Chapter 25 Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Naomi and Sloane on the road, heading toward Naomi's parents' vacation house in Wilmington, North Carolina. Naomi admits she doesn't know the exact address—she's only visited twice—and insists she'll recognize the route once they're close. She can't call her parents to ask, since their relationship is strained; they're disappointed she didn't become a doctor or lawyer, and a past shouting match over the house (which Naomi called an egregious display of wealth) ended with her and Lee getting a hotel. Sloane plugs Wilmington into the GPS and learns the drive is nine and a half hours, meaning they'll need another motel before sunrise.

Sloane reflects on how much of the planning has fallen to her. She's always grounded herself in logic and practicality, but those rules no longer apply because she now needs what she wants—blood. She notices Naomi is fading: her voice is drying out, she's weak, and she stares out the window with a sadness Sloane hasn't seen before. Sloane feels guilt for not sharing the blood from the tumbler, even as she also blames Naomi for dragging them into this nightmare.

They stop at a dilapidated Sunoco with a convenience store. Sloane hesitates over using her credit card, worried about leaving a trail for law enforcement, and decides to pay cash. Inside, she waits for the clerk, then impulsively opens a bottle of Schweppes without paying. The soda burns like hydrogen peroxide, making her gag and double over—a visceral reminder that her body has changed.

Through the store window, Sloane watches a woman in a purple knit hat pull up to pump gas. Naomi rolls down her window and begins talking to the woman, smiling too widely, too toothily. The woman approaches, and Naomi grabs her by the back of the head and bites her face. The woman screams, blood pouring through her fingers as she thrashes on the pavement.

The clerk, who had been in the back room, sees what's happening and raises his phone—not to call 911, but to film. Sloane snatches the phone, shoves him against the wall, threatens to drink his insides if he says anything, and stomps the phone to pieces. She notices a security camera in the corner, and any hope of avoiding further violence dies.

Sloane runs out, gets in the car, and tells Naomi to drive. But there's oncoming traffic, and Naomi, still in a blissful stupor, doesn't flinch at what she's done. The wounded woman retrieves a small gun from her car and starts shooting at them. Sloane floors it, swerves to avoid a sedan, loses control on black ice, and collides head-on with a pickup truck. The crash is brutal—airbags deploy, glass shatters, and the car is sandwiched between the truck and a hatchback.

After the crash, Sloane calls out to Naomi, who is climbing into the back seat. Naomi crawls out through the broken back window, leaving Sloane behind. Sloane is left alone in the wreckage, wondering where Naomi is going and why she's being abandoned.

Key Events

Naomi and Sloane set out for Wilmington, NC, but Naomi doesn't know the exact address of her parents' vacation house.
Sloane decides to pay cash for gas to avoid leaving a trail for law enforcement.
Sloane tries Schweppes and finds it burns like hydrogen peroxide—a sign of her changed body.
Naomi lures a woman in a purple knit hat to the car and bites her face, leaving her bleeding on the pavement.
The convenience store clerk films the attack; Sloane threatens him and destroys his phone.
Sloane notices a security camera, realizing they can't escape surveillance.
The wounded woman shoots at the car with a small gun.
Sloane loses control on black ice and crashes head-on into a pickup truck.
Naomi crawls out through the broken back window, abandoning Sloane.

Character Development

Sloane is caught between guilt and blame throughout this chapter. She acknowledges she should have shared the blood with Naomi, yet she also resents Naomi for being the reason they're in this situation. Her internal conflict deepens as she watches Naomi attack the woman—she's horrified, but she also wonders if she'll ever be that thirsty, and whether she's that thirsty now looking at the blood on the pavement. Her threat to the clerk—delivered in a voice more menacing than her own—shows how far she's already drifted from her former self. Yet she still feels the weight of morality, noticing the security camera and recognizing that hope is gone.

Naomi is deteriorating physically and morally. Her voice is drying out, she's weak, and she snaps at Sloane in anger. When she attacks the woman, she doesn't flinch or recoil—she licks her lips in satisfaction and simply says,