Ninth House

Rosenfeld Hall, the former headquarters of a society, is causing a disturbance in the New Haven grid. Darlington and Alex go to check out and resolve the problem. While searching the building for the disturbance, they begin discussing left-handed people and Alex mentions that Hellie had been a lefty. In that moment, Darlington recalls the pattern of blood he had seen in the photos of the crime scene where Alex had been found, indicating that someone left-handed had killed the five men. Hellie had already been dead by that point, so Darlington realizes that Alex must have let her friend’s spirit possess her and kill everyone. Alex doesn’t deny it. Darlington is unsure of what to do after the revelation, so he decides to think about it later.

Daniel posits that someone has opened a portal in Rosenfeld Hall earlier that evening and begins the warding ritual. Suddenly, he is caught—the disturbance is not a portal at all. The last thing he sees is Alex standing unmoving, making no attempt to help him.  

For a few years, Alex had lived with Len, her dealer and boyfriend, and a few other people in a rundown apartment called Ground Zero. Len brought in a new girl, Helen Watson, or Hellie. Alex suspected he had wanted her to become jealous, but Hellie was friendly and likable. The two became close friends, often wandering around Los Angeles or taking the bus as far as their money could get them, dreaming about escape.

Len wanted to earn more money, but the distributor, a rich Jewish man named Eitan, did not trust him. Eitan’s cousin, Ariel, however, took a liking to Len during one of his visits to Los Angeles. Len invited Ariel to Ground Zero despite the terrible things Alex had heard about Ariel, especially about his treatment of women. Len wanted her and Hellie to have sex with Ariel, but Alex was scared. Instead, the two young women left the apartment and wandered around the city, ending up in a movie theatre. Alex fell asleep during the film and when she woke up, she was alone with no money. Hellie had gone back by herself in order to protect Alex.

By the time Alex found her way back to Ground Zero, it was already late at night. When Hellie came out into the living room, her eyes were “huge and glassy” and she couldn’t stop saying “no, no, no” (293). The two fell asleep in the living room. When Alex woke up, Hellie was lying with sad look on her face. Alex attempted to help her get up, but realized her friend was dead after vomiting while unconscious. The sad face is Hellie’s ghost.

Len came out into the living room and panicked when seeing the dead girl. Together with another guy from their group, Len dragged Hellie’s body outside and disposed of it. In shock, Alex begged her friend’s ghost not to leave, opening herself up so Hellie could possess her. The dead girl had been a left-handed baseball player, so she had an extremely powerful arm swing. Alex, possessed by her friend, picked up a bat and in quick succession smashed both Len and the second guy to death. Hellie went after Ariel next, and then walked around the house beating to death all the other men and boys sleeping off the drugs and alcohol. After killing everyone, Hellie took Alex’s body to the river where they washed off all the blood. When they returned, Alex lay down next to her dead friend. The next thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital with traces of drugs in her system.