Dancy Flammarion, a sixteen year old albino girl who kills monsters with the guidance of an angel, waits at a bus stop in South Carolina at sunset with an odd girl named Maisie. Maisie reveals that she knows who Dancy is and what she does, and Dancy is unnerved by how much she knows. Dancy notices that Maisie smells like a dog, and asks her about it, which Maisie tells her is rude. As Maisie's appearance slowly becomes more canine, Dancy finds out that Maisie came for her because she lost a bet and that Maisie has a cigar box of hers that contains possessions from before she started hunting monsters. She stalls for time and her angel arrives behind the bench, and Dancy feels helpless because she knows the angel won't interfere with the situation to save her.

Dancy convinces Maisie to engage in a riddle match with her—if Dancy wins, Maisie has to give the box back and let her go, and if Maisie wins, Dancy won't put up a struggle. Dancy swears on the name of her angel that she'll keep her word, which the angel dislikes. They agree to three riddles. Dancy guesses Maisie's first riddle, and Maisie answers Dancy's riddle correctly. Dancy struggles with Maisie's last riddle, and admits that Maisie has won.

As Maisie gets ready to attack, Dancy throws a silver medal at her eye, and Maisie's eye bursts. They fight and as Dancy kills Maisie, she tells her the answer to the riddle. After killing Maisie, Dancy drags the body away and covers it with branches. The angel has left because she used its name to make a promise and then cheated, but Dancy doesn't regret doing so because the angel didn't bother to save her. She's afraid of being alone, but she gets on the bus anyway.