Starling House

Opal continues to ask why Arthur cannot leave Starling House. She recognizes that he ran away from the house temporarily when he was a child, and his temporary departure coincides with the time that she herself started having dreams about the house. Arthur and Opal both wonder if she is meant to be the next Warden, but Arthur knows that he will do anything to stop that from happening. He tells her to leave Eden, warning her that after he is killed, the beasts will come after others. This information explains the strange bad luck and numerous deaths in the history of the town. Arthur also explains that the beasts tend to attack the Gravelys in particular. He mentions an accident that killed four people at the Gravely power plant on the night his parents died. He also admits to Opal that there was a time after his parents’ deaths when he tried to ignore the beasts entirely. He reveals that this misguided decision coincided with the night her mother died. Hearing this, Opal leaves Starling House.

Reeling from all that Arthur has told her, Opal feels that she has somehow always known what really killed her mother. For the first time in years, she lets herself wallow in grief for days. Bev finds her on the third day, and Opal asks her if she knew that Opal was a Gravely. Bev tells her that everybody knew.

Meanwhile, Arthur continually drinks himself into a stupor after trying to puzzle out the true meaning of the dedication of The Underland. One day, he awakens on the library floor to find Jasper standing over him. Jasper tells Arthur to leave Opal alone. He also tells Arthur to order the house to leave both Jasper and Opal alone. When Jasper tells Arthur that he is now aware of his own family connection to the Gravelys, Arthur warns Jasper to get out of Eden. Jasper exits the house after telling Arthur that he might leave town, but Opal never will. Hours later, Arthur realizes that his notes on the beasts are gone.

Opal stops wallowing in grief once Jasper begins to appear in her dreams of the house. When she goes to the library, Charlotte tells her that she is leaving town and invites Opal to leave with her. When Jasper returns to the motel room, Opal bursts into tears and finally allows Jasper to comfort her. She then tries to return to the life she had before her time at Starling House, returning to her job at Tractor Supply and shoving her memories of the past away.

Opal receives a letter from Stonewood Academy, thanking her for her full payment of Jasper’s tuition. She realizes that Arthur has paid for Jasper’s schooling and interprets it as his attempt to repay the debt of inadvertently causing her mother’s death. Angry at this development, Opal picks a fight with Bev, who tells her that she has helped Opal and Jasper because Opal never asks for help. She encourages Opal to ask for help more often.

Opal goes to visit Jasper during his lunch hour and is shocked to see him with Arthur’s notepad. They argue about it, but Jasper asserts that Arthur has not told her everything and reveals what he has learned about the Starling House. He recounts the stories of various Wardens, all of whom lacked a stable home and were shunned by their communities when they first began to dream about Starling House. All of these people also sacrificed their blood to the house in order to take on the role of Warden. The previous Wardens saw the house as a sanctuary, not realizing that it was actually their grave, and Jasper refuses to let it become Opal’s grave as well.

Referring to Arthur’s notes, Jasper tells Opal that Wardens have been dying more quickly in recent years and that all of them actively chose to become Wardens. He gives her the other half of the letter that she stole from Arthur, in which his mother told him of the explicit choice she made to become a Warden. His mother also asserted that he did not have to make the same choice. This information makes Opal realize that Arthur became a Warden so that no one else would have to do so. Jasper reveals to Opal that he also has dreams about the house. He asks if she wants to keep him from the house because she is worried for him or because she wants the house for herself.

At Tractor Supply, Elizabeth finds Opal and asks her for the keys to Starling House. This time, instead of giving in, Opal punches Elizabeth and is quickly fired. As she sits on the bridge over Mud River, Opal decides she must apologize to her brother. She repeatedly tries to call him, but when he does not answer his phone, she notices an ethereal mist rising on the river: the signal that a beast is approaching.

Elizabeth calls Arthur and insinuates that she has gotten all the information she needs from Opal. She refuses to tell Arthur what she has done to Opal. She also claims to have just the right incentive to convince him to give up Starling House.

Opal continues to call Jasper, to no avail. His friend tells her that Jasper is either at an interview or at home. As she continues to walk, she sees that the motel is on fire. People hold her back as she tries to rush into her room, and the local constable asks someone behind her if she is the one whom he has noticed acting strangely. Opal recognizes him as one of the men who was in the car with Elizabeth. He claims that she dropped a matchbox Opal had seen Elizabeth with earlier at Tractor Supply.

Constable Mayhew, who once declared her mother’s accident to be a suicide, now takes Opal to the sheriff’s office. Before she is put behind bars, Bev and Charlotte show up, asking what he is doing and reassuring Opal that they didn’t find anyone in the fire. Charlotte reveals that she was at the motel earlier and did not see Opal. Charlotte also confesses that she frequents the hotel because she is dating Bev. Elizabeth arrives and threatens to revoke Opal’s guardianship of Jasper, suggesting that he will have a new family instead. Don Gravely comes in and offers to take care of both Opal and Jasper, but she knows it will come at the cost of sacrificing Starling House. She recognizes that although Gravely is technically her family, she has a found family of her own that is far more important than someone who shares the same name. Don accidentally reveals that his brother, (her mother’s father), was going to give everything to Jewell, but Don burned the will years earlier.

Constable Mayhew knocks on the door and announces that another visitor has arrived. Opal is shocked when Arthur walks in. Once the constable frees Opal from her handcuffs, Elizabeth allows her to leave. Arthur goes with Opal.

Arthur refuses to tell Opal what kind of deal he has made with Elizabeth and Don Gravely, but when he guarantees her and Jasper’s safety, Opal knows that he must have made some kind of arrangement. She receives a call from Jasper, who is at the library, and Arthur gives her his truck so that she can get to her brother. She promises Arthur that she and Jasper will leave Eden that night.

Opal tells Jasper what happened with Elizabeth and reveals that he has been accepted at Stonewood. Jasper is angry that she enrolled him without telling him. She also confirms that they are members of the Gravely family, but he already knows. He has won a college scholarship and promises to take care of her once he earns his degree. He feels like he owes her everything, but Opal tries to convince him that he owes her nothing. She gives him money to buy a bus ticket to Louisville, and they both know that she is choosing to return to Starling House.