10. Red Carpet Once White
Contains spoilersOverview
In a flashback, eleven-year-old Shallan reels after two deaths in her home. Her father comforts her, instructing silence and carrying her past a glowing strongbox she believes contains a monster. He sings a lullaby and closes the door on the bodies, establishing a family secret and Shallan’s buried guilt.
Summary
Six years earlier, Shallan shakes with shock, convinced the world has ended and that she is to blame. Her father wipes blood from her cheek, promises protection, and urges her to pretend nothing happened.
He begins a familiar lullaby and lifts Shallan into his arms. In the room behind, two corpses lie on the floor, a white carpet turned red with blood. Shallan feels unworthy of comfort, branding herself a monster.
As her father carries her forward, they pass the body of a woman in white—Shallan’s mother—who shows little blood, while a nearby man has bled heavily. Shallan refuses to look at her mother’s eyes, dreading what she might see, and clings to the lullaby as if it could end the nightmare.
They move by a wall strongbox shining with light from its seams, which Shallan believes holds a monster. Her father leaves the room and closes the door on the corpses, sealing away the evidence and the secret along with Shallan’s guilt.
Who Appears
- Shallan Davar
Eleven-year-old, traumatized after two deaths; believes she is a monster and caused the tragedy.
- Shallan's father
Comforts Shallan, urges silence, sings a lullaby, and closes the door on the corpses.
- Shallan's mother
Lies dead in white; little blood visible; her unseen eyes haunt Shallan.
- Unknown man
Second corpse in the room; the one who bled heavily.