All the Little Raindrops

A man called “the Collector” watches the exchange between Noelle and Evan on a screen and realizes that they are now aware of their relationship to one another. He already knows that Sinclair killed Noelle’s mother, Megan, and their discussion will alert the other “players.” The Collector thinks of Evan as a stereotypical “golden boy” and believes Noelle to be pretty in a “plain” kind of way. He thinks that women are “petty creatures,” ruled by their feelings, but he vows not to make assumptions and to “Watch. Listen. Learn. […] [W]hat he d[oes] best” (11). It occurs to him that he could alert the authorities to what is happening to Noelle and Evan, but he decides against that for now. When he realized what “the game” was, he didn’t plan to watch, so he’s surprised that he finds the game so riveting. He feels like he cannot look away.

The lights come on, and Evan shields his face. He can see the bars of his cage and Noelle’s, the concrete floor between them, and a counter nearby holding several items. Noelle can see an ice pick. Evan and Noelle quickly descend into argument; she accuses him of hoping to buy his way out of captivity, while he accuses her father of masterminding Evan’s abduction in revenge. Evan is glad to see “fire” in her eyes when she accuses his father of intentionally ruining her and her father’s lives. He claims that her mother was stalking his father, and she retorts that there was never evidence of this. However, the jury decided otherwise.

Evan wakes Noelle when their food comes. It arrives on a plastic tray, and Noelle finds that she has been given some sliced peaches. She also gets a napkin, which hides a small length of rope. Evan gets a small pat of butter, and he offers her half his butter for half of her peaches. They trade and agree to put aside their personal conflict to work together. They discuss who could benefit from their captivity but cannot think of anyone who hates them enough to do this.

A robotic voice comes over a speaker, telling them to deposit their garbage in the dumbwaiters. A man enters the room and informs Noelle that she’s been “rented”; Evan tries to bribe the man for her safety. Noelle reveals that she has never had sex, and the man’s eyes light up. He says that if she doesn’t go with him, he will cut off two of Evan’s fingers. Evan looks horrified but neither begs nor gives her permission to sacrifice his fingers. Noelle goes with the man.

The Collector watches Noelle and Evan, noting that when the “guardian” enters the room, Noelle shrinks back while Evan moves toward the perceived threat. He tucks this information away, seeing that those players who bet on Noelle going with the guardian made a lot of money. If he is going to bet, he’ll need all the information he can gather. He’s done his research on the contestants, including how Noelle’s mother, Megan, had an affair with Evan’s father, a shipping tycoon who ultimately shot her on his property. Bennett Meyer, Noelle’s father, sued for wrongful death, but the defense claimed that Sinclair had ended the affair and that Megan was trespassing. Sinclair hired clever lawyers, while Meyer mortgaged his home and business to afford legal help. The Collector knows from experience that judges can be bought.

Meanwhile, Noelle is waiting in the room upstairs while Evan sits in his cage. The Collector watches the various odds changing every second at the top of the screen. Only one bet remains constant: escape, which is highly unlikely. The Collector wonders if he can figure out a way to help Noelle and Evan free themselves. He shuts the screen off when an old man approaches Noelle: The Collector has no interest in watching her get raped, though he knows others do. He guesses that this man sent the “treats” to Noelle and Evan as a “thank you” for whatever entertainment they were about to provide, and the Collector logs on to order something for each of them. It costs as much as a mortgage payment.

Evan watches as the man pushes Noelle back into her cage. She says that a man wearing a mask raped her and asks Evan to turn around and make noise so that she can clean herself up. He sings a children’s song—“If All the Raindrops”—that his mother used to sing to him. When Evan turns around, he sees Noelle lying on her side, tears rolling down her cheeks. He reaches out his hand through the bars, and she reaches back; they link their index and middle fingers together.

When the lights come on, Evan’s and Noelle’s fingers are still linked. She tells him that the nearby table holds power tools. The dumbwaiters deliver their bread and water; Evan also gets some peanuts, while Noelle gets a chocolate-covered strawberry atop artificial rose petals. Once again, they share the extras. Noelle says that there were cameras in the room where she was raped, and they speculate that there are cameras on them now, too. The henchman reenters and offers Evan a choice: come with him or sacrifice Noelle’s ear. Evan looks at Noelle and says that they will “stay whole,” but he realizes that this may be impossible.

The Collector watches the spindly masked man punch Evan, certain that the man wants revenge for some youthful bullying he endured. Evan zones out while he is hit, and the Collector can tell that Evan is used to abuse. He tucks this information away. The Collector considers his participation in the game, convinced that he is unlike the other players because his “motives [are] different. Very different” (50). He looks at his watch, his “prized possession,” which is deceptively simple in appearance and which he enjoys for this reason. A bloodied Evan returns to his cage.

Evan asks for privacy, and Noelle sings “You Are My Sunshine,” messing up a few of the words. He thinks of how his father hit him to “toughen him up” and reaffirms his promise that they will leave this place whole (52). Noelle asks if she can tell him about her mother and then talks about how her mother could “read between the lines” (54). Noelle says that she still sometimes has “secret” conversations with her mother in her head. Suddenly, Evan realizes that Noelle didn’t forget the song’s words; rather, she changed them to convey something secretly. He recalls her inserting the word “plan” and realizes that she wants to strategize.

The Collector has been away for a week for a work commitment, and he is excited to log back on to the game. Once again, Noelle and Evan have their fingers linked, and they’re singing children’s songs. He assumes that it brings them comfort. As he listens, however, he realizes that they are speaking in code by changing the songs’ words. It’s similar to twin language, he thinks, and he recognizes that Noelle’s brain works like his own. The Collector logs on to another screen and spends a fortune, booking a trip to visit the contestants.

This time, Noelle is blindfolded when she enters the room that she’s visited twice before. A man’s voice greets her, and as he speaks, he emphasizes certain words—like “break”—though she doesn’t know why. He has an accent. She realizes that he is different from the others, and he instructs her to roll onto her back while he massages her shoulders. He tells her a story about a man who collects fine things, including jewels that he drapes on kidnapped women. This makes the man in the story feel powerful, like a king. The king plans a ball, but when a woman displeases him, he slits her throat, and his guests, fueled by drugs and power, murder 11 women and three members of staff.

This man says that he collects things, too, and that he’d like her to create something for him. He points to a pencil and paper, asking her to write him a poem or draw him a picture. He tells her that she is “hot” when angry, emphasizing the word. After he leaves, she takes off her blindfold and writes a short poem; then, she holds up the pencil to the camera and breaks it, tossing the pieces to the floor.