After killing Cade, Ophelia feels his stolen life force recharge her body. She steps through the golden portal expecting to return to safety, but the manor is transformed into something darker and more rotten, with dead food, living shadows, and an oppressive sense that something has gone terribly wrong.

In the corridor, Ophelia meets the Shadow Voice in physical form for the first time. It tells her that killing Cade with her bare hands unleashed it into the world, because it is part of her and their darkness is intertwined. Remembering Blackwell’s insistence that she is not broken, Ophelia realizes that resisting the voice has always been her real choice of self, and she decides she would rather bear it herself than let it harm others freely.

The Shadow Voice flees, and Ophelia chases it through the forbidden first floor of the manor. Guided by the pulse of her locket, she enters a mirror-filled room where each reflection shows a different twisted version of herself. The Shadow Voice ambushes her there, knocking away her candelabra and accidentally setting the curtains on fire as smoke and heat quickly fill the room.

During the struggle, Ophelia uses the power gained from Cade’s death to blast the creature, but each attack is answered with worse injuries as the Shadow Voice slashes her cheek, tears open her chest, and rips into her belly. As the fire spreads and her invisibility magic fails, Ophelia keeps calling for Blackwell while the Shadow Voice mocks her for needing him. In that agony, Ophelia understands that seeking help does not make her weak or broken; Blackwell is not her savior, but proof she is no longer alone. When she declares that he always finds her, the suddenly frightened Shadow Voice prepares a final strike, and Ophelia whispers Blackwell’s name before everything goes black.