The next day, on January’s 17th birthday, Locke requires January to attend his annual Society Party despite her grief at the loss of her father. Locke gives a speech about the Society and its crucial role for improving the human race, drawing attention to January as “A testament to the power of positive influences” (81). Locke tells January to meet him and the other Society members later that night so he can give her a birthday present, and as she leaves, a leering boy corners January and grabs her arm. Samuel, working at the party as a waiter, rescues her. When January meets Locke and the Society members, they offer her membership in the Society as her birthday present, but January declines out of anger at the loss of her father. She feels tired of always being a good, obedient girl, and longs to run away, so she escapes the only way she knows how: through a book. 

Before leaving home to hunt for Doors, Ade rebuilds the door in the hayfield out of scraps as a monument to her ghost boy. She finds her first Door in the St. Ours mansion in New Orleans, and disappears for 16 days.