- Barrington Whelk, the Latin teacher at Aglionby, heads over to the school building in order to pick up his stack of homework to grade before the next day.
- When he arrives, though, he's stopped by the English teacher, who asks him why he's there since he took the day off—after all, he needed to have St. Mark's Day off in order to nurse his hangover.
- They talk about their students—namely Adam, Gansey, and Ronan—who are as "tight as ticks." When the English teacher mentions that Gansey wasn't in class because of St. Mark's Day, Whelk's interest is piqued. How does Gansey know about all that?
- The English teacher continues on, talking about how Gansey is always yammering on about spirits and ley lines and all sorts of supernatural stuff. This is all news to Whelk, who remembers looking for the same things with his roommate Czerny… who ended up dying.