How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I know all that goes on in the houses we pass. I tell Surrender about it as we trundle along. Everything here belongs to me: I reign, I infect this town. I'm the unexplained noises, each mislaid bit and piece. I'm the murmur, the shadow, the creaking floor. I'm the blackout, the echo, the scratcher-at-the-door. (4.3)
We're scared just hearing about Finnigan's relationship to the town, and we don't even live there. That overwhelming sense of fear that Finnigan creates in us as readers is mimicked in the people he actually interacts with.
Quote #2
I had feared and feared he wouldn't come, had traced his name with my fingertips hoping to cast a returning spell. I had chewed my nails to the quick. (5.1)
Gabriel is scared of the possibility of Finnigan showing up. Translation? He's scared of who he becomes when he's angry and wants revenge for something. Even though we don't know it yet, Gabriel and Finnigan are one and the same.
Quote #3
He was mine—my concern. Away from him, I worried. I would run home from school hysterical with fear that one of my imagined tragedies had overtaken him. (7.12)
Vernon creates a sense of panic in Gabriel, not over what he might do, but what might be done to him. Gabriel knows his parents hate Vernon and never miss an opportunity to show it, and this makes him worried about what they might do to his brother.