"Shadows and Light Hope" is the title of the first chapter of the novel, and it begins with a soliloquy in which the narrator laments the loss of hope in his life. He laments that he no longer has the ability to protect his daughter, and that she is no longer a "shadow" of her former self. He feels that he needs his own place in the world. He tells us that he has told dani that he would meet his daughter in the park, but that he overreacted when he found out that the girl had a sore nipple from her auntie. He says that if he had to go out in the street to make sure the child was safe, he would do so without thinking twice about it. He also says that the child is "of the darkness" and that they have no claim to it. The narrator says that he will "hunt you down" and kill every last one of them if they do not come for his daughter.