The Writing Retreat

The women believe that Poppy sleepwalked out into the snow. They can only hope that she found her way back somehow, or out to another safe place. Her prospects, however, are grim, given that there are no other properties within 20 miles of Blackbriar. Keira accuses Roza of orchestrating the tragedy.

In their fear and disbelief, everyone turns to Alex, who was the last one to see Poppy. Suspicions run high. Wren and Keira search through Poppy’s things, hoping to find a contact number for family or friends. What they find actually find raises everyone’s suspicions even further: According to her New York state driver’s license, “Poppy from Atlanta” is actually Zoe Canard.

Yana has called the police, who cannot arrive until tomorrow. The snowstorm has made the roads nearly impassable and caused numerous accidents, presenting more urgent matters for them to attend to. Keira has decided that, when the police do come, she will leave along with them.

Alex retreats to her room to rest, but Wren interrupts her. Wren has with her an advance copy of an unpublished book. It turns out that Poppy is not a writer: She has simply been copying this manuscript and altering a few details along the way. She was at the retreat under false pretenses.

Alex and Wren go back to the basement to investigate what Poppy might have been looking at, but find nothing. Wren accuses Alex of hiding something from her. Alex admits that she remembers having sex, although she does not know whether it was real or a dream. Wren leaves. Alex is resting her head against the wall when a panel suddenly opens, revealing a keypad and a door to another room. Alex realizes that Poppy somehow knew about this hidden room. She also notices a security camera perched on the other side of the room, filming the door.

Alex concludes that something is very wrong: “Either Zoe was dead or Roza was unhinged” (183). Alex convenes with the others in the morning, hoping that Zoe has somehow become trapped in the secret room. If so, Alex believes that police were never actually called.

Roza confirms Alex’s suspicions, but suggests that the retreat continue as before. Roza reckons that this tragic turn of events will only compel them to work harder and dig deeper into their talents.

The meeting adjourns with everyone except Keira agreeing to continue their work. Alex follows Roza to her room. Roza has promised that she will radio the police immediately and Alex wants to ensure she follows through. She waits outside the door but hears nothing. Yana catches her lurking, so Alex says that she just wants to talk to Roza. Roza comes to the door and lies to Alex, saying the police will be here this afternoon.

Alex joins the others, who are all gathered in Wren’s room. She tells them about Roza’s lie. They decide that they will have to break into Roza’s room and radio the police themselves. Keira picks the lock. She and Alex investigate. In fact, someone has dismantled the radio: They have no way to call for help.

They then decide that the only recourse they have is to break into the secret room themselves. Because they lack the key panel code, they will have to find another way in. Because Roza’s room is directly above it, they think that the two spaces are connected.

Keira surmises that the basement security camera is almost certainly not Blackbriar’s only form of surveillance. Keira rummages through Alex’s room, breaking the clock and slashing the back of a painting. Keira’s destructiveness stuns Alex, but she understands that they need answers. If Roza is not hiding Poppy/Zoe, then she must really be dead: a reality that nobody wants to face. Regardless, they do not find any other cameras—that is, until Keira demands that Taylor take off the necklace gifted to her from Roza. There is a tiny camera hidden behind the animal’s diamond eyes.

Alex volunteers to find an entrance to the hidden chamber from Roza’s room while the others are having dinner.

Everyone seems suspicious to one another: Alex begins to suspect that it was Taylor who had seduced her in the basement, which means that her experience with “Lamia” was not a hallucination.

Alex quickly searches Roza’s room for a secret passageway. She walks into Roza’s double wardrobe, looking for its hard back. To her amazement, this is missing.

Alex creeps along the dark passageway until she comes upon an iron staircase that winds down to a room. She sees a bank of computer monitors, which show everything in the house, even the bathrooms. She realizes the women have been under constant surveillance since the moment they stepped foot in Blackbriar.

Alex also finds another room, just beyond the monitors, which looks “like a large prison cell” (206): Zoe is inside. Alex goes to Zoe, who begs her to call the police. Before Alex can respond, she is stung in the neck by something sharp.

Alex awakes in the cell with Zoe. They discuss Zoe’s true identity: She is the best friend of a woman whose daughter was accepted into Roza’s retreat. Zoe has been impersonating her. She seeks revenge on Rosa, who she believes killed her aunt.

According to Zoe, her aunt Lucy had befriended Roza; they socialized in common literary circles. In fact, Lucy was the real author of Roza’s book Lion’s Rose—and Lucy was murdered to facilitate Roza’s literary theft. Zoe knows that Roza stole Lucy’s manuscript because, as a budding high school writer herself, Zoe had often turned to Lucy for guidance. Consequently, Zoe had read parts of Lucy’s novel and learned through Lucy that Roza had purchased Blackbriar; apparently, Roza was very proud of its haunted provenance and many secret rooms. Zoe thus went searching for them after arriving at Blackbriar herself. She recalled how Lucy had once mentioned that Roza used her friend Mila’s date of death as the secret passcode.

Further, Zoe surmised that Roza had only written one of the books published under her name: the widely panned Lady X. Everything else, including the novel that first catapulted her to fame, had been authored by others. That first novel, Devil’s Tongue, was actually written by Roza’s friend, Mila, then supposedly dying of cancer. Zoe believes that Roza poisoned her. This writing retreat was merely Roza’s latest excuse to steal another promising writer’s work, and possibly to murder another person.

Keira, Taylor, and Wren suddenly burst in. The cell stuns them, though Alex notices a strange expression on Taylor’s face. Taylor quickly steps back out of the room and locks the door. It turns out that Taylor has been working with Roza the entire time. She also confirms that she and Alex did have sex the night of the LSD-laced punch. She leaves them to their fate.

Taylor comes back several hours later and throws some water bottles to the prisoners. Since they have all been opened, Keira cautions them not to drink.

Wren is becoming increasingly ill. Alex is very worried about her. Taylor returns and lays out ground rules: The prisoners must drink the water, which she claims contains only sedatives. She says that Wren will also be provided medication, heaters, and blankets if the others don’t try to escape. Taylor promises that Roza herself will speak to them in the morning if they follow these rules. With little choice, they drink the water.

The next morning they awaken groggy but otherwise okay. There is a pot of coffee waiting for them. Wren says she is feeling slightly better. Taylor welcomes them with a cheerful good morning and says that food is on the way. Chitra comes down some time later to deliver a platter of breakfast; she looks ashamed but cowed. Taylor taunts the prisoners, claiming that she is Roza’s girlfriend, more meaningful to Roza than any of them could ever have been. Zoe mocks Taylor in return, wondering why Roza would keep a schoolteacher around. Taylor explodes at her, claiming that she was the true author of Maiden Pink, another of Roza’s supposed works. Alex looks at Zoe: She was right.

Roza finally ventures down to the cell and tells the imprisoned women that they will have to write both for their freedom and for their lives. The catch is that they all must agree to continue their novels or none of them will survive. She will only publish one of them under her name, but she promises to make lucrative financial arrangements for the others. Roza knows she can blackmail them and, if need be, cast aspersions on their reputations should they try to come forward.

Daphne is now behind bars in the secret room at Blackbriar. Her husband, Horace, has locked her up. She is discomfited by the silence and pleads with Lamia to help her. Lamia asks Daphne for her trust, saying that if Daphne simply keeps on with her commission, channeling Lamia’s visions, then she will be fine.

Taylor brings down a clock. The others ask her why she gave her book to Roza. Taylor replies that the two were in love with each other, that it was a willing sacrifice. Yana enters the room, interrupting the conversation and sending an irritable Taylor away. Something dawns on Alex. She asks Yana if she wrote Polar Star, another of Roza’s books. Yana remains silent, although her face changes colors. The others know the truth. Alex compliments her on the book, calling it her favorite. They ask Yana for help, but she leaves without a word.

Alex and Wren quietly discuss their predicament. Alex wonders if Keira and Zoe are in on Roza’s scheme, too. Wren tries to dismiss this, but suspicions are still running high. The two promise that they can at least trust each other.

Keira becomes ill. Alex wonders if this is part of a deception. Taylor returns to the room to fetch Zoe. Roza likes her latest work and wants to discuss it with her. When the others exchange glances—this could be their chance to escape—Taylor waves a handgun, discouraging them. Still, when Zoe walks up to the cell door, they spring into action—all except Alex, who is caught off guard. The attack is thwarted when Yana springs at Wren, raking her face open with her nails, and Taylor shoots Zoe as Zoe attempts to wrest the gun away. Zoe expires in a pool of blood with the others looking on. Taylor blames them for Zoe’s death.

Keira attends to Wren’s face after Zoe’s body is removed. She and Alex look at the stain left behind and discuss how the retreat has devolved into chaos and death. Keira notes that she stayed even when she knew Roza was dangerous, because she believed this was her “only chance” to get published (245).

The next day, Alex is summoned to Roza’s room. No one tries to escape this time. Taylor wants to stay as Alex and Roza talk, under the guise of protecting Roza, but Roza sends her away, keeping the handgun. Roza proceeds to tell Alex the reason behind all of her heinous actions: She was meant to be a writer; she just could not actually write. Thus, she has to steal and polish the work of others. Alex sarcastically points out that Roza could have simply decided to be an editor, but Roza dismisses this view. She believes that she helps others reach their full potential—just as she is right now, with this deadly retreat.

She also tells Alex that she will not continue to publish, that her responsibility to foster genius has come to an end. She will let the writers go once they finish their books; she will even let them take their manuscripts with them. However, Alex must convince the others to keep writing. Roza will not release them until their books are finished. She fears that without this pressure, they will not complete them. Alex does not believe her, although she continues to write.

Abigail is working with Horace to keep Daphne imprisoned. Daphne’s power had become so threatening that Abigail decided she must be kept controlled. Daphne is surprised at Abigail, whom she had previously thought weak. However, Daphne understands that women must wear many disguises to gain and maintain power. Abigail refuses to provide Daphne with paper or pencils, which means that she cannot continue to channel Lamia. But once Abigail leaves, Lamia again reaches out to Daphne, urging her to remain strong. Lamia promises to eventually return to her and reveal “the ultimate Truth” (252; original emphasis). Daphne eats the food that is brought to her.

Alex reflects on the fact that she continues writing, unblocked. She thinks this may be the best writing she has ever produced. This almost sends her into hysterical laughter.

Taylor comes down, this time to fetch Wren for Roza. After she leaves, Yana returns to the cell and opens the door. She hands the snowmobile keys to Keira and ignores Alex’s words of thanks.

Alex and Keira run to the garage and discover the snowmobile. They also see a blanket from which a lock of hair is protruding. As Keira starts the engine, Alex realizes that she cannot leave Wren behind. This is, she suspects, what Roza would expect her to do. For the first time since all of this transpired, Alex feels calm. She thinks she can trust herself.