You Belong Here

During their senior year in high school, Beckett, using the skeleton key she got from her father, explores the steam tunnels with Maggie and Cliff. Cliff playfully scares Beckett as she led them up a stone staircase that brought them to the barn by the president’s old house. The school once used the tunnels to move items from the president’s home to the main campus.

As Beckett enters the woods, she notices a path. The path, along with the cameras and blue-light emergency phones, didn’t exist 20 years ago when Beckett was a student. Beckett winds up near the Low Bar, where Adalyn used to make money by playing darts with locals. She’d then give the bartender the money in the form of a tip, or she’d offer the money to locals in return for items she didn’t want, like rhinestone sunglasses.

Beckett doesn’t think Bryce was coming back from the bar, so she goes to Cryer’s Quarry. A mining company first dug it for granite or limestone, but Beckett and her friends hung out there while she was in high school, and she remembers floating in the shallow water. The area currently features “do not enter” signs from JW Enterprises (Joseph Wharton’s company). The last time Beckett was here, she looked for Adalyn. She hopes Delilah didn’t hurt herself here. She notices a red mask, an item used in the howling, which confirms that the students still practice it.

The cash-only deli is where Carly Mathers works with her sister, Sierra. Beckett orders a coffee, and Sierra reveals that Violet lives in the Estates. The neighborhood requires a “solid drive” up the mountain roads, so Bryce couldn’t have been coming from there; as the deli was closed earlier, he had to be at the quarry.

Beckett wants to “regroup” at her parents’ house, but the spare key is missing. Before she left, she forgot to lock a window in her father’s office, so she enters through that window. Inside, there’s food and a cup, so she assumes Delilah stays here. In her old bedroom, she sees familiar quotes and frightening new quotes such as “I can still see you” and “Did you think you could hide?” (170-71).

Beckett believes someone else has been in her room and is targeting Delilah to punish her. Beckett believes Delilah is frightened, which accounts for her lack of communication and social media use. Her last Instagram post was a month ago. It was a picture of the mountain ridge; the caption read “here.”

Beckett texts Trevor about Delilah, which prompts Beckett to remember when Delilah would tell her about Trevor’s romantic partners—mainly, a preschool teacher and a kindergarten teacher that he almost married. Over the phone, Beckett tells Trevor about the dropped call, and Trevor reveals that he sent Delilah money. Trevor plans to come to Wyatt Valley.

Beckett notices the attic door is open. The attic contains valuable objects and boxes from her youth. Beckett remembers how Adalyn admired Doc and called her a “genius,” but Doc and Hal were wary, with Doc labeling Adalyn a harmful narcissist. Beckett appreciated Adalyn’s exciting personality. Hearing noises below that don’t sound like Delilah, Beckett leaves the attic and sees an open gate and Cliff.

To make it to the old president’s house for the howling, Beckett had a penlight and took Adalyn on an indirect route. There was a flash of light from the trees, and someone—Cliff—screamed “boo” and grabbed Beckett. Adalyn got to the old house by herself, and when Beckett arrived, Adalyn, thinking Beckett was caught, promised not to tell that she was cheating. Beckett informed Adalyn that Cliff “didn’t count.”

Beckett labels Cliff a “chameleon” due to his different jobs. Cliff also has a cat and a son who’s five or six. Beckett accuses him of entering her parents’ house, which he denies. He’s been outside, cleaning up the trash of the burnt-down house, as his house is right next to it. Cliff drops his cigarette, and the ember reminds her of the match in the dumpster from Chapter 2. Cliff has noticed a light on in Beckett’s parents’ home. Beckett asks why Cliff was in the bell tower. He says the automated system broke, so he had to ring it manually.

Beckett tells Cliff that Delilah is missing. She wants Cliff to get security footage and talk to Delilah’s friends, roommate, and RA. Cliff doesn’t want to violate protocols but agrees to review the card scans. Delilah entered Beckett Hall, an academic and administrative building, just before midnight last night. Cliff confirms that Delilah requested to move dorms. Beckett wants Cliff to give her Violet’s address, but Cliff doesn’t want to provoke Violet’s powerful husband. Cliff vows to “liaise” with campus security, and Beckett mocks Cliff for saying “liaise.”