Vicious

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013

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Chapters 49-53Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 49 Summary

In his hotel room, Eli tells Stell he wants a meeting with the entire police force while under Serena’s influence. Stell says that he first needs to find the officer helping him, who has gone missing. Eli calls the other officer, whose phone just keeps ringing.

Meanwhile, Victor waits with the officer’s corpse. Mitch arrives with Sydney, and Victor explains that he killed the officer because he was helping Eli and that he needs Sydney to bring him back. Sydney is scared but raises the officer. Victor asks the officer about Eli, and the officer repeats that Eli is a hero. Victor kills him again, now understanding that death “doesn’t seem to sever the connection” (261). The officer’s phone rings. Victor answers Eli’s call. Eli tells Victor he won’t get out of the city alive. Victor says he has no plans to get away and ends the call by saying “see you at midnight” (263). Victor takes Sydney for a hot chocolate, leaving Mitch to dispose of the officer’s body.

Chapter 50 Summary

Chapter 50 takes place an unspecified amount of time ago and shows Mitch’s progression through his life of crime. Though people think he’s stupid because he’s big, the opposite is true—Mitch is very intelligent, which means it was “easy to get into trouble” (265). Mitch first lands in prison because he’s an easy person to blame, and he finds he doesn’t mind prison so much because he fits in. After his second prison stay for a crime he didn’t commit, Mitch decides that if he’s going to go back, it will be for something he actually did. Mitch attempts to rob a bank and ends up in the same prison as Victor.

Chapter 51 Summary

Eli tells an audience of police officers under Serena’s influence that Victor is an EO, abducted Sydney, and killed Stell’s partner. The news upsets the officers and Eli feels he can fix the mistake he made 10 years ago “and end Victor’s life himself” (271). Serena tells the gathered officers Eli is a hero, and they whole-heartedly agree. Eli goes to take out the next mark on his list. Eli prefers to kill alone, but Serena uses her power to make Eli take her along.

Chapter 52 Summary

At the hotel, Sydney wonders what Victor has planned for midnight. She looks through the profiles of dead EOs, working hard “not to picture Victor’s photo in among them” (275). She isn’t afraid of Victor and hopes he hurts Eli.

Chapter 53 Summary

In prison, Mitch is wary of getting too close to anyone, as people have a tendency to end up dead when he’s around. When Victor gets assigned as his cellmate, Mitch is determined to make sure he lives and follows Victor around, always on guard for an attack. Despite Victor’s small size, the other inmates give him a wide berth. Mitch finally realizes it’s because everything about Victor screams “predator,” which makes him wonder “if Victor was really the one who needed protecting” (278).

Chapters 49-53 Analysis

In Chapter 49, Schwab deepens her investigation of what is lost or gained through death and resurrection. The effect of Serena’s power over the resurrected officer suggests that life and death are not so far removed from one another. It may be that people don’t change after death, holding the same beliefs and ideals they did in life. It may also be that the manner of resurrection matters. Serena’s power holding could suggest that Sydney’s gift not only brings people back but restores them to who they were before they died. This suggests Sydney’s resurrection is different from an NDE in which someone might become an EO. If Eli’s theory is correct and EOs lose something when they return, this may not be true of how Sydney revives a person.

Chapter 49 also gives a glimpse into Victor’s personality. Though Victor has no real plan yet, he offers Eli the deadline of midnight. Doing so leaves Victor rushed to figure out his approach, but he doesn’t care about the time limit as long as there’s a chance for him to confront Eli. Victor is obsessed with making Eli hurt, showing that the two men, despite having very different views on many things, are still fundamentally similar to one another.