of the Halloween massacre—the killing of Rexall, the burial of Adie, the sinking of Treasure Island, and the rising of the dead.
The shepherd: Ezekiel, the shepherd, rising last from the lake, carrying a bible, connects to the novel's religious imagery and the town's history of violence against Indigenous people.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter resolves the Halloween massacre storyline and delivers the novel's emotional climax. Letha's killing of Rexall and her decision to turn herself in complete her arc. The revelation of Remar Lundy's child graves deepens the town's history of violence. The sinking of Treasure Island and the rising of the dead from the lake bring the supernatural elements to a crescendo. The 2013 progress report reframes Jade's entire story, showing her as a child who saw the town's complicity and tried to act differently.
Study Questions and Answers
Q1: Why does Letha decide to turn herself in after killing Rexall, and what does this say about her character?
Letha kills Rexall in an extended, brutal attack driven by grief and rage over Adie's death. Afterward, she tells Jade she has nothing left in the world and decides to face the consequences. This shows that even in her darkest moment, she maintains a moral compass—she doesn't become the slasher she's fighting. Her choice to accept accountability contrasts with the killers in the novel who accumulate violence without consequence.
Q2: What does the discovery of the decades-old skeletons reveal about Remar Lundy, and how does this complicate the town's history?
The skeletons in the graves are not Adie's—they're decades old, from before mankind went to the moon. Jade realizes Remar Lundy built his cabin for privacy to snatch, use, and dispose of children. Rexall continued this legacy. This reveals that the town's violence predates the events of the novel, and that the horror isn't just supernatural—it's a human legacy of abuse and murder.
Q3: How does the 2013 progress report from Grady Holmes reframe Jade's role in the story?
The report shows young Jennifer Daniels (Jade) as a student whose extra-credit paper describes watching a boy drown while the whole town watches—and being the only one to dive in and save him. This reframes Jade as someone who has always seen the town's complicity and tried to act against it. It also connects to her adult role as the one who witnesses and survives the horror, and it explains her relationship with Mr. Holmes, whom she addresses in the chapter.
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