“When you see a fire raging out of control, it’s hard to believe it’s nothing more than a simple chemical reaction: potential energy released in the form of light and heat. It seems alive, with a soul as dark as the flames are bright. Watch it long enough and you can truly come to feel that its raging destruction is motivated by fury and a cruel desire to cause pain.”

The fire that destroys Nick’s family home and kills his mother behaves like all such infernos. The flames he escapes are seared into his memory. Their destructive vehemence seems violently human; the intense emotions they stimulate foreshadow the upcoming massive threats that Nick will face.

“Caitlin figured he was about her age. The Tampa Bay baseball cap he wore revealed dark hair that was cropped short and only partially hid a small bandage on his forehead over his left eye. He had a nice tan, but his clothes were about three years behind the times. Florida, she thought, with a mental snort, and felt a bit sorry for him.”

Caitlin is popular at school; she’s used to judging others based on their relative coolness. Her quick judgment of Nick is a part of her manner of controlling her social environment by keeping things she likes, but can’t control, at a distance.

“Nick woke […] into dim morning light coming from a small frosted window in the far wall of his attic room. High above, the four triangular planes of the roof joined together in a pyramidal skylight, but the glass had been covered with black paint. The only way he knew it was a skylight at all was because of the small spots where the paint had peeled away. At even the brightest times of day, the attic lingered in twilight.”

The bedroom Nick has chosen is the attic, a strange place with a tall, pointed roof and little light. Its shadows literally foreshadow strange doings to come in the lonely room at the top of the old house.