Eve and Thomas go down into the basement alone with flashlights while the rest of Thomas's family waits upstairs. Thomas explains that Jenny treats this as a game and says a dramatic response will only make her stay hidden longer. He uses a familiar knock pattern on a support beam, but no one answers, then tells Eve they should split up and grab Jenny immediately if they see her because she is fast and hard to corner.

Eve searches a large storage area filled with shelves, boxes, and rusty tools. When a can of nails falls, Eve briefly fears something unseen moved it, then reassures herself that the uneven plywood floor likely caused it. While cleaning up, Eve notices a trail of ants moving in a single direction, and, using grounding techniques to manage her rising anxiety, follows them deeper into the basement.

The ant trail leads Eve through a hallway to a strange room with pink-painted brick walls, black-and-white tile, and a blue wardrobe. Believing Jenny may be hiding inside, Eve opens the wardrobe but finds only a dusty painting of a dog staring into dark woods beside a lantern. Beneath the wardrobe, the ants swarm toward a crack in the tile, adding to Eve's sense that something is wrong with the space.

When Eve leaves the room, she finds Thomas standing motionless in the hallway, silently blocking the exit until he suddenly turns and claims he did not hear her calling his name. He then takes Eve to a narrow gap behind part of the basement structure and says Jenny is hiding in a small concrete nook beyond it. Although Eve suggests calling Jenny out or going in after her, Thomas insists that Jenny will only come out if they give her space.

Thomas announces that they are going back upstairs, and when Jenny does not answer, he repeats the same knock pattern on a pipe. Two faint knocks answer from deeper inside the hidden space, confirming that Jenny is there. Even though Eve finds Thomas's calm acceptance of the situation unsettling and questions whether a firmer response is needed, Thomas remains certain that waiting is the only option, and the two leave the basement together.