Can a crow predict murder? Which Criss Cross County residents will die before the year is over? Once upon a time there was a girl whose father lived in a town where a very bad thing happened. Growing up, the girl learned about the bad thing by hiding around corners and listening to her parents talk to their friends. If her parents suspected she was near, their voices would drop to whispers and then go silent until the girl left the room. It is those whispers and those moments of silence that have haunted the girl all her life. When she was a teenager she had a conversation with a boy who felt as haunted as she felt. They attempted to unravel the mystery of what went so terribly wrong. They had a few ideas. But then, they were just kids. What did they know? This story is based on those ideas. So, what happens when a superstitious teenager discovers the truth from a magical lake about what happened before they caught the murdering rapist in her hometown? Will knowing the truth save the boy she loves? Will the mysterious crow's prediction about five people dying before the end of the year come true? And if so, who will survive and who will die?