Chief sits in his kitchen and drinks a beer. He hallucinates Luke stands behind him, blood dripping from his cut throat, and the two of them stare at each other. Someone knocks at the door and calls that it's time for Chief to face the music.
Joseph talks about how he sang in the choir until his voice changed and they kicked him out. He tells Zoey to open wire, reaches into her mouth with a pair of pliers, and pulls out a millipede. Joseph tosses it in a wastebasket and Zoe realizes that she's lying out in the open. She then stops remembering what happened to her when Joseph "cured" her.
Alice lies in a bed sleeping, and Smart Mouth stare at her.
The next morning, Alice walks down the hallway and finds Smart Mouth tapping on the wall. He waves to her and continues tapping, and Alice continues on. She hears Evelina in the parlor, talking to Joseph as he studies Edie's unborn child. Evelina warns that if they don't deliver Izzy by midnight, he'll take them instead. Joseph tells her that he'll find Izzy, but his wife reminds him that they marked Izzy and have to deliver her. Irritated that Joseph isn't listening to her, Evelina storms out and Alice hides just in time.
Zoe wakes up in her bed when she hears a thumping noise out in the hallway. She goes out and sees a red door down a hallway, and hesitantly approaches it. Zoe has vague memories of the Pestilent God and turns and runs from the door.
Chief meets with Aldous, Goat Cake, and Dolphin in the real world, and Aldous demands to know what happened to Robert. The officer says that Luke killed Robert but he paid the price, and he did what he had to do, family for family. Chief suggests that they tie it off there and stop any further bloodshed, and explains that there are two bodies in the hole. The three Peaches go to the hole and look down, and Aldous tells Chief that there's only one body. Chief comes over and insists that he took care of it, and Aldous tells the children to follow the smell of blood and find Luke. Once they leave, Chief stares down at the hole where he left his dying son.
In Louise's workshop, Louise stitches Luke's throat wound back together and talks about how her brother was only a couple of years older than Luke when he disappeared. She says that se built her life around him, and they had a big fight and he spat at her. Her brother bit the top of her finger off and swallowed it, and after he disappeared, Louie realized that she was relieved. Luke gasps in a breath and Louise warns him that he'll be a bit groggy. She gives him some of the drugs that Zoe is taking.
Zoe runs back to her room and finds Alice kneeling on the floor. She wonders where Zoe was, and Zoe says that she saw what the Peaches pray to. Zoe describes the red door and how it repelled her, and tells Alice that they have to go. Alice refuses, and Zoe reveals the self-inflicted cuts on her leg. She warns that Alice will be very hungry, but Alice insists that anything is better than going insane. Alice tells her sister that they have been on the edge of something terrible for most of their lives, and asks if she wants to be taken care of for once in their life. She says that she's there for a reason, and Zoe tell Alice that she's going to find a door that leads downstairs before walking out.
Alice hears something moving behind the walls and follows the noise. The sound leads her to the parlor where she finds a stain on the wall.
Zoe walks through the field looking for the door downstairs. She finds human hands and hears on the ground, and realizes that they're the roots of the plants. The Gardener appears and says that he likes riddles. Zoe asks what's behind the red door and why it won't let her through it, and he says that's not a riddle. She poses her question as a riddle, and the Gardener tells her that the answer is "a child". Zoe thanks him and runs off.
Alice feels the wall and something moves beneath the wallpaper. After a moment the wallpaper rips apart and Izzy pushes her way through. She asks if Alice can get her home, and Alice pushes her back in and says that she'll have to hide a bit longer.
Louise helps Luke up and confirms that Chief cut his throat. She explains that Chief misses Luke's artery, and something moves at the door. Louise tells Luke to stay there and peers out the window, and sees Aldous and the children outside. She helps Luke downstairs to the bootleg tunnel and pries the boards open.
Joseph and the Pestilent God play chess while Smart Mouth looks on. Alice comes in and Joseph invites her to join them. She asks about Izzy, and Joseph figures that Izzy would come to Alice. He asks if Alice will take her to the girl, and Alice wonders what they'll do to her. Joseph assures her that they don't eat children, and will send her home before they fix Alice. Alice agrees to take him to Izzy.
Later, Edie leads Izzy to the red door. The Pestilent God appears and Edie assures Izzy that he's nothing to be scared of. She says that they go home through the red door, and the God takes Izzy's other hand. Together they go through the red door, which closes behind them.
As Louise pries open the boards over the tunnel, Aldous breaks through the door leading down and tries to break in. Someone shots him from behind and then walks down the stairs. It's Chief, and Louise tells him that she saved Luke. Chief sees the bowling bag and Louise tells him that she took Robert's head as evidence. Luke stares at her father, who says that he tried to make it quick because he thought the Peaches would come for him and do far worse. Chief admits that he panicked, and Luke writes down asking what now? His father says that they're both marked, and they have to leave and figure out their next move. Luke motions that they have to cut off the heads of the three Peaches so they don't come back, and after a moment Chief says that they should get started.
Zoe returns to Alice and says that they need Izzy for something. Alice tells her sister that Izzy was lost, and she found her and the Peaches let her go. She says that she trusts the Peaches, just as the Pestilent God comes in. Alice tells Zoe that it's time to go and walks out with the God.
Joseph, Zoe, and the Peaches are in the summer house's chapel, waiting. Alice and the God come in and the God picks Alice up and sets her on the altar. Joseph immerses Alice's head in blood and then takes out a pair of pliers and pulls a millipede out. Zoe stares and remembers Joseph doing the same thing to her, and Joseph puts the millipede in an urn. Alice smiles in relief and Joseph hugs her. Everyone laughs in relief except for Zoe.
Louise and Chief saw the heads off the three Peaches while Luke looks on.
Zoe goes to the red door and hesitantly opens it. She goes through and finds a chamber with Izzy on the floor in the center. Something gurgles in the darkness, and the God moves out of the darkness as Zoe picks up Izzy and runs out. The God stalks Zoe through the halls, and Zoe finds a door leading downstairs to the park. She tells Izzy that she has to find Alice, and tells the girl to go to her hiding place until sunrise and then go to Louise's house.
Alice is looking at the millipede when Zoe comes in and says that the Peaches were going to feed Izzy to something. When her sister ignores her, Zoe says that she felt what Alice is feeling now: like she doesn't have a care in the world. She tells Alice that the peaches lied about Izzy, and Alice says that she knows. Zoe begs her to wake up, but Alice sits at the dressing table. After a moment, Zoe takes the millipede out of the urn and says that she wants to go back to the way she was. She swallows the millipede as Alice stares at her in shock.
Once Louise and Chief finish, Chief says that they're getting out. Luke wonders about the people that live in Butcher's Block, and Chief talks about Luke's babysitter telling Luke that there were millions of starving kids in the world. Luke tries to send packages of food, and Chief told him that he can't save everyone. He says that they have to take care of those they love, and those they don’t are less of a priority. Luke shoots him dead.
Alice joins the Peaches at the dinner table, and Evelina figures that Alice is hungry. Joseph welcomes their adopted daughter and everyone raises their glasses in a toast. He tells Alice to take a bit of the meal, and after a moment she does so. Evelina applauds and the Peaches eat their food. Edie wonders where Zoe is.
As night falls, Zoe runs down the stairs and into the park.
Alice tells the Oeaches that Zoe left, and she's all worked up about Izzy. Joseph puts on his head and walks to the red door. One of the children, Kitten Breath, follows him and the two of them go in. They confirm that Izzy isn't there, and Joseph calls to the God and asks him not to be angry with them. Something drags Kitten breath off into the darkness, and wet crunching noises emerge from the shadows. Joseph promises that he'll bring Izzy back.
Written by Gadfly on Mar 8, 2018