In a flashback from Tom Brewer’s past, Tom leaves a screening of Blood Lake 2 with his girlfriend, Cindy. Cindy complains at length about the movie’s gore, while Tom privately thinks the film was less graphic than he wanted and reflects that he and Cindy have been dating for eight months. Tom sees Cindy as kind and potentially suitable for a stable future, but he also admits that the only woman he has truly loved was Daisy Driscoll.

During their walk, Cindy is shocked when Tom reveals that he has decided not to apply for a surgery residency. Tom explains internally that working on living patients in the operating room made him realize surgery was wrong for him, so he has chosen pathology instead, where his patients will already be dead. The decision connects to Tom’s darker instincts and to the relief his mother felt when he told her.

After Tom drops Cindy off, Tom walks home alone and thinks about his isolation, his missing father, and the way the town accepted that Tom’s father disappeared because of debt and enemies. Tom remembers that his mother knows Tom was responsible, even though they never discuss it directly. Once home, Tom intends to rewatch scenes from the horror movie, but instead he opens Daisy’s public Facebook page and studies a recent selfie, which reignites his obsession.

Tom imagines a life in which he and Daisy could still be together and repeatedly starts texts to Daisy before deleting them. The messages escalate from casual to desperate, revealing that Tom still cannot let Daisy go after eight years. Trying to force himself back toward a normal relationship, Tom decides to call Cindy instead, but Cindy does not answer even though Tom dropped her off less than an hour earlier. The chapter ends with Tom uneasy and the unanswered call creating ominous suspense.