The Watchers

Content Warning: This section discusses murder and death, captivity, and torture. It also mentions domestic abuse and alcohol addiction.

At daybreak, John runs away from a prison into the huge surrounding forest. He has explored the area extensively and is trying to save his wife, Ciara, who is still in prison. He thinks about their lives before they were imprisoned, especially their last breakfast before they took a drive into the forest. As John becomes lost, he motivates himself to keep going by thinking about how Ciara is “wilting” in prison (8). He also thinks about the one who told them the rules of the prison (Madeline), although he does not mention her by name. When night falls, he hears the watchers shrieking and wishes that he could enjoy Christmas with Ciara. The watchers attack him.

Mina drives into the forest. She is in the process of transporting a parrot from Galway, Ireland, to Connemara, on behalf of Peter, a bartender at her local pub. He offered to pay her to take the bird, a golden conure, to his friend Tim. Mina is an artist who watches people and draws them. One of the people in her neighborhood that she repeatedly sketches is a tall, unexpressive woman whom she has dubbed “the android” (16).