After Gloria’s visit, Robert is almost giddy with hope. He spends Monday basking in his new status after the church incident, roaming campus with Redbone as a ghost-hunting team while privately focusing on Gloria’s Friday escape plan. For the first time since arriving, Robert believes he will not have to survive six months at the Reformatory, and he imagines outrunning both Blue and Warden Haddock all the way to Chicago.

By Tuesday, Robert’s confidence collapses into dread. He worries that Friday is still far away, that Blue may demand another ghost before then, and that Haddock may punish him if no new offering appears. When Boone sends Robert and Redbone to inspect the white side of campus, Robert is struck by the contrast between its leisure spaces and the labor imposed elsewhere. As they walk, Robert impulsively tells Redbone the full escape plan, from slipping out through the kitchen rear door to finding the hole near the Funhouse fence.

Redbone reacts seriously rather than excitedly. He helps Robert think through the plan, proposes using “Christmas” as code, and warns that Blue likely already knows everything because he is a haint. Redbone then forces Robert to face a harsher truth: Haddock may also suspect escape, and if Robert runs, the Reformatory will punish Redbone to extract information and make an example of him. Their friendship changes under that pressure, becoming more cautious and painful. Redbone urges Robert to stall Haddock with a story about being spiritually shaken by the church haunting and tells Robert to call Blue by his real name, Kendall, and hear Blue’s plan for getting into Haddock’s desk.

That night, Boone summons Robert and Redbone after their showers. When Boone asks whether they saw any more ghosts, Robert realizes the fake ghost reports have failed because no ashes appeared where Boone sprinkled his dust. Instead of taking them to the Funhouse, Boone leads them near the stables and the pine trees, where Robert sees the Box for the first time: underground cells with boys shut inside.

Boone reveals that Cleo has been locked in the Box because Robert has not produced another ghost for Haddock. He uses Cleo’s suffering as leverage, warning that Cleo will remain there without food or water until Robert finds a haint, and threatening to throw Redbone in next if they keep failing. Robert and Redbone protest, but Boone ignores them. He orders Robert to give Cleo a scoop of dirty water; Cleo refuses it, spits at Robert, and vows to kill both boys. By the end of the chapter, Robert understands more clearly that his escape attempt now endangers Redbone and has already been used to justify brutal punishment against someone else.