Athena’s Instagram begins posting daily, featuring impossible images of Athena alive and tagging June. June tries muting and even locks her phone away, but guilt and resentment keep her doomscrolling. Nightmares replay Athena’s death and imagine vengeful reanimation, leaving June sleepless and on edge.

By day, June obsesses over Chinese ghost lore, reading terms and tales that frame wronged women as hungry spirits. She performs clumsy offerings and paper-burnings that only earn her a fine. She channels her fear into a new horror draft, but the outline collapses as she writes, and imagined endings—death, possession, suicide—fail to provide catharsis.

A new post depicts Athena with a paper “talisman” labeled The Last Front by Juniper Hayward, followed by a reanimation sequence that ends in a lunge at the camera. June recognizes the obvious release—publicly admitting Athena wrote the book—but refuses, convinced confession would end her career and life. She resolves to endure the haunting rather than surrender the truth.

At Saxby’s, June spots someone she believes is Athena and chases her down, only to seize Diana Qiu. After a tense confrontation, June realizes her mistake and is shaken by how unhinged she appears. The incident deepens her panic and shame.

Back home, June fails to reach Rory and then calls her former therapist, Dr. Gaily, who cannot treat her across state lines but promises referrals. Another Instagram post appears from Saxby’s in the now-familiar outfit. Pushed past her limits, June messages the account; it immediately replies and sets “exorcist steps” for tomorrow at eleven.