He lets himself in, then, granting a brief glimpse of twilight before he shuts the door. I move back, knowing the big silhouette, the darkness of it, blending so well with the shadows as he goes to the stove, taking a second to warm himself. A rustle as he sheds some outer layers, a heavy coat, maybe some gloves. “There you are,” he says in his soft, modulated voice. “Took you long enough.”

Mr. Mac comes closer, dressed in what helps him look like part of the night: dark Carhartts, a black fleece vest over a black hooded sweatshirt. A ski cap he removes, gently squeezing it in his hands as he lowers it, never taking his eyes off me. They’re a mild shade of brown.

“What . . . ?” I shake my head, and maybe I’m not fully awake yet, because I feel like I’m floating, up there with the moth, and the questions I should ask won’t come.

“Go ahead and lie back.” He sets the hat on an unseen shelf, carries a big metal toolbox to a bench near the cot, opens it, brings out a handful of black plastic strips. Zip ties.

My body’s never given signals like this before—air traffic control with all the boards lit up, alarms blaring, flaggers signaling go, go now. I make a slight move to push myself off the cot; he turns, and I’m completely blocked by his bulk, my face level with the broadest part of his thigh.

We stare at each other for a moment, and then Mr. Mac sets the ties down, walks around the end of the cot, grabs a flashlight as he opens a closet door. He shines the beam straight down into a face: eyes huge, mouth covered in a strip of duct tape, dried blood all down one side of her head and neck. Hazel sees him, then me, and starts thrashing; her cries behind the strip are what I was hearing, that babbling brook.

He hunkers down beside her, glancing at me. “Okay, Clara? For every bit of trouble you give me”—he swirls the beam in Hazel’s face, watching her wince—“she’ll lose a little piece. One piece at a time.” He sniffs, maybe a touch of fall allergies. “You think about what piece I’ll start with, the next time you want to make this hard.”

He shuts her away.