Alice wakes to an empty dorm and a text that her suitemates are going to Colin's vigil, which she declines. Sitting in the dark, she fixates on Lottie's goodbye note and forces herself to search online for real vampires, filtering through costume sites to forums and club listings that hint at "alternative fare." She decides she needs answers and to find Lottie, abandoning schoolwork.

Alice settles on two Boston clubs that seem promising. She dresses in dark jeans and a black hoodie borrowed from Catty, notices her hunger rising again, and orders a rideshare to avoid the subway. The ride is overstimulating—loud music and cloying cologne—intensifying her discomfort. At the first club, The Dark Side, she discovers it is closed on Mondays and, frustrated, accidentally dents the metal door with a kick before hurrying away.

Choosing to walk a mile to the second venue rather than call another car, Alice revels in how the night clears her head and strengthens her body. The night sky’s blue triggers a memory of her father’s wedding to Eloise Martin: a day saturated in blue where tension with Catty peaked. In a private moment, Eloise gave Alice and Catty gold pendants containing their mother’s grave dirt so she could be "with" them. Catty rejected the gift with anger, calling the dirt "glaur" and storming out, while Alice accepted and wore the pendant, wanting to ease Eloise’s pain.

The memory continues as Alice recalls seeing Catty reappear for photos, outwardly present but emotionally vacant. This crystallizes the long-standing fracture between their father's new happiness and Catty’s grief, and Alice’s role caught between them.

Back in the present, Alice reaches the second club, its doorway glowing with red light. The pierced bouncer questions whether she belongs and asks for ID. Too young to enter, Alice chooses to test her compulsion, meeting his gaze and calmly insisting she is old enough. He hesitates and then allows her in, suggesting the influence worked (or that he did not care). When she tries to pass, he stops her only to put on color-coded wristbands, explaining that patrons are labeled "predator" (red) or "prey" (white), and he fastens the white band on Alice’s wrist without consulting her.

Alice rolls her eyes at the theater of it but proceeds inside, having secured entry and a first potential lead in her search for others like her—and possibly for Lottie.