Keep It in the Family

The narrative reverts to the perspective of the unnamed stalker and shifts back in time, one year prior to the discovery in Finn and Mia’s house. This chapter reveals that the stalker is addicted to killing children although they are attempting to stop. The narrator spends hours with their most recent victim’s lifeless corpse, reflecting on their well-honed pattern of stalking, abduction, and murder. They have chosen this particular child because this victim is intended to be the last. The narrator genuinely believes that they can stop killing even though they have been indulging this compulsion for more than 30 years. The narrator confesses that they kill neglected, impoverished children because they believe that they are saving these children from being mistreated by bad parents.

The narrative returns to Mia’s perspective in the present moment. Mia awakens from a coma with Finn and Debbie by her side in the local hospital; her first conscious thought is of her baby, and she panics when she cannot feel her baby inside her. Debbie reassures her that the baby is safe; while unconscious, Mia had an emergency cesarean section, and her baby boy was delivered safely.