Alice stepped out of the elevator, crossed a lobby she did not remember, and emerged onto a Boston street. She took a moment to orient herself and began walking, noting the city’s nocturnal sounds against the silence inside her chest. She touched the now-empty grave-dirt pendant and acknowledged that Catty and their mum were gone, but that she remained.

As she walked, Alice replayed Catty’s voice note, holding to her sister’s words like a lifeline. She observed late-night crowds and her own thin dress, avoiding notice and returning to Catty’s voice about second chances and the nature of death. Before the message could finish, her phone rang.

“Home” appeared on the screen, and Alice answered to her father’s cheerful, early-morning voice. She lied that she was leaving the library and walking back to campus, and he insisted on keeping her company by phone. For half an hour, he talked about Finn starting school, El’s painting classes, and minor pub drama, filling the void with ordinary life as she crossed back toward the familiar buildings near campus.

Her father encouraged Alice about university challenges and told her he loved her. Alice said she had arrived safely, returned the sentiment, and ended the call. Standing near her building at the edge of the Yard, she chose not to go in, turning instead to continue walking into the still-open night.

Alice confronted the quiet within her—what she was and was not—and resolved that she would be okay, finding her way through the dark. She forced breaths she did not need until the act felt natural, letting the cadence of her footsteps echo like a heartbeat.

The chapter ended with Alice’s affirmation of being alive in her own altered way, paired with the stark admission of her hunger.