When the small North Carolina mountain town of Eli was flooded in the early 1940s to make way for a TVA dam and lake, the homes and businesses were buried beneath the water-but buildings weren't the only things buried. There are hushed stories of a spirit that lingers beneath the murky waters, hiding a dark secret.

Judy and her husband Craig journey to the area to care for her ailing adopted grandfather. The elderly man reveals some interesting anecdotes about his own life in Eli, but the sharing of this information is more than mere storytelling. Judy and Craig are now entangled in a sinister plot, set in motion seventy-five years earlier by an evil presence and complicit town residents.

Seeking truth, Judy and Craig begin investigating, but their poking around does not go unnoticed. Their lives are in danger as Judy uncovers past nefarious plots while moving closer and closer to the answers she seeks. This is a battle of good versus evil, influenced by both Appalachian and Cherokee myth, as four time periods coalesce to reveal a terrible truth.