Straitlaced Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan is caught off-guard when she makes a recruiting visit to an alternative high school overseen by her former classmate, the freewheeling John Pressman. Pressman has surmised that Jeremiah, his gifted yet very unconventional student, might well be the son that Portia secretly gave up for adoption many years ago.

13 year old Micah's life has been full of trouble from its beginning. She's never known her father, lost her mother to cancer several years ago and more recently suffered the loss of her older sister Erin. Five months after being orphaned her cousin Noah and Uncle Tom take her in. Things seem normal at first but quickly take a turn for the worse. Micah begins to experience black outs, the "missing time phenomenon" and other supernatural manifestations. When it becomes violent, Micah and those around her come to the disturbing realization that something is after her - intent on harming her and those closest to her.