Twenty-Three

Summary

• The chapter begins with June considering a shared memory with Athena involving the dangerous stairs popularized by The Exorcist movie. In her mind, the fact that a mysterious Instagram account posted about these steps must have been an indicator that Athena is alive and communicating with her.
• Despite viewing this as an obvious trap potentially putting her in grave danger, June decides to visit the stairs. She prepares herself with a fully charged phone, a flashlight, pepper spray, and a Swiss Army knife.
• On arriving at the supposedly haunted stairs, June hears a voice that she identifies as Athena's, leading her to hastily climb the steps in search of her. Throughout this encounter, June experiences a series of auditory hallucinations, with Athena’s voice seeming to come from different directions.
• June confesses to stealing Athena's work and blames her jealousy of Athena's success and her own desire for fame. She offers restitution to Athena's mother, her publisher, and an anonymous entity listening in on her confession.
• Juxtaposing June's expectations and reality, a girl named Candice, not Athena, emerges from the shadows. June is shocked, recognizing Candice as an enemy in her publishing career.
• Candice reveals that she set up the trap to expose June's deceit and avenge her own downfall in the publishing industry, which she blames on June. Candice has recorded June's confession and has more footage from several hidden cameras in the area.
• Candice rejects June's attempts at making a deal to prevent this information from going public. She shares her bitter resentment against the publishing industry's preference for diverse voices like Athena's over hers.
• The tension escalates into a physical altercation. Candice attacks June, biting her and managing to break free from June's grip, then kicks June, who stumbles and falls backward, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.