In this tense and cli­mac­tic chap­ter, the scene opens with Will’s father observ­ing the life­less body of Jim, yet sens­ing some­thing still remains. The atmos­phere is soon dis­rupt­ed by a fran­tic boy named Jed, run­ning from a threat­en­ing fig­ure referred to as Mr. Dark. Jed pleads for help, empha­siz­ing his fear of the “ter­ri­ble man” chas­ing him, which instant­ly res­onates with Will’s father.

While Will’s father tends to Jim, he fol­lows Jed’s lead. Jed is in a state of pan­ic, ready to flee at any moment. Their con­ver­sa­tion reveals that Jed is only nine years old, which deep­ens the grav­i­ty of the sit­u­a­tion; a child should not be embroiled in such chaos. As ten­sion builds, Will’s father ques­tions Jed about his inten­tions, insin­u­at­ing that fear can lead to per­ilous choic­es. He chal­lenges Jed, sug­gest­ing there could be a trick or dan­ger hid­den in their sur­round­ings.

The con­fronta­tion esca­lates as Will’s father dis­cov­ers tat­toos cov­er­ing Jed, illus­trat­ing sin­is­ter crea­tures like ser­pents and scor­pi­ons. This art­work sym­bol­izes the dark influ­ences sur­round­ing the car­ni­val and the con­trol Mr. Dark wields over his vic­tims. Jed’s des­per­ate resis­tance is pal­pa­ble, yet Will’s father, draw­ing on his own strength, attempts to con­front and dis­man­tle the mali­cious grip Mr. Dark has over Jed.

The dia­logue between them shifts into a deep­er explo­ration of fear, evil, and the nature of true pow­er. Will’s father asserts that only good can tri­umph over evil if one choos­es to reject its con­trol, high­light­ing the inter­nal strug­gle Jed faces. Through a metaphor­i­cal embrace, he aims to draw out the boy’s inner strength and encour­age him to resist the evil that has invad­ed his body and spir­it.

As the con­fronta­tion reach­es its peak, the bat­tle seems both phys­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal, show­cas­ing a strug­gle between good and evil rep­re­sent­ed by Will’s father and Jed’s unwill­ing­ness to break free from dark­ness. Ulti­mate­ly, the atmos­phere shifts, embody­ing a pro­found real­iza­tion: that evil has only as much pow­er as one allows it, under­scor­ing the urgent need for courage and resis­tance against for­mi­da­ble dark­ness. The chap­ter con­cludes with a haunt­ing silence, leav­ing the out­come uncer­tain but charged with the weight of their con­fronta­tion.

Wait­ing ai