The Locked Door

Content Warning: This section contains graphic depictions of violence, allusions to animal cruelty, and mentions of death by suicide.

Nora explains the rules of Hunter and Prey: Marjorie will be the prey, and Nora, as the hunter, will try to catch her. Nora assures Marjorie that the game will be fun but secretly knows Marjorie won’t enjoy it. She convinces Marjorie to take off her shoes, explaining that wild animals don’t wear shoes. Marjorie resists but agrees when Nora threatens to leave. Nora tells Marjorie to start running and gives her a 60-second head start. After Marjorie runs off, Nora reaches into her backpack and pulls out the penknife her father gave her.

Nora cleans the blood off of her basement floor and locks the door, terrified of the possibility of Detective Barber searching her home. The next morning, she is relieved to see that news of her true identity has not made the news.

She is called into an emergency operation for a woman with internal bleeding. Nora feels a familiar thrill before cutting into her. The patient’s abdomen is filled with blood, and Nora must find the broken artery blind to clamp it without causing more blood loss.