Izzy crouches beside the wounded Lund, terrified the abdominal gunshot is fatal. When she looks up, Cassie, Drummond, and Azaki are collapsed on the floor in visible torment while the gray-mist woman stands nearby, seeming to relish their pain.

The woman approaches Izzy, even brushing Izzy’s cheek, but Izzy realizes she is unaffected. Izzy understands the Book of Safety Cassie gave her is shielding her from whatever is crushing the others.

Studying the woman more closely, Izzy notices the woman’s skirt is glowing and realizes it is not feathers but stitched-together paper: the Book of Despair made into clothing. Knowing she is the only one able to act, Izzy pulls out Lund’s cigarette lighter and ignites the skirt’s hem. The dry pages catch instantly, and the woman erupts into a “skirt of fire,” screaming as she beats at the flames.

As the Book of Despair burns, Cassie, Drummond, Azaki, and even Lund begin to recover their senses. Cassie runs to the mirror at the back of the room and opens it to reveal a hidden rectangular darkness like a doorway.

With a glowing book in hand, Drummond lifts the burning woman into the air and hurls her through the dark opening. The woman’s howls fracture as she vanishes into the void; Cassie slams the mirror shut, and the fire and noise stop. Izzy presses the Book of Safety into Lund’s hands, begging it to work before it is too late.