Reva, a teenage girl in an ambiguous village, descends into a pit in search of a god. The god, referred to as the God in the Pit by the villagers, chooses a wife every generation from the female villagers. Instead of choosing the beautiful Reva, the God in the Pit chose the less attractive Brete, making Reva jealous. Defying her parents' wishes and that of her teenage lover, Petro, Reva sneaks into the pit to offer herself up. Once she has descended deep into the pit, Reva hears a spirit who offers her water, heals a wound in her hand, and leads her into a dark space to watch a dance. As she watches the dance from her chair, Reva is abhorred by the dancers: they have spikes coming from their joints, their faces contain areas where features like lips are replaced by smooth patches of skin, they lack genitals. The spirit, which Reva learns is the God in the Pit, shows Reva her sister, Brete, who sits asleep, in a pod. The God confesses that he was more interested in Brete than Reva because of her asymmetrical features, but now he would gladly welcome Reva as a wife. Reva refuses, but the spirit binds her to the chair she's sitting in, which she realizes is made from human flesh. Fortunately, one of the God's servants pull Reva away from the chair. The servant confesses that the God used to be a generous spirit, but he slowly was overtaken by a madness that has caused him to abuse his wives and other human sacrifices made by the villagers. Before Reva can do anything with this information, the God regains control and tells Reva that he will let either she or Brete go. Reva reasons that, because Brete is more intellectual than she and would come up with a plan to release her, Brete should be the one to be released. From above the pit, Petro awaits Reva's return. He is surprised to see that, instead of the object of his affections, Brete is the one to rise from the pit. Petro is horrified to see that, where Brete's mouth used to be, there is only a smooth layer of skin.