On a Tuesday night last fall, Darlington calls Alex to handle an issue at Rosenfeld Hall, once the tomb of St. Elmo. He notes her recent competence handling Lethe duties despite the Manuscript incident. They enter the building with rubber gloves and boots, heading into the old St. Elmo crypt levels where residual storm magic often accumulates.

As they descend through storage rooms filled with relics of St. Elmo’s weather work, the hum of gathered energy grows oppressive. At a disused fuse panel, Darlington uses a silver weather vane and has Alex breathe on it to locate and channel the current. He rapidly flips switches as the vane spins, and both suffer nosebleeds from the discharge before a bright flash ends the hum. He explains this maintenance is periodically required and simple if done with precautions.

In the uneasy quiet that follows, Darlington hears what he first thinks is breathing and leads Alex through the basement. Their conversation drifts to left-handedness and Alex’s friend “Hellie.” Darlington spots a deeper-than-dark shadow—what appears to be a portal—and, while considering likely culprits such as Scroll and Key, connects “Hellie” to Helen Watson, the girl who overdosed beside Alex.

Darlington’s thoughts spiral as he recalls the brutality of the Manuscript murders and rumors of Gray possessions. He confronts Alex, asserting she killed multiple men as well as Helen Watson. Alex denies only Hellie’s death, offering no further defense. Darlington concludes he must inform Dean Sandow and that Alex cannot remain at Lethe, though he proposes they first deal with the apparent portal.

Darlington begins a Scroll and Key-style warding using magnets, intending to contain the portal and later close it permanently. As he speaks the incantation, the breath is torn from him and he realizes too late this is not a standard portal. An unseen force grips him from the shadow.

In his final moments, Darlington recognizes how little anchors him to the world and that Alex does not intervene—she neither speaks a protection nor steps forward. The force drags him away, and he vanishes into the dark, leaving no body behind.