Content Warning: The Chapter 18 Summary contains physical and emotional abuse.

The next day, Daniel, Mrs. O’Neill, and Selene return to Miss Perkins’s house. Miss Perkins explains to Selene that she needs to adjust to the world or she will die. Selene cries but doesn’t reply. Miss Perkins goes on to explain that there may be a way for her to create a counter for Old Auntie’s spell. She asks Selene to hand over her doll. Selene is reluctant but obeys. Daniel feels the air in the house change.

Miss Perkins studies the doll, humming while she moves its arms and legs. Then, she bends her head to listen to the cat in her lap. The cat makes a strange noise, and Miss Perkins nods. When she sits up, her eyes are “unfocused, as if she weren’t seeing us or the room, but was looking at something far away” (217). Slowly, Miss Perkins’s face returns to normal. Daniel notices that Mrs. O’Neill and Selene are in a sleep-like trance. Miss Perkins brings Daniel close and asks if he’s brave enough to go to Auntie’s cabin alone.