Elaine has been running her whole life. She doesn't get personally involved for fear of dangers that might befall anyone who comes close to her. When she meets Bryce at a bar, she shrugs him off, only to later find him dead-at the hands of someone Elaine knows too well. This final straw casts her into the waiting arms of Willow Tree Asylum. It all started when Elaine was four, and a young apparition appeared to her. She named this new playmate Cinder, a demented play on Cinderella, but her playmate was nothing like a fairy tale princess. Cinder instead did terrible things, but Elaine couldn't let her go. Now at Willow Tree, Elaine hopes to find solace in therapy and journaling. She thinks Cinder might be a thing of the past-but she's wrong. Cinder isn't done yet, and soon, a deathly shadow lingers over the asylum and all who live there. Elaine can't run any longer; she must face her fears, and in doing so, save the frightened people who've become her only friends.