Middle of the Night

This chapter returns to Ethan’s first-person perspective in the present as Russ is arrested. Ethan feels guilty for upending Russ’s life and thrusting Russ’s wife and child into these circumstances, but he also believes he did the right thing. Ethan doesn’t believe that Russ simply sliced the tent. He remains convinced that Russ bears at least partial responsibility for Billy’s death.

Ethan is standing on the sidewalk, pondering Billy’s case and Russ’s involvement, when Ashley runs out from her own house, calling Ethan’s name. She tells him that Henry has disappeared, and they begin a frantic search. Ethan’s trail cam reveals photos of Henry being dragged out from the tent by a dark figure. The footage reveals that, as he was being abducted, Henry was smart enough to turn in such a way that the trail cam captured his kidnapper’s face. When Ethan and Ashley study the photo, they initially believe that Billy has come back from the spirit world to kidnap Henry. But when they look closer, they realize that the dark figure is not Billy—it’s his younger brother, Andy.

This chapter is also set in the present and narrated from Ethan’s first-person perspective as he tries to think through what is happening. He realizes that Ashley’s father was not hallucinating when he said he saw someone in Ethan’s backyard. When Vance Wallace said he saw the Barringer boy, both Ashley and Ethan assumed he meant Billy. But all along, Vance was trying to tell them he saw Andy.

It occurs to Ethan that Andy has been impersonating Billy and trying to make Ethan believe he was being haunted. Now he has taken Henry from Ethan’s backyard, just as Billy was abducted from the same location 30 years ago. Together, Ethan and Ashley run through the woods until they arrive at the Hawthorne Institute. Andy and Henry are standing on a ledge overlooking the waterfall where Billy’s body was found. Henry’s wrists have been tied with rope.

Ethan calls out to Andy and tries to reason with him, suggesting that Andy doesn’t really want to hurt Henry. Andy agrees, admitting that Henry’s abduction was simply a ploy to get Ethan’s attention. Heartbroken, Andy says that his grief is different from Ethan’s; where Ethan has been scarred by the loss of a childhood friend, Andy has spent a lifetime grieving his big brother. Ethan empathizes with Andy’s pain and carefully makes his way toward the ledge.

Ethan tries to convince Andy to let Henry go. Andy responds that he will not hurt Henry but he will not release him either—not until he and Ethan have talked. Andy admits that he has been lurking around Hemlock Circle since Billy’s body was discovered. He has been pretending to haunt Ethan because he wants Ethan to remember what really happened the night Billy died. Andy is ravaged by grief and desperate for closure.

Ethan tells Andy that he believes Russ was responsible, but Andy rejects this theory. He reveals that, on the night Billy died, he was hiding in Ethan’s backyard, spying on his older brother. And he heard Ethan’s last words to Billy.

This interlude is narrated from seven-year-old Andy’s third-person perspective. Andy feels lonely and excluded because his brother is a few years older and is able to do things Andy cannot. Billy has friends his own age in the neighborhood, but there are no other seven-year-olds for Andy to play with. Billy never invites him to play with his friends, so Andy spends most of his time alone.

Alone in the dark of his bedroom, Andy waits for his parents to fall asleep before creeping outside into Ethan’s backyard. Even if he can’t enjoy the sleepover himself, he wants to experience it vicariously—to watch his brother and imagine what it feels like to be older and have a best friend. While spying, Andy hears Ethan tell Billy that he should die and become a ghost. He senses the spite behind Ethan’s words and his heart aches for Billy.

Confused and frightened, Andy sneaks home and ponders what he heard. He wonders if that is how best friends talk to each other and if Ethan meant what he said. In the years that follow Billy’s disappearance, Andy wonders if Ethan is responsible.

Back in the present, Andy reveals his suspicions to Ethan, and Ethan stumbles backward, as though the words have hit him harder than a blow. Andy tries to make Ethan confess, insisting that Ethan is the only person who could have murdered Billy. Ethan replies that his words were driven by “frustration. Immaturity. Cruelty” and admits that he has spent the past 30 years wishing he could take those words back (344). He insists that he did not kill Billy.

Andy is unconvinced and lifts Henry over the edge of the waterfall, preparing to drop him. He implies that threatening Henry’s life will force Ethan to confess. Ethan scrambles to salvage the situation; although he knows he did not harm Billy, he is willing to confess to a crime he did not commit to save Henry. But just as Ethan opens his mouth to deliver his false confession, Ashley blurts out, “It was me!” (345). The shock of her words forces Ethan and Andy to pause. Ashley takes advantage of the moment and reiterates, “It’s not a lie, Ethan. It’s all true. It was me. I killed Billy” (345).

This flashback to the past is narrated from Billy’s third-person perspective on the night of his disappearance. Waking from a fitful sleep, Billy hears the scratching sound and notices the hole in the tent. He believes that it has been caused by a ghost and eagerly slips from the tent to find the spirit. He thinks about his conversations with Ezra and their mutual conviction that “there are ghosts everywhere if you just know where to look” (348).

Billy feels exhilarated because he believes he has finally found proof that ghosts exist. He assumes that, if a spirit is trying to communicate with him, it might be leading him back to the Hawthorne Institute. So, while the entire neighborhood is asleep, Billy runs into the forest, following his familiar path to the Hawthorne Institute. When he reaches the highway that separates the woods from the Institute, he isn’t looking at the road. He never sees the car coming.

This chapter is set in the present and narrated from Ethan’s first-person perspective as Ashley confesses. On the night Billy died, Ashley was driving home from a party. She did not yet have a driver’s license and she had consumed a few alcoholic drinks at the party. She was worried about arriving home after curfew and afraid that her parents would realize she was intoxicated. Ashley was so focused on getting home as fast as possible that she was paying little attention to the road.

When she felt her car hit something, she initially assumed it was a deer. But when she got out of the car to check, she realized she had hit Billy. He died immediately from the impact. Overcome by guilt and grief, Ashley sat in the middle of the road for an hour, cradling Billy’s body and sobbing as she apologized. She felt so guilty that she prayed that another car would come along and someone would see what she had done.

But no one came. Eventually, Ashley realized that there was nothing she could do to help Billy; even if she confessed, it would not bring him back. So, Ashley tenderly wrapped his body in a blanket and dragged him to the waterfall, where she pushed him beneath the stream. When she went home, she admitted to her parents that she had borrowed their car and lied that she hit a deer. Ashley accepted the punishment they gave her, feeling that she deserved far worse consequences.

As the weeks passed by, Ashley expected the police to find out what had happened and arrest her, but no one ever connected her to Billy. She got away with killing him, and the guilt ate her alive. Ethan and Andy realize that she is telling the truth, and Andy lets Henry go. Andy thanks her for giving him the closure he needs and falls to his knees, sobbing.

Unlike Andy, Ethan is not relieved. He is furious with Ashley for keeping the secret for so long. He feels unable to breathe as he reflects on the pain so many families have experienced over the years, all because of her secret. But Henry appears to be most deeply affected by his mother’s confession. When Ashley reaches out to comfort him, Henry steps away, suddenly afraid of her. That step causes Henry to lose his balance and he plummets backward, into the waterfall.

This chapter resumes the action of the present, still narrated from Ethan’s first-person perspective as Ethan dives into the water to save Henry. The murky water is disorienting and Ethan cannot see anything. He thrashes around blindly, reaching out for Henry’s hand, but finding nothing—until the moment a small boy’s hand closes around his.

Ethan is unable to articulate why he knows this, but he senses that the hand belongs to Billy. His confusion is replaced by a strange sense of peace, and Ethan realizes that he only felt this peaceful as a child when he was with Billy. He holds onto Billy’s hand and feels Billy’s spirit guide him through the water until he is suddenly touching Henry instead.

Ethan pulls Henry to safety, and Henry asks Ethan if he saw another boy in the water. Henry says the boy helped him and gave him a sense of peace and safety. Smiling, Ethan tells Henry that that boy is his best friend, Billy.

Narrated from Ethan’s third-person perspective, the story’s final chapter takes place on New Year’s Eve, one year after the events that unfolded at the waterfall. Ethan reflects on the aftermath of that night, observing that the truth of Billy’s disappearance was ultimately more mundane than anyone had imagined. No one kidnapped or tortured Billy; instead, there was only a tragic accident and a series of bad decisions made by many people who were struggling with their own internal turmoil.

But the truth has also helped the families of Hemlock Circle to move on. Although the neighborhood has changed—with the old families moving on and new families arriving—Ethan admits that this is a positive change. The infusion of new life in the neighborhood is a sign that Hemlock Circle has relinquished its ominous history and is once again seen as a safe and pleasant neighborhood.

Ethan’s life has changed as well. After Ashley’s confession at the waterfall, she turned herself in to Ragesh Patel and Cassandra Palmer, allowing them to arrest her. Ashley is currently in prison and she has given custody of Henry to Ethan. Although Ethan never imagined having a family, discovering the truth about Billy has given him the closure he needs to heal and invest in a happier future for himself.

He loves caring for Henry and he is pleased to see Henry thriving in school, making friends and developing the confidence and positive self-esteem Ethan always wanted for Billy. This evening, as they enjoy a quiet New Year’s Eve celebration together, Henry says, “Happy New Year, Dad” (354). This is the first time Henry has ever called Ethan “Dad,” and Ethan is rendered speechless by a sudden sense of joy. As he and Henry read a book together, Ethan feels that they—and Hemlock Circle as a whole—are turning a fresh page and starting a bright new chapter of their future.