The chapter opens in a memory: ten-year-old Alice watches thirteen-year-old Catty smash bottles behind their granddad Harry Moore’s pub, the Port of Call, in Hoxburn. Catty vents about a cheating boyfriend, and when Alice cuts her hand on a broken bottle, Catty licks the blood and jokes that they are made of the same stuff. The remembered scene begins to reconfigure: instead of wiping her blood away as she once did, Alice is frozen, compelled by the sight and scent of her own blood, urged by Catty to taste it.

Rachel’s shouted curse rips Alice awake in her university suite. The dream’s hunger lingers as her sharpened senses pick up Rachel stripping bloody sheets in another room. Alice bites her own hand to steady herself; the blood tastes sweet and wrong but calms the urge, and the punctures heal instantly. After Rachel leaves, Alice reviews her fruitless night searching for Lottie in directories and social media, finding only one candid party photo that confirms Lottie’s existence.

Determined to act normal, Alice readies for class, noticing overwhelming sensory detail: detergent, perfume, the feel of her pendant. Her phone’s childhood song alarm triggers a phantom heartbeat, and when she tests sunlight through the curtains, it causes dizziness and pain but does not burn her. She also touches Lizbeth’s real silver jewelry without reaction, tallying wins against “common lore.”

Outside, daylight makes Alice nauseous and shaky until she reaches an academic building. Coffee fails to satisfy and tastes wrong despite sugar. In econ, she asks Sam from the Co-op about the girl in the photo; he doesn’t recognize Lottie. As lecture begins, Alice is overwhelmed by amplified sounds, smells, and the awareness of nearby heartbeats; her teeth ache, her grip splinters the desk, and she flees to the bathroom.

In the mirror, Alice looks unchanged except for tired hollows and feverish eyes, which frustrates her longing for some visible offset to the horror of her condition. The sensory crush persists, with silence inside her own chest heightening the wrongness. Hannah enters, teasing Alice about partying and offering ibuprofen. Alice, overtaken by need, grips Hannah’s hand, attempts to compel her to stay, and moves in close, seeking relief like the night before with a stranger in the Yard.

Hannah snaps out of the moment, recoils, and hurls a slur. The insult ignites Alice’s rage, recalling Catty’s lesson to push back when the world pushes. Alice’s voice turns edged as she confronts Hannah, tasting the other girl’s fear and feeling the predatory urge to chase. She restrains herself at the last moment, shoves past Hannah, and exits before she loses control.