He leads her past a succession of other mystifying sights. There don't seem to be many people out and about; either they are all tucked away in buildings at this time, or the buildings are abandoned or built for some inexplicable hellish purpose and her pale companion is the only other person around.

After a short walk, they arrive at a somewhat larger and more isolated building than most of the ones they have passed so far. He leads her up to a small side door, opens it, and goes in. The interior is lit mostly by circle-light coming in the windows, but the pale boy doesn't seem to have any trouble navigating by it. Off they traipse, through bizarrely decorated corridors, to fetch up at last in a room containing a lot of shelves with books on them.

There is a table in the middle of the curve formed by the steps that lead up to the shelves, and a lamp on the table with a green glass shade; the boy turns on the lamp and then ducks behind a counter to rummage in the piles of books there. Shortly, he returns with a massive leather-bound volume, plonks it on the table under the light of the lamp, and opens it. All of the pages seem to be blank. He pulls up a chair and sits with his hand touching one edge of the book's cover, then gestures between Holly, the chair beside him, and the opposite edge.