Initially, Greta ignores the rules. She regularly calls her sister, who tells her that her abusive ex-boyfriend Cole has been trying to find out where she is. Malcolm, the local deliveryman, stops by often, and Greta learns that the real Brahms was killed in a fire 20 years ago on his eighth birthday. Malcolm asks Greta out, and she accepts. While preparing for the date, her dress and jewelry vanish while she is in the shower; she is lured to the attic by strange noises and locked inside, and is mysteriously let out the next morning. She explains to Malcolm what happened, and they discuss the real Brahms, whom Malcolm says Mr. Heelshire described as “odd”.

Strange events occur: a child’s sobs are heard in the hallways, phone calls are cut off, and the doll seems to move on its own. After receiving a phone call in which a child’s voice urges her to follow the rules, Greta locks herself in her room. She then finds a peanut butter and jelly sandwich outside her door, her favorite, and the child’s voice promises he will be good. Believing that Brahms’ spirit lives within the doll, Greta begins to take the rules seriously.

Remembering that the Heelshires said Brahms was shy, she realizes that the doll only moves when she isn’t in the room with him; she demonstrates this to Malcolm, who becomes worried. He informs Greta that a girl Brahms was friends with was found in the forest with her skull crushed. Before the police could question Brahms, the Heelshires’ house was burnt down with him in it.