Most teenagers have conflicts with their parents but seventeen year old Alya Sutton thinks her parents are out to kill her. Ever since they arrived at her grandmother's house in New Midburg, South Carolina, weird things have been happening. A ghostly presence stalks her at night. A voice speaks to her at church. Her family's actions move beyond controlling to menacing. Alya's only ally is handsome seminary student Rad McCoy who is interning at St. Mark's Church. But even he isn't sure what is really going on with Alya. Then Alya finds a secret family graveyard full of headstones that all bear a familiar name - her own. Her family has hidden away generations of daughters all named Alya Sutton who died on their eighteenth birthday. Alya's birthday is only days away. For years Alya had dreamed of escaping her parents by going away to college. Now she just hopes to survive the summer.