Following the former’s birthday party in which she felt the need as opposed to the want to invite the latter, a socially remote classmate, teenagers Claire, her best friend Marcia, and Casey are abducted, the assailant who was able to subdue Claire’s father in carrying out the actual abduction. Held in what they can only assume is a dungeon in what they can see has several layers of locked doors, Claire and Marcia on one side with their own thoughts and Casey on the other with opposing thoughts try to figure out the best way to save themselves, their abductor who they don’t know if a pedophile or a voyeur in what he has shown of himself to them. Claire and Marcia are also unaware that what has made Casey as remote as she is may give her a unique perspective into their situation. Their thoughts change when they discover that their abductor suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID), and that the identity with who they subsequently interact not necessarily the same as the one who abducted them, Dennis, resulting in a change in their thought processes to include more psychological measures to get out of their predicament. The “body” of their abductor belongs to Kevin Wendell Crumb, who is under the psychiatric care of Dr. Karen Fletcher. She is doing research on DID, her theory being that the identities are not just different personalities, but different physiological beings. While she has yet to meet them all, she is aware of twenty-three different identities within Kevin, the strongest in being able to emerge into “the light” up to this point being effeminate designer Barry. She does believe however that Dennis, who she has yet to meet formally, and Miss Patricia are beginning to take over, they the two considered the outcasts among the identities. It is something that “Barry” divulges to Dr. Fletcher – she certain it being Dennis pretending to be Barry – about a twenty-fourth that is the fate Dennis had in mind in abducting the girls, that twenty-fourth an amalgam of what is inside Kevin a result of the abuse he suffered as a child, and the environment in which Kevin lives, there where he has hidden the girls.
—Huggo
参考翻译：
在前者的生日派对上，她觉得有必要而不是想邀请后者。之后，一个与社会关系疏远的同学、十几岁的克莱尔、她最好的朋友玛西娅和凯西被绑架了，袭击者在实施绑架时制服了克莱尔的父亲。他们只能假设这是一个地牢，在他们能看到的地方，有几层锁着的门，克莱尔和玛西娅一边有自己的想法，凯西另一边有相反的想法，试图找出拯救自己的最佳方式，绑架者，他们不知道他是恋童癖者还是偷窥者，他向他们展示了自己。克莱尔和玛西娅也不知道，让凯西如此疏远的原因可能会让她对自己的处境有一个独特的看法。当他们发现绑架者患有分离性身份障碍（DID）时，他们的想法会发生变化，他们随后与绑架者丹尼斯（Dennis）互动的身份不一定相同，这导致他们的思维过程发生变化，包括更多心理措施，以摆脱困境。绑架者的“尸体”属于凯文·温德尔·克拉姆，目前由卡伦·弗莱彻医生进行精神治疗。她正在研究DID，她的理论是，身份不仅是不同的个性，而且是不同的生理存在。虽然她还没有见到所有人，但她意识到凯文身上有23种不同的身份，到目前为止，最能在《光明》中崭露头角的是柔弱的设计师巴里。不过，她确实认为，丹尼斯和帕特里夏小姐已经开始接手，他们两人都认为是身份中的弃儿。“巴里”向弗莱彻博士透露了一件事——她肯定是丹尼斯假装巴里——大约24岁，这就是丹尼斯绑架女孩时的命运，24岁是凯文童年遭受虐待后体内物质的混合体，以及凯文生活的环境，他把女孩藏在那里。-雨果
重点词汇释义：
birthday party生日聚会
as opposed to而不是
want to应该
best friend最好的朋友
assailant攻击者; 行凶者; 攻击的
able to可以; 有能力; 原来能够按时完成
abductor劫持者; 绑架者; 绑匪; 展肌
