Timeline of Events:

Before the Novel Starts:

1. Damien was taken away from his grandmother as she could no longer care for
him due to her being old and living off a low pension plan
2. Damien is put into an adoption facility where he lives for one year
3. Damien was adopted in 2008 by Jane and Darren Thomenger
4. In 2013, Damien was sent to a psychiatric hospital after he had a psychotic
episode
a. He had lashed out at his parents and screamed at them for hours upon
hours about how they stole him and he hated them
b. He attacked his mother when she reached out to him and gave her the
long scar on her right shoulder
5. Damien was released from the hospital in 2015, and was prescribed medications
to take in order for him to get better/stabilize him
When the Novel Starts:
1. December 15, Amelia and her mother move to Vancouver from St. Albert
2. December 19, Amelia meets Damien for the first time when she walks into
class and is seated beside him
a. December 19, Damien is assigned to show Amelia around the
school
3. December 25, Damien receives a text from Amelia that says “Merry
Christmas” with a heart emoji
a. Makes Damien feel touches and it’s his first Christmas that he
spends feeling genuinely happy and/or not on the verge of having
another psychotic episode
4. January 9, first day back from winter vacation and Damien hears that
Amelia was asked out over winter vacation by a boy in his class (Jacob
Demkin)
a. Damien becomes extremely jealous and his obsessive tendencies
are shown on display for the first time
5. January 20, Amelia opens up to Damien about her mother and her
condition
a. Amelia trusts him and he is the first person she has told
6. February 14, Damien meets Amelia’s mother in the hospital and he
despises her because she is the one who makes Amelia suffer and takes
up so much of her time
7. March 2, Damien has his checkup with his psychiatrist and doctor
a. They say that he is doing well in recovery but Damien notices his
father watches them extremely closely
8. March 19, Damien threatens a fellow student (Jacob) because he has
been hitting on Amelia
a. Threatens to kill him and this is the turning point for Damien’s
obsession becoming a serious and violent issue
9. April 5, Damien manipulates Amelias for the first time
a. Damien uses her vulnerable state (caused by her mother’s illness)
to get closer to her and try to start a romantic relationship
b. He guilts her and tells her how he’s all she will have left once her
mother dies
10. April 10, Damien flushes his medications down the toilet and notices his
door is open (he thinks: was it open before?)
a. His father witnessed him flushing his medications down the toilet
11. April 20, Damien overhears his parents speaking about how he has
gotten worse and they want to send him to back to the institution
12. May 3, Amelia’s mother dies
a. Damien uses this to manipulate her further and try to become
romantically involved with her one more time
b. They kiss once and then Damien watches Amelia sleep in her
bedroom
13. May 4, Amelia speaks with Damien’s parents about him
a. His parents reveal that Damien has DID
14. May 4, Damien’s parents confront him, and tell him that he’s going back
to the hospital
a. Damien goes insane and tries to attack his mother
b. Amelia screams at Damien to stop and he does, but then he lunges
at her
c. Damien eventually passes out
15. May 6, Damien is put into a mental institution
a. He reads the final pages of “The Shirak’s Cry” and sees a sketch of
the man ripping out the girl’s throat
b. Damien releases a guttural, painful sob and attempts to kill himself
c. This is where the novel ends (allows the readers to imagine their
own ending; either Damien kills himself or he doesn’t)