Bela wakes in the living room after the family has been sleeping together under guard. Daddo is already awake on the couch, staring down the hall while the dogs sit alert and look up toward the ceiling. When Bela says she needs the bathroom, Daddo delays for a moment because he is unsettled by the dogs' behavior and does not want to leave Mommy alone, but he finally walks Bela down the hall.

In the bathroom, Daddo stays inside because Bela does not want to be left by herself. While Bela uses the toilet and washes her hands, the sounds seem wrong to her, as if whispers are coming from below or from the water. Daddo keeps watching both directions in the hallway instead of relaxing, which shows that even this ordinary task has become part of the family's night watch.

When Bela and Daddo return to the living room, Mommy is awake on the mattress. Mommy says she thought she heard Bela and Daddo laughing in the kitchen, even though they were not there. That report increases the uncertainty in the house, and Daddo tries to steady everyone by saying that houses make sounds in a normal world, but the comment also shows how hard it has become to believe in ordinary explanations.

Because the noises cannot be trusted, Mommy says that she and Daddo need to take shifts staying awake. Daddo suggests putting on a movie, but Mommy refuses because staring at one place creates dangerous blind spots, or "corners of the eyes." After Bela lies back down, Kamael appears at the entrance to the living room, silently looks toward the kitchen, and then returns to the front door. The dog's tense movements convince Daddo to stay up with Mommy a while instead of sleeping immediately, ending the chapter with both parents still on alert.