Every Heart A Doorway

Jill is the novella’s antagonist. Like her identical twin, Jack, she has “long blonde hair, freckles, […] and narrow shoulders” (48). She carries a parasol and wears pastel dresses because her vampiric Master liked pale colors that “showed the blood better” (66). Her appearance reflects her continued devotion to her Master, foreshadowing her murderous plot to return to him. Jill demonstrates a selfish disregard for others’ lives. When Nancy and her allies confront her, she declares, “I care about my Master. I care about myself, and the rest of you can hang” (163). Jill’s cleverness allows her to escape detection while committing three murders, and no one suspects her until she attacks her sister. In addition to concealing her bloody deeds from others, Jill lies to herself. She blames Jack for her banishment even though her own violent acts spurred the villagers’ revolt. Likewise, she insists that her Master was “good” to her and loved her like a daughter even though the evidence suggests that he was merely using her as a source of blood (66). Jill’s intelligence, selfishness, and refusal to accept reality lead her to become the novella’s villain.

Jill’s actions illustrate the dark side of The Search for Belonging as well as the dangers of hope and loyalty. Her deeply rooted anger can be traced back to her parents’ limiting views of her: “Jill got to be the smart one, with expectations and standards she was supposed to live up to” (79). This anger drives her to leave her original world behind, and she later directs her ire at her sister. Although twins in literature are often depicted as inseparable, Jill subverts this trope by attacking Jack and mistakenly placing her loyalty in the Master. Jill is driven by her search for belonging; she commits murders and tries to build a skeleton key out of her victims’ bodies in a desperate effort to return to the Moors, the only place she feels at home. These killings shape the novella’s structure and add elements of mystery to the fantasy narrative. The suspenseful confrontation between Jill and Nancy’s friends marks the climax, and her death and future reanimation give the story a resolution that offers justice and the possibility of transformation.

Jack is Jill’s sister and Nancy’s friend. She and her twin have the same slender frame and blond hair and look to be “in their late teens, with eyes that [a]re much older” (49). Jack’s sense of style, such as her “bow tie patterned with tiny biohazard symbols” (48), reflects her passion for science. The brilliant young woman studied under Dr. Bleak during her time in the Moors, and he taught her how to reanimate the dead. Jack has retained her unbridled scientific curiosity after returning to Earth, leading some of her classmates to consider her unfeeling and dangerous. This is seen when Loriel immediately accuses Jack of being the murderer when Sumi’s body is discovered: “You can’t keep your hands or your scalpels to yourself” (77).

Jack sometimes encourages her classmates’ assumption that she is incapable of anything but cold rationality to shield herself emotionally. One of the warmest moments in the novella occurs when she prepares personalized hot chocolates that taste like her friends’ portal worlds, but she fears that she has shown vulnerability in performing this act of kindness: “‘Say nothing of it,’ said Jack. Somehow, coming from her, it wasn’t politeness: it was a plea. Let this momentary kindness be forgotten, it said. Don’t let it linger, lest it be seen as weakness” (129). Students like Loriel and Angela who went to “good, respectable worlds” look down on social outcasts like Jack and her friends (151), but Jack’s characterization reveals how ill founded this sense of superiority is. Jack’s portal world is Wicked, but the kind, loyal girl uses her intelligence and curiosity to help others.

As the protagonist’s ally and Jill’s foil, Jack plays a key role in the novella’s structure and themes. Her scientific knowledge and cool rationality in the face of crises help Nancy’s allies gather clues and unravel the mystery. During the climax, Jack neutralizes the threat that Jill poses by killing her sister and taking her to the Moors so that she can resurrect her in a new form outside the murderous Master’s influence: “Her Master won’t want her now. Once you’ve died and been resurrected, you can’t be a vampire” (164). McGuire makes Jack’s character dynamic by initially portraying her as cold and blunt and gradually revealing the depth of her compassion and selflessness. For example, the final chapter explains that Jack and Dr. Bleak’s experiments weren’t to blame for the villagers’ revolt and the twins’ banishment despite Jill’s accusations: “[M]ost of the locals left us their bodies when they died, because they knew we could use the bits they’d left behind to save lives. We were doctors” (159). Jack develops the theme of The Tension Between Familial Expectations and Individual Needs because her parents labeled her as “the pretty one,” yet the Moors are her true home because she was free to unleash her curiosity and intellect there: “I gave up on wanting to go home the second Dr. Bleak put a bone saw in my hand and told me he would teach me anything I wanted to know” (119). Jack’s decision to leave the world she loved with her banished sister makes her an important figure in the theme of loyalty. Her one-sided commitment to Jill proves dangerous because it prevents her from realizing that she’s the killer until Jill attacks her. In addition, Jack develops the theme of belonging because she’s part of Nancy’s friend group, which builds a sense of community amid the fear and homesickness that the students face. Jack makes important contributions to the mystery’s plot and the novella’s thematic meaning.

Kade is Eleanor’s great-nephew and one of the first friends Nancy makes at the school. The 18-year-old has “golden tan” skin, black hair, brown eyes, and “perfect” features. One of Kade’s strengths is his self-knowledge. He understands who he is and refuses to compromise himself. This is demonstrated by his awareness that he “wouldn’t be who [he is] if [he] hadn’t gone to Prism” and his declaration that he “wouldn’t go back [to Prism] if you paid [him]” because his authentic self isn’t welcome there (69, 70). Kade shows his protective side when he helps Nancy adjust to her new surroundings and ensures that she is not alone after Sumi’s death. In addition, Kade is motivated to participate in the murder investigation by his desire to protect the school as a whole: “[I]t’s important to me that we take care of this place, because it’s been taking care of all of us since the day we got here” (101). The school is especially important for him because he isn’t accepted by his portal world or his biological family due to their anti-transgender prejudice. Kade is a natural leader, and this becomes increasingly apparent as the story goes on. He manages clothing swaps for the student body, and he begins “stepping up to fill the void Lundy had left” to help his great-aunt run the school (165). Kade’s traits support his function as Eleanor’s heir and the school’s future headmaster.

Kade promotes Nancy’s growth and the themes of belonging and expectations. The protagonist thinks that he is “possibly the most beautiful boy she’d ever seen” (121), and the flirting and banter between the teenagers adds another element of intrigue to the novel. However, they remain friends rather than pursuing a romantic relationship. The absence of a love story from the novella keeps Nancy’s character arc focused on her growth toward asserting her own needs and emphasizes that returning to the Halls of the Dead is the only way to truly fulfill her search for belonging. Kade’s search for belonging sets him apart from the other students because he doesn’t want to go back to his portal world and instead must find community in his “forever home” at the school (100). Additionally, Kade possesses a distinct perspective on The Tension Between Familial Expectations and Individual Needs. He knows from bitter personal experience how parents “try to force [the world] into the boxes they build” in a way that denies their children’s needs and experiences (38). By the end of the novella, Kade helps Nancy find a sense of community at the school, and she feels like she could “learn to be happy” there with him (167). The friends’ parting makes the happy ending somewhat bittersweet, but both characters find what they need. While Nancy fulfills her search for belonging by returning to the Halls of the Dead, Kade finds purpose and belonging by protecting Eleanor’s legacy and securing the school’s future.