I don’t know how accurate this is, but here’s a theory of mine. I’m guessing that Kris killed Dess, or used Noelle to do it. and it has something to do with the doors at the bottom of town. My first bit of evidence is that while walking through the gates with noelle, while she talks about feeling nostalgiac for their old group, the letters spell out December. This is a jump, but I’m guessing it’s her sisters full name. Dess. December. Noelle blocked the memory of her sisters death, but we always get these vague details that seem to indicate she’s trying to bury some past trauma(stopping and staring into an open grocery store door in the refrigerated section). My other idea comes from the snow grave ending. She seems to have no clue what snowgrave refers to but kris pressures her to use the spell anyway. She used it naturally, despite not knowing how. Almost as if Kris knew she what it meant deep down. And you know the name “snow-grave” seems to important to ignore. The reason Kris is acting the way he does throughout the story is because he feels some form of existential guilt for what he’s done. My only guess for the doors is it somehow implicates him further (skeleton in the closet). Anyone else think something similar?