The Pack

Chapter 11: A New Master

Eli is fiddling with the zipper on his book bag. It has been several days since the events of the last full moon. Eli is talking to Ms. Normal about the sensations one experiences while drowning. How hard the body fights, through excruciating pain to avoid opening the mouth under water. This instinct is called voluntary apnea and is so strong that you pass out before breathing in water.

Eli describes it as peaceful. The counselor asks if he means that he hopes Steph experienced a moment of peace as she died. He does not. She asks if he feels sorry for the 15-year-old Steph who drowned. He explains that the childhood trauma doesn't give Steph the right to kill the kids that hurt her.

He also reveals that investigators found a bunch of pictures of RJ on Steph's computer. Steph had apparently photoshopped herself into several of the images to make it appear that she and RJ were holding hands and kissing. Based on all this Eli concludes that Steph was riding the crazy train for a long time.

Normal brings up during Eli's session that his mother was reinstated as chief medical examiner. Eli says there is a new tension between mother and son. He also hasn't talked to Dakota since the night of the full moon. Dakota is at home pulling a new shirt from a Guess bag. She hears her father down the hall and rushes out to talk to him. He closes the door to his room and she stands outside and asks him to talk to her. On the other side of the door he looks like he wants to but does not, he is ashamed of working with Luca.

Eli says Dakota and RJ are also not speaking and that it is his choice. The death of his mom has hit him hard and he and his family have become closer.

RJ, in his car, fogs up the window to reveal a message Dakota has left for him. It says "12:00 PLEASE." He quickly wipes away the condensation and the message it showed.

RJ, in the basement with Mr. Preston, goes over a map of Strathroy. There is a grid pattern with several of the grids marked with an X. Only one grid remains in the center of the map. It is marked "Strathroy Rail Station."

Eli explains to Ms. Normal that Katy hasn't been herself lately and she is sitting on her bed, eyes glowing, hands covered in blood. Eli says Maria is now the most normal of the group.

Since Eli has been obsessively fiddling with his zipper, the Counselor asks if he is nervous about the championship basketball game set for tomorrow night. Eli says no because he never actually plays. But, he adds, due to the fact that one teammate is dead (Steph) and another is missing (Wong) that might change. Ms. Normal then turns the conversation to Wong and the other "runaways" (Eric and Dillan). Eli tries to change the subject asking her why she doesn't take notes. She says she does them after each session but then drives the conversation back around to Eli.

He says he's not sleeping, is jumpy and suffers from a constant overwhelming fear that something terrible is about to happen. Ms. Normal diagnoses him with "hypervigilance" which is often a symptom of post traumatic stress disorder. She describes it as the persistent feeling of being under threat. Eli says it's more than a feeling. He describes it as a panic attack, like he can't breathe. Ms. Normal brings this back around to the discussion of drowning using this as a metaphor for all the stuff that Eli is dealing with.

She says Eli should hold off opening his mouth (don't give up) until the autonomic reflex to breath kicks in because it will give him more time to fight his way to the surface or get rescued.

Eli isn't buying it. He asks what if the pain (of not breathing) gets worse going from agony to hell later on. In answer, she quotes Winston Churchill "If you're going through hell, keep going."

Dakota steps out of her shower at home. She hears a mumbling sound coming from her bedroom. She enters to find the familiar clinging to the wall with its hand wrapped around her father's throat, suspending him above the floor.