In Chap­ter 179 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” the nar­ra­tive unfolds as Saint dri­ves along the Long Island Express­way, expe­ri­enc­ing a mix of nos­tal­gia and anx­i­ety. The heater of her rental car emits a drowsy warmth as she observes the con­ges­tion orig­i­nat­ing from the Queens–Midtown Tun­nel. As she nav­i­gates through Nas­sau Coun­ty and Suf­folk, the land­scape shifts from shades of gray to vibrant greens, inten­si­fy­ing a due sense of trep­i­da­tion in her stom­ach.

Patch’s voice resounds with­in the car’s stereo, echo­ing past jour­neys and mem­o­ries. Saint reflects on the need to hear Grace’s voice one last time to jus­ti­fy this trip. In a con­tem­pla­tive moment, she recalls a haunt­ing sen­ti­ment: “Maybe one day I’ll be the first to see him after the Res­ur­rec­tion. And if I’m cho­sen, he’ll send me back to the three per­sons. And they’ll hol­low me out. Watch my blood flow over black rock like I nev­er even was.” This thought empha­sizes the spir­i­tu­al and emo­tion­al under­cur­rents of her jour­ney.

As she con­tin­ues her dri­ve, Saint weaves through small towns and beach com­mu­ni­ties, their sum­mer vital­i­ty stripped away by the cold winds of approach­ing win­ter. Upon arriv­ing in Black Rock, she parks her vehi­cle far from the church, then steps out, adjust­ing her col­lar against the chill. The town appears qui­et and des­o­late, with many fam­i­ly homes shut­tered for the sea­son. Final­ly, she paus­es to observe the sig­nage of St. Mary Mag­da­lene, nes­tled on Trin­i­ty Road, feel­ing the weight of her pil­grim­age to a place filled with mem­o­ries and sig­nif­i­cance.

The chap­ter brings forth a haunt­ing explo­ration of Sain­t’s inner tur­moil and the jour­ney not just through phys­i­cal space but also through her emo­tion­al land­scape as she grap­ples with her con­nec­tion to the past and the need for clo­sure.