On the Lake Michigan beach at dusk, Bela sits with Russ while Ursula and Lois gather wood and build up a fire. Russ has spent most of the day staring at the water, and when he asks Bela whether she senses anything, Bela reassures him even though she is unsure. Russ reflects bitterly on how strange it is that so many people are fascinated by the occult, yet almost nobody can help when something supernatural actually happens; he then acknowledges that Lois is the exception because she chose to help the family.

As night falls, the family settles around the fire with blankets. Lois urges everyone to sit together and to finally do what they came there to do, but Ursula resists her pressure, showing how emotionally difficult the task is. When Bela asks Lois about making fires, Lois connects the skill to the rituals she learned through her occult interests, hinting that their trip and campfire are part of a deliberate spiritual effort rather than just a refuge.

Once the four of them are seated around the fire, Lois begins explaining innocence to Bela. Lois describes innocence as a kind of purity created by not yet knowing the world's cruelty, and she argues that innocence is frightening because it makes a person a target. Ursula is disturbed by Lois's framing and initially pushes back, but she finally agrees that they must go through with their plan.

When Ursula asks who should begin, Russ admits he no longer knows what to think, except that the family is facing something truly evil. He says the peaceful lakeshore makes it tempting to imagine the danger is confined to their house, but the memory of the entity appearing elsewhere proves it is not. Bela briefly sees Other Mommy's upside-down face in the fire, and Ursula, after warning Bela that what comes next will be a bad story that changes how she sees the world, reluctantly prepares to speak as the chapter ends on that brink.